Ink, Innovation and Impact: How Nazdar’s CTO is Driving Sustainable Transformation

At a glance, the world of industrial inks might not seem fertile ground for bold innovation or sustainability leadership. But Evan Benbow, recently appointed Chief Technology Officer at Nazdar, is proving otherwise. With a background in energy storage and a chemist’s precision, Benbow is steering the global ink manufacturer into a new era—where science, sustainability, and strategic curiosity are closely intertwined. 

Benbow’s career did not begin in printing. After studying chemistry at Iowa State and Florida State universities, his early work focused on battery technology and energy storage. “I didn’t plan to become a chemist,” he says, “but chemistry made sense to me—like learning a language.” His time in the energy sector, casting carbon films for capacitors and batteries, unexpectedly laid the foundation for his next chapter: inks. 

“Ink formulation and electrode manufacturing share a lot of DNA,” Benbow notes. “You’re dispersing pigments, working with binders, and controlling how fluids behave on surfaces at speed.” That understanding of complex chemistry and flow behavior helped him transition into the print industry in 2015—a sector he admits most people overlook until they’re in it. 

Today, as CTO of Nazdar, Benbow balances the need to maintain the company’s broad and trusted product portfolio with the pressures of regulatory compliance and environmental responsibility. One of his first major focuses has been spearheading sustainability through the company’s “Nazdar Cares” initiative. Rather than being a siloed CSR campaign, Nazdar Cares encompasses environmental stewardship, employee well-being, and corporate responsibility. It is also crucially driven by data. 

“When I started, I went around the company asking basic questions—what do we do with our waste? How are we using energy and water?” says Benbow. This internal audit didn’t just uncover environmental opportunities; it brought departments together and revealed a company already doing many of the right things. “The culture here is strong. People want to do the right thing, especially when empowered with the right information.” 

One early and symbolic success came from a simple yet effective upgrade to Nazdar’s irrigation system. After noticing a seasonal spike in water use, the team replaced its two-decade-old controller with a smart system that adjusts for rainfall. The result? A saving of over 200,000 gallons of water per year—for a cost of less than $500. “It wasn’t glamorous, but it was measurable,” says Benbow. “And it inspired others to look for similar opportunities.” 

That spark led to further wins. Nazdar’s approach to pallet recycling, for instance, was transformed after asking a seemingly obvious question: Why are we throwing away usable pallets? The problem had been the odd sizes—unwanted by their original vendor. A quick call to a more flexible recycler led to the diversion of an additional 25 tons of wood from landfill. “It’s not just about saving money,” Benbow adds. “It’s about reducing methane-emitting organic waste and keeping resources in circulation.” 

Then there’s solvent reclamation—a more technical but high-impact intervention. Nazdar adjusted its solvent wash formulation to reduce volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and retain more solvent within a closed-loop system. Not only did this change help protect the environment and employee health, it also delivered financial savings. “It’s not the sort of thing that grabs headlines,” Benbow says, “but it has a real impact.” 

To structure and benchmark these efforts, Nazdar adopted the EcoVadis sustainability rating platform. Known for its rigorous scoring of environmental, social, and ethical practices, EcoVadis provided both external validation and a framework for internal progress. “It forced us to formalise what we were already doing,” says Benbow. “We submitted nearly 100 documents, but came out with a silver medal—which now guides us toward the next improvements.” 

EcoVadis also proved useful in strengthening commercial relationships. “It gives sales and procurement teams a shared language,” he explains. “Instead of everyone defining sustainability in their own way, you have clear criteria to assess your own business and your partners.” 

This shared understanding will become increasingly important as companies look beyond their immediate operations and toward their value chains. Scope 1 and 2 emissions—direct and purchased energy use—are already challenging to measure and manage. But Scope 3 emissions, which include upstream supply, product distribution, employee travel, and end-of-life impact, represent the next—and largest—frontier. 

“Scope 3 accounts for up to 80% of a company’s environmental footprint,” Benbow notes. “The problem is, most businesses aren’t set up to track that data in one place.” Nazdar is now exploring tools to bring visibility to this ‘hidden’ carbon cost and to model the effects of sourcing and logistics decisions. 

This emphasis on systems thinking and long-term data strategies aligns neatly with Benbow’s broader innovation role. “Sustainability and innovation are deeply linked,” he says. “Many of our R&D efforts now focus on reformulating inks to be safer and more compliant, particularly as UV-curable materials face reclassification due to health concerns.” 

These new formulations must meet an increasingly complex set of demands: low toxicity, high performance, regulatory compliance, and cost efficiency. “Sometimes the safer materials don’t work as well, or they break something we didn’t anticipate,” Benbow admits. “But that’s where real innovation happens.” 

For Nazdar, the goal is not simply to keep up with regulatory change—it’s to lead with science and set a practical example of responsible manufacturing. And while some sustainability efforts may seem small on their own, their cumulative effect builds a business culture that values action, evidence, and long-term impact. 

Benbow sums it up with characteristic pragmatism: “You’re not trying to compete with the biggest players. You’re trying to be better than you were last year. Start small, get curious, and build from there.” 

In a world where greenwashing is all too easy, Nazdar’s approach—rooted in chemistry, curiosity, and cultural alignment—offers a credible blueprint for the future of sustainable print. One small intervention at a time, this ink maker is helping to redraw the boundaries of what’s possible.