Pollution Prevention
for the
Printing Industry
A Manual for /
Pollution Prevention
Technical Assistance Providers
February 1997
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Acknowledgements
' ',.',.,,, ,uankrr-s EPA -Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics and the Northeast
and Catherine Zeman (Iowa Waste Reduction Center).
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f.
f-
ii
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Table of Contents
Listof Tables and Figures.................. ...... .......... ..... vi
Keys, to Using This Guide ....... ..... ........... ....... ..... ...... 1
The U.S. Domestic Printing Industry.............. ........ ....3
Overview ............. .....,....,... ..... ... .......... ........ ...... i..'.. ....... ...... ........ ....... 3
Companies, Presses and Employees, ............ ................................... 4
Geographic Distribution .... ...... ...... .......... . ...... .... ......... ......... ........ *>
Conclusion.............. ...... . ........ ................ ..... .......:..... ...... ,.-..,.........7
Annotated Bibliography. .............. .................. ........ .... ........ ...............8
Emerging Technologies ..................... ...... ..............11
Annotated Bibliography......... ..... ...... .......... ..................................... ,12
Common Pollution Prevention Practices in Printing 13
Major Wasfestreams .............. ... ....... ...... ...... ....... .................... ....... ..13
How to Reduce Waste ........ ....... .. ........ ................................ ......... 1 3.
Pre Press. ............ ...... ..... ........... ........ , .......... - ....... ..... ..... -16
Press ....,.;...........; ..... ...!...... ............... .................... ...... .................. ..... 1 8
Inks.......... ............................. ...... .ป... ....... ....... v ........ ..........19
Cleanup.... ..... .... ....... ....... ...... ..... ..... ..... ............ ...... ......... ............... 22
;'.' ' '. ''--.' 02
Post Press .............. ..... ..... ....... .................... ......... ............ ....... .........**.
References Used . ..... ............ ...... ,ป... ..... ...... ......... ..... ....... '; 22
Annotated Bibliography ........ ........ ............ ....... ........ .................. 22
Places to Look for Waste Reduction ................;.... ...... .- ..... ............ 25
Lithography.. ..... ............ ..... .................:................ 31
Overview. ..... ... ......... ............. - ..... ..':......ป ..... .......... ............
'.-.,.. '.'''.'' - . " ' . : 3V
Pre Press .......... ........ .... ......... ........ ...... ...... " ........ ":"""
Photo Processing
Hi
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.33
Proofs ... ...................................... ..... " ................... ' .............. ....
...-.., ....... 34
Plates [[[ : ............ ;
. ..... .............. 35
Press [[[
................ ..36
Post Press ................................................ -: ............
References Used .................................. ; ............. ............................
Annotated Bibliography ....................................... ..... ; ........ : .......... "0
' ................ 40
Case Studies [[[ " ......... '
Screen Printing. ............................. .................... "
....... ......... 51
Overview..... [[[
. ,..; ........... 62
PrePress [[[
, ..... ........ 52
PreSS ......... ............................................ ".""" ...... """"" ........ ....53
Post Press ............................................. ; .......... --
References Used... ..... ...... ........ .............. - .................... ..........
Annotated Bibliography ........................... .............. ............... "" ....... _
Case Studies .................... ............... - ........ ' ....... im> ........ ..................
Flexography ... ......... .............. ..... ........ ............
..... ................. 73
Overview ........... ........ ...................... ............... ' ............
................ 74
Pre Press ........................... ...... ........ ..... "" .................. '""
Press .............. ' ................. '" ........... ' ..... ' ...... ........ ..... ZZZ'/76
Post Press [[[ _,
_ .......... . ........ /o
Letterpress ................................ ..................... " ................
.................. /o
References Used ........ . ............... ........... ;; ......... "" ..........
Annotated Bibliography ........ . ..... ............. ..................................... .
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. - - -..- - . ^ -. . ....... ..... 89
Post Press ...... ...... :. ...... ,..;.... ........ ,....- ......... _-. ....... ...... ....... :- :
'-" .-.'. 90'
References Used ..... ........:............",- ............... ; ............ ...... ;
' . on
Annotated Bibliography.... ................. ................. ............... .........
'' - - ;,''..-." -':. 91
Case Studies . ..... ... ..... ......... ........... ....... ............ ...... ............ .....
Appendix A/Federal Regulations ............ ..... ..." ...... .97
Overview .............. ..... ......... ........ ........;.....-. ....... ............ ........ ......
Clean Air Act (CAA)..... ..... . ..... - ...... ....... - ........ <" ...... ....... ..........97
Clean Water Act (CWA)... .............. ..... ..... ...... ......... ............. .....
Occupational Health and Safety Act.... ..... ........... ..... ......... -100
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)..... ..... .... ....... ป 101
1 03
Superfund (CERCLA and SARA) ..... ............. ......... ...... ..... ..--- IVJ
Appendix B/Human Resources ....... . . ..... ...-.,ป -'ป - - - 1 ฐ7
..........107
States/Provinces .......... ......... ............;....... ......... ..........
National and Regional Groups ..... ........ ... ....... -. ..... ........... .-
...... ........110
Printing Associations;.. ............ ..................... .......... .........
Appendix a/Electronic Resources...,....,:... -.113
113
Printing Web Sites ........ ....... - ..... ...-, ..... - ......... ' ................... ."
.:. ........ .... 114
Listservs ..... ........ ........... ...... >- ............ ..........-- .....
..... ;......... 114
Videos...... .............. ........................ ....... .......-- ..... ...... ^
Appendix D/Giossqry ......... ...............-- 1 ] 7
Appendix E/Summary Sheets .......... ..... ........ vป^ป 119
........ ...V21
Index ....v ...... ................ ............... ............
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List of Tables and Figures ====
List of Tables . ' '-
Table 1. Places to Look for Waste Reduction in the Printing Industry A3
List of Figures
Figure 1 Economic Profile of U.S. Printing Industry ^
Figure 2 Economic Market Share by Process - . g
Figure 3 Plant Distribution by Press Type 6
Fiqure4 'Distribution by Number of Employees . .
FiaureS Plant Distribution in 10 Leading States
Figure 6 Typical Lithographic Printing Process and Prmaple Releases ^
to the Environment 23
Figure/ Principle of Offset Lithography 5]
Figure 8 Principle of Screen Printing . 73
Figure 9 Principle of Flexography 87
Figure 10 Principle of Gravure Printing
VI
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Keys to Using This Guide
Look around your office and count the number
of items that have some type of printing on
them. There are five principal types of printing
processes that produce the images you see. They
are lithography, gravure, flexography, screen
printing, and letterpress. Each printing process
includes three basic steps: preparing'an image
carrier; transferring the image, either directly or
indirectly onto the substrate to be printed; and
finishing. The finishing steps will differ depend-
ing upon the printing process. For example,
lithographic printed materials may be folded,
trimmed, collated, bound, laminated, die cut, or
embossed, depending on the function of the final
product (Pferdehirt, 1993). .
The packet you hold in your hands will give
technical assistance providers, both those experi-
enced in workmg with printers and those just
starting, a basic reference on a variety of pollu-
tion prevention (P2) and waste minimization
suggestions. The packet includes a statistical ,
overview of the industry, general pollution
prevention options based on the process flow of
typical printing operations, chapters on each
specific printing type highlighted by case studies
and a annotated bibliography.
