dimanche 13 mars 2016

By Richard Patterson


There have been sustained efforts by governments as well as environmental activists advocating for the increased adoption of technology that is environmental friendly by various industries. The printing industry is one of those that have come under intense pressure to change the methods that have employed for decades. There are a number of measures that one can out in place so as to implement sustainable digital printing.

An area in which major changes are being made is the type of inks that are used in the process. The inks that have been used traditionally are known to result in byproducts known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are harmful to the environment. This occurs when the chemical that are found in these inks react with nitrogen oxide (in the atmosphere) in the presence of sunlight. New types of ink do not have these compounds.

The other area in which significant changes can be made is in the type of paper that is used. Increased use of virgin paper causes increased deforestation, a major contributing factor to global warming and climate change. Recycled paper, on the other hand, helps reduce wastage and hence the need to cut down more trees. During processing, there is production of less effluent when recycled paper is used as compared to virgin paper.

Paper has also been widely used in proofs. Increased adoption of modern methods of communication is a move that is set to reduce the need for paper for this purpose. Increase use of email, for instance, has completely eliminated the need for paper proofs in some firms. The emails have, in addition, made it easy for customers to follow up on their work as it goes through the various steps in the printing process.

Apart from paper, there are other raw materials that can also be recycled or reused. Water is perhaps the easiest to be put back into the process. One of the areas where recycled water can be put into good use is in the washing of printers. It has been shown that up to 65% of water that is used can be reused. The other materials that should be considered for reuse and recycling include waste paper, ink and aluminum plates.

Energy efficiency should be a priority in a printing firm. Fossil fuels take a big part of the blame for global warming and this is the reason as to why there is a general trend to move away from these sources of energy in favor of more renewable sources. Wind and solar energy are, in particular, getting a very positive reception. When replacing old equipment, acquire new ones that will give you higher input for each kilowatt of electricity that you use.

These changes have also been successfully replicated in digital fabric printing. Perhaps one of the major differences that exists is the pretreatment stage where urea based compounds are used in fabric printing. These compounds which are known to release carbon dioxide as a byproduct are now being replaced by a special type of foam.

Using green based solutions in printing is a practice that is going to be vital to the success of any business in the near future. The good news is that there are numerous benefits that are released by the writers, the printing firms and eventually the final consumers. The savings in operation costs are passed on to all the players in the industry.




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