Tampere University of Applied Sciences

Siegwerk and TAMK print paper bags with coffee-derived ink colorants

Ink maker Siegwerk, Finnish research group TAMK and partners including coffee company Meira and German converter Hornung Verpackungen have printed paper shopping bags using a water-based ink formulated with colorants derived from coffee-roasting side streams. The August 2026 print run followed two years of research and a 2025 flexographic trial, and is described as a step towards commercial adoption of the technology.

Why this mattersA working bio-based colorant supply chain could reduce packaging printers' reliance on fossil-based pigments, a small but replicable circularity model for other food-industry side streams.

• Paper bags were printed in August 2026 using a water-based ink with colorants from coffee-production side streams supplied by Meira Oy.
• Natural Indigo Finland's BioInk technology was used by Siegwerk to formulate the colorants into industrial printing inks.
• The project began two years before the August 2026 trial, with a first flexographic print on fibre-based shopping bags in 2025.
• The 2025 coffee-ink packaging won the public vote at New Wood 2025 and the Sustainable Innovations Competition at PacTec in Helsinki.
• The ink uses Siegwerk's high bio-renewable content technical varnish as binder and generates no VOC emissions.
• Partners include Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK), Natural Indigo Finland, BioInk, Meira and Hornung Verpackungen.

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