The idea of using environmentally friendly cards to replace the plastic ones employed worldwide is nothing new. However, an alternative card made of wood and printed with UV inks on a KBA-Metronic OC 200 single card printing machine is a first for the printing industry and for card technology. Following successful test trials in KBA-Metronic's experimental print shop at Veitshöchheim, Germany, the US company Sustainable Cards LLC, based in Boulder, Colorado, recently decided to launch their environmentally friendly product on the market. This means that nothing stands in the way of installing an OC 200 single card printing machine with a primer unit, four C-M-Y-K printing units and one varnishing unit. The machine will be in operation for Sustainable Cards at their site in Sweden.

The Radisson SAS Scandinavia Hotel in Denmark has already had its first experience with the environmentally friendly, wooden key cards. By the end of the year, the main customers for the elegant-looking cards will be a number of hotels in Copenhagen. The delegates and guests of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15), will be staying there from 7 to 18 December 2009. Sustainable Cards LLC is currently preparing to deliver more than 100,000 wooden key cards for Copenhagen hotels. This way, in cooperation with the Danish company GreenAD, the company has succeeded in a very big project - to introduce environmentally compatible cards, so replacing the plastic ones previously used. In America alone, the company reported in a press release, over 500 million tons of PVC are dumped every year landfill sites. The wooden cards, now successfully tested, are highly stable, and very quickly biodegrade in comparison to plastic cards, so they do not pollute the environment.

The OC 200 from KBA-Metronic AG, based in Veitshöchheim, Germany, is a modular printing machine that prints single cards without using water in the ISO standard format 85.5 x 54 mm (3.4 "x 2.1") with UV-curable inks. The unique, temperature- controlled Anilox inking unit for zoneless ink transfer ensures an even inking, providing excellent print quality. And because, in contrast to conventional offset printing, it uses no water, no alcohol and no powder, the machine prints in an environmentally friendly way and leaves no emissions. In this respect, the industry's most internationally successful single-card press, as chosen by Sustainable Cards, is also the greenest one. Günter Meyer, Sales Manager at KBA-Metronic AG confirmed: "Of course we are delighted that at such an important event as the International Climate Change Conference of the United Nations in December 2009 will be equipped with environmentally friendly hotel key cards printed with the unique printing technology of KBA-Metronic's OC 200. As more and more environmentally friendly products are being demanded in the marketplace, buying the OC 200 is exactly the right decision". Peo Akesson, CEO and founder of Sustainable Cards is proud to have again helped move environmental thinking a little further towards success: "The OC 200 prints without water and does not need the isopropanol normally used in conventional offset printing. That means it corresponds precisely to our expectations."

The OC 200 can print on most commercial cards up of to 1.2 mm thickness. Even cards with magnetic stripes and chip recesses can be processed. Thanks to its modular design, the machine can be adapted to the needs of the customer. Two to six print units, a primer unit, a coating module, a paternoster vertical conveyor module for high gloss effects, and a card turnover unit can be configured. Only a few waste cards are needed before a printing format can be set up. A card turnover unit (optional) ensures that cards can be printed on both sides in one pass. The OC 200's unique quick-action clamping device allows the printing plates to be mounted in a very short time. Even very short print runs of less than 1,000 can be produced especially economically and efficiently. UV dryers located after each printing unit guarantee the highest quality and assure that the cards can be packaged immediately after printing.