Fibre is good for you: Dispa from Antalis is made from 100% recyclable cellulose
Digital print technology and its applications continue to develop at a relentless pace, especially in the wide-format sector. How are paper board and other substrates suppliers reacting? Vince Collins investigates.
Retailers could be making significant savings on their landfill tax by using recyclable sign and display materials. So says paper merchant Antalis, pointing out that the considerable volume of sign and display materials produced for the retail sector each year costs them on average £120 per tonne in tax and gate fees when it’s sent to landfill. Through careful selection of the right products, retailers can negate these costly charges.
Chris Green, head of channel at Antalis UK, comments, ‘Retailers in the UK have reduced waste by 26% since 2000, with a target of sending less than 1% of their waste direct to landfill by 2020. Food and packaging waste are the high-profile areas that tend to be focused on, but there’s a real opportunity for retailers to both reduce waste and landfill charges through recyclable signage in their outlets. When you consider the volume of sign and display materials created in the sector, there’s a significant waste- and money-saving opportunity.’
A combination of desirable properties and a 100% ecological proposition mean that Dispa is growing in popularity amongst retailers, says Antalis. A sign and display board suited for short-term, indoor displays, Dispa is a 100% cellulose fibre product, made from 3A composites with multiple layers of 100% recyclable, FSC-certified paper. It’s a robust alternative to plastic products, is strong and rigid but lightweight and offers a smooth white surface to help make graphics stand out.
Mr Green continued, ‘The retail sector is so fast-moving, it’s inevitable that the area of sign and display is going to change frequently. Retailers need to know that the sign and display products they invest in are of high quality and attractive to the consumer. In delivering high quality temporary signage which meets this brief, as well as being fully recyclable DISPA allows retailers to maximise both the environmental and financial benefit of recycling.’
Trampled underfoot: PPB sells a range of durable materials for flatbed UV-cured applications like this
Richard Proctor, managing director of distributor and converter of point-of-purchase materials and substrates PPB said, ‘PPB stocks a wide variety of both wide format reels for digital print but also specialises in a wide range of products suitable for large format UV flatbed printing. One of the strengths we have at PPB is to offer a cut-to-size conversion service to offer the flatbed UV printer a prompt service on across a multitude of interesting product groups from our new logistics centre in Leeds.’
Mr Proctor continued, ‘We have noticed a real increase in customer’s requirements for final cut job-sized sheets and panels as they are looking at ways to reduce both material wastage and their stock levels – orders tends to be job-specific. Many clients also need a fast turnaround and our conversion service is often within 24 hours from order to delivery. Our cutting and sheeting facilities and own fleet of vehicles help customers to reduce their own production lead times and guarantees accurate conversion prior to production – very rarely does a printer order for stock.’
PPB stocks products that include Foamalite Foam PVC, Polycasa Crylux and Crylon Acrylics, Dispa and Priplak. The company also keeps a wide range of self-adhesive digital media on the reel.
Heavy investment in digital
EBB Paper has invested heavily in digital products to meet the demands of the commercial digital sheet-fed market. The EBB stock range covers paper, board, synthetics and self-adhesive. The portfolio has been developed specifically to work with digital technologies, and most of the products are certified and or guaranteed for use on high volume digital presses. EBB has recently been appointed as an approved reseller/distributor of the Canon and Océ ranges of paper and inkjet materials.
Also as part of its digital strategy EBBs is working with Iggesund to launch a range of folding boxboards and SBS products that are guaranteed for digital printing across all machine types. These include Invercote G and Creato, along with Incarda Silk and Excel. These grades will complement an extensive range of two-sided coated and uncoated products that are already stocked in board weights. Coated products include Chorus Gloss and Silk, Galerie Art Gloss and Satin Tango Digital. Uncoated products include DNS Indigo, Porcelain and Vision Colour Digital.
The AIMS Group consists of 12 independent paper merchants, located throughout the UK and Ireland. As the need for digital substrates has increased, the group has developed the Charta range to service this requirement. Charta includes board products specifically designed for digital photographic media applications (both gloss and matt); fine-art prints and banner and film applications.
Retail therapy: Pyramid’s range includes more than 100 products including paper, card and display board
Pyramid Display’s 340-page catalogue includes over 100 product ranges, including 50 branded products. The range encompasses rigid sheet materials; papers, card and display board; printing films, and digital roll products along with the Mactac and Avery ranges.
Brett Martin specialises in the manufacture of specialist plastic products for construction, roofing, engineering, print and display. ‘We provide screen and digital printers the widest choice from one trusted supplier,’ claims sales director Duncan Smith. The portfolio includes Foamalux Foam PVC. Light in weight, versatile and highly durable, Foamalux has earned a reputation for its premium performance in a wide variety of creative applications in signage, display and other print. The range comprises four variants: Foamalux White, a bright white direct-to-print PVC substrate available in thicknesses from 1-24 mm and UV-stable for digital printing; Foamalux Colour which offers a palette of 15 colours; Foamalux Ultra, a durable rigid foam PVC sheet with a high gloss premium finish available in white and six colours; and Foamalux Xtra, which is manufactured from recycled foam PVC, comprising a recycled black core sandwiched between surfaces of white virgin PVC to yield a high quality finish.
Cotton-rich: Materica from Fedrigoni includes cotton and other fibres for volume and strength – and is digitally printable
Specialising in the production of fine papers for printing, publishing binding, packaging and stationery, Fedrigoni supplies luxury brands to printers and packaging manufacturers. Their digital products include Materica; Sirio Pearl and Ultra Black; Splendorgel Extra White; Arcoprint 1 EW and Tintoretto Touch Class.
UK wide-format printers have never had such a wide choice of substrates – and the choice continues to grow.
