If you use Direct Thermal Labels, you may know this already; the price
of direct thermal labels and POS paper has/will increase substantially.
For example, Jujo Thermal announced an 8% to 13% increase.
And Lecta announced an 8% to 10% increase; After a 7% increase in May:
As I understand, this latest price increase results from the closure of
a Chinese chemical plant, Connect Chemical, that makes 30% to 35% of the world
market for leuco dyes, one of the major ingredients for the manufacturer of
direct thermal paper.
This closure is a result of the Chinese government attempting to clean
up the pollution affecting their country.
It seems China has closed 10’s of thousands of chemical plants in an
effort to improve their pollution.
Leuco dye is one of the 4 major chemicals used in the manufacture of
direct thermal paper.
What was news to me is that thermal paper uses Bisphenol A (BPA) and Bisphenol C (BPC) which
when combined with the leuco dye makes the color when heated. Recently, BPA has been identified as an
endocrine disruptor.
Heating of the direct thermal POS paper and labels appears to expose
the BPA more to people handing these materials. From Wikipedia:
People who often get in contact
with BPA coated receipts do have a higher level of BPA in their bodies than
people with average contact.
In addition to the production issue with the leuco dyes, the largest
domestic manufacturer of thermal paper filed bankruptcy: Appvion.
The combination of these two events has caused the price of direct
thermal paper and labels to increase substantially. Over one million tons of direct thermal paper
are used each year.
With the price increases, now may be a good time to switch away from
direct thermal labels to a better, safer alternative that enables color. And
the costs may not be that different.
Some time ago, this post explored the cost differences among label
printer media:
At Color Label Solutions, we sell two, inexpensive options for
producing colorful inkjet labels to replace direct thermal printers. First, we sell the ClariSafe printer, which
prints labels up to 2.5” wide.
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| ClariSafe Color Label Printer |
Learn more here:
Watch this printer produce labels direct from a browser:
At less than $700, this printer produces great looking labels. Perfect
for adding color symbols/icons on POS paper or labels.
To replace direct thermal shipping or warehouse labels, consider the
C3500; perfect for adding color images to 4” wide shipping labels.
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| C3500 Color Label Printer |
Here is an earlier post about increasing the ROI from shipping labels
by using color:
Even three years ago, the price difference between direct thermal and
inkjet coated or even uncoated labels were not much. Pleasant Mattress replaced direct thermal printers with C3500 printers to produce color-coded
labels.
You can purchase the C3500 here.
With the big increase in prices of direct thermal label media, maybe
you should consider switching to a better, safer and more colorful label
option. We can help you with two
affordable printer options; and the labels to go through these printers. Contact us if you would consider moving away
from Direct Thermal printers.
Guy Mikel
855-962-7670
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