AWP™ Plates Enable Flexo to Replace Gravure and Offset Printing
Tokyo, Japan & Brussels, Belgium, September 11, 2024. The mother company of Asahi Photoproducts, Asahi Kasei Corporation, headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, today announced that CCL ASEAN, headquartered in Thailand and a subsidiary of CCL Label, one of the world’s largest label printing companies, has adopted Asahi AWP™ CleanPrint water washable flexographic plates with a goal of replacing technologies such as gravure/offset printing with flexographic printing enabled by Asahi’s Carbon Neutral plates. To date, CCL has implemented Asahi AWP™ water washable plates and processing equipment in plants located in Thailand and Vietnam. The company operates plants in Thailand and Vietnam, with plans to use Asahi AWP™ solutions to other plants in the Association of Southest Asian Nations (ASEAN) region as well.
CCL ASEAN is using Asahi plates and flexographic printing to produce high-quality shrink sleeves and pressure-sensitive labels. According to Kittipong Kulratanasinsuk, Vice President & Managing Director, CCL Label ASEAN, “We chose to work with Asahi in implementing these Carbon Neutral water-washable flexographic plates to deliver more sustainability, durability, and quality, especially in highlights, to our many customers across the region. We believe this will be a significant differentiator for us as we continue to grow our business across region with support from our partner, Asahi Kasei.”
Water-based and UV inks flexo printing has lower VOC emissions compared to printing technologies with a large amount of solvent-based inks such as gravure.. Furthermore, water-washable plates use a water-based developing solution, avoiding the use of organic solvents containing VOCs, thereby reducing associated CO2 emissions even more.
As part of the Asahi Kasei group mission to contribute to “life and living for people around the world,” Asahi will continue to promote solvent-less flexo printing with water-washable AWP plates, aiming to eliminate solvents from the packaging printing process and reducing the environmental impact of printing operations, thereby contributing to the realization of a more sustainable society.
For more information about products and solutions from Asahi Photoproducts that contribute to life and living for people around the world, including Asahi AWP™ water-washable plates and plate processing systems, visit www.asahi-photoproducts.com
