Product > Packaging > Flexible Packaging

  • Sun Chemical is the world's largest producer of inks and coatings for packaging applications, including water, solvent, UV and EB curable packaging inks. Sun Chemical packaging offers a choice of products to match whatever printing process you may use: Flexography, Gravure, Digital, Screen and Offset.
  • Environment and consumer protection
    New technologies, new opportunities: Sun Chemical develops and offers to the market alternative technologies to conventional solvent based inks with water based inks to take into account environmental concerns for flexible packaging. Special water-based Flexo inks for plastic films, surface or reverse printing reduce dramatically the solvent emissions and polluting gas for a better protection of nature.
  • Technologies and applications
    Sun Chemical has developed a global concept based on modular semi-finished coloured products and a large variety of adapted technology varnishes that meet printed material requirements.Sun Chemical proposes conventional technologies and also specialties based on patented polyurethane resins. The alternative water-based technologies are of course available at Sun Chemical, the objective being a better environment respect.

  • Reverse printing inks for the Packaging Application
    • Sun Chemical offers innovative solutions like flexo and gravure to customers with several technologies based on nitro cellulose ester free, PVB, modified Polyurethane technologies, and a complete range of inks suitable for most substrates used in the packaging industry. These products meet customer needs and fulfil the requirements requested by markets and product manufacturers, such as snack food, dry mix, coffee, cheese, fish and processed meats, frozen food, pet food, detergents and hygiene products.
    • These ink ranges are particularly suitable because of their key properties:
      • Easy handling and fast set up
      • High speed and low wastage
      • High bond strength
      • Strong adhesion on most of the substrates used
      • Very low solvent retention
    • Sun Chemical developed an alternative to solvent based packaging inks using water based technologies, which offer a better solution to forthcoming environmental regulations. These products have been specially designed for flexo and special end use, for example, plastic bags for wet pet food products.
  • Inks for Surface Printing
    • Sun Chemical offers conventional technologies based on Nitrocellulose and propionate solvent-based, flexo and gravure and special inks, based on Polyurethane technologies to get heat resistance properties. They can be finished with heat resistant lacquers, glossy or matt.
    • For cold seal applications, two dedicated technologies, based on nitro and PVB and tailor-made cold seal release lacquers and cold seal adhesives, offer the printer a total solution.
    • A new release lacquer, with a date coding property, brings added value to the printer with a cost effective solution.
    • Innovative water based technologies for plastic and foil substrates: PE and flexible films and markets such as mailing envelopes, grease proof paper, copy paper wrapping. A specially designed technology is offered to print aluminium foil, by flexo, for butter and margarine wrapping. These inks based on water based technology offer a better solution to forthcoming environmental regulations.
  • New Technologies: UV, EB, Digital
    • Sun Chemical is a leader in UV curing systems, whatever the application: sheetfed, screen and flexo processes for paper and plastic films, completed by a range of UV lacquers.
    • A new generation of UV inks, based on a Cationic system has been developed for flexo printing. This new generation offers undisputed benefits like:
      • Fast set up and very fast curing
      • Low and stable viscosity on press
      • Immediate adhesion on most plastic substrates
      • High speed and can be used for in-line converting
      • Very low odour
      • Very heat resistant
      • High quality graphic
      • Particularly suitable for shrink films
    • With this new generation implemented, SolarcatTM, the UV cationic Sun Chemical brand for flexo application offers a fantastic step change in UV inks for narrow web printing and mid web plastic films.
    • Sun Chemical also offers Electron Beam (EB) curable inks for flexo process and plastic films.  These inks cure thanks to an electron beam flow and do not need a photo initiator.
      • Advantages:
        • No photo initiator
        • Printing wet on wet (no inter-station curing)
        • Efficient curing with new generation of low voltage e-beams
        • Very low odour
        • Very low migration
        • Good resistance properties
    • For very short printing runs, Sun Chemical has specially developed a new technology based on ink jet and digital printing. This new range of digital ink-jet inks, which utilises a UV curing technology, is called FastJetTM, It offers a cost effective solution for small jobs. It has primarily been developed for post printing on corrugated sheets, but will be extended to flexible packaging and plastic films.
  • Specialities for Flexible Packaging
  • Sleeves
    • Sun Chemical has developed a new technology that offers ink ranges perfectly adapted to very severe shrinking conditions, sophisticated designs and various shapes of containers.
    • The films developed for this market are getting more and more complex and sophisticated, even though basic raw materials remain the same: PVC, PET, OPS
    • Shrinkage conditions are also more demanding, from infra-red to steam shrinking. Inks must often keep their properties, mainly flexibility and adhesion, with shrinkage ratios up to 80%.
    • A new range, especially dedicated to sophisticated container shapes, has been developed with a UV curing technology printed by flexo that meet the most critical requirements and respond to this fast market evolution.
    • Sun Chemical recommends inks that have high flexibility, very good adhesion and overcome IR and steam shrinkage issues.
  • Retort Packaging
    • Sun Chemical offers a family of products suitable for reverse printing for retort and boiling the bag pouches.  The markets involved include:
      • Soup sachets and sauces
      • Pet food bags
      • Boil-in-the-bag meals
    • These inks combine usual properties with a very good resistance to severe sterilization conditions.
  • High Barrier Coated Films
    • Specific ink series have been developed by Sun Chemical for high barrier films used for lamination. Substrates to print on are:
      • SiOx coated polyester
      • Alox coated polyester
      • PVOH or PVDC coated polypropylene
  • Inks for Special Effects
    • Sun Chemical designed a wide range of  inks offering special effects, fit for customised use or commercial and marketing impacts:
      • Metallic inks (silver and gold inks, foil simulation silver and gold, polychromatic)
      • Pearlescent inks
      • Thermochromic inks that change their colour thanks to temperature variations (reversible or irreversible)
      • Perfumed inks
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