Creates Industry's Broadest Environmentally Friendly Product Offering
INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn., Oct. 15, 2007 — Travel Tags today announced it is introducing several new additions to its Nattera(TM) line of environmentally friendly stored value card solutions. The new product line, totaling five new offerings, will be the card industry's broadest range of card products on substrates that include renewable and recycled materials.
"Travel Tags' Nattera(TM) line of environmentally friendly card constructions fulfills major retailers' demands for alternative materials for gift cards, loyalty cards, and membership cards," said John Tomcyzk, vice president of innovation for IGH Solutions, parent company of Travel Tags.
"There is no one-size-fits all solution to sustainability and there are a lot of suspect claims being made about environmentally friendly materials in the market," said Tomczyk, who will speak on the Green Movement and its effect on card construction and printing at the International Card Manufacturers Association annual exposition in San Diego on October 15th. "That's why we focused our development on cards that could be produced from recycled materials or renewable resources and have a low manufacturing impact on the environment."
"The new products added to the Nattera(TM) line have been given names reflecting their environmentally friendly nature," Tomczyk added. The new product line includes:
Nattera Birch(TM) – this card features a very natural feel and appearance, as it is made entirely out of wood. It's the closest feel to nature on a card!
Nattera Evergreen(TM) – constructed out of recycled PVC, this card uses up to 99%+ post-consumer recycled material in its manufacturing. As a result, it avoids the utilization of newly produced PVC. PVC production has been linked to a host of environmental issues.
Nattera Field(TM) – made out of polyactide (PLA) derived from cornstarch. Along with using corn, which is a renewable resource, PLA's manufacturing process also displays a lower carbon footprint than that of traditional plastics.
Nattera Forest(TM) – a 100% cellulose-based card, including a cellulose-based lamination. This card that utilizes a proprietary lamination and finishing process exclusive to Travel Tags can be made to match the look, performance and feel of a traditional plastic card.
Nattera Rain Forest(TM) – made out of PETG, which creates a lower environmental impact in its manufacturing compared to PVC. The fabrication of this material does not involve the use of toxic elements – such as chlorine gas or DEHP plasticizers – present in PVC production.
These new Nattera(TM) card offerings have been successfully developed to feature litho printing, lamination or press polishing, variable data imaging, and magnetic stripe encoding. All cards are printed with ultraviolet-cured inks, which contain very low levels of volatile organic compounds and minimize any outputs that contribute to air pollution. The Nattera(TM) line also offers a variety of earth-friendly carrier options, from 100% recycled paper to paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and printed in FSC-certified plants using soy-based inks.
"While some of the new card constructions – such as the cellulose-based Forest(TM) card – will degrade in a composting environment, Travel Tags deliberately chose not to develop a biodegradable or biocompostable card," Tomczyk said.
"There are a lot of claims about biodegradability or compostablility out there," continued Tomczyk. "But the truth is that most cards will end up in a landfill and research has proven that almost nothing degrades in a landfill environment. By focusing on renewable resources and recycled materials for our products, our customers will have a positive impact on the environment in the way that cards are used and disposed of in the real world."
About Travel Tags, Inc.
Travel Tags, with 30 years of plastic printing experience, is headquartered in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. Travel Tags has manufacturing facilities, creative design services and sales offices in Portland, OR; Las Vegas, NV; Redlands, CA as well as European-based operations through its sister company, Narboni, with locations in Paris and Miramont, France, providing gift, loyalty and phone card program solutions to the European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian markets. By pooling the capabilities and resources of these strategic partnerships and locations, Travel Tags offers a variety of stored value products and services including design concepts and online and in-store fulfillment for gift, loyalty, membership, discount and phone cards.
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