Inkjet prints to become better deinkable
Finally: Cooperation with IJ printer manufacturers to find solutions
Since the first workshop in 2001 INGEDE has tried to get in contact with inkjet manufacturers in order to cooperate in terms of recyclability/deinkability. Despite many efforts at many occasions like the NIP conferences and a multitude of personal e-mails, it took until spring 2008, after INGEDE had published another press release about problems in deinking inkjet.
In April 2008 representatives of Kodak Versamark, HP Inkjet and Océ Inkjet followed an invitation of INGEDE for a round table discussion, and as a result formed the Digital Print Deinking Alliance (DPDA) which is very much appreciated by INGEDE. Finally, the printer industry becomes aware of its responsibility for the total life cycle of the printed product. It is not sustainable (and not compatible with all the green claims being made) to place the costs of coping with the environmental disadvantages of a new product on somebody else’s shoulders rather than taking product responsibility.
INGEDE has always seeked the cooperation of all members of the paper chain. That is our business. Now there finally is a beginning cooperation between INGEDE and DPDA to improve understanding and to find solutions. A letter of intent has been signed in early 2011, joint tests atre planned but have not led to results yet. But it is just a matter of time until inkjet printed products become deinkable. After lacking any success, the cooperation with DPDA was on hold for several reasons but seems to gain momentum again in 2014.
Meanwhile, solutions come from other printer manufacturers: At the IPEX 2010 fair in Birmingham, two new inkjet printing systems from Fujifilm and Xerox were presented, using different approaches to achieve "good deinkability" according to the ERPC deinkability scores. For details see INGEDE's press release. These developments are an acknowledgment for the consistent dialogue of the paper industry with the digital printer manufacturers which INGEDE leads for a couple of years now. They also show that it is actually possible to design inkjet prints in a way that they work well in the existing system of paper recycling.
At drupa 2012, more deinkable print solutions resulting from intense cooperation with INGEDE have been presented.
And just before IPEX 2014, for the first time a web-fed aqueous inkjet printing system has delivered good deinkable printed products. Test prints from KBA’s high-performant RotaJET on uncoated newsprint paper have shown good deinkability in lab tests arranged by INGEDE.The RotaJET inkjet technology works with a polymer pigment ink, where the polymer stops the jettable fine pigments from bleeding into the fibres, collects them, and thus improves both brilliance and removability. An optional “Control Fluid” improves the deinkability even further (see INGEDE press release).
Overview Digital Print Deinking
Summary of the first workshop and more publications
INGEDE's press release about deinkable inkjet inks at IPEX 2010
INGEDE's press release about better deinkable inkjet inks at drupa 2012
INGEDE's press release about KBA's deinkable inkjet ink at IPEX 2014
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