Carbon black is an essential pigment for the global printing industry, but has recently come under fire from aggressive environmental legislation.
To understand the commercial reality of this threat, I spoke with Sara Osorio, the Environmental Health and Affairs Coordinator for PRINTING United Alliance. She spends her days navigating the complex legislative landscape to ensure that new regulations do not place an unbearable burden on print businesses.
Sara explains the importance of carbon black to the printing industry, “Carbon black is the primary pigment used in black printing ink and as an extender or a pigment in many other inks. It is hugely important to printing because of the qualities of the pigment. It’s very hard to find comparable substitutes because of the fastness, clarity, vibrancy, and colour, which make it an essential component of virtually all ink systems within print.”
The toxicity myth and the recycling reality
The immediate threat in the US comes from individual states introducing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation and using it to push through bans on supposedly toxic chemicals, explicitly naming carbon black.
Sara points out that this classification is fundamentally flawed. While the raw powder can affect the lungs if inhaled without proper PPE, the danger disappears once the pigment is processed. “The real toxicity from carbon black is not because the molecule is toxic, but when it’s inhaled in powder form, it can affect the lungs. When carbon black is incorporated into a matrix like tyres, rubber, or printing inks, it is no longer toxic. So if you’re using proper PPE with the powder, it won’t be an issue. If it’s encapsulated in a matrix, it won’t be an issue.”
She adds, “This safety profile is not just an industry opinion. It is a fact backed by major health organisations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA has said carbon black is not toxic. IARC, which is the International Association for Research on Cancer, has said carbon black, when incorporated in a matrix, is not toxic.”
If it is not toxic, why target it? Well, that’s because another key issue is outdated waste management. Traditional black plastic confuses near-infrared sorting machinery used in many recycling plants, often blending into the conveyor belt. Rather than upgrade the facilities, lawmakers are attempting to simply ban the pigment.
“The issue with black plastic and with carbon black right now isn’t really that black plastic is not recyclable, it’s not really that it’s toxic; it’s that our recycling infrastructure in the US is very, very outdated,” says Sara.
Fighting the bans state by state
Because the US legislative system is highly fragmented, PRINTING United Alliance is fighting a relentless, state-by-state battle. When bans pop up, the Alliance mobilises its members to push back directly.
Their advocacy campaigns have already secured significant commercial victories for the trade:
- In New York, heavy lobbying and member action alerts successfully got carbon black removed entirely from the legislation.
- In New Jersey, facing a standalone ban on toxics, the Alliance fought hard and secured a specific exemption for printing inks.
“We launch these campaigns and involve our members to help with the battle. We provide the information so that all members have to do is go to our website and fill in their information. We then provide them with what they need to lobby their representatives with compelling and accurate information about how this unnecessary legislation is going negatively affect their business and the wider economy,” Sara explains.
The transatlantic ripple effect
The printing supply chain is global, and isolation is impossible. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), currently being implemented in the EU, is already creating a ripple effect across the Atlantic.
PPWR is a comprehensive piece of European Union legislation designed to drastically reduce packaging waste and drive a circular economy. Replacing the older Packaging Waste Directive, the regulation mandates that all packaging placed on the EU market must be fully recyclable by 2030. To achieve its sustainability goals, the PPWR introduces strict minimum recycled content targets for plastic packaging, enforces harmonised labelling to make consumer recycling easier, and sets binding quotas for reusable and refillable packaging options. Additionally, it aims to eliminate unnecessary over-packaging and strictly limits the presence of harmful chemicals, such as heavy metals and PFAS, in packaging materials.
Sara maps out the standard trajectory for these regulations. “Things happen in the EU, then they jump to California, New York, Minnesota, Washington, Colorado, and then once some more of the blue states start passing these laws, then it goes to a federal level.”
With producers struggling to comply with a patchwork of different state rules covering different materials, there are increasing calls for a harmonised, national approach to EPR in the US.
Holding the line on quality
While alternatives like algae-based carbon black pigments exist, they simply cannot match the scale of traditional carbon black. Sara concludes, “Until a viable commercial alternative to carbon black is available, the industry has to protect its supply chain. This is why PRINTING United Alliance is leading the resistance to state-led bans in order to protect the industry and support its members.”