DSM has announced that its Micabs patented additive technology for laser marking can safely be used for synthetic wine corks as it meets the relevant requirements of the US Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act.

Micabs is a high-performance additive which facilitates extremely fast and high-contrast razor-sharp permanent laser markings surpassing conventional printing.
Supplied as a masterbatch granulate, Micabs can be added to a wide range of polymers to yield photo-quality, dark laser marks on light backgrounds. Unlike the current method of using a laser beam to carbonise the plastic itself, Micabs contains well-defined laser active particles which change colour under laser exposure, so that consistent marking is obtained irrespective of the polymer.
To commercialise the use of Micabs for decoration of synthetic wine corks, DSM has partnered with Tampoprint AG, the market leader in pad printing systems and pioneer of closure marking by laser. Tampoprint’s Alfalas MOF-Cork (Marking on the Fly) equipment, designed exclusively for Micabs is the world’s first fully automated high-speed laser marking system for synthetic wine corks. It utilises the DSM technology to offer customers a complete solution for laser marking of freely-programmable layouts on synthetic wine corks.
“Compared to conventional printing technologies currently used by synthetic wine cork producers, laser marking with Micabs additive offers numerous advantages including improved productivity and total system cost reduction due to the simplicity, flexibility and robustness of the new process,” DSM said.
“Small series customisation can easily be realised without any additional costs with minimised set-ups, as no clichés are required. Because Micabs technology does not require any pre-treatment of the cork surface nor use of messy inks or solvents, and no extra drying steps with UV lamps, overall production throughput can be increased as there is nearly no downtime due to machine cleaning and changing clichés.”
 It said the material was safe, clean and easy to handle and, additionally, the properties of the base polymer were retained. Micabs can be successfully used in the processing techniques typically used in the production of synthetic wine corks such as injection moulding, and extrusion.
“The combination of our Alfalas MOF-Cork high-speed laser marking system and DSM’s Micabs additive technology is a highly efficient solution that can achieve production speeds of up to 24,000 corks per hour,” said Sven Richter, sales manager Laser Systems, Tampoprint AG.
“Our partnership with DSM has enabled us to provide the market with a unique, high-volume process for marking synthetic corks. This integrated technology benefits our customers and our business.”
Valerie Reid, business development manager, DSM Micabs, commented: “The use of synthetic corks is increasing due to shortages of natural cork. Our joint solution with Tampoprint is solving intrinsic problems associated with conventional printing of synthetic corks giving producers improved quality and reproducibility.”