New Printing Concept - Green Printing (II)

2. Use environmentally friendly water-based ink

For a long time, the volatilization of solvents in the gravure printing technology was an environmental issue that plagued the printing industry. Therefore, industry insiders predict that the future development direction of the gravure printing technology is to respond to environmental protection. At present, in gravure printing, there is a tendency to use water-based ink printing. There are also gravure printing plants that install a solvent recovery system to reuse the recovered toluene solvent. The application of water-based ink in gravure printing can be described as faltering. In the field of gravure packaging printing, the use of gravure inks that do not contain toluene has become a consensus, and the pace of development is also getting faster and faster. Water-based ink has been widely used in carton printing. At the same time, in terms of plastic printing, although it is necessary to consider the drying measures of aqueous inks and their application costs such as the cost of the rollers. However, with the global greenhouse effect causing widespread concern, the development of water-based ink for practical plastic film printing has been rapidly developed. Now, "100% water-based inks have been developed. They can be used to print plastic films, including plastic substrates such as OPP and PET films. In the past five years, in the field of flexo printing, water-based inks, water-based varnishes, and other packaging materials were printed on corrugated paper. It has been widely used in the printing of fiber paperboard, folding carton, preprinting, etc. It has been reported that although various tests have been done on soft plastic printing, it is unrealistic for water-based inks to be used for flexible packaging of plastics. Alcohol Solvent flexo printing inks are used to print diapers and milk cartons, but in Japan, gravure printing is mainly used to print flexible packaging plastic films.In the past few years, there has been no obvious sign that the dominant position of surface gravure in flexible packaging plastic printing is impacted by other printing methods. .

In trademarks, labels, and other narrow-width printing markets, water-based inks and alcohol-solvent inks are being replaced by flexographic UV inks because the latter is not very costly and can be printed on a variety of substrates. In the field of screen printing, the process of using water-based ink encounters many problems. The main problem is how to use a solvent to effectively clean the ink on the printing plate, or when printing a plastic film, the waterproof performance thereof is required. To solve the above problems, it is necessary to solve the problem of cleaning the ink on the printing plate with a solvent or water. Such a technology development seems to be slow because the cleaning measures also require sewage treatment facilities and other considerations.

3. Advocate the use of recycled paper

In Japan, the problem of paper recycling is very serious and urgent. To solve the disposal of waste paper, it is necessary to consider how to reduce the CO2 emissions during processing and the dioxin produced during incineration. The use of recycled paper in offset printing is increasingly widespread, but its printability cannot be compared with traditional pulp and paper. For example, the ink is insufficiently dried, easily scratched, the paper strength is low, the drying speed is slow, the ink absorption is insufficient, the printing effect is poor, the whiteness of the paper is not enough, and the abrasion resistance is poor. As the quality of recycled paper is getting closer to pulp paper, the pressure on environmental pressure, emissions, and energy consumption of pulp paper is increasing. At present, the application of recycled paper is one of the solutions to environmental problems.

4. Use PVC material with caution

PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is a substrate for packaging printing. In the field of packaging and printing, there is a tendency to phase out PVC materials because PVC produces chlorine during the production and incineration process, and chlorides can affect the life of the incinerator. It has been reported that polyolefins are now widely accepted as the best alternative to PVC. In the plastic packaging and printing market, some companies are considering the development of non-chlorinated plastic materials and use photodegradable polymer materials as plastic packaging substrates. However, no results have been achieved so far because this material cannot be degraded when it is buried underground. Biodegradable polymer plastic film is a safe, environmentally friendly material, but the price is more expensive than ordinary polymer materials.

Considering dioxins, handling and recycling of waste materials, etc., in order to follow the environmental protection of packaging recycling, there is now a tendency for packaging materials to move from plastic and metal materials to paper products. This is a good example of environmental protection. It is also a rare business opportunity for the printing industry.

(III) Advocating Printing Industry to Implement ISO 14001

The implementation of the ISO 14001 environmental management system has become a trend in the world, and environmental protection awareness is increasing. The printing industry should use the ISO 14001 environmental management system to continuously improve the environment and prevent pollution. When the printing industry implemented ISO 14001, it actually met the 70% requirement for OHSAS 18001 occupational safety and environmental management system.

1.ISO14000s Environmental Management System

ISO 14000s is the code number for the series of environmental management standards. There are a total of 100 sub-standards, and there are six standards that have been announced. This series of standards integrates the environmental management experience of many developed countries in the world. Among them, ISO 14001 is the basic standard for the series of environmental management standards and is the basis for companies to establish and implement an environmental management system and pass certification. This standard consists of five parts and 17 core elements. Its basic idea is to prevent and reduce environmental impacts and continuously improve environmental management. Although the ISO 14000s series of standards are voluntary standards, due to the increased awareness of the environment, government, companies and other organizations have prioritized the procurement of products and services with better environmental performance. In this way, as a market standard, companies that obtain the ISO 14001 standard certification will have greater market advantages.

2.OHSAS 18000 Occupational Safety Management System

OHSAS 18000 (Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series) is a series of occupational safety management system standards that have been jointly developed by dozens of famous European certification organizations and some countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The Occupational Safety Management System Specification (OHSAS 18001) and the Occupational Safety Management System Application Guide (OHSAS 18002) have been issued. This series of standards does not constitute a formal promulgation standard for a country or an international organization, but is a series of occupational safety management system standards that can be used by any country or organization. According to the current requirements and implementation status of occupational safety management system standards in the international scope, OHSAS has become widely adopted and the most authoritative standard.