The EncuPack (Energy Curable Packaging) project is being funded by European Union to improve the knowledge about UV links and to encurage the use of this efficient and more environment friendly technology.Ultra Violet (UV) inks are one of the growth areas in printing and packaging. They are part of the family of Energy Curable inks, that are set when they are transformed into solids by UV or Electron Beam radiation, unlike solvent based inks that dry by evaporation. UV advantages include:
However, a barrier to the wider adoption of this technology has been the lack of knowledge about best practices and trouble-shooting; particularly as UV typically requires closer tolerances and stricter printing procedures that some conventional printers have found difficult to implement. These issues are being addressed by the new EncuPack (Energy Curable Packaging) project that is being funded by the European Union’s EuroStars R&D program.
A group of industry and research organizations have joined forces to develop a training simulator and a diagnostic (trouble-shooting) help system — both based on a set of structured expertise and press tests. The partners for the EuroStars project include:
In addition, a select group of leading industrial companies working with UV have joined the project as “sponsors” to contribute their specialized expertise and to insure that the project results are robust, realistic, and reusable. These sponsors include:
The project was approved by the European Union in 2011; work among the partners started in June, and the first plenary meeting was held at the UPM Augsburg Training Center in October 2011. Project results will be available in 2014.
