Ricoh and Durst extend partnership with €50million printhead technology deal

Ricoh Europe has agreed on a landmark €50million printhead technology deal to extend its successful collaboration with Durst Group AG.

A leading manufacturer of advanced digital printing and production technologies, Durst Group already uses Ricoh Gen 5 inkjet printheads in its Alpha textile printing systems and the Durst P5 series for large format printing – considered the most successful, productive, and versatile printer series in the market.  As part of this new deal, in the future, Ricoh printheads will also be further developed for upcoming Durst printing systems for their various fields of application.

Both Durst and Ricoh share a commitment to delivering long-life performance. In recent years, the two companies have intensified their partnership and created the most stable and flexible printing system, especially in digital textile printing with the Durst Alpha series. Though the end result might seem simple, achieving maximum print quality and productivity and such reliable, risk-free solutions have involved intensive development and ink formulation work, plus rigorous testing of thousands of printheads and tonnes of ink. This experience was then applied to Large Format Printing.

Dr. Christian Compera, Global General Manager of Ricoh’s Industrial Print business, Ricoh, says: “The partnership will allow us to develop our printheads in a more focused way with real-world requirements. Often there can be a high level of protectiveness surrounding printhead intellectual property, materials, and printhead production technologies as well as ink formulations. By bringing together the Ricoh and Durst development teams, we share the goal of continuously improving the entire printing system, which ultimately benefits customers.”

Christoph Gamper, CEO, and co-owner of the Durst Group adds: “This deal reaffirms and continues a collaborative approach with Ricoh. Extending our partnership with Ricoh enables us to achieve a faster time-to-market for new printing systems, as we work together on the perfect interaction of printheads inks and substrates. Not only does this allow us to achieve maximum print quality and performance but also to guarantee reliability for extended printer life. It gives our customers a clear basis for their investment decisions, without the risk factor of the printhead.”

The technical expertise and teams of both Ricoh and Durst will collaborate on new solutions, developing printheads as well as printers, to open up the potential for inkjet technology to address the needs of emerging applications. New ways to use inkjet technologies and materials for enhanced sustainability – for example lower drying energy consumption – are already being explored. Further collaborative initiatives will be revealed in the coming months.

#€50million printhead  #technology deal #Ricoh and Durst 

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SABIC collaborates with Kraton for certified renewable butadiene to produce certified renewable styrenic block copolymers

SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry has announced a new collaboration with Kraton, a leading global sustainable producer of specialty polymers and high-value bio-based products derived from pine wood pulping co-products, to deliver certified renewable butadiene from its TRUCIRCLE portfolio for use in Kraton’s certified renewable styrenic block copolymers (SBC).

This effort forms part of SABIC’s 2025 strategy, which includes a Sustainability Development Goal roadmap spanning the organization’s entire value chain and addressing 10 goals to help drive meaningful sustainable change.

SABIC’s certified renewable butadiene is derived from animal-free and palm oil-free ‘second generation’ renewable feedstock, such as tall oil, a by-product from the wood pulping process in the paper industry. This feedstock is not in direct competition with human food and animal feed production sources.

According to the cradle-to-gate lifecycle analysis, from sourcing, the raw feedstock to producing the polymers, each kilogram of the company’s bio-based butadiene reduces CO 2 emissions by an average of 4 kilograms compared to fossil-based virgin alternatives. Additionally, each ton of the butadiene also cuts fossil depletion by up to 80 percent.

Mohammed Al-Zahrani, Vice President, Chemical at SABIC adds, “Sustainability in SABIC is embedded across our organization and goes hand in hand with our commitment to helping our customers and their customers meet their own sustainability targets. Developing more sustainable solutions requires partnerships across the value chain.

Our collaboration with Kraton for renewable butadiene as feedstock for Kraton’s polymers is another example of working together towards our common goals and confirms the wide interest from the chemicals industry in developing sustainable solutions for the future. After SABIC’s earlier successes in developing certified renewable and circular ethylene, propylene, and benzene, we are delighted to add certified renewable butadiene to our TRUCIRCLE portfolio.”

