It’s no secret that sustainability is a hot topic, with the rapidly increasing awareness from consumers of the impact of the waste generated through the products they purchase. Flowing on from this, there is a growing expectation for brands to introduce sustainability into their manufacturing, material sourcing and packaging processes.
For a long time, consumers have exerted significant influence over the decisions a brand makes and as they started to advocate for change, a growing number of brands began to implement initiatives to become more sustainable.
Initially, some manufacturers responded to this shift through adapting their products or packaging to be more sustainable as a way of satisfying consumer demand. However, as the sustainability movement started to gain momentum and with the accessibility of information available online consumers began asking more questions.
It is becoming less acceptable to approach sustainability from the perspective of shelf appeal – consumers also want to know how the products they buy are being produced and what the impact that has on the environment.
One aspect in production that can generate quite a bit of waste and can often be overlooked is continuous inkjet (CIJ) coding – typically used to print the date, batch, and traceability codes onto both the primary product, and the carton it’s packaged in. The average CIJ printer can generate approximately 8.7kg of fluid waste per printer per year, and not only can that waste be harmful to the environment, but it also means a higher consumable expenditure.
Domino Printing has kept these factors front of mind with their Ax-Series CIJ printer range, introducing an optimised fluid management system that reduces both ink consumption and waste.
Another aspect of CIJ coding that while versatile isn’t very environmentally friendly is the MEK-based inks that the majority of CIJ printers use. Recognising this, Domino created an ethanol-based alternative for their Ax-Series known as the ‘green’ pack. This uses ethanol-based fluids which along with reducing the environmental impact also reduces fluid consumption and in turn overall consumable expenditure.
There is also an alternative technology which in certain applications can be a substitute for CIJ and that is laser coding. As the name suggests, it uses a laser to etch the code into the packaging’s substrate and it also requires no fluid consumables.
Adapting to sustainable manufacturing processes doesn’t necessarily mean spending more money. In addition to creating technology that is more sustainable, Domino has also achieved overall reduction in spend by their customers. If you would like to find out more about insignia’s coding solutions and how they can help you reduce your environmental impact click here.