' The annotated bibliography of each section
provides a basic overview of what the compilers
of this document believed to be some of the more
informative references pertaining to each pnnt-
ing type. As there are hundreds, if not thousands,
of articles, factsheets, and so forth pertaining to
printing, the annotated bibliography should,not
be considered to be all inclusive of the printing
information currently available. :
the four appendices cover federal regula-
tions (up to Spring 1996), human resources,
electronic resources,'and a glossary of printing
terms. .
In putting together this packet, we have
made several assumptions. First, that those
reading this are already familiar with P2 con-
cepts and the steps needed to implement a P2
program. If not, we refer-you to "Pollution
Prevention: A Guide to Program Implementa-
tion," distributed by the Illinois Waste Manage-
ment and Research Center. Second, that any
technique or technology presented here as a ;
possible method to reduce waste will be more
. thoroughly investigated by the technical assis-
tance provider as to the applicability to the
facility they are assisting.
The pollution prevention options section of
this packet was extracted from the myriad of
factsheets, brochures, booklets and other publica-
tions developed for printers by governmental
agencies-both state and federal. Of note is the
fatt that many, many of these materials did not
present actual data such as, "technology or
technique A reduced waste ink by 25 percent.
from X to X, for a capital cost of $ 10,000. thus
the company saved $ 100 in disposal costs for the
year." Therefore, the material presented here.
outside of the case studies, has not been verified
in the production of this packet. The technical
reviewers of this packet helped in pointing out
things that were off base, but technical assistance
providers should be judicious in the pollution
prevention choices they recommend to their
clients. Knowing how the client runs their
printing business, how the process flow of :
materials and machinery to produce the product,
will help the assistance person in choosing the
applicable P2 technique or technology from
those presented in this packet.
Each printing section provides information
on how the basic process works, inputs/outputs
from each step in the printing process, any
specific pollution prevention options for that
type of process and case studies highlighting
pollution prevention options in use.
Appendix A is a shortened version of the US
EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxic s
publication. Federal Environmental. Regulations
Potentially Affecting the Commercial Printing
1
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;,.^,.;r-. = ?A ~--S- '--uM. March 1994. It is
included as a ba>:c cuthne of federal regulator,
issues that pertain co pnnters. As each state
differs in their regulations, and they usually
chanae fairly often, no attempt was made to
present this "material. Both regulatory and non-
regulatory agency contact information are
provided in The human resources appendix
(Appendix B) for further information. Local and
national trade associations can also provide
specifics on regulations affecting their particular
printing industry.
With literally dozens of private, governmen-
tal and trade associations focusing on developing
pollution prevention and regulatory compliance
materials tor printers. new information -.\ ill be
accessible. The fastest growing information
resource is the Internet and World Wide Web.
The electronic resource list (Appendix C)
provides the Internet addresses of use to techni-
cal assistance providers and printers alike (as of
Summer 1996). Listservs, electronic mailing lists
centered on specific topics such as printing
regulations, are also available via e-mail.
Appendix D contains'a glossary with often _
used terms in the printing industry. Appendix E
contains quick reference sheets to the major
types of printing, their uses, substrates, and inks.
An index to the document is also provided.
PRINTING TIDBITS
, 1985, the overage cost of a magazine was $2.10. By 1994, the cost had risen to $3.10, an
increase of 47.6 percent over nine years.
Mor? than 200 magazines are now available online.
There were 1,552 daily newspapers in 1993, down from 1,763 in 1960.
More than 30 newspapers have created a home page on the World Wide Web.
Commercial printing occurs at about 34,000 establishments; it employs more than double the
number employed by the steel industry.
The U S Postal Service reports that third-class mail, the category used for bulk-mail printed
material, increased by 400,000 tons in 1994.
in 1974, there were 20,000-25,000 quick printers in the U.S. By 1994, that number had risen
to 38,000-42,000.
In 1995, there were more than 6,000 plants with web offset presses in the U.S.
Nearly 60 million newspapers were sold every day in 1994. During the same year, 58 percent
of all newspapers were recycled.
Sixty-seven new sports magazines came onto the nation's newsstands in 1994.
ExeefplJ Iron, "Alive and Kicking-Rumo, of ,he dea.h of pope,based pricing a,, greaHy exaggerated,- in Adobe
Magazine, January/February 1996, pg. 100.
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The U.S. Domestic Printing
Industry
Overview .
Who is the bigger employer in the United
States, the printing or the automotive
industry? If you guessed printing, take a bow
an $83+ billion bow. Yes, believe it or not, in
the US, printing isn't just big business, it's the
biggest. Printers employ nearly 1 million people
across the country, placing the meager 780,000
in the auto industry a distant second. Sounds
pretty outrageous until you stop to think about it.
In a society that's constantly in search of access
to information and literally obsessed with record-
keeping, it stands to reason that printing is
ubiquitous. From new car manuals to tabloid
newspapers to t-shirts to those little tags on
mattresses, nearly every product calls on the
printing industry somewhere along the line. Put
in that light, the numbers don't seem quite so far-
fetched. So the big question.is, if it's such a big
industry, how come we've never noticed?
The relative invisibility of the industry is due
primarily to the. nature of the business and the.
way it has evolved. To understand how the
industry works and how to effectively target
printing facilities for pollution prevention
programs, we need to. understand who they are,
what they do, and perhaps most importantly,
where is everybody? ..
According to the 6th Annual Reportto
Congress by the Printing Industry of America
(PIA), printers are defined as: "Those, firms
engaged primarily in commercial printing,
business forms, book printing, prepress services,
quick printing and blank books and binders."
This definition does not include firms mainly
involved in publishing. Figure I (PIA, 1994)
Economic Profile of US Printing Industry
(Billions of Dollars)
Commercial $52.60
Quick Printings 10.00
Buปinซii Formi $6.70
Preprwi $4.70 .
Book Printing $4.40
Blank Boob $3.50
Book Binding SI .36
From: 6* Ann.a/ Report to Con*-*ftfaft, mdustry, WnSng Maries of *ซ*->ซ. 1994.
Figure 1.
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. j,-- :,-..,, --> .-, i r::^ "?rej.kvio^n of the
indu>;r'1 in:.: ihe^ >e%en major areas. Before the
ซซamin* bซmป. according to I'SEPA data.
letterpress realh did account for 11 percent of
the economic market and screen only 3 percent.
However, of all the major printing processes,
screen printers are the most undocumented. So,
in this case, 3 percent is the number that can be
physically established.
For the purposes of this report, printers are
defined by the Bureau of Census' Standard
Industrial Classification (SIC) 27. A word of
warning about SIC codes might be in order at
this time. Anyone who has attempted to use them
has no doubt found them to be vague at best and
just downright obsolete at worst. SIC 27, Print-
ing, Publishing, and Allied Industries, is unfortu-
nately no exception. While this definition of the
printing industry is similar to the PIA's, it
doesn't necessarily include firms engaged in
fabric and textile printing (largely a screen
process), manufacturers of products containing
incidental printing or circuit board printers. But,
it could. Broad headings and subjective interpre-
tation of various industries leaves the SIC codes
open to a great deal of confusion when it comes
to actual statistics. It's often difficult to deter-
mine what counts under SIC 27 and what
doesn't.
There is some good news on the hot. ; A.
Even as this manual is heading towards publica-
tion, efforts are underway to clarify and to
expand SIC 27. In particular, screen printing will
be given two separate listings. So, hopefully, two
or three years down the road will see a new,
improved SIC 27 that will make it much easier to
get a numerical handle on printing in the United
States. However, for the moment, and for this
overview, the current SIC 27, confusing as it
maybe, is it.
