Professional wipes specialist Sontara®, a Magnera brand, has launched a new sustainable printing range for the offset printing industry.
The range includes Sontara® Sustainable PrintMaster, the first rPET-based ABC washcloth to achieve Fogra certification, and Sontara® Sustainable PrintClean for manual cleaning applications.
Designed to meet the demanding cleaning requirements of modern offset printing operations, the new products help printers reduce their environmental impact without compromising print quality, productivity or the trusted cleaning performance printers expect from Sontara.
The range is manufactured from post-consumer recycled PET from GRS-certified suppliers and natural wood pulp, which requires less chemical processing than conventional alternatives and gives the products their distinctive brown appearance. Compared with standard Sontara printing cloths, the Sontara® Sustainable Printing Range offers 40% lower product CO₂ emissions, while European production can help reduce transport-related CO₂ emissions by up to 70% compared with Far Eastern supplies.
Trusted by the printing industry for more than 20 years, Sontara is the original manufacturer of printing cloths and has worked closely with leading press manufacturers and Fogra to develop washcloths that meet the industry’s highest performance standards and are widely used in offset press cleaning systems worldwide.
Leading the launch is Sontara® Sustainable PrintMaster, a washcloth developed for use in automatic blanket cleaning systems and the first rPET-based ABC washcloth to achieve Fogra certification. Delivering the same trusted performance as Sontara’s flagship PrintMaster range, it provides effective, residue-free blanket cleaning through homogeneous distribution of cleaning agents, optimum material thickness and high strength.
“Printers are under increasing pressure to improve sustainability, but performance remains non-negotiable,” said Lorenzo Vaira, Product Manager Europe, Sontara and Chicopee.
“Our goal was not simply to create a more sustainable printing cloth. We wanted to develop products that printers could adopt with complete confidence in their existing operations. That’s why achieving Fogra certification for Sustainable PrintMaster was such an important milestone.”
“Just as importantly, these products have been developed and manufactured in Europe, which also supports shorter transport distances and improved supply chain reliability,” he added.
