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10 March 2016

Features Of Sustainable Digital Printing

By Richard Patterson


The trend in many industries all over the world is to switch to green technologies that not only conserve the environment but also contribute significantly to the reduction in operational costs. The printing industry is one of those that are undergoing radical changes. Traditionally, the methods that have been used in this process have had a detrimental effect on the environment and there have been sustained efforts to develop sustainable digital printing.

The biggest contributor to environmental pollution has been the type of inks that are used. Conventional ink increases the amount of volatile organic compounds (or VOCs) in the environment. This comes about when they react nitrogen oxide found in the atmosphere. The result is formation of a layer of ozone. While ozone is ordinarily known to have a protective function, this type is undesired since it is formed in the low atmospheric layer and contributes to smog formation.

The use of recycled paper is a practice that is gaining acceptance by both firms and consumers. The direct benefit of this practice is the fact that it reduces the need for virgin paper and by extension the need to cut down more trees. Other benefits that you will realize in your firm are that it requires less water to process and results in less effluent as compared to virgin paper.

Proof reading of manuscripts is one of the areas that has been shown to significantly increase paper needs. Fortunately, the increased acceptance of email for this purpose is one of the changes that has helped a great deal in this area. Apart from reducing the amount of paper, this change has made it easy for writers to keep track of their work as it undergoes the various stages of the process.

The other raw materials can be similarly recycled or reused at various stages. Water is one of the inputs that are easiest to reuse. It has been established that with the right measures in place, one can recycle at least 65% of the water that is used. This is one way in which operation costs can be markedly reduced. The other raw materials that have been successfully recycled or reused include ink, aluminum plates and waste paper.

Energy is another important factor to consider in the process. Most environmental conscious firms are now moving away from fossil based fuels in favor of renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind energy. Since it may be a bit costly to make major changes at a go, most companies do it progressively by replacing old inefficient equipment with that which has more output per kilowatt of electricity used.

Digital printing is also widely used in fabrics these days. The changes that are taking place in paper printing are also being applied to fabrics with tremendous success. One of the unique stages involved in the case of fabrics is pretreatment. This stage involves the use of chemicals whose major byproduct is urea. Urea is in turn broken down to release carbon dioxide. This one of the processes that has been eliminated and alternatives developed.

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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