INX International Ink Co., a global supplier of inks and color management technologies, has several sustainable packaging ink options it plans to discuss with package printers and converters at INFOFLEX 2022. Scheduled for March 13-14 at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Texas, INX (booth 715) will be exhibiting at the first live INFOFLEX event the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) has staged in three years.

INXhrc, GelFlex-EB and INXFlex Contour inks address key initiatives regarding sustainability that are important to brand owners, customers and consumers.

Renee Schouten, director of marketing for INX, believes this event is a perfect match since FTA is the professional society that unites and represents printers, suppliers and consumer product companies in the flexographic world.

“Delivering innovative, safe and sustainable solutions that enhance the customer experience is our top priority,” she says. “We develop products to have minimal impact on the environment, using renewable, natural-based raw materials from ethical and sustainably managed sources.”

INXhrc natural-based inks were the first to reach the market when introduced at INFOFLEX five years ago. Their rise in popularity is attributed to brand owners and food packaging providers shifting their priorities towards using safer and more sustainable natural-based inks.

Using fewer chemicals compared to traditional inks, INXhrc does not contain allergens, nanomaterials, fluorochemicals, fanal pigments, heavy metals, latex or PTFE. Since they employ clean, bio-renewable and sustainable ingredients, CO2 emissions have been significantly reduced and more than three million pounds of petro-chemically derived resins, waxes and additives have been replaced.

GelFlex-Electron Beam flexographic inks are making a difference by reducing or eliminating lamination layers in favor of surface print. Introduced last year, these ultra-high, solid gel-based inks thicken rapidly for high-speed trapping in the wet state. Fluid for CI flexo printing, the end result is a multi-colored print design for food packaging and a variety of household, industrial, outdoor, pet food and pet care products.

INXFlex Contour inks are the newest of the three. A dynamic new UV and LED flexographic ink system for shrink sleeve applications, these inks offer high performance and maximize shrink contouring while eliminating post-shrink adhesion loss and ink flaking. Known for its excellent transfer and fast drying capabilities and printability at high press speeds, the Dual Cure (DC) version provides the opportunity to switch from either UV or LED unit by unit.

“All three inks provide brand owners and printers what they need for the marketplace today,” concludes Schouten. “Whether your priority is with recycling and sustainability, reducing your overall ink consumption and generating energy savings, or having the best substrate and most cost-effective solution for your application – or a combination of – we have the right product for you.”