中文Flint Group Packaging Solutions has received a gold award in the Technical Innovation (Supplier) category at the 2026 Flexographic Industry Association (FIA UK) Awards for its TerraCode Bio range of bio-renewable inks. The recognition lands at a moment when converters are under rising pressure to cut the carbon footprint of packaging without slowing the press or risking print quality.
TerraCode Bio is a water-based ink system derived from up to 90% bio-renewable and recycled materials, engineered to deliver CO2 reductions of up to 25%. Critically for production managers, the formulation is designed to match the performance of conventional water-based inks, supporting high press speeds without loss of print quality. That performance parity is the detail that separates a credible sustainability product from a compromise.
The range targets demanding applications: corrugated packaging, industrial bags and sacks, food service packaging and film. Flint Group says TerraCode Bio lets printers and converters move toward renewable materials while maintaining print consistency and productivity, a combination that has driven adoption across Europe, particularly in the post-print corrugated sector where the company says it outperforms traditional extender systems.
Customers, according to Flint Group, have reported no measurable impact on throughput alongside improved environmental performance, the outcome every sustainability-minded converter hopes for but rarely gets. Being able to swap in a lower-carbon ink without re-tooling the pressroom or retraining operators is exactly what accelerates real-world uptake.
Paul Winstanley, vice president of Technology & Product Management at Flint Group Packaging Solutions, said the product was developed to address a clear challenge facing printers: how to reduce environmental impact without adding unnecessary risk or complexity into the pressroom. “This recognition from the FIA UK Awards reflects the technology’s strength in both performance and carbon reduction, and is a testament to the expertise of our development teams,” he said.
Winstanley emphasized that responsibly sourced, bio-renewable materials, including those derived from recovered streams, help customers move toward more sustainable packaging structures without compromising recyclability or operational performance. In his view, the FIA UK acknowledgement demonstrates that with modern ink technology, sustainability and performance can genuinely go hand in hand.
The award matters for the wider flexographic community because it signals where innovation dollars are flowing. As regulators and brand owners push for lower-impact packaging, suppliers that can prove both carbon savings and pressroom reliability will win specification battles. A gold from a respected body like FIA UK lends independent weight to those claims.
For converters, the practical takeaway is that the sustainability trade-off once assumed inevitable, lower impact for lower performance, is being designed away. Inks like TerraCode Bio suggest the next generation of water-based systems can meet speed and quality expectations while meaningfully cutting CO2, a rare win-win in a margin-conscious industry.
As the 2026 awards cycle highlights, the most compelling flexographic innovations are no longer just about sharper color or faster drying. They are about helping the entire packaging value chain meet its environmental commitments on the production floor, one press run at a time.
Source: Print21 (report on Flint Group TerraCode Bio, June 17, 2026).
