Cambridge, 2 September 2020 – Xaar, a leading inkjet printing technology company, has introduced new packaging across its printhead portfolio, reducing its plastic consumption by 1.2 tons per year. In a business initiative to remove packaging complexity and improve sustainability, all Xaar’s printheads will be shipped in fully recyclable and biodegradable cardboard packs by the end of the year. This not only helps Xaar to deliver on its sustainability commitments but also supports customers’ own environmental initiatives.
Furthermore, different printhead variants, will be despatched to customers in one shipment package, helping to reduce the amount of packaging used and reduce the carbon footprint of transportation. The new improved packaging is lightweight and provides a stable cushion which can be custom fit to suit all Xaar’s printheads.
Dave Read, Head of Materials at Xaar said, “The new sustainable packs are fully recyclable, providing greater environmental benefits than the plastic clam shell boxes we had previously been using.
“With the move to cardboard we have not only removed a large amount of single-use plastic, we have also made our packaging easier for customers to recycle, while still providing the necessary protection and clear branding our printheads require.”
Protection from electrical:
The new style packaging is being rolled out with the launch of the new Xaar 2002 printhead range and the Xaar 1003 printheads, with the rest of Xaar’s portfolio to follow throughout the year.
The new corrugated cardboard packaging is itself made largely from recycled materials. In addition, product details, essential for identification purposes, are printed using only black, single colour, water-based ink – making the printhead packaging fully recyclable. Inside each box, the Xaar printhead is secured within a small anti-static bag to avoid contamination and protect it from any potential damage by electrical charges.
2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India
Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and
multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.
The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry.
While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately
their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book
printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.
The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.
Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.
Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.
Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.
– Naresh Khanna
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