Pigments and sustainability in the ink industry
Pigment industry executives discussed how pigments can play a role in the ink industry's drive for sustainability.
pigment
The ink industry is always looking for ways to improve sustainability, and pigments often make up the largest percentage of ink formulations. While it is difficult to make 100% sustainable pigments, pigment manufacturers do incorporate some sustainable materials into their products, while also improving their manufacturing processes.
Rachel Li, marketing Manager of Fujifilm's Ink Solutions Group, pointed out that tint inkjet technology is the best in terms of the environmental impact of textile manufacturing.
"In the textile sector, Fujifilm is supporting the push for pigment ink technology as a process with less environmental impact than dye-based printing, which is currently the most popular digital process," said Lee, "Dyes use more water and energy throughout the manufacturing and printing process." Advances in ink technology will be the main factor that will allow pigment inks to further expand their application in fashion textiles: to obtain better softness and color brightness.
He also observed that in commercial printing, Fujifilm saw inkjet pigment inks as a more sustainable solution than dyes.
"In packaging, ink formulations need to be compatible with more sustainable and recyclable substrates such as polyolefin and polyester," Li added. "Low energy consumption (low heat) drying allows the use of thinner materials, and in order for pigments to be a suitable alternative technology, highly functional inks are needed, and the quality of pigment dispersions is critical to achieving this goal, and as a dispersion supplier, Fujifilm is working with customers to drive advances in pigment ink technology and its own inks." The high stability of FujifilM's RxD dispersion provides ink formulation designers with the widest formulation window, allowing for the selection of multiple ingredients to achieve ink performance, reduce ink usage, be compatible with sustainable materials, or use more sustainable ingredients in the formulation.
Pravin Chaudhary, CEO of special projects at Pidilite, noted that sustainability is an increasingly prominent topic in every discussion with ink manufacturers around the world.
"Pigment manufacturing is highly natural resource intensive," Chowdhury said. "Governments around the world are tightening regulations on air and water pollution, sustainability reporting is mandatory in financial reporting in India, Pidilite has taken many initiatives to shift reliance from fossil fuels to renewable energy, the unit is ZLD (Zero liquid emissions), we are the first among many companies to publish sustainability reports certified by external auditors, At the same time, it also implements good human resource management.
"All of these initiatives provide a solid foundation to support our customers in reducing their carbon footprint," Chowdhury added. "From time to time, ink manufacturers request modifications to pigments to reduce impurities that are harmful to end users, and Pidilite has been a leader in working closely with them and delivering products that comply with demanding regulations.
"If the requirements for cost, performance, hue, color intensity, etc., are seen as immutable, in other words, if we cannot deviate from these standards, then it is very difficult to make pigments that are 100 percent sustainable," he said. Mike Rester, Printing Marketing Department Manager, Heubach Group. "We do incorporate some parts of sustainable materials, for example in our quinacridone chemicals. Heubach's quinacridone pigments can be made in part from bio-based raw materials while maintaining the same high quality and performance, and the use of bio-based raw materials can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 33%.
"Another way we make an impact is energy consumption," adds Rester, "by changing our process steps to reduce this demand, treating and treating wastewater through the responsible use of resources means constantly reducing waste volumes and improving treatment and recovery rates."
"As a California-based manufacturer, we are bound by strict air quality rules and are constantly looking for ways to further reduce our carbon footprint," said Darren Bianchi, Brilliant Color's president, "We evaluate new raw materials and continue our efforts to improve manufacturing energy efficiency."
Suzana Rupcic, global inks, Color Materials business Management Leader at Sun Chemical, observed that the pigment market is expanding its sustainability goals and requirements.
"Pigment manufacturers are looking for ways to make their products more sustainable, whether by substituting more environmentally friendly ingredients or sourcing from suppliers who can demonstrate their sustainability efforts," Rupcic noted, "There is a clear demand for sustainable products, and to keep up with customer demand, manufacturers must modify the way they develop pigments."
"At Sun Chemical, we offer a wide range of sustainable pigments that provide the answer to compostability in packaging printing or sensitive applications to protect human health," Rupcic added, "The correct pigment chemistry supports the overall compliance of products with compost purity limits, and printing inks (including pigments) remaining on compostable packaging surfaces must remain within EN 13432." Relevant components include volatile substances, heavy metals and fluorine. Thanks to our long experience with purity limits for sensitive applications such as food contact materials or toys, we have built a comprehensive pigment portfolio that meets the highest purity standards to support a sustainable future.
"Orion takes sustainability very seriously," Carlos Hernandez, Marketing Manager of Coatings and printing Systems for the Americas at Orion Engineered Carbons, said, "We have announced our ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, and as our CEO Corning Painter stated, Climate change poses an existential threat to our industry, but for companies like Orion, it's also an opportunity to develop innovative solutions to our challenges.
Hernandez noted that Orion has been using different approaches to address these opportunities, particularly by developing "green" carbon black for the printing industry.
"Renewable oil, which is already technically feasible, will become an important feedstock," Hernandez added, "Using renewable oil as feedstock is one of the most capital-efficient means of decarbonizing production processes within the scope of currently visible technological trends, but there are several c's on the path to completely replacing renewable oil in carbon black production over fossil fuels."
Liberty Specialty Chemicals Sales Manager Tim Polgar noted that Liberty Specialty Chemicals works with customers to meet their requirements based on their predictions.
"Liberty Specialty Chemicals has a buffer amount of inventory to ensure we can handle peaks in new or unpredictable business," Polgar added. "This business model that we have implemented has proven that we can guarantee sustainability for our customers.
Phillip Myles of Colorscapes reports that sustainability is an issue, especially for large ink manufacturers, as the last few years have shown that continuity of supply is no longer guaranteed.
"Ink manufacturers view sustainability as the availability of their products and their ongoing compliance with regulations," Myles added.
Neil Hersh, head of marketing and technical services at Eckart America Corporation, noted that sustainability is a broad topic that includes many aspects such as climate neutrality (CO2 emissions), recycling (sorting, deinking), bio-based raw materials, and more.
"Close collaboration is needed throughout the supply chain, including effect pigment suppliers, ink manufacturers, printers, and brand owners, to better understand market needs, as well as to conduct testing to obtain data for making claims and validating specific results," Hersh said.
