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More flexo printed newspapers in the UK:
New Associated Newspapers plant at Didcot, Oxfordshire opened on March 7, 2008
"The centre is currently printing 3.2million copies a week of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, and 350,000 copies of Northcliffe regional newspapers. One of the advantages of the Didcot site is its excellent transport links to the rest of the country."
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Current flexo inks are a problem in the deinking process.
INGEDE's flyer prepared for IFRA 2005 describes the problem:

  • (Quoted from CEPIPRINT's website:)

    Flexographic Printing is a current hot topic for CEPIPRINT and its members. The reason that it has come to our attention is that the spread of flexo printing of newspapers could pose a major threat to European recycling targets.

  • Flexo started off as a generally low quality printing process for low quality grades, eg, corrugated boxes. Nowadays, modern flexo is capable of extremely high quality, up to and including coated packaging grades. The potential problem in Europe stems from the fact that flexo printed newspaper cannot be deinked to a standard that is suitable for recycling. Considering that newspaper is mainly made from 80–100% recycled fiber, it is clear to see the potential pitfalls.

    CEPIPRINT and CEPI recently commissioned a study from industry consultants, Jaakko Pöyry, to investigate the impact of flexo printing in Europe. The results are worrying with the UK and Italy suffering the most. The study shows that if flexo printing rises to 40% in the UK and 39% in Italy, all old newspapers (ONP) and old magazines (OMG) in those two countries would become unsuitable for deinking. Raw materials for newsprint production would be in short supply, which in turn, would push up the price of both raw material and newsprint. But it is not all bad news, Centre Technique du Papier (CTP) in Grenoble, France, is working hard to find a solution to the deinkability of flexo printed fibers. Many companies already support the project, including CEPIPRINT, and a number of papermakers, printers and chemical manufacturers.

    (End quote)

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