Asahi Photoproducts is showcasing sustainability for flexographic platemaking at Labelexpo Americas 2022. At the show, Asahi Kasei is located at Booth 845, where the company has been featuring its AWP-DEW CleanPrint flexographic plates. These plates are on their way toward achieving Carbon Neutrality, the company states.

“In addition to displaying our complete line of CleanPrint plates suitable for high quality label printing, we are also unveiling our new water recycling unit, a breakthrough in sustainability and water conservation for flexo plate production,” says Yuji Suzuki, technical advisor.

The new water recycling unit is targeted for larger Asahi plate processing systems. It features a filtering system that recycles up to 75% of the water used in plate processing, with only the remaining 25%, in the form of a slurry or sludge, to be disposed of. Forty percent of the additive used in the water wash remains in the filtered water, reducing the amount of additive required for processing subsequent plates.

“Fresh water is one of the earth’s most precious resources,”Suzuki adds. “We chose to develop water-washable plates to eliminate the need for polluting solvents. But at the same time, we wanted to find a way to minimize the use of that water. This recycling unit does just that.”

Asahi Photoproducts has also announced that it is well down the path toward achieving Carbon Neutral status for its AWP-DEW CleanPrint water-wash plates in partnership with The Carbon Trust, expected to be achieved soon. “Sustainability is a key focus for our parent company, Asahi Kasei,” Dieter Niederstadt, technical marketing manager, notes. “And we have their full support in pursuing our carbon neutrality objectives. We have been looking forward to discussing these efforts with visitors to our booth at Labelexpo Americas 2022 and explaining the importance of the type of accountability working with The Carbon Trust enables. It is one thing to claim that your solutions are green; it’s quite another to be able to back that up by accountable data including certification by a prestigious organization like The Carbon Trust.”

Asahi AWP CleanPrint water-washable flexographic plates are processed without VOC-based washout solvents and deliver a faster time to press than VOC solvent-based plates. Asahi´s CleanPrint water-washable flexographic photopolymer plate technology’s ability to deliver high quality print performance is a result of its engineered photopolymer chemistry design.