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Spandex Increases Business Opportunities for Printers with New Environmentally-Friendly, Non-PVC Media

Extensions to ImagePerfect™ range meet increasing customer requirements for green materials.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, JUNE 29TH, 2009 – Spandex, the pioneering one-stop supplier of complete and innovative solutions to the digital printing and sign making industries worldwide, has expanded its ImagePerfect™ range of media with new environmentally-friendly, 100 percent PVC-free materials.

Specifically designed for large format digital inkjet printing, the new materials are compatible with all eco-solvent and solvent inks, as well as UV-cured inks and are suitable for use in an extensive range of indoor and outdoor signage applications.

The new ImagePerfect™ polyolefin products are both plasticiser- and chlorine-free and feature a specially-developed top-coating for vibrant, high quality printability.

Spandex’s new ImagePerfect™ materials comprise:

IP 2120 Frontlit Banner, a premium coated material with a wide colour gamut that feels and handles like a plasticised product and, like traditional PVC banner, can be seam-welded.


IP2413 Multi-Purpose Media, a tear-resistant, scratch-proof product that is perfectly suited for indoor or outdoor application as backlit film, roll-up display media, banner material etc;

IP 2830-103 Eco-Laminate Gloss, a water-based adhesive system created as a match-component over-laminate.

IP2522 Eco-Digital White gloss polyolefin and IP2523 Eco-Digital Clear gloss polyolefin. Both IP2522 and IP2523 facilitate product application by providing good adhesion to irregular substrates, including many low-energy surfaces – a factor that is further enhanced by the films' good level of flexibility and conformability, even over curved surfaces.

“These non-PVC, environmentally-friendly ImagePerfect™ materials allow for the creation of digital output that is more environmentally-friendly than would be the case with standard vinyl options”, says Roland Keller, Executive Product Director, Spandex. “As a result, the new media increases the revenue-enhancing opportunities for digital printers, whose own customers are increasingly stipulating that their printed graphics use ‘green’ materials”, he adds.

The new ImagePerfect™ films are perfect for indoor promotional projects, such as exhibition displays, POS graphics and showroom signage; while their high UV-resistance allows printers to cost-effectively undertake a wide-range of outdoor applications – including billboards and construction sites – with up to two-year durability.

Further reduction in environmental impact

Additional environmental benefits are delivered by the products upon disposal. Unlike PVC, the eco-responsible materials do not release harmful dioxin – one of the most toxic substances known - upon incineration, which therefore allows for non-hazardous disposal and zero landfill. Spandex’s new ImagePerfect™ materials also meet the full requirements of the stringent EU Phthalates Directive 2005/84/EC, concerning phthalates content in children's toys and childcare articles.

Extended array of eco-friendly print projects

The new films also afford digital printers further revenue-enhancing opportunities in a number of other print applications. These added-value print projects include decals, self-adhesive stickers, decoration and signage for application in hospitals and retail food departments where the use of products containing plasticiser is typically highly regulated.

The ImagePerfect™ range of Signage and Digital materials is distributed in Europe exclusively by Spandex. For more information please visit www.spandex.com