This sort of uncertainty about the codes leads
to some large statistical ranging, depending on
the source consulted, and what the authors chose
to classify under which SIC. But it should be
kept in mind that these numbers, while not
necessarily deadly accurate, still serve to illus-
trate the magnitude and the diverse nature of the
industry. Also, it's good to note that, if anything,
the numbers quoted here underestimate re
So. while the 1994 SIC 21 may leave out a
potentially sizable number of printing operations.
it stitl provides plenty to keep everyone busy for
some time to come.
SIC 27 is made up of firms printing by the
five most common processes (lithography,
screen, flexography, letterpress, and gravure) as
well as newspaper, book and periodical publish-
ers (whether or not they dp their own printing).
The primary focus of this manual is on the five
processes mentioned above. They account for
about 97 percent of the economic output in the '
domestic printing industry (US EPA, 1994), and
by necessity, are the first step to anything else in
SIC 27. (Bookbinders may have their own
pollutants, but they can't do much until someone
has printed their books.) Figure 2 shows the
financial breakdown of the industry by process-
type.
At the moment, a number of alternative
printing processes and technologies are in use
and being further refined and developed. These
include various electronic, thermographic ion-
deposition, ink-jet and Mead Cycolor printing
processes. While these newer methods currently
account for about 3 percent of the market, their
share is expected to be nearer 20 percent by 2025
(US EPA, 1994). Also afoot are numerous
"paperless" publishing and recording technolo-
gies. It's not inconceivable, given the increasing
popularity of the "information superhighway"
and new computer imaging and transmitting
equipment, that a net-reduction in printed
materials could eventually impact the industry.
However, that appears to be a few years down
the road, at the very least, and until that comes to
pass, there is every indication that old-fashioned
printing will remain a very growing concern.
Companies, Presses and
Employees
Various estimates place the number of
printing establishments in the US somewhere
between 60,000-70,000. However, these
estimates are thought to exclude most-to-all of
the 40,000+ plants with screen presses, placing
the total nearer to 100,000 facilities.(US EPA,
1994). Apparently, screen printers are even
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Economic Market sHare by Process
Lithographic
47%
Flexographic.
17%
From:. US EPA Printing Industry Cluster Profile, 1994, p. 5
Figure 2. . " ;
more difficult to put a finger on than are the
others. So, with that in mind, be warned that
many of the numbers in this chapter should be
considered suspect in terms of the impact of
screen printers. Figure 3 illustrates plant distri-
bution by press/process-type. . . .
Interestingly, while the industry does ac-
count for a significant share of the nation s total
volume and goods, services and employment, at
the same time, it is the ultimate small business.
Nearly 80 percent of the printers in the US
employ fewer than 20 people. While there are
some printers dealing in national and interna-
tional scope, most serve local or regional mar-
kets This is an industry largely populated by
small, neighborhood shops, rather than sprawling
multi-acre industrial complexes. You just don t
Plant Distribution by Press Type
From: US EPA Printing Industry Cluster Profile, 1994,[P,15
Figure 3. , t
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Distribution by Number of Employees
From: US EPA Printing Industry Cluster Profile, 1994, p. 18.
Figure 4.
find that many printing plants employing 20,000
people.
Of the operating plants in the US, about 46
percent have fewer than five employees, 24.5
percent have between five and nine, and 14.1
percent have between ten and nineteen
Roughly 12 percent employ between 2: -id 99,
leaving less than 3 percent of all printers in the
country employing more than 100 people.
Figure 4 shows the distribution of plants by
number of employees. This distribution of
employment size matches fairly closely with the
type of presses in operation. Gravureand
flexographic plants tend to be the larger opera-
tions. Over half of the flexographic and about
one-quarter of the gravure shops employ more
than 20. The majority of the shop's utilizing
letterpress, lithographic and screen presses fall
in the under-20category (US EPA, 1994).
The conclusions, with regard to pollution
prevention efforts, drawn from this section
should be pretty clear. The majority of the
shops that need assistance aren't going to be
multi-national conglomerates with the corre-
sponding resources. Odds are, the average .
printer is running a lithographic or screen press.
employing less than 20, and quite probably,
working on a thin profit-margin, without vast
pools of cash available for major capital im-
provements or process reengineering. Knowing
the profile of the individual operation will help
identify the psychological approach that will be
most effective, as well as the technical consider-
ations.
Geographic Distribution
At this point, we have, a good idea of who
constitutes the US printing industry and we know
that there are thousands of printers out there.
However, we still don't know where they are
hiding. With the majority being so small, they
could turn up just about any where. And, in fact,
that's almost exactly the case. From Alaska to
Wyoming, you will not find a shortage of
printers. In fact/every single state has at least
one plant employing over 100 and hundreds of
smaller plants. But, if you want to play Pm-the-
Tail-on-the-Printer at a party, ten states stand out
above the rest.
California, New York, Illinois, Texas.
Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey,
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Plant Distribution in 10 Leading States
Pennsylvania
4.4%
Michigan
3.7%.
New York
8.1%
California
12.4%
Massachusetts
3.0%
New Jersey
3.9%
Florida
4%
From: US EPA Printing Industry Cluster Profile, 1994, p. 10.
Figure 5. 5
Michigan, and Massachusetts by themselves
account for more than 60 percent of the entire
'industry. The top three alone are home to over I/ ;
3 of all the plants. Figure 5 shows the ten states
by their percentage of the total. .
Conclusion
The US domestic printing industry is an
entity unlike almost any other. It's the largest
employer-one of the largest in terms of economic
output-and, if you were to judge by the response
of the average person on the street, the printing
industry maintains a profile so low that it just
about disappears from sight. Instead of a ram-
paging giant of economic clout, it's a diverse,
dispersed swarm of small businesses. The
average printing facility is small ซ20 employ-
ees), probably runs a lithographic or screen
press, and has a better than average chance ot
finding itself in one of ten particular states. But,
it could also be 120 people running gravure
presses in Nome, Alaska. Probably more so than
any other industry of comparable size today,
printing is a quickly shifting, unpredictable
business.
The US printing industry is nothing else, if
not proof of strength in numbers. They don't
take up lots of real estate. They aren't generally
the major employers in a given area. Individu-
ally, they are usually not a major environmental
concern. But, when you examine the industry as
a whole, you face an entirely different animal.
. Comprised of thousands of small, independent
units, the printing industry employs nearly 1
- million in some 60,000-100,000 plants and
accounts for somewhere in the neighborhood ot
100 billion dollars in business every single year,
while at the same time, contributing to toxic air
emissions and solid and chemical waste prob-
lems on an ever-growing scale. It's too big to be
ignored on all fronts, economic, social and
"environmental.
Looking at each plant individually, it might
not seem like the average printer is responsible
for all that much pollution. However, whether
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-al a^uT*..*n .* grounded or not. 100.000
individual ',our:e> or VOC emissions, petroleum
,nk wastes, and various types of waste chemicals
can add up to a very considerable problem m a
\ery short time.
Unfortunately, the diversity and wide-spread
dispersion of the printing industry contributes to
its economic survival and viability, and creates a
number of sticky logistical problems in bringing
wholesale pollution prevention and waste
management to the entire industry. With some
100.000 shops operating in nearly every comer ^
of the country, there is, at present, no "short-cut
access to the industry as a whole. Simply
reaching these plants presents an enormous
challenge, to say nothing of the other factory
such as size, financial situation and location that
will also have considerable influence on any
pollution prevention strategies that might be
suggested.
Facing that and knowing that the printing
industry is projected to grow by 3.8-5.3 percent
annually during this decade (US EPA, 1994), the
environmental problems created by the printing
industry aren't going to disappear on their own
and without action, will simply become that
much more unmanageable each year.
