Veritas offers first glimpse of NEXA Edge Solo self-wound laminate
Veritas Print Media, local supplier of advanced commercial print media for signage, display graphics and architectural markets, is bringing NEXA Edge Solo, a new self-wound laminate, that requires no release liner, to the Australia and New Zealand – being launched here before its global release.
Daniel Watts, Veritas CEO says that simplicity is central to the product: “A normal laminate consists of the laminate itself, adhesive and a release liner which is ultimately discarded. With NEXA Edge Solo, we’ve taken one of those components out of the equation entirely – there is no release liner. That means less material, less waste and considerably less weight to transport. It is a very simple change in concept, but it has positive implications right through the life of the product.”
NEXA Edge Solo is formulated without PVC, plasticisers, phthalates or intentionally added PFAS, avoiding a number of substances commonly associated with conventional PVC-based media.
Because of the elimination of the release liner, Nexa Edge Solo has a substantially different material and waste profile from a conventional PVC laminate. As a starting point, the cutting roll weight is dramatically reduced, so despite being supplied in an unusually long roll length – 1370mm-wide by 200-meter rolls, with subsequent production versions planned to move to 1270mm × 220m rolls – each roll only weighs around 12kg per roll. In addition to this, the laminate can be run through a standard laminator, allowing commercial printers and sign businesses to adopt it without investing in any specialist laminating equipment or changing established production processes.
The formulation and advanced surface-release characteristics that allows Solo to be self-wound – preventing the laminate from adhering permanently to itself despite having no release liner – also gives the surface exceptional anti-graffiti characteristics.
The laminate is available in matte or gloss and whilst Veritas recommends initial compatibility testing with UV-printing, Watts is confident that it can be used across a broad range of printed applications.
Despite its different construction and material formulation, NEXA Edge Solo is also positioned to challenge the price of conventional PVC laminates, which Veritas sees as an important distinction ‘because too often, more sustainable alternatives in commercial print have required customers to accept a price premium’.
Watts adds: “The commercial reality is that because NEXA Edge Solo eliminates PVC and the release liner, it can be priced competitively against conventional PVC laminates, plus there is the added cost savings possible through reduced waste and lower transport weights. That is the sort of equation we want NEXA Edge to represent.”
Hinting at other new products in the pipeline, Watts adds: “There is considerably more behind the brand, but we’re not ready to tell the whole story yet. For now, we’d rather put this new NEXA Edge Solo into customers’ hands and let them experience what is different and exceptional about it.”
