Two industry leaders joined forces to showcase innovative solutions for sustainable flexo packaging printing
DuPont Packaging Graphics and EskoArtwork, two of the leading suppliers in the flexographic and packaging industries, report excellent attendance at Emballage 2008, the International Packaging Exhibition which took place in Paris, France, Nov. 17 – 21. DuPont and EskoArtwork, building on their successful long-term collaboration, presented solutions for a packaging value chain focused on environmental sustainability in package design, print and production.
Brand owners, print buyers, and printers are very interested in environmental sustainability and the DuPont/EskoArtwork display featured the results of two peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies recently published by DuPont. The LCA findings indicate that use of the flexo process versus gravure results in reductions in both non-renewable energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of approximately up to 50 percent when converting flexible packaging plastic films. A second study compared thermal to solvent platemaking for flexo. That study indicates that thermal imaging allows a reduction in non-renewable energy of approximately up to 60 percent and a reduction in greenhouse gasses of approximately up to 51 
percent. The full report, Life Cycle Assessment: Flexographic and Rotogravure Printing Comparison & Flexographic Plate Imaging Technologies, is available at www.cyrel.eu/sustainability
“After contributing years of improvements to flexo print quality and productivity, DuPont is now helping customers understand how they may reduce environmental impacts of their production activities,” said Pier Luigi Sassanelli, marketing manager, Packaging Graphics, EMEA. “The LCA studies are data-driven analyses that support the eco-efficiency of both flexography and Cyrel® FAST technology.”
Cyrel® FAST, a special platemaking system that uses thermal technology, uses no solvents, which sometimes might have a unpleasant odour, and eliminates the need for solvent handling, lengthy record-keeping and stringent cleaning of accidental spills.
Another focus at Emballage 2008 was collaboration with major tradeshops, printers, converters, consumer packaged goods companies (CPG's), and retailers to raise public awareness of some of the steps the packaging industry is taking to support the reduction of its environmental footprint. The collaborative projects are designed to demonstrate how the environmental sustainability advantages of modern flexography and Cyrel® FAST thermal technology can help the entire chain’s environmental goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and non-renewable energy consumption without compromising print quality and brand integrity.
“At Emballage 2008, we built on some important work we began after announcing the LCA results at Drupa,” said Sassanelli. “We are excited to be working with these leading tradeshops, printers, converters, retailers and CPG's because they clearly are committed to moving in the direction of a more sustainable packaging world.”
Participating tradeshops, printers and converters include Comelli Pack, Médialliance, Décomatic, Miller Graphics, Anphocolor, Stratus Packaging, Sealed Air, Barbier, Uni-Packaging, Semoflex and RKW; Casino, L'Oréal, Danone, Cadbury and Reckitt Benckiser are among the retailers and CPG’s participating. The projects are based on the LCA results and include capturing raw material, energy, waste and emissions data from image carrier manufacturing to printed packaging substrate from both suppliers and packaging manufacturers.
About DuPont
DuPont (http://www.dupont.com) is a science company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel.
About Packaging Graphics
DuPont Packaging Graphics (http://www.packaging-graphics.dupont.com) is a global leading supplier of flexographic printing systems in digital and conventional formats; including Cyrel® brand photopolymer plates, Cyrel® FAST processing equipment, Cyrel® round sleeves, mounting and finishing products. DuPont Packaging Graphics operates R&D and manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe. Customer Technology Centers are located in Europe, Asia, North and South America to provide excellent technical support to the Packaging Graphics industry with DuPont™ Cyrel® solutions.
For additional information on DuPont and DuPont Packaging Graphics products and services, please call +49 (0)6102 18 4400, email Jean-Pierre.Richard@dupont.com or visit the web sites at http://www.cyrel.eu