Regulatory and legislative actions rr; -;ome
about, but the size and distribution of tfe ,:uus-
try again will insulate it from much of this. It s
simply not possible to effectively regulate and
monitor this many institutions. Printers are
going to have to decide on their own that pollu-
tion prevention and waste management can be an
environmentally and economically productive-
innovation. Like any other industry, the most
effective policing method isn't a regulatory
agency, but the bottom line. Nothing motivates
like the prospect of increased profits. Skilled
technical assistance with a feel for the require-
ments and conditions of the printing industry is
one of the most promising routes to this re-
education process.
This is still no quick fix. There is no such
thing, at least not to be found under SIC 27.
Faced with such overwhelming numbers, even
directed technical assistance efforts targeting the
industry v. ill initially be a shotgun approach
But. with personnel armed uith a little back"
around about the printing industry and some
practical knowledge pf the various major pro-
cesses, odds are good that some successes will be
achieved. This should lead to a snowball effect.
The successful shops that implement new and
more efficient techniques will lead others in the
right direction.
It's not possible to overstate the value of
understanding the printing industry as a whole-
what are each individual printers' charactenstics.
how do they do business and what are their
limitations. Going into a technical assistance
visit with only an understanding of how the press
works, you can make suggestions that will be
quite effective in theory, but only by understand-
ing how the printer works, can you make sugges-
tions that are going to be practiced.
Annotated Bibliography
PIA, "6th Annual Report to the Congress of
the United States: Printing Industry." 1994.
Printing Industries of America, Inc.
The PIA report to Congress provides a very
brief overview of the US printing industry,
including statistics on wages, composition, and
employment. It also offers a cursory discussion
of future trends in the industry and a short
glossary of new technological terms.
US EPA "Printing Industry and Use Cluster
Profile " 1994. Regulatory Impacts Branch,
Economics, Exposure and Technology Division,
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, UJ>
EPA, Washington, DC.
The US EPA cluster profile offers a little bit
of everything, although its main purpose is a
thorough statistical examination of the Ub
printing industry. From explanations of the major
technologies and new technologies and a look at
upcoming industry trends to lists-of chemicals -
used this book is a good introduction to the
technical side of printing. In termsof staustics
from values of exports, to payroll by state, to the
number of actual presses of any giveri type this
book is hard to beat. Unfortunately, the value_ of
these numbers is tempered by their age Much^f
the data presented is from the mid-to-late 1980s
and is possibly dated by this time..
8
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.Employed over 1.5 million people ;
-85% of plants employ <20 people
Largest group of small, businesses in.
manufacturing sector :'
.' Accounted for shipments of over $ 136 billion.:
V Annual-payroll estimatedjn excess,of $3'3 billion
,- Lithography; letterpress, gravure,- screen,; -
:' and.flekographic'account: for 97% .of market
. Between 70-1 OQ;000 printing operations in .US
. Nearly 60% locatedin just ]0/states . : : /'
*d growth" at 4-5ฐ/o/year in 1990
Alternative technologies and processe
expecfed to grow from 3% to _2Q%. ov
next2Q'yedrs ,--'' / /.,
'' ' . ;". ' Bource:USEPA
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10
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Emerging Technologies
Computers and other.quickly changing . ;
technologies are having a huge Impact on
the printing industry both at the prepress and
actual printing stages. The computer-to-plate
(CTP) advances currently are being adopted
primarily by lithographic printers.
Prepress operations will continue to change
with the development of computer-based front-
end platforms that allow creation of entire
documents as digital data. Before the advent of
desktop publishing, customers would provide
printers with a "camera-ready" document that
consisted of the actual text and line-art pasted to
a special kind of paper ("paste-ups '). With the
availability of computer desktop publishing
programs such as PageMaker and Quark Express,
this mechanical layout is now done electronically
and all the customer hands a printer is a com-
puter diskette. Photographs, graphic art, and line
art can either be scanned into the document by
the customer or printer.
With the ability to electronically image
plates, some potenially large waste generating
steps will be eliminated since photoprocessmg
will be greatly reduced if not eliminated com-
pletely. ,-.'..-
Press operations continue to change with
additional automated features being added to
presses. Waterless lithography also continues to
be an option for printers adding new press
operations. Material substitution for VOC
containing fountain solutions, press cleaners, and
inks provides the printer with available options
to increase the facility environmental "friendli-
ness." Screen printing facilities are adopting and
using electrostatic arid ink jet technologies. The .
SGIA is undertaking a study to determine the :
environmental impacts from the use of these two
technologies. It is uncertain, without these
studies, to see if these technologies reduce the
environmental burden of the process, :
Benefits of CTP . '. |
improved, print quality, as a result of using first-
generation digital data to "expose" the plate
'a reduction in prepress costs, by eliminating film
from the production1 process
faster publisher closing schedules, allowing
advertisers and the editorial staff more time to
prepare reproduction materials
environmental concerns, to some extent, because
of the elimination of film and chemicals from the
process (Sasso, 1994)
competitive advantages with opportunities-to
attract new customers
business survival (Cross, 1996a)
, Drawbacks of CTP
. cost of purchasing new and expensive equipment
> gaining cooperation from the advertising commu-
nity and vendors to supply materials, in digital
form to a common set of guidelines and
specifications
changing the mindset of workers
Postpress trends include further automation
of all finishing operations as well as the addition
of in-line finishing iff lithographic facilities.
Water-based adhesives have been developed to
substitute for some of the currently used solvent-
based products.
IT
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Annotated Bibliography
Croซ,Li5,a, !996a, "Computer-to-Plate:
Long Wan. Hot Issue." Graphic Arts Monthly,
February 1996. pp 36-42.
A good article describing the current state ot
CTP technolqgies and processes. Early adopters
of this technology provide their experiences with
CTP A table provides a complete listing of
manufacturers of CTP products and descriptions
of their systems.
Cross, Lisa. 1996b. "Early Adopters Report
Experiences with CTP." Graphic Arts Monthly,
May 1996. pp. 65-75.
An informative article with example finan-
cial project models used by Dupont Printing and
Publishing to calculate return on investment
performance for CTP. Also anectodal account
by printers currently using CTP.
Cross, Lisa. 1996c. "Dry-Processible Films
Recover from Setback," Graphic Arts Monthly,
June 1996, pp. 46-48.
This article highlights the current product
statistics in the dry-processible film marketplace.
It gives first hand accounts of companies who
have been using this process and the results they
have achieved.
Gibbs, Ron. 1995. "Printing Benefits from
New Technologies," Laser Focus World, Nov..
1995. pp 77-82.
A fairly technical article about laser tectt-
nologies and systems used in the printing indus-
try. t
Jendrucko. R.J.. Coleman, T.N., and T.M.
Thomas. 1994. Waste Reduction Manual for
Lithographic and Screen Printers, University
of Tennessee.
A good introduction to lithography and
screen printing with explanations of the primary
methods of pollution prevention for these two
types of printing facilities.
Sasso, Richard. 1994. "Computer to Plate:
Why Wait?" Publishing and Production Execu-
tive. December 1994.
This article chronicles the conversion ot the
magazine Scientific American to computer-to-
plate technology. All the problems.c
are presented as well as anticipated benefits to
using this new technology.
Shuster, Robert. "The Future Meets the
Press," Adobe Magazine, January/February
1996, 42-47.
An informative overview article on what
digital presses are and how they're changing the
way things are printed. Provides examples of
three different types of digital presses, how they
differ from one another, and how they are
currently used in the printing industry.
