Analyze the environmentally friendly materials of the cards

In the business card printing industry, with the increase in the number of cards, resulting in more and more discarded cards,. What is more worrying is that today's cards are mostly made of PVC material, these cards become white pollution after being discarded. Below Seaory will analysis some details of the environmentally friendly card's materials.


What kind of card is environmentally friendly?This requires that in the selection of card materials, factors such as material strength, characteristics, cost and resources should be taken into account, as well as whether the total manufacturing and use of recycling process has a minimum burden on the earth's environment and is conducive to health.Therefore, environmental protection materials should have one or more of the following four characteristics:


No toxic or harmful substances will be produced after the material is discarded by manual treatment.

It can be recycled and reused to avoid single use, thus prolonging the life of the material.

Long service life, reduce the frequency of renewal, reduce the demand for limited resources.

After being discarded, the materials can degrade into harmless substances in a short time.In addition to the environmental protection of materials, the manufacturing process of the card also needs environmental protection, such as the low energy consumption required for product processing, the process does not cause the emission of toxic and harmful substances and so on.

At present, the business card printing materials have two types: polyolefin (including PVC, ABS) and polyester (including PC, PET, PETG).The following is a brief introduction to the characteristics of these materials.

PVC(polyvinyl chloride), its mechanical properties and electrical insulation is good, transparent, difficult to burn, chemical corrosion resistance, low price, is a kind of plastics with good comprehensive performance.The disadvantage is poor thermal stability, easy to decompose hydrogen chloride, must add stabilizer to process. Brittle at low temperature, modifier is often added to improve its toughness.Business card with PVC also added a certain amount of vinegar and chloride resin to reduce the vica temperature, thus improving it’s lamination.

ABS(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer) has the characteristics of tough, hard, rigid, heat resistance, impact resistance, high surface hardness, stable size, low temperature -40 still has a considerable impact strength.But its weather resistance, especially UV resistance performance is poor, outdoor use is easy to aging. Because ABS itself softening temperature is higher than 90, so business card with ABS mixed with a certain proportion of PVC to reduce its softening temperature in order to laminate.
 

 

PC(polycarbonate) has the high light transmittance, low water absorption, impact resistance, good toughness, creep, product size stability characters.Good heat and cold resistance.The vitrification transition temperature (149-150℃) and thermal deformation temperature (135℃) are both high, and lamination requires a very high temperature to press.The surface of PC cards is not easy to be personalized, which greatly limits the application of PC materials in the bank.

PET(Polyethylene terephthalate) is the most important type of thermoplastic polyester. It has good mechanical properties. Its impact strength is 3~5 times that of other thin films.Resistance to oil, fat, acid, dilute alkali, most solvents.With excellent high and low temperature performance, it can be used in the range of 120℃ for a long time, short term can withstand 150℃ high temperature, can withstand -70℃ low temperature, and high and low temperature has little impact on its mechanical properties.

PETG(Amorphous copolyester) is tough, weatherproof, easy to process, excellent chemical resistance, environmental protection (degradable), economy.With impact strength and rigidity, the material is hard and durable, even at low temperature -40℃ physical property is also good. Suitable for use with high impact strength.Good thermal forming, no preheating can be formed, high precision, shrinkage rate 2%-3%. Good deep forming, no fracture and uniform thickness, thermal deformation temperature 69~70℃.