SABIC’s certified renewable butadiene will be used in Kraton’s newly launched ISCC PLUS certified renewable CirKular+ Renew Series to expand Kraton& the existing suite of solutions designed to advance the circular economy. With up to 70% certified renewable content, the Renew Series offers customers the opportunity to use the mass balance approach and adopt ISCC PLUS certification to produce renewable products. Kraton successfully produced CirKular+ Renew Series Hydrogenated Styrenic Block Copolymers (HSBC) at the Berre plant earlier this year using SABIC’s renewable butadiene.

 Kraton’s ambition is to enable the bioeconomy and play a role in advancing the circular economy. Value chain collaboration is instrumental in achieving progress towards a circular economy. Kraton is excited to collaborate with SABIC in using certified renewable butadiene enables us to develop and produce styrenic block copolymers with up to 70% of certified renewable raw material content, said Holger Jung, Kraton Senior Vice President, and Polymer Segment President.  This is an exciting innovation for our customers as it can help reduce the carbon footprint of fossil-based HSBC made in our Berre plant by up to 65 percent.”

International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISSC) Plus certification is a globally-recognized system that provides traceability of recycled and renewable-based materials across a complex supply chain, by following predefined and transparent rules.

SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE portfolio spans a range of products and services, including design for recyclability, mechanically recycled products, certified circular products from feedstock recycling of used plastic, certified renewable products from bio-based feedstock, and closed-loop initiatives to recycle plastic back into high-quality applications and help prevent valuable used plastics from becoming waste.

#renewable butadiene #certified renewable #styrenic block copolymers

Lithium project: LANXESS and Standard Lithium agree on next steps

LANXESS and Standard Lithium have signed an agreement setting forth the path forward for their lithium project. After 20 months of testing on the basis of a pilot plant Standard Lithium will now in the next step, conduct a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study in order to evaluate the potential construction of a first industrial plant to produce lithium carbonate at LANXESS’ site in El Dorado, Arkansas/USA. The focus of the FEED study is the economic viability and technical feasibility of the production of lithium carbonate on an industrial scale. The final results of this study are targeted for Q4/2022.

In case of successful completion of the FEED study, Standard Lithium could build a plant for the production of battery-grade lithium carbonate at one of the three LANXESS plants in El Dorado at their own expense. LANXESS does not bear any investment risk but has the option to acquire resulting battery-grade lithium carbonate from Standard Lithium at advantageous pricing, i.e. at a discount of up to 20 percent to market, the final discount to be determined together with the conclusion of other project-related supply and services agreements between LANXESS and Standard Lithium.

LANXESS has a right to participate in the project company up to ownership of 49 percent, whereas the value of this participation would be based upon the capitalization of the project company. By signing this agreement, LANXESS safeguards opportunities in the attractive lithium market without taking downside or commodity price risk.

#lithium project #Lanxess #Standard Lithium #nextstep

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Lindner at IFAT 2022: Efficient Recovery of Recyclable Materials in Line with the Circular Economy

Energy-efficient and profitable solutions for the challenges of tomorrow’s waste management – at the IFAT 2022, hall B6, booth 251/350, and the VDMA outdoor area, the recycling pioneer Lindner will present innovative shredders and system solutions that maximise efficiency and output gains and enable waste disposal and recycling companies to successfully enter the field of plastics recycling.

“Make the most of waste” – This motto has been guiding Lindner Recyclingtech’s work for many, many years,
and yet it is more relevant than ever. The Green Deal and the associated New Circular Economy Action Plan
(CEAP) call not only for the reduction of CO2 emissions, electrification of the economy, and greater energy
efficiency but, above all, ask for potential secondary raw materials contained in material flows to be better
processed and analyzed. At the IFAT 2022, hall B6, booth 251/350, Lindner will be showcasing solutions for
these industry-specific and future-oriented challenges and will also be presenting ways to obtain and process
recyclable plastics.