Toth, Debora. "CTP Vendors Ask: Which
Plate Choice?" Graphic Arts Monthly, February
1996, pp. 61-66.
This article describes the current state of
CTP plate materials available to printers and
providing information on the current trends in
this technology.
Wilken, Earl. "Computer-to-Plate: Framing
the Issues," Graphic Arts Monthly, February
1994. ' .
A discussion of the issues that commercial
printers who are considering exploring or adding
computer-to-plate capabilities to their operations
must consider.
12
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Common Pollution Prevention
Practices in Printing
"Phe composition of wastes from each, printing
I type varies, but overall, source reduction of
these wastes will benefit printers by reducing
raw material needs and disposal costs, and by
lowering the long term liabilities associated with
waste disposal. The pressures from government
and local citizens to reduce wastes and the
x emission of pollutants has led to changes in the
operation of many printing facilities. Tradition-
ally, pollution control focused on end of pipe
controls. Changing this focus to process im-
provement will help/to prevent pollution and
promote profits. ;
Major Wastestreams
The three major types of. wastes in the
.printing industry include:
1. Solid Wastes - In a general printing
environment solid waste could consist of the
following: empty containers, used film pack-
ages, outdated materials, damaged plates,
developed film, dated materials, test production,
bad printing or spoilage; damaged products, and
scrap paper. .
' ' ' . !
2 Waste water - Wastewaters from printing
operations-may contain lubricating oils, waste
ink, cleanup solvents, photographic chemicals,
acids, alkalis, and plate coatings, as well as
metals such as silver, iron, chromium, copper
and barium. , ,
3. Air Emissions - Printing operations
produce volatile organic compound (VOC)
emissions from the use of cleaning solvents and
inks as well as alcohols and other, wetting-agents
(used in lithographic printing). Larger plants can
be the source of NO, and SO2 emissions.
Hazardous wastes, defined and regulated by
federal, state, or local governments, can be a
subset of any of the three major wastestreams.
This section will provide a general overview
of pollution prevention options applicable to any
type of printing facility.
How to Reduce Waste
. Start at the Beginning-Graphic Design
" j - "
Waste can be reduced most efficiently from
the inception of the printing project through
graphic design" choices, Preparing layouts that
use the most efficient image size to the press
sheet size reduces paper waste at the later stages
of cutting and binding. Designers should also be
made aware of inks containing heavy metal or
other hazardous pigments and provided with.
information on non-toxic alternatives. Other
graphic design options to consider include
decreasing the amount of ink coverage of the
layout and using non-coated, non-bleaehed
paper, and recycled papers.
Job 'Planning
Thorough planning of the overall job load
will reduce wastes. Planning allows for schedul-
9 ing of the daily runs to .reduce color changes and
to run inks from lighter to darker. Both tech-
niques reduce heavy cleaning steps. Planning
also allows the press operator to prepare only the
amount of ink needed for the day' s jobs. Using a
computer controlled mixing program equipped
with a digital scale for weighing inks can help
reduce waste. These programs allow the printer
to custom mix any ink color from colors already
on hand thus decreasing the purchase of new
colors and increasing the use of existing inven-
tory A digital scale makes the entire process^
more accurate and decreases the amount of ink
wasted as a result of "guesstimation" errors.
Increased attention to the amount of ink iruxed
for specific jobs improves material use effi-
ciency. ' . -'
13
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g-s. ,. ,n>. -..-cr/ rr!ic'.toe> BMPs) are the
, f ^r Jfฃ*>"> i Ail tซ-> decreal-Ctt.^.ซ ป ป. -
of waste generated. BMPs require building
emplo>ee commitment and interest in pollution
prevention, as well as managerial support, to
encourage participation in pollution prevention
prozrams. This includes careful control of raw
materials, practical scheduling, and job manage-
ment. For example, a good housekeeping and
maintenace program helps to ensure that all
machinery and processes are working well with
no leaking valves, tanks, etc. Wise planning of a
print job through the entire process accomplishes
The task with a low margin of error, consequently
decreasing waste generation.
With any substrate, consistency is key.
Inconsistent quality of substrates is a major
factor in problematic quality of finished product.
Once a process is set with the correct inks, paper
and machine conditions, changes in the substrate
affect all parts of the process. Many ancillary
resources are wasted due to inferior and inconsis-
tent substrates. All printing companies need to
be vigilant in the identification of quality and
consistency of incoming raw materials.
adopt a polic> of not accepting any material
Samples without authorization.
A prime location for waste reduction is in the
receiving area. The acceptance of unusable or
damaged materials results in unnecessary wastes.
All materials should be inspected and the unac-
ceptable goods returned to the manufacturer or
supplier. The savings here are twofold, the
expense of the damaged goods and their subse-
quent disposal. Use a firstrin, first-out (FIFO)
inventory system, check expiration .dates and
heed storage specifications particularly for
photosensitive film and paper.
Proper storage of chemicals should, at a
minimum, meet the label specifications. By
meeting the required conditions, the shelf life of
a chemical can be guaranteed and the likelihood
of spoilage decreased. With paper, proper
storage will avoid damage from temperature,
humidity, and spills as well as physical damage.
It may also be necessary to restrict access to the
storage area. By reducing traffic flow, damage
from dust, dirt, and spills is avoided. All storage
areas should be clearly labeled as to content.
Vendor certification programs on all raw
material sources should be strongly evaluated as
a tool to help reduce waste. Each supplier needs
to know how their products are used in the ,
printing process and the expectations of r
printer so they can recommend process improve-
ments. Developing partnerships with vendors can
allow the printer to have access to the technical
assistance and experience of each supplier.
Material Handling and Storage
As with best management practices, wise
material handling and storage can contribute to
less waste generation. These procedures can
virtually eliminate wastes from spoilage and
improper storage.
By limiting purchasing authority to a speci-
fied individual, a company may be able to avoid
duplicate purchasing. In addition, a printer could
have an environmental manager provide an
approved list of materials to the purchasing
agent. To avoid unwanted materials that will
eventually have to be disposed, the printer can
Once solvent-based cleaners have been
opened, they should be stored safely. Attention
must be paid to flammability and flash point. As
a guideline, consult OSHA regulations on
flammable storage (29CFR1910.106). Clearly-
written guidelines should be made available for
workers on correst usage and storage. Safety
precautions such as grounding containers and
bonding wires should be considered. These
guidelines should be included in all training
programs and posted near equipment. All
volatile solvents should be stored in closed, air-
tight containers. If a drum is being used for
waste solvent, it is important to cover any
funnels or openings. Open waste solvent con-
tainers that contain hazardous materials can^
result in a violation of the open container rules
under federal hazardous waste W***"
well as increased VOC emissions (Price 1994,
- Cross 1989).
Waste Segregation, Recycling, and Reuse
Recycling plays an important role in any
printer's waste management program. Materials
14
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, --^-r -j ,n :ns. .::era!.ureas-being recvcleii by .
-nrueri.include raper. so-Nents. ink containers,
rehsabie plite or cylinder boxes, pallets, and.
sometimes ink. Using retumable/refillable items
or lar*e totes, when available, can also cut down
on packaging waste. Vendors or suppliers can.be
requested" to provide retumable/refillable con-.
tamers as part of their contract with the printer.
Cloth cleaning rags/wipes (also called shop
towels) covered in ink and solvent can be reused
by seriding them to an industrial laundry service.
