introduction China’s tobacco packaging has been at the forefront of packaging in the country, forming a “paper package to see cigarette packetsâ€. The tobacco packaging market in China has witnessed unprecedented prosperity. With the continuous expansion of China's accession to the WTO and the opening of the WHO's "Framework Convention on Tobacco Control," the tobacco industry is facing many new opportunities, new challenges, and new issues. {TodayHot} In recent years, "green environmental protection" demand has become more and more important in the trend of tobacco packaging. At present, the degree of environmental protection in every aspect of cigarette products in Western countries is very high. If China’s tobacco companies do not adapt to this internationally-accepted “rules of the game†as soon as possible and do not attach importance to improving the environmental performance of cigarette packaging and printing, they do not choose to save energy, consume less, are non-toxic, non-polluting, reusable, easily dissolved, and multifunctional. The pollution-free packaging and printing materials mean that the market with huge profits will be handed over to people. At the same time, the tobacco companies have also obtained the “Green Pass†to the world market by using environmentally-friendly packaging products. l Tobacco Packaging Green Environmental Solutions {HotTag} At present, there are mainly three kinds of feasible environmental protection methods for cigarette label printing: First, the application of white card paper metal ink and large-area bronzing technology: Second, vacuum aluminum material is used instead of composite aluminum foil paper: Third, the application of water-based ink is strongly advocated. At present, vacuum aluminizing materials (mainly aluminum-plated papers) are the most popular among the three methods. Vacuum aluminum plating. Vacuum aluminum plating is applied directly to the surface of the carrier film coated with the release layer and the color layer. complex. The aluminum-plated surface is coated with a binder and compounded with other substrates (paper) and dried by a drying tunnel. Peel transfer. Through the above-mentioned process, the aluminized layer on the carrier film and the paper base are firmly bonded together, and after the carrier film is peeled off, the finished product of the metalized transfer silver and gold cardboard can be obtained. 2 Aluminized Paper Process Aluminized paper is mainly produced using a transfer method. In the transfer method, a PET film or a laser PET film is placed on a gluing paper or paperboard composite, and the PET film is peeled off (the PET film can be used repeatedly), and the aluminum molecular layer is transferred to paper or paperboard by gluing. The transfer method can produce random anti-counterfeit vacuum aluminized paper or cardboard with random patterns, arbitrary letters. The release film and color layer are coated on the carrier film. The carrier film generally uses biaxially stretched polyester film (PET or BOPP, thickness 0.02 ram ). 3 characteristics of aluminized paper The reason why aluminum-plated paper is favored by people in the green cigarette industry has the following characteristics: The raw and auxiliary materials are odorless, non-toxic, and meet food hygiene requirements; Good smoothness, high smoothness, bright color, bright appearance, visual appearance; strong mid-strike force, can improve product packaging grade; 8 has excellent barrier properties, moisture-proof, anti-oxidation effect is remarkable: printing performance and mechanical properties are extremely accurate , Suitable for gravure, letterpress, offset, flexo, screen printing, embossing, die cutting, even embossing and other processes; Degradation recovery, good, easy to handle and recycling, in line with environmental requirements, is The necessary packaging materials for export products. The thin aluminum layer saves costs. Due to the use of vacuum aluminum plating technology, the thickness of the aluminum layer is less than 1/200 of the composite card, and the base film can be used repeatedly (6-8 times). Finally, it can also be made of electro-aluminum, transion membrane or other products. 4 Aluminized paper structure and production method Aluminized paper is a new type of green and environmentally friendly material consisting mainly of base paper, aluminum layers and coatings. Aluminizing paper is produced by direct aluminum plating and transfer aluminum plating. Transfer aluminized paper is only suitable for the production of paper above 100g/m, the production process is to first gluing polyester or polypropylene plastic film, and then placing aluminum on a vacuum aluminum plating machine, and then apply a second time Afterwards, the aluminum layer is transferred to paper. The direct aluminum paper is placed on a vacuum aluminum plating machine to carry out aluminum plating. After aluminizing, special treatment is performed on the surface. After processing, some of them are embossed, processed according to the customer's desired pattern, and then cut into flat sheets or rolls of various specifications as needed. 