Digital
HP heralds 'success' in de-inking inkjet print
HP has claimed that it is already making progress on the de-inking of inkjet print using standard flotation techniques.
The company is part of the newly formed Digital Print De-Inking Alliance (DPDA), which also includes Kodak, InfoPrint Solutions and Océ as its members.
The body is charged with pooling resources to come up with cost-effective and practical solutions to the problem of de-inking digital print.
Many of inkjet's competitors have claimed the technology is fundamentally not de-inkable, but HP senior scientist for inkjet R&D and environmental strategy Nils Miller, disagreed.
"We're an engineering company, so when we hear these claims we will always say 'show me the data, show me the data'," he said.
"We don't believe that inkjet is inherently not de-inkable; there's no reason why inkjet can't be de-inked by the flotation process. We already have preliminary studies that indicate conditions under which inkjet prints could be de-inkable.
"We've seen some success in just a few months."
Miller said that sub-micron ink particles of inkjet ink are too small to adequately separate in a flotation cell.
However, it is possible to create conditions for them to aggregate into larger particles that are hydrophobic, or water-hating, and so will attach themselves to air bubbles in the cell – and float.
"We already know a lot about aggregation of pigments, as it improves print quality," he said. "We're already seeing knobs, things we can twiddle with in this process."
According to research from Infotrends, in 2006 inkjet only accounted for 4% of the total paper stream. However, as the technology takes hold, that figure is expected to rise with recyclability of inkjet paper becoming a bigger issue.
The results of these initial de-inking experiments are due to be published within the next few months, but Miller said the DPDA would make more significant announcements next year.
Miller: confident inkjet can be de-inked
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Comments
Neil Stratton - 12 September 2008
"We don't believe that inkjet is inherently not de-inkable
Why so many negatives?
Why not just say?
"We believe that inkjet is inherently deinkable"
Are they not sure?
What do they believe about electroink?
Robert Raus - 15 September 2008
Mr. Miller,
Where can I get more data on the DPDA alliance? I applaud the effort here and would like to understand the current scope of this effort. In my opinion, the key for success will be to deliver progress in phases - by ink technology, substrate type and geographical market amongst others.
There is a need to address all types of inkjet inks including aqueous, solvent \(aggressive, eco-friendly and others) and also UV inks. Aqueous and solvent based inks are absorbed into the substrates \(papers, vinyl, paper boards, corrugated, etc.) and will require different processes than removing UV inks which tend to have extremely high adhesion rates, be absorbed less and dry on the surface of the substrates.
In addition to these industry leading companies, I suggest that several leading inkjet ink and substrate manufacturers, plus several leading waste management and recycling companies be added to this group. The group will benefit from increased knowledge and experience, and the market will benefit from a wider reach and faster adoption of the team deliverables and recommendations.
Matt Whipp - 16 September 2008
I should add that I've had a bit more clarification on this - the bonding agent that aggregates the particles that potentially makes the print recyclable is applied in the printing process. I think it's also fair to say that the DPDA isn't expecting much interest in joining from paper/recycling companies. It's a question I asked and for the main part they already have their own forums to share information, so don't really need another. This is why it's so important that the methods the DPDA comes up with fit in to existing processes such as flotation. For more see my blog.
Robert Raus - 16 September 2008
Thank you Matt for the update. The article on your blog also provides some good clarification in that HP’s progress to date applies only to pigment inks and not dye based, etc. This is not bad though really in that pigment inks produce higher quality images in general. However, dye based inks are less costly, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out – especially with print competing with the low-cost Internet in general for long term survival and growth.
I would still like to understand the objectives of the DPDA alliance though. For example, are they also going to investigate UV and various types of Solvent inkjet inks? Some suppliers, such as Agfa are touting UV as environmentally friendly already for example. The data would help the industry better understand the combinations of materials, inks and printing technologies – and the overall environmental impact of each permutation.
Axel Fischer - 19 September 2008
Robert,
We already have a forum to discuss deinkability issues within all members of the paper chain -- we call it Digital Round Table. INGEDE twice a year invites to that forum already for a couple of years (for more see www.ingede.com/digital). INGEDE has also tested digital prints and communicated the results since 2001. The inkjetters decided a while ago that they need a more specialized group also so they can discuss their issues within themselves and communicate them. So your suggestion for more others like recyclers or substrate manufacturers to join seems not to apply to that.
The DPDA outcome now is also a pr answer to the paper industry's communication of problems with the deinking of inkjet inks before drupa.
After testing inkjet samples gathered at drupa, we presented the results at NIP24 in Pittsburgh last week. We see the idea of creating a hydrophobic precipitate on the paper as the way to go for inkjet. Others are also looking into the same direction (with pigmented inks). But yet I do not see UV inks working this way. Many other UV cured inks (offset) create problems because the ink layer breaks into large particles that are difficult to remove. Our tests with some UV cured inkjet showed the same. Maybe research will also find a solution for that. The currently available inkjet printers should not be used for high volume applications likely to end in the paper collection in larger amounts, such as direct mail or newspapers, as those are not deinkable. Dry toner prints usually perform very well here.
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