Flint Group Narrow Web Commercializes EkoCure™ EBONY & IVORY UV LED products

Flint Group Narrow Web introduces EkoCure™ EBONY™ and IVORY™ as two of the newest products into the EkoCure™ family of UV LED curable products. EkoCure™ EBONY™ and IVORY™ are UV LED curing flexo black and white respectively that offer extreme density and opacity for flexo printed inks.

EkoCure™ EBONY™ can be printed with coarser anilox technology to achieve high densities and yet maintain excellent press performance speeds and print performance such as adhesion and scratch resistance.

EkoCure™ IVORY™ together with the latest developments in anilox technology, enables printers to achieve an opaque white layer cured with UV LED lamps previously only possible using UV LED screen whites. Providing that printers utilise the correct anilox engravings and a tested combination of plates and tapes, it is possible to print certain labels which high opacity white images which often required a rotary screen white.

Both products will increase press productivity – good results can be achieved at higher press speeds than when using conventional products, or UV rotary screen products, to produce similar results of density or opacity. These inks can be used in combination with other EkoCure™ products or conventional UV curing inks systems.

Flint Group Narrow Web won an Award for Innovation at The Label Industry Global Awards in Brussels September 2013 for its EkoCure™ UV LED ink technologies. Flint Group was named joint winner alongside co-supplier and development partner, Mark Andy.

The judges’ comments were, "UV LED, mercury and ozone free ink technology, from Flint Group now offers a commercially viable option with its new EkoCure™ inks providing improved cure response, cost and productivity savings, waste reduction, energy savings and enhanced safety that will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the future of the label industry.”

Flint Group’s EkoCure™ UV flexo and screen inks are the first-ever narrow web printing inks developed for use in combination printing. These inks perform to the highest standards and bring economical and ecological benefits to the market. First launched in the U.S. in 2012, these inks are now globally available through Flint Group’s extensive distribution network.