The Truth About Soy-Based Inks

By: Peter Warrior

Theoretically, soy-based inks are supposed to be the solution to the environmental problems associated with petroleum-based inks on millions of tons of paper deposited in landfills. Here are a few things you should know about soy-based inks.
They’re environmentally friendly-but not biodegradable. Soy-based inks are environmentally friendly to the extent that they don’t release volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) into the air, as the usual commercial inks do. However, they also use heavy metals to create some colours-and these can be harmful to the environment as well.


The colours are more brilliant. Soy-based inks are said to have more vibrant colours than traditional inks, and this is generally true-mainly because vegetable oil is clearer than petroleum.

They’re not commercially available. You can’t simply decide to use soy-based inks in your printer as a way of protecting the environment, because personal printers that accommodate them don’t exist. They’re mainly used by professional printing companies.

Soy inks are more expensive. Soy ink cartridges can cost significantly more than petroleum-based ink-usually about 10% to 50% more.

They don’t work on glossy paper. Soy-based inks don’t dry as quickly as petroleum-based inks do-petroleum inks dry quickly because of the evaporative properties of VOC’s. They work well on porous paper surfaces, but they smear when you print on glossy paper.

They’re not your only option. Inks made from linseed and other vegetable oils are also available, and they tend to be of comparable quality and ecological soundness to soy-based inks.

Soy inks are generally more environmentally friendly than traditional inks. Hopefully, the industry will continue to develop them until they have a product that’s completely biodegradable.

Article Source:
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1716636

About the Author
P.Warrior is managing director of Ink and Media Limited based in Essex. Ink and Media are an online retailer specializing in ink cartridges and toner. For more info and a selection of ink by major brands including Canon ink visit http://www.inkandmedialtd.co.uk/acatalog/Canon.html