What will tomorrow’s printing inks need to deliver?

When it comes to making packaging more sustainable, ink is not usually the first thing we consider. After all, it accounts for less than 5% of a package's weight. However, in practice, inks play a disproportionate role in recyclability, food safety and environmental impact – all of which are key issues as the industry faces increasingly stringent regulations such as the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which is due to come into effect in 2026.

A new comparative study by the NVC Packaging Centre and the Hague University of Applied Sciences has examined four types of ink – water-based, UV-cured, soy-based and algae-based – to assess their suitability for a more sustainable future.

1. Water-based inks are widely used and offer relatively low VOC emissions. While they perform well on paper and cardboard, they can be difficult to remove during recycling and are not fully biodegradable.

2. UV-cured inks deliver vibrant visuals and durability, curing rapidly under UV light. However, concerns have been raised regarding their use in relation to food safety and recyclability, unless low-migration or EB-curing systems are used.

3. Soy-based inks are partly renewable and easier to deink than conventional options. However, they often still rely on petroleum-based additives and dry slowly unless blended, which complicates sustainability claims.

4. Algae-based inks are a new addition to the market. They are made from bio-waste and have the potential to be carbon negative. They show great promise environmentally, but are currently limited to black ink and large-scale adoption remains out of reach.

The study defined “future-proof” in terms of eight practical criteria:

• Ink characteristics (durability, printability)
• Energy usage
• VOC emissions
• Environmental impact
• Food safety compliance
• Recyclability
• Scalability for industrial use
• Cost-effectiveness

Each ink was assessed across the full lifecycle, from sourcing the raw materials to the recyclability of the finished product. The result? No ink scored perfectly. Each ink has its own strengths and requires trade-offs in other areas.

Rather than selecting one winner, the report emphasises that different inks are suited to different types of packaging. For example: 

• Water-based inks may be ideal for high-volume paper packaging where the necessary infrastructure is already in place.
• UV-cured inks are still a good option for applications that demand speed and visual appeal, but where recyclability is not the main priority.
• Soy-based inks are a good compromise, particularly for brands that are already active in North America, where these inks appear to be used more commonly than in Europe.Algae-based inks are still in development but could be a game-changer for branding and secondary packaging with low colour complexity.

The future of printing inks will not be determined by formulation alone. Scalable innovation will depend on factors such as how inks interact with substrates, how easily they can be removed, and how well stakeholders across the value chain — from ink producers to printers and recyclers — collaborate. A slightly greyer recycled substrate or a change in colour intensity may become part of the new visual language of sustainability.