HP PageWide True Water-Based Inks were 1 of 10 technologies selected to receive a 2019 InterTech Technology Award from the Printing Industries of America.

The HP PageWide digital corrugated press portfolio uses A30 Water-Based Ink for the PageWide T1100 series pre-print corrugated presses and CV150 Water-Based Ink for the HP PageWide C500 press for post-print. HP PageWide’s true water-based inks are free of UV reactive chemistries, offering converters many environmental benefits and the ability to produce more corrugated applications digitally.

“HP is honored to receive a 2019 InterTech Technology Award for HP PageWide True Water-Based Inks, recognizing this breakthrough HP ink formulation that will help HP and its customers transform the corrugated industry to a more sustainable, environmentally safe and responsible economy,” said Eric Wiesner, GM, PageWide Industrial Division, HP Inc.

HP serves the digitally printed corrugated packaging market using its true water-based inks for the HP PageWide Press portfolio, including the HP PageWide T1100 Series and PageWide C500 presses, Wiesner said.

“Within the corrugated transformation from analog to digital, HP’s true water-based ink technology is innovative and differentiated from the other digital technology providers, which are characterized by UV ink technology,” he added. “This differentiation is distinct by competitive advantages to HP’s converter customers and their brand clients who use the printed output with confidence.”

According to Wiesner, HP PageWide A30 inks for the T series press and CV150 for the C500 press are more than 65% water by weight, “so formulations have low concentrations of volatile organic components (VOCs) to deliver many workplace and environmental benefits.”

The PageWide A30 and CV150 true water-based inks were created specifically with the corrugated packaging and display market’s needs in mind, he explained.

“While UV inks contain reactive chemistries such as photoinitiators, which can migrate through packaging media and contaminate food, HP PageWide true water-based inks are lacking any UV reactive component, and contain no hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and very low volatile organic compounds (VOCs), thus providing additional health and safety benefits,” Wiesner said.

What are the main applications?
“HP PageWide corrugated press printing with true water-based inks delivers vibrant graphics and offset-quality making it suitable for a wide range of applications, including sensitive products such as food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and infant care,” Wiesner said.

The development of the “high-durabilty, yet truly water-based” inks is the “fulfillment of years of investment and is a testament to our vertical integration of ink development, media coatings, and thermal inkjet printheads, which enabled us to meet strict food safety guidelines while providing the highest image quality in the digital printing corrugated market,” Wiesner noted.

What sets these inks apart other ink on the market?

“HP’s true water-based inks have been tested by a third-party laboratory as having no perceptible odor. Some brands set odorless as a prerequisite requirement, and due to the distinctive odor of UV curable inks, ban this technology completely,” Wiesner said. “HP’s inks are odorless and free of UV-reactive chemistries, enabling a wide range of packaging applications, including primary and secondary packaging for sensitive uses such as food and personal care while requiring no additional barriers. HP PageWide inks were designed with environmental considerations in mind and contain no heavy metals, phthalates, halogenated solvents, aromatic hydrocarbons, or other hazardous substances.”

What can customers expect when using the inks?

“Corrugated packaging converters and brands can benefit from standard print as a means to support a circular economy strategy,” Wiesner said. “PTS, an independent testing laboratory, confirmed corrugated converters can use HP PageWide corrugated presses to supply packaging products suitable for the production of new recycled fiber-based paper for packaging, with no need for extra steps or costly processes, according to the PTS testing report. 

“HP Pagewide true water-based Inks are designed by HP to meet worldwide regulatory requirements and to address a broad range of health and environmental considerations throughout the entire life cycle of a print from production to disposal,” he continued.

“HP is the only vendor to have fulfilled the Intertek Guidelines for the Safe Use of Printing Inks to provide safety requirements in accordance with global regulatory and industry guidance, including Swiss Ordinance, Nestlé Guidance, FDA, EU Framework, and others,” Wiesner added.

“HP PageWide true water-based inks are uniquely certified for stringent UL EcoLogo. This third party certification indicates that HP’s inks were tested by UL to comply with stringent requirements, and meet a range of multi-attribute, lifecycle-based criteria related to human health and environmental considerations,” he concluded.

How is PageWide being adopted in the marketplace?
“The HP PageWide T1100 web-based press has been on the market for three years and our customers are seeing double-digit growth YoY (Year over Year) in high graphics print volume. HP PageWide C500 customers are also quickly attracting business as worldwide brands respond to our true water-based inks and market-leading image quality,” Wiesner said.

Feedback from end-users
“We needed a digital solution for primary food packaging. After we researched digital presses from multiple OEMs, we knew we wanted to differentiate with inks containing no UV-reactive chemistries,” said Louie DeJesus, CEO of CompanyBox.

“The HP PageWide digital printing solution gives agility to provide up-to-date packaging quickly to farms for shipping to consumer outlets,” added Sav Tsoukalas, president, Savco Worldwide, Inc. “Another advantage is the easy recyclability of HP PageWide digitally-printed corrugated packaging, which can be collected along with general corrugated materials from stores for recycling. PageWide packaging also meets retailers needs for food-grade ink.”

Courtesy HP