Soy Ink!

Soy ink is a type of ink made from soybeans. Soy-based ink is more environmentally friendly compared to petroleum based inks. Soys inks might provide more accurate colors and make paper recycling much easier. In the 1970’s with the rising cost of petroleum the Newspaper Association of America wanted to find a new reliable and economical way to print with ink. A new ink from soybeans was developed. About one quarter of commercial printers in the United States now use soy ink. To make soy ink, soybean oil is slightly refined and then blended with pigment, resins and waxes. Even though soybean oil is an edible vegetable oil, soy ink is not edible. Soy ink is a helpful component in paper recycling because the soy ink can be removed more easily than regular ink from paper during the de-inking process. Some printers report that they need less ink to print the same amount of paper when compared to petroleum inks. Soy ink has been found to spread approximately 15% further, reducing ink use and printer cleanup costs. Since naturally clearer Soybean oil is available, it is possible to obtain as brightly colored ink as by using clear petroleum distillates. By using clearer soy bean oil grades, less pigment is necessary to produce the same optical effect, which reduces the overall cost of the ink. Color soy inks are more widely accepted because they become the most quickly cost effective after savings in terms of excess pigment and printer cleanup costs. This “overall cost” for soy inks is significantly lower than the initial market price, and it is at this point that they become competitive with their petroleum counterparts. Soy inks also work well for label printing as they allow a reduction in ink coverage by 85% compared to water-based inks.