It is advisable to remove the majority of liquids
by a gravity drain, a wringer, or a centrifugal
extractor prior to shipping. Many states "ฐw
require this step. Use caution in domg this, as the
solvents used may be ignitable or flammable.
The extractor must be explosion proof, This
recovered solvent can be used,initially for parts
washing, recaptured, then distilled for reuse or
sent out for fuel blending. The wipes should be
stored in an air-tight, self-closing, flame resistant
container marked for recycling. ,
Contaminated wipes may be regulated as
hazardous waste and can be a source of regula-
tory problems. Also, significant VOC emissions
and personnel exposure are associated with press
cleaning operations. If the shop towels are -
laundered, make certain that the towels are being
handled properly. Dry cleaning may also be an
option for used shop towels. An annual visit to
the laundry facility should be part of the waste
management program in order to review the
handling procedure for your wipes. The printer
may need guidance from a technical assistance
person on what to ask and how to interpret the
answers.' Check with the local POTW (publicly
owned treatment works) that services the laundry
to determine if the laundry is complying with
sewerage discharge limits. A written description.
of how the printer's towels are handled shouldbe
requested from the laundry and kept on file. Note
that the regulations about shop towels have been
changing in recent years. Check with the proper
regulatory authorities for the latest statutes.
Solvent recycling can also be done in plants
of all sizes. The most common method is to
install clearly marked drums on the plant floor.
Always make sure that the solvent is actually
spent before it 'is exchanged tor r,e'-\ -o;~ cr,; Do .,
not commit to a scheduled sohent replacement.
program unless.it is proven through m-plant
' trials that solvent is completely spent after a
specifically measured amount of time. .
The solvents collected from the cleaning
operations and recovered from the rags can be
recycled on-site or sent to a professional recy-
'cler. Many large firms keep solvent storage,
baths for each process ink color, thereby allow-
ing multiple reuse prior to recycling. In the
cases where on-site recycling is done, companies
: generally use distillation. Distillation is the
boiling off of waste solvent to leave behind a
sludge of ink, paper dust, and lint. The vapor-
ized solvent condenses within the still and
collected for reuse. It should be noted that all
equipment in this process must be explosion
proof. A variety of different sized stills are now
on the market making this technology applicable
to the majority of printers. Some states may
require a permit, so check with the appropriate
regulatory agency. Each printer will have to
crunch numbers to determine if a particular still
system is an economically sound option for
them.
Alternative Materials '
Looking for alternative materials that
generate less waste and/or are less toxic in terms -.
of human health, can provide a printer with
economic as well as environmental benefits.
Searching for alternative materials, however, can
be a long-term and often frustrating process
requiring continued initiative on the part of the^
printer. Trials may be .required of new chemicals
or processes and additional personnel training
may be necessary. Working closely, with vendors
and pollution prevention technical assistance ^
providers, within the constraints identified by the
printing client, can lead to useable alternative
materials or processes.
Solvents
New solvent alternatives for cleaning are
continually entering the marketplace. These
materials are made of glycol ethers and o*er
heavier hydrocarbons. The hazard raung of these
solvents are low due to their high flashpoints
(usually above 140 ฐF) and low toxicity. The
15
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,.f,irru:'.-. - - ' Ain^ y-^n be used for cleaning all
iquipnient jcnuminated with ink. while deter-
2ent*and water can be used for non-ink cleaning.
Problems associated with the new low hazard
solvents include longer drying times, more
difficulty in cleaning, residual film on earners,
and an extremely strong odor. Alternative
solvents may have a low VOC content but that
does not always guarantee they will have-an
overall lower human toxicity or REL. Always
check the MSDS for this information. However,
the most recent releases in alternatives have
overcome these problems but workers are slow
to accept the products due to the past perfor-
mance of their predecessors and the uncertainty
of changing an accepted practice.
For a successful substitution, unlike with
solvent based cleaners, it is important to select
cleaners specific to the purpose, the cleanliness
goal or in some cases the type of printing done
or equipment owned. The technical assistance
provider will have to work closely with the
printing facility, especially the.press operators.
to find the right alternatives for their situation.
While environmentally sound, the use of
alternative solvents is the most difficult pollu-
tion prevention technique to implement from a
worker standpoint.
Prepress
Chemical process vendors should
contacted when attempting to alter pre^iess
chemistries. Some alterations in pre-press
chemistries that are "home-grown" will result in
invalidation of any pre-existing service or
guarantee should the in-house chemistry change
not work. Often the vendor can suggest ways to
help extend the life of their products and will
work with the shop as they "experiment' with
the best approaches.
Photochemistry
Processes that employ photography in the
reproduction of artwork and/or copy can employ
a-number of techniques to reduce waste genera-
tion Materials used in photo reproduction
include paper, plastic film, or an emulsion
which is covered with a light sensitive coating.
Emulsions are usually composed of silver hahde
salts including silver chl'onde. silver bromide,
and silver iodide.
After an emulsion (film) has been exposed to
light it must be developed. Developing solutions
usually contain benzene derivatives, along with
accelerating agents (to increase the speed of the
developing process), a preservative to control
oxidation damage to the developer, and a re-
strainer which prevents the image from fogging.
The developing action must be stopped in a
fixing bath to prevent over exposure. Small
amounts of silver enter the bath from the emul-
sion each time a photographic film is immersed
in a fixing bath. To prevent insoluble compounds
from forming, fixer must be diluted before the
silver concentration reaches the maximum
among the fixer can work on. After exceeding
this level, these compounds cannot be removed
from the emulsion, leaving an often unusable
image.
Once the image has been properly fixed to
the emulsion, it must be washed to prevent
residual chemicals from reacting and damaging
the image. In some photoprocessing emulsions.
the image contrast must be reduced or increased
by additional chemical steps, in order to touch-up
the image. Reducers oxidize some of the silver,
while intensifiers add silver or mercury to the
developed grains of silver in the emulsion.
A variety of techniques can be used to reduce
photoprocessing waste generation. For example,
in hand-processing, squeegees can be used to
wipe off excess liquid to prevent chemical carry-
over from one process bath to the next; in color
processing, iron-EDTA can be substituted for
ferScyanlde bleaches as iron-EDTA is less toxic
and eliminates costs associated with the treat-
ment or disposal of toxic bleaches. The
photoprocessing department can also reuse
rinsewater as long as possible, use fog nozzles
and sprays, use still rinsing, use nnse bath
agitators, use automatic flow controls, and
remove sludge frequently.
Typical wastes generated from the.
photoprocessing stage include: developed films,
acids alkalis, solvents, spent fixer, silver, waste
16
-------
- .~e- _:---"-- .n-'.srut. contaminated ;nnse
A uer.-pent Je'-i'oper. and cartridges cannot be reused..
and the effluent contains high iron concentra-
tions. The advantages to this.method are relative
low cost arid availability, and that no special
energy or plumbing connections are needed. - ,
Metallic replacement is usually used in conjunc-
tion with electrolytic .recovery as a polishing
step.
* Silver removal by ion exchange is accom-
plished by passing the wastewater through a
mixture of anionic exchange resins, or by using a
strong base gel anion resin to selectively remove
the silver. Automated ion exchange units are
usually only practical for larger processing
facilities due to their high cost. It is also essential
that the correct resin be chosen for efficient
operations. The printer, technical assistance
provider, and vendor will need to work together
to determine the best resin to be used.
Reverse osmosis uses high pressure to force
liquid solutions through a semipermeable mem-
brane, separating, larger^molecular substances
from smaller molecular substances. Up to 90
percent of the silver thiosulfate complexes can be
removed from wastewaters using this method.
