AquaLiona

Toyo Ink Mfg. America, LLC, a member of the Toyo Ink Group, commercially launched the AquaLiona series of water-based flexographic lamination ink for conventional and retort pouch packaging. Toyo?s new AquaLiona ink prints on various substrates ranging from BOPP, PET, PVDC coated films to nylon and works well with a wide array of lamination adhesives such as solvent-based, water-based and solvent-less types. On top of that, the new series can be used for retort food packaging applications with the addition of a hardener that enhances resin durability. This enables AquaLiona to withstand temperatures up to 250° Fahrenheit, thus making it the world?s first water-based flexo system to achieve this performance benchmark.

Toyo Ink newly engineered an ink resin and other composition components that comprise the basic structure of AquaLiona, improving its compatibility on various substrates and performance of various physical properties. With conventional flexo inks, there are discrepancies in print reproducibility and uniformity when applying the inks on to film. The new AquaLiona series, however, improves print resolubility and on-press stability and offers superior bonding strength, providing excellent transfer of inks from plates to films. Moreover, its remarkably low solvent (alcohol / glycol) retention and ability to handle microwave reheating makes retort-stable AquaLiona ideal for dry, oily or wet food packaging applications where product purity is an absolute must.

In addition to demonstrating superior performance under strict retort conditions, the new AquaLiona water-based system provides an excellent barrier to odor, particularly ammonia, further bolstering Toyo?s ever-growing eco-friendly product lineup. The Toyo Ink Group has long focused efforts on the development of environmentally compatible products such as water-based inks, solvent-recycling inks and solvent-less lamination adhesives for the packaging field as part of its commitment to reduce the environmental footprint of its products and operations.

?At Toyo Ink, we feel flexographic and gravure printing processes can coexist in the flexible packaging sector. Flexo printing technology is suitable for short-run jobs where the end-user is looking to reduce excess inventory or waste,? comments Toyo Ink Mfg. America?s packaging inks marketing manager, Shingo Harako. ?And as the majority of converters use flexo presses in the US, Toyo?s new AquaLiona product is sure to open up new growth avenues for converters not only to become greener, but also meet the high-purity packaging needs of their customers.?