Print, Pack, De-Ink, Repeat: Sun Chemical’s Vision for Sustainable Digital Packaging

By FuturePrint Editorial Team

Dr. Simon Daplyn, Product and Marketing Manager at Sun Chemical, delivered a lively and thought-provoking presentation at FuturePrint titled “Print, Pack, De-Ink, Repeat”—a rallying cry for greater circularity in digital print for packaging.

In a talk laced with humour and deep technical insight, Daplyn tackled the persistent challenges and fast-evolving opportunities facing digital packaging today. From inkjet speed and cost myths to the critical role of de-inking in achieving sustainability targets, he painted a clear picture of how digital print can—and must—support a circular economy.

Digital Print: Time to Focus on the ‘Why’
Daplyn began by debunking some long-standing objections to digital print in packaging. Is it too slow? Not anymore—presses at drupa were running at 350 metres per minute. Too expensive? Perhaps on a per-litre basis, but not when you factor in reduced waste, faster changeovers, and the brand value delivered by high-performing inks that last well beyond the print process.

He also highlighted how digital print enables agility in today’s packaging landscape, where shorter runs, versioning, and personalisation are on the rise. According to research cited from Smithers, declining run lengths are driving a surge in the number of individual jobs, with estimates of over a million additional print jobs annually in carton board alone—an environment tailor-made for digital.

De-Inking: A Key to Circular Packaging
The heart of Daplyn’s talk centred on de-inking—the process of removing printed ink from packaging substrates so that the material can be recycled effectively. As packaging increasingly moves toward circularity, de-inking has emerged as a critical enabler.

“Once the ink is on the pack, it’s part of the product—it provides branding, safety, and regulatory compliance,” Daplyn noted. “But after use, it must be removed to allow for high-quality recycling.”

Sun Chemical has coined the term “washable inks” to describe solutions designed for optimal removability during recycling, particularly for plastics. Daplyn explained how different substrates require different recycling methods, and how formulating inks to produce filterable, non-bleeding particles in caustic washes is key to ensuring clean flake and minimal contamination.

Digital Labels: When Retention is Better
Interestingly, de-inking is not always the goal. In label recycling for PET bottles, current U.S. and EU regulations require that ink be retained on the label, not removed, to avoid contamination of the bottle’s plastic. In such cases, the ink’s ability to stay fixed during the wash process is essential to ensuring the underlying material remains recyclable.

Innovation and Adaptation Will Drive Progress
Daplyn concluded by pointing to the flurry of innovation happening across the industry—biobased materials, de-inking primers, new UV monomers, and substrate-specific formulations—all aimed at extending the usable life of materials.

“We have the technology,” he said. “Now it’s about evolving our thinking. The more we can design for recyclability and removability, the closer we get to true packaging circularity.”