Also, reverse osmosis is effective in removing
most other chemicals in solution, including color
couplers and ferrocyanide, rendering the water
suitable for reuse in final rinses. The disadvan-
tage of this method is the high capital investment
required.
Electrolytic silver recovery applies con-
trolled current in an anode-cathode array to
remove silver from the wastewater solution.
Silver is removed in nearly pure form, but capital
costs and lower treatment efficiency (effluents
have 100-200 ppm silver) must be considered.
Electrolytic and metallic replacement systems
are sometimes used in series to;reduce the silver
concentration in the effluent. ;
Metallic replacement involves using iron
steel wool to react with silver thiosulfate in the
wastewaters, whereby the iron replaces the stiver
in solution and the silver settles out as a solid.
The silver is recovered,as a sludge of silver salt
compounds, which is more difficult to recover
Silver recovery technologies can result in a
net positive economic return because of the
metals recovered and the reduced waste disposal
costs Large firms will sometimes make a capital
investment to.purchase an automated recirculat-
ing system which includes silver recovery., waste
recovery, and chemical replenishment. These
will remove large percentages of silver as they
will be able to treat the low concentration nnse
waters as well as the higher concentration
process waters.,
Alternative Prepress Technologies
Electronic imaging and laser platemaking
allow text and photos to be edited on a video
terminal and color separations to be prepared
17
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..,n. T--^,,.-,-ซa-5fheneedto
ph,Mc^oh"dJ.t. re->h.ot''and photoprocess
ฃซi' umes - Pnce 1994,. Ves.cular films that
S^ wh f agnates the need to send the
waste film to a metal reclaimer. Electrostatic
films a^l also siK,r-free and have resolution and
[ซeds comparable to silver films. However,
hesesSree films are not being widely used,
:;;=^^^^
1994)
PreSS
Mechanical Modifications
.
Improvements and/or modifications to
existing printing equipment may be a suitable
choice in a pollution prevention and waste
reduction program. Changes to press equipment
such as automatic registration systems, ink
viscosity measuring systems, revised ink pans,
revised ink pumping systems, new doctor blade
technology in gravure and flexo printing and
vapor recovery systems can go a long way in
improving the manufacturing processes.
.
Ink viscosity measuring systems cannot only
control the viscosity of the inks to ensur: reality
printing but can prevent excessive use of solvent
thereby reducing the potential pollution. Chang-
ing the design of ink pans to a shallower depth
on a lithographic press can reduce the amount ot
ink needed in each printing station and reduce
waste ink as a pollutant.
Web break detectors can reduce waste 'by
informing the operator of breaks without creas-
ing or smearing the web. These non-contact
electric systems detect web breaks and inform
operators to stop production or automatically
shut down the presses without damage to the
equipment. Installing an ink agitator or an ink
leveller on the ink tray or sump to prevent -
premature oxidation can reduce ink waste and
spoilage. UV light can reduce algae, water borne
fungi and bacterial growth in fountain solutions,
further reducing waste solutions.
Automatic registration 5\ stems -ire ^aiiabl*.
m several different types and styles. Reg,,:rauon
is the precise fitting together ot two or more
registration and high press speeds ^*g *
less waste and improved process output With
the ability to bring jobs into register quicker and
keep them in quality register longer, less inks
solvent and substrate ^consumed or wasted. ,
down press speed.
Installing automatic lubrication systems on
the critical rollers, bearings and gears will reduce
waste and conserve resources. Self contained
lubrication systems which are properly main-
^.^ can prevent contamination of the lubricant
^ gxtend Us useM ufe
other methods to reduce waste involve
careful attention to operating parameters and
instrumentati0n: installing automated plate
benderSt optical scanners to lock onto registra.-
^ ^^ automatic key settings, and ink/water
rati0 sensors. Another technique for sheetfed
printing is to use both sides of the make-ready
slipping in clean sheets periodically in
tQ check registration and print quality .
Qujcker make-readies and changeovers can
reduce the amount Of raw materials that are
consumed in getting to the press ready stage.
Efficient ^d effective scheduling plays a major
role in how prmung companies can reduce waste
and practice sound pollution prevention. Con-
^j^i fog changes will adversely affect the
Qf programs.
printing technology is "corn-
puter.to-press," currently available for litho-
c sheetfed print 7^5 technology
eliminates au wastes associated with prepress
photoprocessing wastes. This and other equip-
.g available from iocai equipment vendors
in . numbers of manufacturers are
marketplace.
18
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- .,..,_. _;;jr.:r.g--.-per'Ations. equipment can
he .-.".-.viujed-'.v.hich-^ill'reduce wipe and
solvent usage. The least technical of ihese is the
employment of squeegees to''remove excess ; .
liquids from.equipment. This in turn will reduce
the quantity of wipes required. Automated
: cleanm'e.systems can.further.reduce.:residual . .
liquids and in turn' reduce cleaner consumption.
Some examples of these systems are" an auto- .
mated blanket cleaner, roller wash-up blades, and
ink blades. The choice of equipment is depen- ,
dant upon the type of printing operation. Any
new equipment will require training of plant
personnel as well as their cooperation in chang-
ing their working .methods.
Inks
Alcohol-and petroleum-based ink systems
use various solvents that are major contributors
to pollution. However, these alcohol and oil-
based systems allow for faster press speeds then
some of the alternatives currently available,
longer cylinder wear and (occasionally) better
ink transfer to various substrates. Effective
solvent recovery systems are needed to develop,
implement and maintain sound pollution preven-,
tion programs when using alcohol and oil-based
systems. Solvent recovery systems can be
internal or external. On-site batch distillation
systems can be used \vhen justified by volume.
Off-site professional solvent recyclers can be an
alternative to reclaim solvents. ,
Recycling Inks
pus. it may/require disposal by a iicen-eu hiz-irUr
ous' waste management companv. Individual ;
'states and their industrial waste requirements .
differ as to whether these petroleum-based , . ,
materials require special handling.
Some waste ink can be recycled through an
ink recycling service or in-shop. Blending
colors usually requires some additives such as
toner to fine tune the color quality. Recycling
allows blending several colors together into,
darker colors for reuse. Equipment is currently
on the market with a wide range of capabilities to
filter and distill waste inks. The recycled ink
compares favorably to new ink in tests for grind,
residue, viscosity, tack, water content, and water
pickup. On site recycling has been found to
produce satisfactory final products. For large
quantity generators there are recyclers who bring
mobile recycling units on site to recycle ink.
mixed or color separated. By recycling on site,
the legal liabilities and regulatory paperwork
associated with off-site recycling and disposal
can be avoided. Colors can be produced very
similar to new inks. Press operators can-adjust .
the ink/water balance and produce results
comparable to new inks without experiencing
trapping problems. Trapping is the ability to
print a wet ink film over previously printed ink.
Ink recovery machines currently on the market in
a wide range of capacities make on-site reclaim-
ing a viable option for larger printers,.
!
Inks have traditionally consisted of colored
pigments and a vehicle or carrier for printing
fluidity during application and subsequent
pigment binding. Inks are perhaps the most
important aspect of the overall process because
different ink formulations bestow distinct
characteristics to the product and thus affect its
performance in relationship to the other press
elements. Prior to the mid 1970's most colors in
inks were produced by using metals. These
rnetals were often present in amounts that
exceeded state and federal regulatory limits, thus
rendering the waste ink hazardous. In recent
years,.ink manufacturers have developed organic
color replacements which are not as heavily
regulated as their inorganic counterparts. Unfor-
tunately, even if waste ink does not test hazard-
Alternative Inks
The correct selection of alternative carriers
can reduce the amount of waste ink generated
without compromising product quality. Ink
choice is dependent upon the print process, the
substrate, and the ultimate end use of the prod-
uct. In lithography, for example, petrbleum-
based inks can be substituted, depending on the
application, with EEC (electron beam curable),
ultraviolet curable, soy/vegetable, water-based,
and/or waterless inks.
