Q&A: The Myths vs. Realities of Water-based Inks
- Published: December 8, 2025
Andrew Brooks of Sun Chemical discusses how e-commerce and sustainability are transforming corrugated packaging — and why high-performance water-based inks are essential for vibrant graphics. Watch this exclusive PFFC Thought Leader Interview on YouTube.
Q How is sustainability reshaping the paper packaging market and what is the role of water-based inks?
With the changing face of retail, brands are losing their in-store presence. When companies are building a brand, it's just not about the initial sale, they want the continued contact with the consumer. Smart brands are recognizing this, and they're looking for more ways to make contact with the customer.
Realistically, there are two points of contact — the website, and the moment you receive the package. With websites, it's really hard to differentiate yourself because everybody has a good website. So many companies have realized that their best chance is with a well-branded package. A good example is my wife. She receives meal prep from a well-known e-commerce site, and she receives pet supplies, all well-branded, and Amazon does a big push for Thursday Night Football with their branding. Quite honestly, the exception now is the brown paper box.
Q How does this affect corrugated printers?
You know, when I started with this industry, most corrugated printers had one flexo unit and it printed black 98% of the time. Today, they need very specific branding colors, they need to meet sustainability objectives — and to make things more complicated, the press speeds are getting faster. In short, the changing face of e-commerce absolutely is having an impact on corrugated printers.
Q There is a lot of buzz around paperization right now as brands move away from plastic. Is this trend as sustainable as it sounds, or are there trade-offs that the industry needs to consider?
Well, there will always be questions with the movement of paperization, and if it's as sustainable as people claim. If done correctly, in my opinion, yes, but the devil is in the details. Changing a plastic container to a multi-laminate structure, even if part of that laminate structure is paper, doesn't do any good. If a CPG doubles its product waste because it doesn't have the barrier, it's still not doing any good. The goal of paperization is to create a structure that meets all needs of a film structure, including improved recyclability, waste stream management, and compostability when needed. Film packaging is successful because it's excellent technology. It has excellent speed, function, ease of use, and efficiency. For paperization to work, new structures need to match that as close as possible. This is requiring new approaches, maybe barrier coatings. If printers can do this, I absolutely do see a move towards paperization.
Q Another fact is that not all water-based inks are created equally. Can you clarify what makes water-based ink truly sustainable, and the common misconceptions exist around sustainable inks?
Well, at the most basic level, inks and coatings that are made with biorenewable content. Essentially, it's replacing some of the resin that is made from petroleum with some type of biorenewable content (BRC). That is BRC at your most basic level.
But sustainability is more than just that. Inks and coatings are made up of six to nine different ingredients each, and each of those ingredients are continually being reviewed for sustainability. A good example is recently PFAS was deemed as a forever chemical. This created a sustainability concern, however, PFAS is a common ingredient used in most inks and coatings as PTFE wax. This created an entire reformulation of inks and coatings around the industry. It's just not wax. Certain defoamers, certain pigments are being scrutinized now.They may become regulated or banned in the future for sustainability reasons.
Sustainability involves a lot of different areas, and the best advice I can give to printers who are looking to become more sustainable is work with an ink or coating supplier who tracks and stays current on all current regulations.
Q Direct versus indirect food contact is a critical consideration in food packaging. What should converters and brands know about water-based inks for food packaging applications?
Well, there's a lot to unpack here. First, let's talk about indirect food packaging. There really is no standard set for indirect food contact. The closest you will have is Nestle compliance or Swiss ordinance compliance, which essentially means there are no harmful ingredients for near food packaging. In short, Nestle compliance is the standard used by one of the world's largest food producers. So it's probably a safe standard for other food producers too.
Direct food contact has much more specific rules and is much more rigid. Let's separate inks and coatings.It is possible to purchase direct food contact inks. They do exist, but they need to be made in a direct food contact facility. And even press site adjustments need to be done with only direct food contact adjustments.So if you're dedicated to direct food contact, you have to have an entire operation for it.
