Spain – Spanish researchers claim to have developed a new technology to remove printed ink from plastic films used in flexible packaging, obtaining a product free from ink and suitable for recycling.
Currently, in most production processes, plastic with printed ink is rejected. The high ink content reduces the viscosity of the plastic and creates a reuse problem.
The new method, developed and patented by the University of Alicante, enables the removal of printed ink through a physical-chemical treatment, retrieving clean plastic film. Also, the pigments obtained can be used in other applications. The technology has been successfully tested in a pilot plant.
According to Andrés Fullana Font, a professor at the University of Alicante’s department of chemical engineering, ‘the most important advantages of removing ink are, on the one hand, increasing the value of engineered plastic, matching the quality of the new plastic with a virgin one, and on the other hand, the selling price of recycled plastic compared to virgin plastic’.
Source: Science Daily
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