A host of companies are lining up to showcase their products and innovations at Labelexpo Europe 2023, which will be held in Brussels, Belgium from 11 – 14 September.
If UPM Raflatac is displaying its sustainable solutions, Asahi Photoproducts is targeting Solvent ZERO. HP Indigo on its part is showcasing end-to-end digital production.
UPM Raflatac
For UPM Raflatac, a global supplier of innovative and sustainable self-adhesive paper and film products, its focus is on labeling a smarter future beyond fossils. Its solutions include UPM Raflatac’s products and services designed to enable its customers to Reduce, Recycle, Renew and Reuse.
Alongside its labeling solutions, visitors can explore UPM Raflatac’s RafCycle label liner waste recycling service and the Label Life lifecycle assessment (LCA) service.Visitors to UPM Raflatac’s stand (5D41) will have the opportunity to speak to the company’s experts and find out more about its products and services. Examples of the products being presented include Ocean Action labels made from ocean-bound plastic waste, the new PureCycle wash-off paper label materials, the RAFNXT+ paper label products and linerless labels.
Also, following the business’ recent acquisition of AMC AG and the Intercoat brand in 2022, visitors to this year’s Labelexpo Europe will be able to explore the Intercoat by UPM Raflatac product range, including the renewed T7 product portfolio.
Alongside its array of labeling solutions, visitors to the stand will be able to explore UPM Raflatac’s range of services, such as the RafCycle label liner waste recycling service and the Label Life lifecycle assessment (LCA) service.
Attendees can also take part in the MyRaflatac customer portal demonstrations. MyRaflatac is a tool designed to empower UPM Raflatac’s customers to make business decisions about labeling materials at any time of day, any day of the week.
The company will be present at stand 5D41.
Asahi Photoproducts
Asahi Photoproducts, a specialist in flexographic photopolymer plates, and a subsidiary of Asahi Kasei, will be located in Stand 5a34. Visitors will be able to learn how switching from solvent-wash to water-wash plates can not only make their operations more sustainable, but also reduce waste, improve print quality, and speed time to market.
“We are pleased once again to be exhibiting at Labelexpo Europe, the leading trade show for the label industry,” said Dieter Niederstadt, Asahi Photoproducts’ Technical Marketing manager.
“The majority of platemakers today still use solvent wash platemaking technologies, which often can generate unwanted odor in the ambient working environment. In this day and age, many people believe the manufacturers should be environmentally sustainable and create balanced solutions for a better working environment. The packaging printing industry should be taking proactive steps in this direction.”
This means creating a better future for platemaking sites and taking care of the people who work in those facilities.
Asahi Kasei, the company says, has developed a specific road map towards a Solvent ZERO solution that will help platemaking operations not only be more sustainable, but create a safer, more enjoyable work environment for their most valuable asset – their employees – as they migrate to a Solvent ZERO operation. At Labelexpo Europe, the company will be unveiling this road map and helping visitors understand their best pathway to a Solvent ZERO future.
Asahi water recycling unit and Solvent Zero
Asahi Photoproducts will also introduce its updated AWPTM wastewater recycling unit for use with AWPTM plate processing systems. The Asahi Photoproducts water-washable AWPTM-DEW CleanPrint flexographic plates have been certified Carbon Neutral by the Carbon Trust. In addition, to increase the sustainability of its platemaking solutions even more, Asahi says it has developed this innovative water recycling system for AWPTM plate processing equipment.
Asahi Photoproducts will introduce its updated AWPTM wastewater recycling unit for use with AWPTM plate processing systems.The unit features proprietary filtering technology developed by Asahi Kasei that reduces wastewater by 75%, and detergent usage by 40%. In a standard 10-hour-per-day plate processing operation, the system can process plates up to 38 sqm (410 sqft). This further increases sustainability in flexographic operations.
This filtering technology, under the brand Microza, is Asahi Kasei’s hollow fiber membrane separation technology that delivers cutting-edge water treatment capability, as well as a wide range of uses in other industrial processes. In the AWPTM wastewater recycling unit, this technology has been optimized to meet increasingly strict regulations on wastewater discharge.
Carbon Neutral AWPTM and CleanFlat water-wash plates are the most sustainable approach to flexographic platemaking. At the show, Asahi Photoproducts will be distributing an informative white paper explaining why carbon neutrality is important, why the CleanPrint technology was a key element of obtaining this certification, and discussing both the process the company underwent to attain this important status as well as its plans for the future. In addition, as part of its roadmap to a Solvent ZERO future for those platemaking operations currently using solvent wash plate technologies, Asahi Photoproducts has introduced a low-solvent consuming plate that will help companies make the necessary transition to Solvent ZERO.
HP digital production
As a market leader with the largest installed base and the widest portfolio of digital presses, HP Indigo is showcasing end-to-end digital production at Labelexpo. With the first presentation in Europe, both the HP Indigo V12 Digital Press and the recently-launched HP Indigo 200K Digital Press will be demonstrating digital efficiency, sustainability, and profitability for the labels and packaging industry.
Alongside the popular HP Indigo 6K Digital Press, converters will be able to learn how Indigo’s LEP and LEP X technologies can help them grow their business.
The company says V12 Digital Press ensures non-stop production and earning power; the HP Indigo 200K Digital Press delivers a 30% percent improvement in speed and 45 increase in productivity, and opens the door to more flexible packaging converters who want to enter the digital market; and the HP Indigo 6K is the versatile press offering E2E solutions.
The Digital Pouch Factory, featuring the HP Indigo 200K digital press, will also be demonstrated at the booth with prepress and finishing equipment. An elaborate application showcase will invite visitors to examine samples of unique and sustainable labels, shrink sleeves and flexible packages.
