万度视频

Sustainability, resource conservation, environmentally friendly materials and fewer carbon emissions are all trends in packaging and its production processes also significantly impacting packaging prepress. For several years, N盲gele Digital Repro GmbH of Kempten, Germany, has been focusing on sustainability and strategies for leaving a smaller carbon footprint, both in its own operations and in products supplied to customers.

Sustainability principles translated into action

Putting its sustainability principles into action, the prepress and platemaking service provider uses energy from renewable sources, and has invested in a large solar system that is installed on the roof of its premises. The electricity generated by the solar panels meets 100% of N盲gele鈥檚 total energy requirements. Production processes in the repro and platemaking departments are likewise designed to reduce waste to a minimum, along with energy and material usage. The key: advanced color management based on customized profiles for every combination of press, ink system and substrate, contract proofs and a seamless color workflow.

FLEXCEL NX Technology also plays an important role in N盲gele鈥檚 sustainability strategy. The company has been a FLEXCEL NX System user since 2010 and expanded its FLEXCEL NX platemaking capacity in Spring 2021 with a FLEXCEL NX Ultra Solution, allowing customers to enjoy a solvent-free, VOC-free, water-based processing alternative.

FLEXCEL NX Plates account for 98% of the total photopolymer plates produced by N盲gele today; the tiny remainder are varnish plates for offset printing. The company operates two FLEXCEL NX Wide 4260 Systems and supplies numerous printers in Germany as well as several neighboring countries with FLEXCEL NX Plates, mainly for printing flexible packaging.

Success with the FLEXCEL NX Ultra Solution from 万度视频

About two years after the FLEXCEL NX Ultra Solution was added to N盲gele鈥檚 portfolio, FLEXCEL NX Ultra Plates already comprise half of the company鈥檚 platemaking output. 鈥淎ll FLEXCEL NX Technology meets our and our customers鈥� efficiency and productivity requirements perfectly,鈥� explains Managing Director Michael N盲gele.

鈥淚n addition, with FLEXCEL NX Ultra plates it takes less than an hour to deliver the first press ready plate, meaning we can respond promptly to last-minute changes in customers鈥� needs and they can keep their presses going. At the same time, use of the FLEXCEL NX Ultra Solution has enabled us to significantly reduce our company鈥檚 solvent consumption.鈥�

Michael N盲gele says the feedback received from packaging converters underscores FLEXCEL NX Plates鈥� excellent consistency and optimal ink transfer, which helps to come up to color faster during press startup, thus reducing waste and saving ink throughout the production run. 鈥淥ur customers also tell us that when they use FLEXCEL NX Plates, the intervals between plate cleaning on press are longer. All of these effects add up not only to better press efficiency, but also to a more sustainable flexographic printing process.鈥�

Addressing additional sustainability and resource conservation solutions

鈥淢aximum efficiency and productivity are top priorities today, but our customers are also increasingly demanding convincing answers to additional sustainability and resource conservation issues,鈥� adds Michael N盲gele. 鈥淔LEXCEL NX Technology delivers a range of sustainability benefits, and the FLEXCEL NX Ultra Solution offers the additional benefit of being solvent-free and VOC-free processed. Yet, even the aqueous UltraClean waterwash solution used in the FLEXCEL NX Ultra Processor must be replenished as plates are made.鈥�

Due to environmental regulations, FLEXCEL NX Ultra users would normally call a specialist firm to collect and recycle the wastewater 鈥� potentially involving transport as well as additional expense. Michael N盲gele was looking for inhouse recycling solution and a way to treat the wastewater on site and recover the water it contained.

Since 鈥渙ff-the-shelf鈥� recycling was not a feasible option, N盲gele joined forces with a plant engineering company specializing in recycling of liquid media to develop an inhouse recycling unit for the FLEXCEL NX Ultra Processor鈥檚 wastewater. 鈥淚t was a question of resource conservation and sustainability for us, not to mention economic efficiency, to find a technical solution that would allow us to recover and re-use water 鈥� a precious resource 鈥� in our plate production process. The investment of financial resources, time and effort 鈥� especially by Werner Rost, our Production Manager 鈥� was well worth it,鈥� Michael N盲gele comments. The specially designed system has been in operation at N盲gele since mid-April 2023 and is fully integrated into the production process.

Recycling cuts operational water consumption

Designed to treat 300 liters of used processing agent per work cycle and installed in the company鈥檚 warehouse, the unit has a footprint of 6m x 3m and works semi-automatically. The wastewater passes through several processing steps: First, chemical precipitation takes place in an agitator. This is followed by filtration through four filter bags connected in series and finally distillation of the water in an evaporator. The latter is powered by electricity generated by the in-house solar system.

The recovered clean water is returned to the FLEXCEL NX Ultra Processor鈥檚 washing process, with only small amounts of solid residue remaining. Out of 1000 liters of waterwash solution, about 30 liters of residual liquid still need to be disposed of and when the filter bags need replacing, they can be discarded as household waste after drying together with the filtered substances.

鈥淭he investment in this recycling unit makes good sense as part of our overall sustainability and resource conservation strategy 鈥� after all, we want the number of FLEXCEL NX Ultra Plates produced by us to continue growing,鈥� Michael N盲gele concludes. 鈥淲e see it as a decisive step towards further improving flexo platemaking鈥檚 eco-balance. We, our customers and ultimately also consumers and the environment are benefiting from this commitment.鈥