Leading printing ink manufacturer Siegwerk has launched a new range of advanced LED UV flexo printing inks for food and pharmaceutical packaging applications.
“Siegwerk regards LED UV curing as one of the growth drivers in the market," said Rolf Montag, product manager, narrow web business unit at Siegwerk Switzerland AG. "We anticipate a volume-related switch from conventional UV to low migration UV inks in the printing market in 2016. A further expansion of applications will enable printers to use LED UV inks for their full range of print jobs."
Expectations of UV printing inks are very high, particularly in the food and pharmaceutical packaging segment – users want the highest level of product safety at minimal migration risk coupled with optimal efficiency and short production time, said a statement.
Seven years ago Siegwerk’s ink specialists were the first to demonstrate the use of inks, which had been matched to the specific radiation spectrum of LED UV light, on a Gallus EM 280 at Labelexpo 2009 in Brussels. Today, it is again Siegwerk, which is launching low migration LED UV inks for food and pharmaceutical packaging as well as label applications on the market, following a series of extensive and successful production tests. By launching the SICURA Nutriflex LEDTec ink series, Siegwerk is specifically expanding its low migration UV printing ink portfolio.
The advantages of LED UV technology are perfectly obvious. In contrast to conventional UV emitters that feature mercury vapor lamps, LED diodes only emit the light of a very limited spectral range, which avoids very high-energy IR radiation as well as hazardous UVB and UVC rays. Other benefits include energy efficiency, low heat generation, the long service life of LED UV lamps, as well as zero generation of ozone and therefore no need for suction removal. Furthermore, UV power is available as soon as an LED UV system is activated, so that the process does not require any warm-up phase.
With the motto We color the future, Siegwerk will exhibit at this year’s drupa in Booth A58, Hall 3. Visitors can meet Siegwerk experts and obtain more information about Siegwerk’s range of products and services including its portfolio of UV printing inks.
Siegwerk, a sixth-generation family-owned company with headquarters near Cologne, is one of the leading international manufacturers of printing inks and individual solutions for packaging, labels, and catalogues, employing 4,900 people worldwide in more than 30 countries.
