Asahi receives FTA's Sustainability Excellence Award

The Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) has awarded Asahi Photoproducts the Sustainability Excellence Award for the company's AFP-R reduced solvent CleanPrint flexographic plates.

Asahi Photoproducts, a subsidiary of the Asahi Kasei in Japan, is a pioneer in flexographic photopolymer plate development, and its AFP-R plate is specially designed for high-quality flexible packaging, label and paper applications.

'We are very honored to receive this prestigious Sustainability Award,' said Aki Kato, executive, senior general manager of photoproducts division. 'The AFP-R plates are a step along the road to Solvent ZERO, which is our philosophy for contributing to the improved sustainability for the printing and packaging industry by eliminating VOC-based washout platemaking and reducing both energy usage and time to market due to shorter tact for washout and drying time.'

The AFP-R plate is a solvent washable plate with reduced environmental impact and improved pre-press and press productivity. It can save 30% in solvent use and is 50% faster in platemaking, saving time and energy.

The award marks another milestone in Asahi’s sustainability journey, reinforcing its dedication to continuously improving product development in balance with the environment. This is a hard flexo plate for high quality flexible packaging, label and paper applications, featuring several improvements when compared to a standard solvent-wash plate. It is also a step along the Road to Solvent ZERO for the approximately 70% of flexographic plate making operations that still use traditional solvent-based washouts and would like to reduce solvent usage without the need for additional investments in equipment.

Aki Kato added: 'We are eager to continue creating new products and solutions which can help our clients ultimately migrate to an environmentally balanced solution such as our water washable AWP or AFP-R CleanPrint plates which are based on our unique polymer development culture.'

CleanPrint plates from Asahi Photoproducts have been specifically engineered by Asahi’s chemical engineers to transfer all remaining ink to the printed substrate, reducing makeready time, ink consumption, and press stops for plate cleaning while delivering exceptionally consistent quality.

In March, Jet Technologies expanded its portfolio with Asahi's AFP-R reduced solvent flexographic plates.

Asahi Photoproducts is planning to further highlight its sustainability message at drupa later this month.