Sun Chemical, part of the DIC group, is a leading producer of printing inks, lamination adhesives for flexible packaging, paints and additives, pigments, polymers, liquid compounds for ink jets, solid compounds for the coloring of plastics and application materials.
Together with DIC, Sun Chemical has an annual turnover of over 8.5 billion dollars and over 22,000 employees serving its customers across the globe. Sun Chemical Corporation is an affiliate of Sun Chemical Group Coöperatief U.A., Netherlands, and it has is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, U.S.A.
For more information, visit www.sunchemical.com or connect to the company’s Linkedin or Twitter account.
As a manufacturer of inks, pigments and paints - an integral part of the finished packaging that have a significant impact on its characteristics - Sun Chemical has always paid the utmost attention to sustainability issues, and is strongly committed to developing and promoting low environmental impact solutions that are widely used in many applications in the packaging industry. Sun Chemical’s approach to sustainability and the circular economy - based on the “5Rs” of Reuse, Reduce, Renew, Recycle and Redesign - guides not only how the company develops, manufactures and distributes its products, but also how it works with customers and suppliers. Working with industry leaders, Sun Chemical deploys a wide-ranging strategy of reducing global CO2 emissions, increasing the use of bio-renewable and recyclable materials, while promoting the value of these activities throughout the supply chain. Since 2009, Sun Chemical has published its annual Sustainability Report, which can be downloaded
Prodotti
Bio-renewable, test-proof inks
Among the eco-friendly Sun Chemical proposals, there is the series of bio-renewable water-based inks, SunVisto Aquagreen, whose formulation contains a high quantity of raw materials obtained from renewable vegetable sources instead of petrochemical-based inks of fossil origin. These inks are, in fact, made up of a significant part of vegetable-derived resins (starch, sugars, by-products of cereal production...) and are indicated for food packaging that is more natural, cleaner and more ecological.
SunLabel EPBP
The commitment to contribute to the development of recyclable packaging has led Sun Chemical to the formulation of a new SunLabel EPBP line of solvent-based flexographic and gravure inks, which is positioned as a series of high-performance inks for PP bottle labels intended for recycling, able to respond positively to QT507 of the European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP), an association that aims to standardize a series of tests aimed at determining the actual sustainability of packaging.
The QT 507 test allows, in particular, to determine the influence of components of non-PET origin in the recyclability of PET bottles, with a specific focus on inks. By simulating the process of removing the PP label from the PET bottle, the test verifies the resistance of the structure of the inks to soda. The goal is to ensure that the inks do not stain the washing solution needed to remove the label from the PET bottle, a requirement that is indispensable for the bottle itself to be recycled several times. During the test, the effect that a caustic environment, at high temperatures and subjected to the abrasive power of r-PET flakes has on the printing is determined. A positive result is obtained if the solution remains clear and colorless, the flakes uncolored and the print intact.
SunColor Box
Digital color management allows you to optimize the resources of the production process: it significantly reduces ink and media waste and lowers energy consumption, while decreasing print preparation time by up to 30%. SunColorBox is Sun Chemical’s global tool designed to help you better manage digital color, through an integrated workflow that allows an easier and faster color production process, ensuring color accuracy and consistency, reducing production costs, improving efficiency and time-to-market.
One Sun Chemical tool to help printers and converters achieve color without having to invest in specific sample colors is SunECG, a seven-color solution that enables extended color gamut (ECG) printing.
Laminating Adhesives
Sun Chemical and DIC are introducing SunLam, a new series of laminating adhesives that includes a full range of solvent-based, water-based and solvent-free products, for the many needs of the market: from dry goods packaging applications to those requiring high heat and/or chemical resistance.The family of laminating adhesives also includes a number of special solutions developed specifically to meet the growing demand for more sustainable packaging. Among these innovations, we highlight the solvent-free adhesive certified industrial compostable, the series of adhesives with specific characteristics to improve the oxygen barrier properties and the solvent-free adhesive “ultra low monomer”.
