Flint Group Paper & Board has introduced TerraCode, a new water-based ink and coating range for paper and board packaging applications.
Kim Melander, VP and general manager of Flint Group Packaging Inks EMEA, comments: “Flint Group is acutely aware of increasing societal focus toward sustainable packaging. Therefore, we are pleased to present a full range of bio-renewable inks and coatings, for use in paper and board printing, which is designed to address global environmental concerns.
“Our development teams have gone beyond a one-size-fits-all technology approach to design three product series that more effectively support printers’ and brand owners’ differing print and sustainability requirements. With TerraCode, we are delivering a solution, through ink and coating developments, to unlock certain sustainable package print challenges that paper and board converters and their customers are facing.”
Scott Mosley, vice president of technology, paper, and board North America, adds: “The TerraCode range has been designed to support a wide variety of paper and board applications, including corrugated post and pre-print, food wraps, folding carton, cups, paper bags, and aseptic packaging. We have effectively developed a bio-renewable ink range that is suitable for all paper and board applications.”
In addition to its goal of supporting printers and their customers to meet sustainability objectives, Flint also says that its TerraCode range delivers on the necessary requirements for premium packaging results, such as high print quality, product consistency, and ease of use. The inks and coatings are bio-renewable content (BRC) certified and reportedly sustainably sourced. The range is also available as print-ready or via a building block package.
The TerraCode range includes three separate products, each with different attributes. TerraCode Bio has been designed with a high level of bio-renewable content, where a typical formulation is made up of more than 90% renewable resources.
TerraCode Hybrid uses a combination of renewable and conventional raw materials, and typically contains in excess of 50% renewable resin content.
The last product in the range, TerraCode Balance, is based on biomass balance technology – a process that seeks to maintain the performance of existing synthetic solutions
Scott Mosley further explains: “Our focus on the environment is not limited to materials alone. The TerraCode range has been developed using a combination of natural feedstock options – natural pigments, resins, additives and biomass balance materials - that do not compete with food or facilitate deforestation. For Flint Group, using a sustainable source for these materials is just as important as the renewable content itself. Furthermore, we have extended our strict raw material review policy to include renewable source information.”
