GreenCircle has granted Certified Energy Savings and Dematerialization certifications to the Esko XPS Crystal flexo imaging unit, validating significant energy savings and sustainability claims.

GreenCircle has granted Certified Energy Savings and Dematerialisation certifications to the Esko XPS Crystal flexo imaging unit, validating significant energy savings and sustainability claims.

Following months of testing, measuring and detailed customer reports, GreenCircle validated Esko’s claims that the XPS Crystal delivers energy savings of 41 per cent for tradeshops and savings of 59 per cent for converters.

In terms of broader environmental sustainability, the Esko XPS Crystal also achieved Dematerialisation certification, validating a 92 per cent reduction in waste and 100 per cent removal of hazardous waste over the machine’s lifetime.

“Having sustainable operations has rapidly evolved from being a ‘nice to have’ strategy to a ‘must do’ critical demand for brands and their packaging suppliers,” Esko marketing director Jan De Roeck said.

“For the packaging industry, this means supporting brand owners who are under considerable pressure to respond to consumer needs and need support to accelerate their sustainability commitments.

“The XPS Crystal uses a UV LED array instead of mercury tubes used in a traditional main exposure bank light table.

“Its digital UV LED exposure not only significantly improves the quality and consistency of flexo plates, but the UV power required for perfect curing of a flexo plate is provided absolutely uniformly through the preset parameters by a single click per plate type and plate thickness.

“In contrast to bank exposure frames, which consume a relatively large amount of energy from preheating, through the exposure time and idle time during the entire working shift, the UV LEDs of the XPS Crystal are only activated for the back UV exposure and the main exposure of the flexo plate. The energy consumption in the idle state is almost zero.

“Having GreenCircle quantify and certify these savings validates those claims and is an attestation that we as a business are not only engaging in the debate over sustainability, but we are also delivering against our own objectives – and those of our customers.”

GreenCircle’s Certified Energy Savings Certification – conducted in compliance with ISO 14021 and FTC Green Guides – demonstrates an organisation’s commitment to reducing impacts during the use phase of a product’s life cycle.