Carlsberg selects hubergroup as ink supplier for beer labels

Danish brewing company Carlsberg has selected hubergroup as the main ink supplier for its beer labels in selected markets.

Last year, hubergroup launched a wide range of Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Certified inks and coatings for gravure print applications.

Carlsberg’s partnership with the ink manufacturer is reported to be part of its TogetherTowardsZERO programme, which is designed to make the Danish company’s products, packaging and other print materials more sustainable.

Carlsberg’s brand director Julian Marsili said: “Printing inks have major impacts on the recyclability of packaging because they are often recycled along with paper fibres.

“To improve the recyclability of Carlsberg labels in selected markets, we are using the hubergroup’s Eco-Offset Ink Premium Plus, which is C2C Certified at the Silver level.”

At Healthy Printing Symposium 2018 in Lüneburg, Carlsberg announced that it is utilising environmentally friendly printing inks for the labels of its core brands globally.

hubergroup’s global product and sun factor (SF) / ultraviolet (UV) portfolio manager Bernd Groh said: “As one of the first global ink manufacturers, we have taken up the challenge of re-designing our standard sheetfed offset and liquid ink portfolio to C2C certification.”

The C2C certification was invented by chemist Michael Braungart, architect and sustainability activist William McDonough and scientists at the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA) to identify brands that operated in accordance with the circular economy concept.

Groh added: “The Carlsberg project was possible in no small part by the strong support of Healthy Printing Initiative, founded by the EPEA in Hamburg, which is one of the most important platforms to enable sustainable printing for packaging manufacturers and printers. Print the change, print sustainability!”