Occasionally you will find something like “printed with soy-ink” on magazines, cereal boxes, and other labels.  While it’s presented as a boon for the environment, that simple statement doesn’t really give you the details why.  So, I decided to look into it.

“Regular” ink used for common printed products is petroleum-based, hence the desire for cleaner, renewable alternatives.  These inks, when in contact with sunlight, can emit high levels of air-polluting substances generally described as Volatile Organic Compounds.  Research as a result of the 1970’s energy crisis determined that soybean oil was the best plant-based alternative to petroleum for ink production.  In fact, soy-based ink seems to be superior all the way around.  On the economic level, soy ink reduces our dependence on foreign oil sources, and in turn boosts profits for U.S. soybean growers.  Environmentally, soy ink breaks down more easily than its petroleum counterpart, which makes paper recycling easier and more efficient. 

But what about the primary purpose of the ink – beautiful printed photos, eye-catching advertisements, and a plethora of other uses?  The good news doesn’t stop!  Perhaps the most attractive attribute of soy ink is its ability to create brighter colors compared to petroleum-based inks with the same added pigments.  As if that wasn’t enough, soy-based inks require less pigments to make those sharper colors, which provides additional economic and environmental benefits.  Soy ink is clearly here to stay!

Written by TPS Fellow Irene Gentzel

References:

https://www.biobasedworldnews.com/how-to-go-green-with-any-colour-ink-the-root-of-plant-based-printing

https://pubs.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/stuff/7646scit2.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_ink

https://www.printwand.com/blog/how-soy-based-ink-is-made-and-why-you-should-use-it