There is a significant push to grow electron beam (EB) technology in the packaging arena. There are numerous advantages over UV and UV LED, the leading energy curing processes; EB does not require photoinitiators and can eliminate the need for lamination. On the other hand, equipment costs remain the largest hurdle.

Still, the promise of enhanced production efficiencies and sustainability could pay off for converters and their customers. Wikoff Color, in collaboration with numerous partners, is working on bringing Gelflex EB flexo inks to a wider audience. The partners say the time is right for EB flexo to make significant gains in the packaging segment.

Wilson Paduan, partner/R&D director of TechnoSolutions, formulated Gelflex ink systems, with an eye on creating a more environmentally friendly ink.

“The driving force behind the development of Gelflex was sustainability,” said Paduan. “Gelflex was formulated in response to the demand for a more environmentally friendly ink system. Although it wasn’t possible to remove 100% of the solvents in this first generation formula, the reduction in solvents is still significant, achieving between 5 to 10 times less when considering the lower amount of ink applied per square meter.”

Wikoff Color has licensed Gelflex, and is bringing the EB flexo inks to a wider market. To do so, the company is coordinating its efforts with a wide range of companies spanning the printing industry.

“We have been working closely with multiple key partners including EB curing experts ESI – Energy Sciences Inc., press manufacturers Comexi and Bobst; plate manufacturers Asahi, Kodak and Dupont; plus major brand owners, primarily in the food packaging segment,” said Daniel Cavalcanti, regional manager, LATAM for Wikoff Color.

Joe Kubasiak, market manager, flexible packaging for Wikoff Color, said that Gelflex offers several advantages in terms of productivity.

“EB technology uses lower energy to cure, which helps reduce costs associated with gas and/or electric heat for interstation drying,” Kubasiak reported. “Gelflex also allows converters to print thinner ink films while producing sharp dots and high definition, sometimes even when cutting anilox volume nearly in half. In addition, EB flexo technology can eliminate the need for lamination and help to reduce the overall film structure, effectively reducing the number of equipment passes.

“With the ability to utilize surface print, Gelflex opens up the possibilities for specialty coatings to provide different haptics (texture, matte, gloss),” he added. “Because Gelflex inks will not cure until passing through the EB unit, the ink can stay in the press for hours or days. This maximizes production by minimizing interruption to clean the press between shifts and print jobs, simply check viscosity and temperature and you are good to go.”

Along those lines, Evan Benbow, Wikoff Color’s R&D director, pointed to a variety of advantages of Gelflex in terms of sustainability.

“One of the unique features of Gelflex is that it offers a surface print option for flexible packaging,” Benbow observed. “If you compare to laminations, we derive a number of benefits in regards to sustainability. Immediately, we can begin lightweighting structures by removing the outer layer of PE typically used to protect the inks and replacing the PE with an OPV. We can also consider deinking of plastic structures, now that the ink is no longer hidden in a lamination, which enables higher value recycled plastic since the colorants are removed. Deinking also enables the supply chain to develop all PE or PP structures, which are easier to recycle now that you have removed mismatched plastics within the packaging.”

Wikoff Color said that they are getting excellent feedback on Gelflex, adding that the environmental benefits are bringing new interest from the food packaging industry.

“We continue to receive very encouraging and positive feedback on Gelflex,” Daryl Collins, VP, international and corporate services for Wikoff Color, said. “Today we have customers producing packaging in South America, South East Asia and Europe, and soon we will have a new major customer in North America. Gelflex technology continues to evolve to meet the constant strict demand of brand owners and the food packaging industry regulations.”