Direct food contact coatings are much more general and user-friendly, and mostly because that's what they're designed for. Let’s use the example of a clamshell for a hamburger. If it has a grease barrier on the inside coating, by nature, it's probably direct food contact already just because of its application. This goes for a barrier for produce and seafood boxes, it goes for release coatings for baking trays.
These are all usually designed for direct food contact already.
One other note, the FDA does have what's called the houseware exemption for single use consumer products. There's a little bit of leniency there. But different CPGs interpret the houseware exemption differently. So as a printer, it's important to work with your customer on what they want with their printing applications. The most important advice, I'll go to again, if your ink or coatings need to be direct food contact or Nestle compliant, work with your customer and work with your supplier and make sure they are all in sync with each other.
Q Many converters are exploring DIY ink kitchens as a way to cut costs and improve flexibility. Is this approach really more efficient or does it come with hidden challenges?
Well, the easy answer is it depends. In-house ink kitchens definitely have some advantages over ordering finished inks.They're more flexible, for example, if a job requires 58 pounds of ink, you can make just that 58 pounds. If a job comes up short or a pail gets spilled, a replacement pail can be made in-house without pulling the job off press.Those are huge advantages.
Regarding cost, there is usually a small cost advantage, but it's not often as large as many GCMI purchasers follow. Even customers that have in-house ink kitchens, many times that they have, say, one particular ink like a red, they will order it from a manufacturer because it's cheaper to get it in totes than dedicate their dispenser to making one kit at a time.So It gets a little complicated.
Also, if you bring equipment in-house, there is the equipment cost of the dispenser and the maintenance on that machine. Dispensers are low maintenance, but they are a mechanical system that does need maintenance.
And to me, the biggest wildcard is the labor to run an ink kitchen. You need to have a person who will become your ink expert. Software on these dispensers is excellent and designed to be turnkey, but you still have to have an ink expert. What happens when this person goes on vacation or is not available? Is there a skilled backup to step in? What about when the ink kitchen is slow? Do you have a plan for using this person in other parts of your press room?
Tying them all together, there's a lot to consider about bringing ink production in-house. Just work with an ink supplier who supplies both the dispenser and dispersions or finished ink, and decide what works best for you.
Q As digital printing is gaining ground, how significant is the role of digital printing for paper packaging — and does it complement water-based technologies?
Digital printing in the corrugating industry is fascinating to me. For short runs, high res graphics, prototype work, the speed of digital printers is getting faster and faster. Some of the newer digital systems rival some of the best flexo systems. Digital printers have a much faster ready time, conversion time.
Both flexo and digital manufacturers have different costs per impression, so it's really hard to compare the two on a cost per impression sheet. But the pain point with digital presses is that every digital press manufacturer uses versions of their own proprietary technology. One major press supplier may require a primer, while another one requires an OPV, which flood coats the entire sheet, even in knockout areas. These are different digital technologies.Digital presses are very complex. And when you have more complexity, there's more chance for things to go wrong.
As I mentioned, I'm fascinated by the new high-speed digital presses.They are industry game changers. But what I appreciate the most about them is the simple adage that competition is good. Digital presses are raising the bar on what's expected in traditional corrugated packaging. Better graphics, more color, more inks are becoming the expectation, and they're really pushing the envelope.
So I guess the answer to the question is, I believe there will be a place for both digital and traditional water-based technology in the press rooms of the future, and I believe they do complement each other.
Q To wrap up, how can packaging professionals make smart, sustainable choices when it comes to ink selection?
Well, I feel bad because I've said it several times now, but the best thing to do is to work with your ink and coating supplier, and to use one that is not only a vendor, but a partner and trusted supplier. Look for one that has expertise in sustainability, regulation, ink and coating formulation, and ink room design. If you do all that, I think that's the best way to have the most successful and the most productive printing room.
Find more insights at: www.sunchemical.com/paper-transform and watch the interview on YouTube.
