Ink

Sawgrass Technologies Consumer Division has joined forces with Econscious to showcase a whole green-product solution at the ISS tradeshow in Long Beach, CA. Sawgrass’ SubliJet technology was used to decorate hundreds of Econscious reusable tote bags made from recycled polyester. The result is a beautiful and affordable tote, with vivid and durable images, with a very low environmental footprint.

"It is a win-win situation, both for our companies and the environment," said Mike McEvoy, vice president of marketing for Sawgrass Technologies. “Recycled polyester is far less energy-intensive than virgin polyester, and diverts waste from the landfill. In turn, the water-based SubliJet sublimation ink eliminates the use of screens and associate chemicals."

 

 

New Triangle aqueous inks from INX Digital International Co. for HP 5000 and 5500 series printers are now available throughout North America. The T81 dye inks and T83 UV pigmented inks are chemically compatible with OEM options and can extend printhead life up to twice as long compared to other non-OEM alternatives.

"These new inks are colour compatible with OEM options," said Ken Kisner, president, INX Digital Americas. "They can be run using existing HP OEM ink profiles and no additional work is needed. Users can easily save 20 percent or more on our T81 and T83 inks compared to OEM."

Karla Witte, marketing director - aftermarket products, INX Digital, said chip technology for the cartridges is developed and manufactured in the USA. In addition to being 100 percent colour compatible, the T81 and T83 inks also are chemically compatible with OEM options and will help extend the life cycle of printheads.

"The new inks come in 680 ml remanufactured direct replacement cartridges for the HP81 dye and HP83 pigmented inks," said Witte. "Users can add new colours as needed, one by one, without having to flush lines or throw away unused ink. These new colours can be run simultaneously with HP's printers."

Witte said HP 5000 and 5500 users can count on comparable-to-OEM printhead life with the T81 and T83 inks and up to double the life when compared to other non-OEM options. She noted the new inks not only match, but exceed OEM print quality in some cases.

 

"The T81, for example, has a very jet black and provides truer blacks and grays. Unlike many other OEM-alternative offerings, the new Triangle formulations are micro-porous approved. They dry instantly and work well on micro-porous materials," said Witte.

"Saving 20 percent or more while running our colour compatible alternative inks will give HP 5000 and 5500 users a timely advantage," said Kisner. "We anticipate introducing more advanced options, such as ink sets designed for the HP Z6100, sometime later this year."

 

 

Sensient Technologies Corporation has opened new facilities in China, located in Guangzhou and Shanghai. The new 62,000-square-foot Guangzhou location includes a four-story office and laboratory building, a manufacturing plant and a separate fragrance building. These first-class facilities were built to Sensient's specifications when the company outgrew its original facility and relocated.

The laboratories include a flavor creation center, a pharmaceutical laboratory, a color research center and a quality control lab. Warehouses for raw materials and finished products have also been completed. These facilities will produce colors, flavors, pharmaceutical coatings and fragrances, primarily for the Chinese market.

Sensient has also opened a state-of-the-art Technical Center and sales office in Shanghai, China. The new Technical Center will feature the latest lab equipment and an ultra high temperature process pilot plant. Customers will be able to custom-tailor and sample foods and beverages featuring Sensient colors and flavors in a sophisticated application kitchen.

Kenneth P. Manning, Chairman and CEO of Sensient Technologies Corporation, said, "These new facilities highlight China's increasing role in Sensient's continued strategic growth. China's emerging middle-class constitutes an important new market for our products, one that has already begun to contribute to Sensient's growth and will gain in importance going forward."

With the addition of these facilities in Guangzhou and Shanghai, Sensient now has a presence in five locations in China, including a plant for processing precursors to flavors in Qingdao, and offices and laboratories in Beijing and Hong Kong. Around the world, Sensient has over 70 locations that provide specialized flavor and color applications in 30 countries, selling to more than 150 nations.

Sun Chemical has released its first sustainability report which provides data-driven performance measurement for seven key sustainability metrics to help customers and consumers understand the company's environmental impact.

The first of its kind report shows data collected since 2005 from approximately 170 Sun Chemical sites in over 25 countries. The key sustainability metrics measured in the data include: energy consumption/conservation at production and non-production sites, the energy carbon footprint at the production sites, process waste reduction, water consumption, materials safety, and employee safety.

Providing a report that shows the ongoing management and monitoring of key sustainability metrics is an important part of Sun Chemical's recently updated sustainability policy that was introduced at Print '09.

"Sun Chemical's sustainability policy is different from other company policies and positioning because it is supported by data that goes far beyond that which is normally reported," said Gary Andrzejewski, Sun Chemical's corporate vice president of environmental affairs. "Our customers and the marketplace are looking for much more than the standard sustainability rhetoric. They want to know what their suppliers are doing to improve their sustainability performance. This sustainability report does just that with very specific metrics."

Sun Chemical has also initiated a project to analyze and manage the carbon footprint of its products. The project includes an assessment of eight different ink products manufactured at seven different facilities in the United States and Europe and is expected to be released during the first half of 2010. This assessment is conducted by ENVIRON International Corporation, a consultant with which Sun Chemical partners to offer its SunCare Environmental Services.

The first sustainability report is available to customers and can be requested online. Customers can also calculate the initial carbon footprint for their facility operations by visiting Sun Chemical's website.

www.sunchemical.com

www.sunchemical.com/suncare

Sun Chemical has announced changes to the structure and management of its Sun Inks Europe business. Rudi Lenz, president and CEO of Sun Chemical, will assume direct responsibility for the business, and its current business leaders will now report directly to him. Sun Inks Europe’s functional leaders, covering areas comprising human resources, purchasing, operations, finance and environment, health, safety and security will now report to their respective global functional heads.

“Our customers expect the highest levels of service, and we believe that we can enhance this and the growth of our own European business through a more global structure,” said Mr. Lenz.

David Meldram, president, Sun Inks Europe and senior vice president, Sun Chemical, is leaving the business as part of these changes and his position will not be replaced.

In paying tribute to Mr. Meldram, Mr. Lenz said, “David has been with the company since 1997 and has done a tremendous job. He has built a very successful team and we wish him all the best in the future.

“In these very challenging times for our industry, it is very important that Sun brings all its global resources to help our customers become more successful,” Mr. Lenz continued. “Sun’s commitment to quality, service and innovation will continue to differentiate us in the market.”

Working in close association with some of the worlds largest ink manufacturers, Colorific have announced a genuinely practical solution to wide format ink cartridge recycling.

Claimed to be easy to take part in, easy to integrate into your own environmental policies, and easy to manage, participation in the Colorgreen scheme is available to all by registering online at www.colorgreen.co.uk

Upon registering, Colorific will send users a box (or as many of them as they need), you then fill that box with empty cartridges, and when it’s full, you simply log on again, and request a collection. A carrier will subsequently arrive, and take your box of empty cartridges away for recycling.

Colorific stress that this is a free zero-cost service available to users of all common large format printing systems that use solvent-based cartridges

Following return the empty cartridges are then, dependent on their condition, either recycled for secondary use, or broken down for use in the production of new products that can utilise recycled materials. Disposal in landfill is thus avoided.

The Colorgreen website also has links to pertinent information including a free white paper titled Environmental Law – Overview and Guidance for Your Business, and links to relevant information published by the Health & Safety Executive, again all freely accessible at www.colorgreen.co.uk