64 | Actega EcoLeaf“Packaging must be sustainable and beautiful - and embellishment needs to be there. But you shouldn’t be throwing away unused materials in doing so. That is the Ecoleaf metallizing unit integrated with Omet printing and AB Graphic fnishing technologyvision of EcoLeaf”that would not be possible with a standard 50m/min or go to 20-micron with max these are Germark in Spain and Vollherbst, varnish, Grasso says. No drying or curing is 25m/min,’ he states. Kolbe-Coloco and All4Labels in Germany. needed, and the metalized web passes to ‘With inkjet embellishments, we have a All4Labels’s WItzhave, Germany, facility the next stage in the printing or converting continuous fow of printing, with computer was the frst to install the EcoLeaf unit on sequence. fles activating the digital print bar. A series a digital hybrid press. Guided by Actega’s of short runs, perhaps of 500m can be R&D team, All4Labels has been testing Seamless inline and near line integration run with immediate changeover and no several papers and flms and began sample The EcoLeaf metallizing system can be material waste,’ Grasso says. production at the beginning of 2022.integrated to run inline on narrow web Chen Yan, head of global operation presses and offine into fnishing equipment. Operational effciency technology, All4Labels, says: ‘The biggest At the end of 2021, an agreement was Besides quality and sustainability, EcoLeaf component is the CO2 placed on the supply reached for AB Graphic International to contributes to lower operating costs in a chain. We all need to make incremental become exclusive distributors of EcoLeaf variety of ways. changes in every business area to reduce with the company’s converting machines. First is reduced stock holding, as CO2 footprint drastically. We must also Actega showcased the EcoLeaf system eliminating the need for foil also cuts show how we are supporting that reduction on a Gallus press and demonstrated logistics and inventory costs. A tank of and enabling the younger consumer the productivity and fexibility for fexo ink substitutes piles of different colors, generation to succeed and achieve their applications. The metallizer is mounted on diameters, and widths of foils – and their own sustainability goals. As a technology an optional overhead rail system which is management. that is helping us to improve our CO2 easily slid into any position in the printing Machine operation is straightforward, footprint by 50 percent, EcoLeaf is an sequence. Only a standard anilox roll is like any inking process: the metallizing unit example of that commitment.’suitable for applying the trigger image. features single button activation. With no Certainly, for analog print applications, For fexo, Actega claims speeds of up to reels, splicing or tooling, setup times are EcoLeaf metallizing speeds are comparable 70 m/min are possible at optimum quality limited to plate and screen exchange for with traditional foiling speeds. Even so, the and stability. analog processes, while inkjet avoids R&D team at AMP continues to investigate these altogether. ways of driving up printing speeds. The key Screen if you want to print thicker Donor roller exchange takes seconds, challenge to running at 120m/min and Using screen printing, Grasso claims enabled by a foot pedal-activated air beyond is maintaining water and metal single-pass laydown of up to 80-micron compression. separation when the system spins faster, thickness is possible. The combined fexo Also, Actega leases rather than sells which is essential for image sharpness. R&D and screen effects can be metalized using a the unit to converters, charging on a continues to raise the gloss count further single pass: it is simply a matter of applying pay-per-use basis. and optimize suitability on a broader range the trigger image with those processes The elimination of waste also helps the of substrates.before metalization. converter reduce the burden of 800 USD There are plans to market EcoLeaf outside ‘Flexo is extremely beautiful on flms per ton levied by the EU on non-recyclable Europe from 2023 and, in due course, apply or coated papers or for very fne details, plastic packaging. the technology to wider web packaging like linework or micro text. With fatbed Furthermore, the metalized coating is markets.or rotary screen printing with the EcoLeaf, safe for microwave ovens because, as seen Grasso says: ‘Packaging must we get the beauty of haptic effects, under a microscope, the fakes do not quite be sustainable and beautiful - and simulating the embossing effect even on touch each other. There is no conduction embellishment needs to be there. But flm,’ Grasso says. beyond a few centimeters of the surface. you shouldn’t be throwing away unused For inkjet, a digital UV print bar is used However, this makes EcoLeaf unsuitable for materials in doing so. That is the vision of to jet the trigger image with 600x1200 printed electronics. EcoLeaf: achieving excellence with fewer resolution Ricoh Generation 5 printheads, materials, more process simplicity and chosen according to Grasso ‘because of Beta tests fexibility, more effciency, with less waste.’their capability of achieving the necessary In 2019, beta testing began at several jetting volume for haptic effects.’ label converting facilities across Europe Visit www.actega.com/emea/en/ ‘For inkjet applications, EcoLeaf will to raise performance on fexo, screen, brands_EcoLeaf for more informationrun apply a 10-micron deposit at up to digital and hybrid digital presses. Among labelsandlabeling.com