DuPont solvent-free plate-making scoops award

DuPont Imaging Technologies and its Cyrel FAST dry flexo platemaking system has received the first Tag and Label Manufacturers’ Institute (TLMI) Environmental Leadership Award. Cyrel FAST was selected for its innovative thermal processing technology that eliminates the need for solvents and other chemicals.

Jim Austin, marketing manager North America, was pleased with the result: ‘The combination of this award from TLMI with the Flexographic Technical Association’s recent Technology Innovation award provides excellent acknowledgement of the hard work DuPont scientists are doing to help advance flexography, as well as the capabilities of customers who use DuPont technology.’

Cyrel FAST consists of a proprietary flexographic plate and the 1000TD developer which processes the plate using heat transfer technology in less than 15 minutes. Since wet solvent washout and lengthy plate drying times are eliminated by this dry process, a high-quality flexo plate can be fully produced and ready for press in less than one hour. Conventional methods with solvent washout can take more than four hours.

Calvin Frost, TLMI’s environmental committee chairman praised Cyrel FAST’s ability to eliminate the time, expense and environmental risks of storing, recycling and safely disposing of chemicals and solvents used in conventional plate production.