Concerns about the heavy metal content of the ceramic inks traditionally used to decorate glass bottles have increased in recent years due to a combination of regulations such as California's Proposition 65 and CONEG requirements in the USA, and health & environmental issues in Europe. This, coupled with the rising cost of the energy requirements to fire traditional ceramic inks, have caused glass decorators around the world to actively seek out environmentally-friendly alternatives to these inks. FEVISA Industrial, a leading Mexican glass bottle producer, is having commercial success using heavy metal-free thermoplastic organic inks as a practical method of addressing these concerns whilst maintaining good printing quality and process efficiency.
