KURZ at drupa 2024: Sustainability as a key topic for the future of the print finishing industry

Fürth/Germany, May 7, 2024: drupa, the world's leading trade fair for the printing and packaging industry, gathers experts and companies from all over the world in Düsseldorf every four years. From May 28 to June 7, 2024, the event offers a platform for exchanging information on the latest technologies, trends and innovations in the fields of web- and sheet-offset printing, digital printing, embellishment, packaging and more. This year, the core themes of the trade fair include sustainable printing processes and packaging, the circular economy and energy efficiency. Like many industries, the printing and packaging industry faces the major challenge of continuously improving its environmental footprint.

LEONHARD KURZ has been an absolute pioneer in this field for years and has always strived to make its embellishment solutions more efficient and sustainable. This is why the specialist for thin-film technologies will be presenting many innovative technologies, processes and materials for environmentally friendly embellishment at drupa 2024. ‘Design and Sustainability. Sharing one Future’ - under this motto, KURZ shows that these two factors do not have to stand in the way of each other, but rather complement each other.

Sustainable embellishment with thinner carriers

KURZ consistently focuses on saving valuable resources and recycling them. An important step in this process is the introduction of thinner transfer carriers for the embellishment of printed products. In the area of hot stamping, KURZ will soon only offer transfer carriers with a thickness of 10 µm. In cold transfer, the carrier thickness will even be reduced to 6 µm - all while maintaining the same brilliance and opacity. The products finished with KURZ embellishments remain completely recyclable and deinkable; the composting process is also not impaired by the thin decorative layer.

At drupa, KURZ will be presenting the KPS slim 2.0 (patent pending) cold transfer technology alongside the classic hot stamping LUXOR^®/ALUFIN^® decoration range. With a transfer carrier only 6 µm thick, it is the thinnest transfer product available on the market and enables a significant reduction in PET content by an impressive 50 percent. By using KPS slim 2.0 (patent pending), not only can considerable material savings be achieved, but also more efficient handling thanks to more running meters per roll, which leads to fewer roll changes and less downtime and set-up time. The end result on the printed sheets is an unparalleled gloss - even on the most challenging surfaces and difficult substrates. "The introduction of thinner transfer carriers is an important step in KURZ's sustainability strategy," explains Markus Hoffmann, Member of the Managing Board. "We are continuously expanding our portfolio with sustainable products and solutions that reduce the use of materials and minimize environmental impact. This also includes the 'reuse' approach - i.e. the possibility of using transfer carriers several times by means of newly developed modules and making full use of free space."

RECOSYS^® 2.0: Pioneering recycling system from KURZ

KURZ will also be presenting its recycling system at drupa. With the advanced RECOSYS^® 2.0 system, KURZ is setting a new standard for the environmentally friendly and efficient recycling of distinctive carrier materials. The innovative technology enables optimum processing and reuse of PET carrier materials, thereby promoting the circular economy. What is new is that, in addition to cold transfer, hot stamping transfer carriers can now also be taken back and recycled into recycled PET (RECOSYS^® rPET). RECOSYS^® 2.0 was successfully launched in Q4 2023 and will be presented at drupa 2024.

With RECOSYS^® 2.0, KURZ is the first company in the graphics industry to introduce a take-back and recycling system for the valuable raw material of its PET transfer materials. KURZ relies on its long-standing logistics partner Gebrüder Weiss for the return transportation of the distinctive carrier materials. Gebrüder Weiss already delivers ordered transfer products to customers throughout Europe and is now also responsible for collecting the used carriers for recycling. The ‘zero emissions’ service offered by the logistics service provider enables climate-neutral transportation and completely offsets all emissions. The take-back system is currently limited to 1,000 kilometers around the KURZ headquarters in Fürth, Germany, but the declared aim is to roll out the take-back system worldwide.

drupa touchpoint sustainability: KURZ is an official partner

At touchpoint sustainability (tps), everything at drupa 2024 will revolve around the major topic of sustainability and the associated challenges, solutions and visions. The special forum aims to show what the printing and packaging industry has already achieved in this respect and what contribution it is making to the sustainable transformation of society. Using various examples of best practice, the tps will show which measures can already be implemented and which development opportunities are planned for the future. Among other things, the focus will be on digitalization and the optimization of value creation processes as key levers for increasing energy efficiency and reducing waste.

The substantive discourse on the topic of sustainability will be supported by a diverse stage program, in which KURZ will be represented several times as an official partner of touchpoint sustainability: Markus Hoffmann, Member of the Board and Senior Vice President Business Area Industrial & Business Area Application at LEONHARD KURZ, will present KURZ's understanding of sustainability as well as its strategies and efforts in a lecture on May 28 at 4:30 pm. On May 29, Hoffmann will give an on-stage interview (11:15 am) and lead a panel discussion at 4:30 pm, in which KURZ CTO Senior Vice President Ralph Hopfensitz and a representative of Gräfe Druckveredelung will also take part. An expert panel with Markus Hoffmann, Dr. Sascha Witt from Windmöller & Hölscher and Thorsten Kühmann from VDMA will then be on the agenda on June 3. In addition, Christophe Dujardin, Global Business Development Manager Sustainability / Cold Transfer at LEONHARD KURZ, will give a short interview on the tps stage on June 5 as part ofthe ‘Chérine on Tour’ format. The complete tps program is available at the following link:

https://www.drupa.com/en/Program/Forums/touchpoint_sustainability

drupa 2024: KURZ trade fair appearance with strong partners

In addition to the topics mentioned above, the Fürth-based embellishment expert will be presenting various partner projects at drupa 2024, including sustainable complete solutions developed together with printer manufacturers HP Indigo and Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. Further information on this will follow shortly in a separate press release.

At a glance

Drupa is from May 28 to June 7, 2024, in Düsseldorf, Germany
LEONHARD KURZ Stiftung & Co KG: Hall 3, Stand E71-1 + E71-2
Product groups: Foils for cold foil transfer, hot stamping foils, hologram foils,
transfer foils, embossing stamps, inkjet sheet-fed printing systems, inkjet foil
application, digital embellishment, software for packaging design, e-commerce for
the printing industry
Focal points of the trade fair presentation: Innovations in cold transfer, hot
stamping, digital embellishment, digital printing, sustainability