Environmental conservation is an integral part of any business today. Consumers are increasingly giving preference to businesses that appear to be mindful of the environment and shunning those whose actions degrade it. For this reason, many industries appear to be realigning their processes to make them more sustainable. The printing industry is among those that are making radical changes. There are several ways of adopting sustainable digital printing.
Ink is an important component of any printing process. Traditional inks are derived from petroleum and have a high amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These compounds react with atmospheric gasses and lead to formation of smog. Fortunately, environmental-friendly inks that are vegetable based and biodegradable have now been developed. These natural alternatives have the same range of colors as the petroleum based types.
Apart from volatile organic compounds, petroleum-based inks also have a high level of heavy metals as key ingredients. These include, for example, chromium, cadmium, selenium, nickel and selenium. Such heavy metals are known to cause environmental degradation directly especially if released in high quantities and over a prolonged period of time. The business should strive to choose inks that have very little of these metals if at all.
There are two types of paper that can be used by printing firms: virgin paper and recycled paper. The latter is derived from waste paper and should be the natural choice for a person seeking to better the environment. Apart from being cheaper, it reduces the need to cut down more trees. Other advantages include the fact that it needs less water to process and that less effluent is produced when it is used.
There are several other raw materials that can be recycled other than paper. Water is among those that are easiest to recycle. In a normal process, close to 60% of this precious commodity goes to waste. Reusing the water would, therefore, contribute to huge savings by the firm. Ink and aluminum plates that have already been used in this process can also be put back to good use.
The type of energy that is used in your firm needs to be scrutinized. Work progressively to reduce your reliance on hydropower and fossil-based fossils in favor of renewable sources of energy such as wind and power. As you do this, develop mechanisms to cut down on your consumption. Gradually replace inefficient printers with those that give you higher output for every unit of power used.
Sustainability can also be adopted in fabric printing. In the pretreatment stage, urea and other chemicals are used. When urea is broken down during the steaming stage, it releases carbon dioxide into the environment. Carbon-dioxide is a well-known greenhouse gas that can directly damage the ozone layer. Alternative methods that are free of urea are now commercially available in the market.
Sustainable printing is associated with numerous benefits. The most important is that the environment will be conserved. The specific benefit to the business is that operational costs are significantly lowered which may help increase the profit margins. For the consumer, the benefit is that the reduced operational costs may be passed on to them in the form of more affordable products.
Ink is an important component of any printing process. Traditional inks are derived from petroleum and have a high amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These compounds react with atmospheric gasses and lead to formation of smog. Fortunately, environmental-friendly inks that are vegetable based and biodegradable have now been developed. These natural alternatives have the same range of colors as the petroleum based types.
Apart from volatile organic compounds, petroleum-based inks also have a high level of heavy metals as key ingredients. These include, for example, chromium, cadmium, selenium, nickel and selenium. Such heavy metals are known to cause environmental degradation directly especially if released in high quantities and over a prolonged period of time. The business should strive to choose inks that have very little of these metals if at all.
There are two types of paper that can be used by printing firms: virgin paper and recycled paper. The latter is derived from waste paper and should be the natural choice for a person seeking to better the environment. Apart from being cheaper, it reduces the need to cut down more trees. Other advantages include the fact that it needs less water to process and that less effluent is produced when it is used.
There are several other raw materials that can be recycled other than paper. Water is among those that are easiest to recycle. In a normal process, close to 60% of this precious commodity goes to waste. Reusing the water would, therefore, contribute to huge savings by the firm. Ink and aluminum plates that have already been used in this process can also be put back to good use.
The type of energy that is used in your firm needs to be scrutinized. Work progressively to reduce your reliance on hydropower and fossil-based fossils in favor of renewable sources of energy such as wind and power. As you do this, develop mechanisms to cut down on your consumption. Gradually replace inefficient printers with those that give you higher output for every unit of power used.
Sustainability can also be adopted in fabric printing. In the pretreatment stage, urea and other chemicals are used. When urea is broken down during the steaming stage, it releases carbon dioxide into the environment. Carbon-dioxide is a well-known greenhouse gas that can directly damage the ozone layer. Alternative methods that are free of urea are now commercially available in the market.
Sustainable printing is associated with numerous benefits. The most important is that the environment will be conserved. The specific benefit to the business is that operational costs are significantly lowered which may help increase the profit margins. For the consumer, the benefit is that the reduced operational costs may be passed on to them in the form of more affordable products.
About the Author:
When you are searching for the facts about sustainable digital printing, come to our web pages online here today. Additional details are available at http://www.rollingpress.com now.
No comments:
Post a Comment