What makes water-washable flexo plates the future of sustainable printing?
As global legislation escalates, sustainability is no longer sitting on the sidelines of packaging production, it’s built directly into the brief.
Brand owners are being asked to prove the sustainability of their supply chains, and that pressure runs all the way through to packaging converters and printers. While materials and logistics often dominate the conversation, prepress is a critical part of the equation, and one with room for rapid gains.
That’s where Creation comes in. As a specialist prepress partner, we work with print professionals and labels and packaging converters to streamline workflows, reduce carbon impact, and deliver outstanding on-press results.
One way we achieve this is through supplying advanced water-washable flexo plates, including Fujifilm Flenex-FW, and supporting our customers through every step, from plate selection and colour management to integration into existing pressroom workflows.
What are water-washable plates, and how do they differ?
Traditional flexo plates typically rely on solvent washout to develop and clean the plate. This process releases VOCs (volatile organic compounds), requires ventilation and handling precautions, and adds to the carbon cost.
Water-washable plates, as the name suggests, are processed using water instead of solvent. Creation supplies Fujifilm Flenex-FW plates – a next-generation solution that combines sustainability with high-end print performance. Flenex plates are built with a unique rubber-based compound that delivers sharp imaging, fast processing, and long-lasting durability on press.
Why quality isn’t up for compromise
For too long, plate sustainability has been seen as a compromise; you could cut VOCs, but would the plates hold up on longer runs? You could reduce washout time, but would that impact ink transfer or dot consistency?
With Flenex-FW, those concerns are already answered.
- 4,000dpi resolution and consistent 1% flat-top dots deliver precise, high-definition print across substrates
- Plates are ready in under 40 minutes (a 300% reduction over conventional polymer plates), enabling faster turnarounds and reduced lead times
- Designed to last, they offer twice the durability of many solvent plates, helping reduce plate changes and downtime
For printers under pressure to maintain colour consistency, tight registration, and press efficiency, water-washable plates offer a more predictable, more capable alternative.
Sustainability built into the process and the value chain
The environmental advantages of water-washable flexo plates go beyond the pressroom.
- No solvents means zero VOC emissions and a safer, cleaner production space
- Lower energy consumption during plate processing reduces overall power usage
- Fewer plate replacements cut down on raw materials and waste
- Improved efficiency supports compliance with ISO 14001 and internal sustainability KPIs
Crucially, these benefits also help printers strengthen their position in the supply chain. With regulatory and commercial focus turning to Scope 3 emissions, the indirect emissions that sit upstream and downstream of a brand’s operations, printers and converters now play a vital role in helping brands and converters reduce their total carbon footprint.
By reducing prepress emissions, solvent use, and energy intensity, water-washable plate technology helps a print provider stand out as a lower-impact partner, an increasingly important factor for major brands when selecting suppliers.
In practice: Whitworths
When fruit and nut snack food brand Whitworths wanted to remove solvents from its packaging production, Creation helped implement a full shift to water-washable plates.
The transition was handled in-house by our technical team, covering plate selection, prepress adjustments, and workflow integration.
The switch enabled Whitworths to eliminate solvent use from prepress entirely, accelerate plate production and reduce turnaround times, and strengthen its packaging sustainability profile.
A technology fit for the future
Many brands are already working toward solvent-free supply chains by 2030. Environmental regulation is tightening, and pressrooms still reliant on VOC-based plate processing face an uphill climb. Water-washable technology addresses this challenge head-on by reducing emissions, improving operator safety, and simplifying compliance.
For printers and converters seeking to align with brand expectations while maintaining production flexibility, the business case is clear: water-washable is the right choice for 2025 and beyond.
How Creation supports the transition
As a Fujifilm Flenex-FW Centre of Excellence, Creation offers more than plate supply. Our team works closely with printers to optimise colour management, plate performance, and end-to-end workflow integration, delivering reliable results on press, job after job. From technical onboarding to ongoing support, we make the move to water-washable straightforward and stress-free.
Cleaner plates. Faster processing. Stronger print. Water-washable flexo delivers it all without compromise.