Water Base Inks and Coatings, A Compliance Option for Publication, Packaging and Product Gravure, 1992 Environmental Conference Proceedings

The gravure printing process depends on the transfer of highly liquid ink from recessed cells engraved into the gravure cylinder to the printing substrate. Traditional gravure inks have a high content of low boiling, volatile organic solvents to achieve low viscosity and ease of drying by solvent evaporation between printing stations.

At present, most of the industry employs state-of-the-art solvent recovery or vapor incineration systems for effective emission reduction. Still, it is difficult to meet the increasingly stringent emission restrictions, especially for new presses. In some branches of the gravure industry, water base inks and coatings have become attractive compliance options, eliminating a number of regulatory difficulties. In other areas of the gravure industry, there are formidable obstacles of a technical nature to the successful use of water base systems.

This presentation gives a summary of the regulatory requirements, the technical constraints, and the current status of water base ink and coating use in the gravure industry.