Conventional Offset
Continuing on the path of increasing sustainability and environmental stewardship, two of the most popular conventional offset series on the market - Sunlite DIAMOND and Sunpak FSP - have received Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Bronze certification from the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, an award given to the safest and most sustainable products made for the circular economy, globally.
The range of products for food packaging printing - up to now constituted by Sunpak LMQ and Sunpak FSP - has been expanded with the introduction of the Sunpak DFP series, specifically designed for direct-to-food printing. The formulation is vegetable-based (79-88% of the raw materials come from renewable sources) and safe in terms of migration and organoleptic contamination; all its pigments and components are approved as food additives. The series is offered in conjunction with the acrylic coatings of the SunStar DFC range, which are characterised by high resistance to humidity and grease.
The series of Sunpak FSP inks has evolved into a new product that better meets the needs of the paper industry: Sunpak FSp Eco Pace. The new series maintains all the previous version’s characteristics of food suitability, to which is added greater productivity. With a view to ever-greater sustainability, the Eco Pace series has been C2C certified at “Platinum” level (using the yellow FEP29). In the editorial field, this level has also been reached by the SunLit INTENSE Platinum series, a modified version of the SunLit INTENSE series.
UV Offset
The UV offset range has been expanded to include the SunWave Lumina LH series and its equivalent for food packaging: SunWave LED FSP. These two series have been developed for UV-LED drying printing and are characterized by excellent lithographic behavior and reactivity. SunWave Lumina LH also provides excellent deinkability on paper and thus allows easy recycling of the printed product.
Narrow Web
In line with what has been developed in the offset sector, Sun Chemical has developed a complete range of UV LED flexo inks. This is SolarWave FSP, a series dedicated to the printing of products intended for food packaging. Also based on the Solarverse® concentrated basestock system, the series is a perfect match for the existing system consisting of Solarflex Integra (standard printing), Solarflex FSP (food packaging printing) and Solarflex Endure (outdoor polyethylene packaging printing). Sleeve whites: the range of opaque whites, has been completely revised introducing on the market new products with higher performance and “dual cure” (cross-linkable with standard UV lamps and UV LED).
To complete the offer, a series of Flexo LED SolarWave FSP inks is available alongside the Standard series named SolarWave INTEGRA. Again, in this case, the use of Solarverse universal bases enables perfect integration between the various systems.
Solarclear UV Digital Coatings
The range of UV coatings for the finishing of digital printed products (HP Indigo) has been expanded to include two products with exceptional mechanical resistance: SunEvo Protect LEP HD Gloss & Matte. These two coatings, formulated using special raw materials, give digitally printed labels exceptional resistance, enabling them to pass the most stringent transit tests.
Screen Printing
Sun Chemical offers next-generation screen printing ink systems:
- ZGM. Environmentally friendly and user-friendly inks, offer advantages for printers and end customers and meet the highest technical requirements. Based on high quality resins, they are suitable for many technically demanding applications such as glass, metals, coated substrates, PP, PE, Duroplastics, PMMA, PA.
- SunVetro VTGL-BAF. UV-curable (both mercury and LED) Bisphenol-A (BPA)-free inks formulated for printing on glass. They provide excellent adhesion and physical and chemical resistance, no VOCs.
- SunHytek Decomold. PC DMS Solvent-based inks specifically formulated for automotive IMD/FIM (In Mould Decoration/Film Insert Moulding) processes. They can be used for the fabrication of front panels, such as automotive dashboards, particularly where 3D designs are carried out.
Digital Printing
In a perspective of continuous development, Sun Chemical has further enriched the Streamline® range (for wide and super-wide format prints) and from 2020 it offers solutions that improve stability and print quality, such as TUL2, NL ESL 2 (GBL FREE) and APY (WB for Kyocera heads), and other UV series to equip printers equipped with Kyocera, Ricoh (4, 5 and 6), Spectral and Konica Minolta heads. We also highlight the expansion of the textile section, Suntex, with the digital Sun Chemical division Sensient.
