Trial run: Siegwerk and APK AG’s test series
Siegwerk, one of the world’s leading providers of printing inks for packaging applications and labels, and APK AG, a specialist in the production of high-quality plastic recyclate from packaging waste, have completed de-inking trials of twofold printed LDPE-films.
‘The goal of a quality-driven recycling process is to create a recyclate which is as transparent as feasible and which can once more be reused in packaging applications. Successful de-inking is essential,” said Klaus Wohnig, CEO of APK AG. In spring 2020 the R&D unit of APK AG tested a number of LDPE film
samples, which had been printed twofold with yellow, red, black and blue inks of Siegwerk.
The test series aimed to establish whether APK AG’s solvent-based Newcycling recycling technology could fully remove Siegwerk’s inks from the polymer matrix. The film samples were treated with the Newcycling solvent and dissolved. The obtained polymer solution still contained printing ink components. The dispersed inks were then removed with a filter unit
explicitly designed for the process step of de-inking, featuring a very high selectivity level. The de-inking tests of the red, black and blue samples produced near-virgin transparency. In case of the film printed with yellow ink,
a marginal yellowness remained after the treatment.
“We are very pleased that printing inks from Siegwerk have proven to be suitable for solvent-based recycling processes,” said Ralf Leineweber, Head of Global Technology Development at Siegwerk. “We have mastered a much-discussed challenge for efficient recycling of flexible packaging.
“In line with the principles of the EU Green Deal and the new Circular Economy Action Plan our Newcycling-technology aims at closing cycles for flexible packaging solutions deemed unrecyclable up to now,” said Hagen Hanel, Head of Plastics Recycling Innovation Center at APK AG. “We aspire to combine the environmental benefits of recycling with high-quality performance of the
recyclate.”