Sun Chemical has launched a comprehensive and innovative sustainability process - leading to the development of a series of inks and coatings specifically for the narrow-web tag, label and sleeve market, which has been recognized by TLMI’s Calvin Frost Sustainability Leadership Journey Award in the “suppliers” category, promoted by the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute (TLMI).
The award received by Sun Chemical is very significant, earned by a TLMI member company that has publicly set goals and begun implementing short-term actions aimed at long-term metrics to improve its business through sustainability efforts.
A decisive element for the recognition obtained by Sun Chemical were the characteristics of a portfolio of printing solutions, renewed in the name of improved sustainability, which we outline below.
- Sun Chemical’s SunVisto AquaGreen water-based renewable inks series has significantly higher levels of biorenewable naturally derived resin content. These carefully formulated inks are not only resistant to abrasion, water and grease, they offer superior performance and lower carbon footprint through the replacement of fossil fuel–derived raw materials with renewable alternatives.
- SolarFlex UV -curable ink series is designed to provide high adhesion without the need for a primer for a range of challenging substrates, which lightweights packaging and reduces carbon footprint. An additional sustainability benefit is the use of less energy and decreased inventory and waste at the converter site.
- SolarFlex CRCL ink technology for shrink and nonshrink applications is designed to be used without a primer and to wash off a label or be retained on the label, depending on the material to be recycled, with no discoloration of the wash water or recycled plastic.
- SunCure high-resistance UV flexo coatings enable a mono-web label structure as an alternative to laminations, which saves adhesive, film, processing time and final label weight—all reducing carbon footprint. Sun Chemical also offers solvent- and water-based versions of the coating.
- Worthy of recognition, finally, is the Sun Chemical Dispenser Program, which utilizes ink-dispensing technology that mixes exactly what is needed when it is needed, allowing reductions in cost and inventory. The technology is supported by Sun Chemical with calculations to measure the specific carbon footprint savings for converter operations and locations.
Circular economy: a programmed commitment
The information in the text is taken from the 13th Sustainability Report of Sun Chemical (a member of DIC Group).
The 2023 edition focuses on recent and significant acquisitions and on the ever-wider portfolio of solutions offered, including the integration of BASF Colors & Effects, providing, therefore, an updating of the investments made so far by the company. The research for sustainability continues to be, therefore, a decisive element of its business, both for the way in which it develops and offers products and how it relates with customers and suppliers to reach circular economy objectives, facing the global challenges regarding energy and interruptions in the supply chain.
These are almost obligatory actions, expressed, moreover, in the definition of sustainability adopted by Sun Chemical and interpreted as “the design of products or processes that reduce environmental impacts to mitigate climate change, to preserve natural resources and/or reduce the accumulation of waste with respect to products or processes” … They are general concepts applying to all the technological, product and market areas in which the company operates and which also encapsulate its approach to the supply chain and product end-of-life.
