Azuliber becomes first company to adopt EFI Cretaprint Hybrid printer

The new hybrid technology, which works with both water-based and solvent-based inks, was tested for over a year prior to validation.

The first EFI Cretaprint Hybrid digital printer capable of working with both water-based and conventional solvent-based inks is in operation in the factory of the Spanish tile producer Azuliber. The machine was installed in the plant in L’Alcora over a year ago as a beta test, after which it was validated and is now fully operational.

The excellent results achieved with the new printer were confirmed by Azuliber’s sales manager Fernando Palomo: “When EFI proposed this new technology for ceramic decoration, we wanted to try it out first. I can now report that we’ve manufactured our existing products with new water-based inks without any issue and obtained a perfect finished product.”

During production, the printer has proved to be an efficient solution for printing tiles of all types and sizes and delivers technical and environmental benefits while also being cost effective.

As for sustainability, the use of the new eco-friendly digital printing technology allows for significant savings of glaze, water and energy and reduced emissions and is part of Azuliber’s long-standing commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its production processes.

The company has an electrical energy cogeneration system which generates 25,600 kJ/h by recovering hot air from the spray dryer turbines. It has also developed a complete solid waste and water recycling system and made the service available to more than 30 ceramic companies in the area, recovering a total of around 187 million kg/year of ceramic sludge and suspensions.

Founded in 1972, Azuliber has always excelled in technological innovation and this year won its third Alfa de Oro award for the development of a ceramic-polymer composite with advanced sound absorption characteristics in collaboration with Neos Additives and BestTile.