From zero to hero in plastics recycling
Plastic recycling is becoming increasingly important in waste management. Improved sorting and shredding
systems enable potential secondary raw materials – including plastics – to be optimally extracted. At the IFAT
2022, Lindner is reaching out to waste disposal and recycling companies who want to take advantage of
Lindner’s extensive, long-standing plastics expertise and actively enter this emerging industry. In addition to
its experience in sorting, shredding, and washing, Lindner also offers specific consulting on individual or
system solutions and engineering.

Saving energy and increasing output
The future belongs to the electric motor. Energy-saving, they make a valuable contribution to reducing
operating costs, saving CO2, and promoting a future with lower emissions. Lindner’s innovative E-models,
which are available in both stationary and mobile, offer cost-effective operation with optimized efficiency at all
times. The DEX (Dynamic Energy Exchange) is one of Lindner’s signature features and ensures maximum
efficiency and consistent performance through its active recovery of braking energy. Compared to conventional
hydraulic drives, energy consumption can be reduced by up to 40% by actively recovering braking energy
during shaft reversing. Continuously high performance also increases the throughput significantly. A win-win
through and through.

Higher availability and productivity
Higher input flows alongside the pursuit of increased productivity call for a sustainable, comprehensive, and
yet cost-effective solution. At the IFAT 2022, Lindner will be presenting numerous product innovations with
simplified maintenance options. The resulting higher availability, combined with lower maintenance needs,
also counteracts the industry’s general shortage of skilled workers.

#effeicentrecovery #recyclematerial #productivity #costeffective 

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Why Artificial intelligence is a wise investment

What does the phrase Artificial Intelligence (AI) conjure up for you? Is it unfathomable science fiction software programmers, driverless cars, or autonomous robots?

AI is, according to Cambridge Dictionary, ‘the study of how to produce machines that have some of the qualities that the human mind has, such as the ability to understand language, recognize pictures, solve problems, and learn’.

That ability is already very much a part of our lives. Forbes highlights ten everyday uses including face ID for phones, spam filters on emails, fraud detection in banking and even viewing recommendations on Netflix. Its uses are increasing every day – including in the printing industry.

Among the essential production benefits, AI can offer, highlighted by Keypoint Intelligence, are the ability to:

• Continually improve as it can manage new situations while traditional software can only complete what it is programmed to perform. An AI solution has a core set of capabilities that grows as it learns the types of print jobs being run.
• Grow through pattern recognition and learning by correction. AI has the ability to handle much broader capabilities than traditional or rules-based programs and then learn through any mistakes.
• Respond to new, unexpected, situations making it ideal for real-world applications where anything can happen.

In fact, Ricoh developed the Ricoh Pro Scanner Option with a vision system that can exceed human performance. It identifies details that improve accuracy and consistency, decrease manual touchpoints and increase the overall efficiency of production through predictive analytics. Available for the Ricoh Pro VC60000 and Ricoh Pro VC70000 high-speed inkjet platforms it constantly monitors production to check on the machine’s condition and the quality and accuracy of the printed content. It continually feeds back to the machine controls so the AI element can improve future production. It informs engineering if a preventative maintenance visit should be planned.

It can also help automate a variety of labor-intensive and time-consuming tasks, such as printhead cleaning, paper profiling, and even daily start-up routines. The consistency of machine-generated profiles ensures there are no variations between the approaches of one operator compared to the next. Over time it carefully measures the results of each task, noting differences in results and methods and gradually, intelligently, and automatically improving the machine’s overall performance.

Data is important as a business currency and AI is the brain that invests it wisely. AI helps solve complex problems in today’s workplace by learning from data and applying continuous adjustments to optimize business processes, empower employees and engage customers.

artificial intelligence #wise #investment #richo