{"id":856,"date":"2019-04-29T16:54:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T16:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/?p=856"},"modified":"2024-01-30T11:12:20","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T11:12:20","slug":"substrate-recycling-innovations-from-print-provider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/?p=856","title":{"rendered":"Substrate recycling innovations from print provider"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\" The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We tend to expect the makers of substrates to be the ones who come up with affordable and recyclable materials, but Australia\u2019s Cactus Imaging is putting those manufacturers to shame. Cactus Imaging is Australia\u2019s market leader for large format digital print, with extensive international and domestic client bases. It has worked with a major customer to develop a recyclable billboard material that can replace PVC which is more commonly used in Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In most markets billboards are printed on paper based substrates, however these tend not to do well under Australia\u2019s harsh climactic conditions, so PVC tends to be the preferred material. But PVC is hard to recycle in mixed plastic recycling processes because of the amount of chlorine and other additives it contains. Its components must be separated out before they can be recycled which is expensive. And PVC can last up to fifty years in landfill, so it\u2019s often incinerated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cactus Media\u2019s research and development team, Australian Ethical and Benedict Media, Australian Ethical\u2019s media agency, together came up with SmartSkin. SmartSkin is basically high density polyethylene formulated to meet the needs of a billboard material. It was initially developed for a specific campaign for Australian Ethical, the country\u2019s leading ethical wealth manager which has thousands of clients across Australia. Australian Ethical looks for sustainable investments, shunning companies that harm the environment, so it wanted a more environmentally friendly option for out of home advertising. Once an advertising campaign finishes, SmartSkin can be recycled into furniture, fence posts, decking and all manner of recycled polymer products created from industrial moulding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cooperation is part of a larger shift amongst Australian advertisers to find more sustainable and cost effective printed communications options. The Cactus Imaging material works in Australia\u2019s climate and so it\u2019s more sustainable than PVC, as well as delivering the right mix of quality and cost. In addition to the SmartSkin substrate, the ropes used to mount the billboard can also be recycled. There is a cost premium, but not much of a one, so Cactus Imaging will offering the material to its other clients. Given the massive volumes of output this company is responsible for \u2013 one Cactus Imaging customer has some 26,000 sites \u2013 SmartSkin could make a massive difference to the sustainability of plastics and their recycling in Australia and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Laurel Brunner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project,<\/a> an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print\u2019s positive environmental impact. This weekly commentary helps printing companies keep up to date with environmental standards, and how environmentally friendly business management can help improve their bottom lines. Verdigris is supported by the following companies: Agfa Graphics<\/a>, EFI<\/a>, Fespa<\/a>, HP<\/a>, Kodak<\/a>, Kornit<\/a>, Ricoh<\/a>, Spindrift,<\/a> Splash PR<\/a>, Unity Publishing<\/a> and Xeikon<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner We tend to expect the makers of substrates to be the ones who come up with affordable and recyclable materials, but Australia\u2019s Cactus Imaging is putting those manufacturers to shame. Cactus Imaging is Australia\u2019s market leader for large format digital print, with extensive international and domestic client bases. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=856"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1863,"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856\/revisions\/1863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}