Ilford launches Biomedia laminate and screen print separation film

Ilford will unveil its first screen print separation film - an addition to its Omnijet inkjet media range, and its first fully biodegradable laminate - an addition to the BioMedia range, at the show.

The Swiss manufacturer described the Omnijet screen print separation film, which can be imaged on a roll-fed inkjet printer such as an Epson 4900, as a recyclable, high-performance alternative for the UV and visible light print separation market.

Commenting on Ilford's first screen print consumable, product marketing manager Matthew Littler said: "We have quite a long history of very high quality coating and an intimate knowledge of film, so we've applied those two competences together and created a really nice product that gives extremely high Dmax when used with normal, off-the-shelf, aqueous pigment inks."

The film offers high levels of resolution and density, with a Dmax of up to 4.5 (UV) and 3.1 (visible light). It is compatible with a range of inkjet devices, and is said to have instant drying and good registration properties thanks to accurate feeding, a dimensionally-stable base and, ease of use and good water resistance.

"Typical Dmax's for the industry on UV hover around late-threes, early-fours," explained Littler. "It's a logorithmic scale, which means a Dmax of five would be twice as dense as a Dmax of four, so a Dmax of 4.5 is quite a big step ahead."

Ilford will also launch a BioMedia laminate in gloss and matt finishes at Drupa 2012. Littler said the 75 micron laminate would significantly reduce the environmental impact of laminated products such as banner stands and in-store retail display boards.

"Something like 80% of pop-up banners get laminated and most of the materials used for lamination are PVC, which is about the nastiest thing you could think of in terms of disposal - you can't recycle it properly, if you burn it it gives off dioxins and hydrogen chloride, and it biodegrades in about 1,000 to 2,000 years," explained Littler.

"So the laminates that we've launched are a cellulose-based product - available in matt and gloss and in popular sizes to suit roller banners and pop-ups - and because they're cellulose-based they're very biodegradable."

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