Fact: The print industry is one of the most polluting industries in the UK.
The environmental impact of a printing company can be considerable and wide ranging.
Energy
The print industry uses significant amounts of energy. From heating and lighting to powering equipment and final delivery, energy is used at all stages of the print process. It is possible to reduce energy requirements at every stage of the process. Many companies have been innovative in these areas and have, of course, reduced their costs as well as reducing their environmental impact.
Water
Large quantities of water are used in most printing processes. Water usage can be greatly reduced by waterless printing but also by printing with digital processes. Water usage can be reduced by recycling the water used on presses and measures such as sprinkler and pressure taps. A small number of printing companies are investigating the possibilities of rainwater harvesting.
There is strict legislation regarding contaminated water. Printing companies are required by law to clean all water used before disposal; in practice, some printers are more rigorous than others.
Waste
Given that free audits and advice are available, via Envirowise, this is a straightforward issue to tackle. Relatively high levels of waste are generated by the print process. From printing plates and ink tins to pallets and packaging there is plenty of potential for reducing use, reusing and recycling what's left. There are, of course, financial, as well as environmental, incentives for reducing waste levels.
Emissions
10 per cent of the UK's VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) are believed to emanate from the printing industry. As ink dries, the isopropyl alcohol (IPA), used as a damping solution, evaporates at room temperature, releasing VOCs. VOCs are colourless, odourless gases that are harmful to the environment, contributing to global warming and the production of ozone, as well as being hazardous to pressroom workers. It is possible to reduce and even remove the need for IPA through fastidious machine operation and maintenance. For more information on VOCs see the Air Quality pages on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) website: http://www.defra.gov.uk
Waterless printing
Waterless printing is basically sheet-fed litho printing using different printing plates and a method of transferring the image to the paper without using water. It eliminates the need for IPA (isopropyl alcohol ) and better quality print is claimed through reduced dot gain and improved colour consistency. Currently, in the UK, only a small number of printing companies offer waterless printing. See http://www.waterless.org for more information.
Low alcohol printing
A number of printers- and the majority
on PPE - are now using ‘low-alcohol’ printing techniques which reduce
both the need for IPA, in the dampening system, and VOC emissions.
CO2 emissions and offsetting
‘Carbon neutral’ schemes that simply offset carbon emissions by planting trees, are ineffectual because they deal with symptoms rather than addressing the causes. For this reason, the environmental schemes undertaken by the printing companies featured on PPE focus on both reducing emissions and offsetting carbon emissions.
See www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/carbon_offsetting.pdf for a joint FOE, Greenpeace and WWF statement on this issue.