5 Printability of Aluminized Paper The adaptability of the aluminized paper is relatively special, and the aluminized layer on the surface has metal characteristics. In the printing process, the characteristics of the surface of the aluminized paper are directly related to the printing adaptability of printing materials such as printing ink. Therefore, the printing adaptability of the aluminized paper is actually easier to grasp than the printing adaptability of the aluminum foil. Aluminized paper has high surface strength, it can adapt to the speed of high-speed printing presses, and it can also withstand the tension generated by the increase of ink stickiness. It has good adaptability to improve production efficiency and stabilize printing quality. Aluminized paper surface tension is conducive to printing B, -t$ (s ink transfer, printing ink film flat, smooth, clear and complete graphics. The aluminized paper has a relatively compact structure, substantially no gaps, and its surface is almost mirror-like; therefore, the aluminized paper does not have absorption properties like ordinary paper and has low absorption. The color arrangement of the printing should generally highlight the main style of the design. In the printing, the color of the first printing and the color of the after printing are different due to the color sequence. The effect is also quite different: the absorption performance and the drying performance of the aluminized paper In terms of particularity, it is recommended that multicolor printing presses should follow the following points: Colors with dark colors and small areas should be printed first. Generally, a large area of ​​background color should be placed on the final printing. The color is not overprinted, and it is also easy to scratch the surface of the back surface when printing the back color, resulting in a drop in product quality, affecting the appearance and design effect; the main color should be placed behind the printing, in general, completely transparent ink is not The existence of the hue of the printed product tends to favor the hue of the post-printing color; the color of the overprinting with high accuracy should be printed first, because the aluminum-plated paper has the dual physical and performance properties of metal and paper, so the color with high overlay accuracy should be printed. Printed on the front. 6 Aluminized Paper Requirements for Printing Inks In terms of ink and drying requirements for printing aluminized paper, penetration is the basis for fixing the ink on the substrate. The speed of fixation is the drying condition of the ink, and the drying time is the key to the ink conjunctiva. In order to penetrate the ink, it is necessary to have substrates with good absorption performance. However, the absorption of aluminum-plated paper is not very satisfactory. Whether fast-drying, bright-fast offset inks or special inks for synthetic offset printing are used. Aluminized paper still contains liquid solvents after it is inked. Such inks are not only the main cause of product stickiness, but also the source of poor drying. To avoid dirt and improve drying performance, special inks (such as UV inks) must be used. When choosing inks, you should pay attention to: When printing a four-color overprint dot pattern, the ink with high transparency should be selected, and the under color with ink should select ink with high color concentration and certain hiding power. Aluminized paper has a smooth surface and poor absorption. Therefore, the requirement for fixation and drying performance of the ink in printing is relatively high, and there is no powder falling or hair loss during printing, so the water resistance should be selected. Good, strong friction, stickiness, high light, light, solid, fast-drying, special ink. 7 Aluminized paper printing requirements for printing equipment and ambient temperature and humidity Determination of printing pressure. Aluminized paper can be printed on single-color or multi-color printers. Compared with other papers, aluminized papers have a high surface gloss. Therefore, printing pressure does not need to be larger than other papers. However, due to the low absorbability of the aluminized paper, the ink is hardly fixed, and in order to make the ink even and level, the printing pressure should be slightly increased. Determination of printing speed. Due to the high flatness of the aluminized paper, the speed of the aluminized paper will affect the ink transfer. Therefore, it is advisable to control the speed of the aluminized paper within 8,000 sheets/hour. Printing shop temperature and humidity control. Due to the absorption of aluminum-plated paper, the properties are relatively small and the ink drying is better than that of the ink. In order to speed up the drying of the ink, the temperature of the printing shop should generally be controlled at 8-25oC, and the relative humidity should be controlled at about 60%. Reprinted from: Packaging Business Network