Ultraviolet (UV)
Ultraviolet systems consist of a photo-
polymerization process that uses mercury vapor
lamps for UV photoinitiated monomer inks. This
method has high initial costs, high ^coating
costs, low energy costs, and has no hydrocarbon
19
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. ปป c"* ~''i Jri'-.n; :'-:rซ:.i cc.use L'V systems
t> low \ DC- High quality radiation and opn-
mum spectral distribution are the keys in perfect-
ing the use of these .y stems. There is a wide
range of UV-mk "chemistry-" available for
adhesion to popular substrates in flexographic
and screen printing. UV in flexographic printing
offers good resistive properties and economical
curing or drying. (Rudolph, 1991)
UV-curable inks are widely used in the
printing industry for printing primarily on
plastic, vinyl, metal and paper substrate. These
inks contain low VOCs. Instead, curing is by
ultraviolet light-induced polymerization. These
inks will not dry on a press or in ink fountains so
cleaning requirements may also be reduced.
Some reported advantages of UV curables
include:
4. decreased or eliminated VOC emissions
less frequent press cleaning and associ-
ated solvent use
reduction in required floor space
(eliminates need for drying ovens or
racks)
increased throughput
elimination of ventilated storage of
sheets during oxidative drying
can be used on web and sheetfed presses.
On the negative side, the following barriers
have been reported by screen printers iK-.-ng UV
curables:
performance is not always as good
(insufficient opacity and color matching)
substrates with deeply textured surfaces
are not currently suitable for UV-
curables
outdoor durability may be a problem
+ UV curables are brittle and finishing
operations like die cutting and molding
present problems
a significant capital investment is needed
for conversion to UV systems
small printers may not experience the
increased production speed and ink cost/
coverage benefits due to shorter average
runs (Jendrucko et al, 1994)
ink costs are often higher
+ recycling problems may be e
with substrate printed with L'V inks.
'Electron Beam Curable (EBQ
EEC inks consist of low-molecular weight
polymers that react with a stream of electrons
from a vacuum tube. These inks contain ho
solvents, and do not cure until exposed to light
and may therefore remain in ink fountains for
long periods of time, reducing clean-up needs.
The electrons drive the reaction, forming poly-
mers and setting the ink. Problems reported with
EEC inks include paper degradation and worker
exposure to X-ray.
Electron beam dryers use polymerization by
electron bombardment to dry liquid and pow-
dered coatings. These dryers have high initial
costs and low to moderate operating costs. They
are sometimes used for higher gloss coatings and
metal decorating applications.
Vegetable Oil-Based Inks
Vegetable oil-based inks are used only in the
lithographic industry. Soybean oil inks can
replace 20 to 40 percent of petroleum based oils
in ink. The soybean oil replacement is said to
reduce volatile organic compound content by as
much as 80 percent. This advantage is somewhat
limited due to the continued use of solvents for
cleaning. The soybean oil inks are more expen-
sive than petroleum inks and require somewhat
longer drying times in non-heatset applications.
The drying times can be shortened by the instal-
lation of custom dryers or power sprayers.
Benefits of soy oil-based inks are: VOC
emissions into the atmosphere can be reduced on
heatset presses because the VOC content of soy
oil-based ink is potentially lower than traditional
petroleum based inks (based on the percentage of
soy oil in the ink); press washes for soy oil-based
inks can be water/detergent types, thus reducing
or*liminating the need for high VOC solvent
formulations; less paper waste from <9ปcr
start-ups, as water and ink balance is reached
more easily; and spoilage during runs from color
or variation in tracking is minimized; quicker
and more even ink coverage to the press blanket
is achieved. Soy oil-based inks have exceptional
20
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r.ir.-:'-r rr-rer.i'e-. minimizing plate-;scum.ming.
Brighter',: ?;cr^ and darker blacks,a.r1 Produ!:ed-
because ;o> oil-based inks have .greater color
retention than do traditional,petroleum-based
'inks. The disadvantages are: longer drying time,
ink sitting up on the paper, cost and substituting
other chemicals for the petroleum-based ink
processes requires -operator adjustment and
training. .
, Wafer-Based Inks
Water-based inks, while more environmen-
tally sound in that there is little need for petro-
leum-based solvents in the printing process, have
several problems associated with implant usage.
The most noticeable of these is the significant
increase in chemical additives required. It will
1 necessitate the training of workers in basic
chemistry and during this period the likelihood
of costly mistakes is high. If incorrect chemicals
or solvents of any kinds are mixed into a
- waterbased system, the ink will curdle. Surface
tension of the water-based ink is high and
therefore reduces the transfer efficiency of the
ink to substrate. Water-based ink also tends to
foam when pumps are running. Another problem
with the water-based system is a somewhat
limited color choice. Water-based inks require
increased energy for drying and, there are occa-
sional difficulties in ink spread. Paper curl and
shutting down of presses for-short periods of
time for more frequent cleaning all contribute to
the difficulties in using these inks. Another
disadvantage is that dried ink on the press and
rollers can'be very difficult to remove.
Water-based inks, however, do have several
advantages. They are often classified as nonhaz-
ardous and no special air pollution control
equipment is required for emissions. Disposal
costs are often reduced and these inks are less ,.
toxic to employees. ;
. The best .applications for water-based inks
are in flexographic printing, gravure printing, as
well as textile screen operations. Both low
solvent, and 100 percent water-based inks are
available. Non-VOC containing cleaners can also
be used. Inks may still contain heavy metal
pigments thatmay be required to be disposed of
as a hazardous waste, however substitutes for
these inks are available and should-ce u-e-Jv.
Testing of the ink.,waste should be done to
determine- whether it needs to be classified as
hazardous or not. De-inking of material printed
with water-based inks may.be difficult..
Process changes will occur when using a t
water-based system compared to alcohol- and
solvent-based ink systems. There are manufac-
turing tradeoffs that need to be evaluated when
using water-based systems in comparison to the
cost of solvent recovery systems. (
Water-based ink systems may not allow the
same press speeds to be maintained due to the
need for extra drying capacity: Because there are
no solvents that evaporate and help dry the inks,
the water-based inks must be .heat-set and dried
in various types of ovens. Generally water-based
ink systems are run through ovens that are gas
fired, re-circulating air ovens.
When presses have limited space available
for expansion or modification, the ability to dry
the inks has a definite bearing on the press
output. Sometimes ,the press ovens can be
changed and lengthened between the printing
units to prqvide a longer drying time in the
printing process. When the totallength of a
press is critical, ovens may be extended by going
upwards over each printing unit. Gas ovens that
cannot be lengthened to allow the substrate to
stay in the drying area longer may be modified.
One method would be to add infrared dryers to
the oven to help in the drying process. Another
method might be to change the oven configura-
tion and baffle design to produce the maximum
drying capabilities of each oven.
Water-based inks are capable of receiving
various additives that assist ink drying, ink
holdout, ink laydown and printability on various
substrates. These additives are used by the press-
crew in different ratios and formulas depending
on the desired finished product. Complete water-
based ink systems do not have the vapor recov-
ery concerns that the alcohol and solvent-based
ink systems have. This might be a strong
consideration to evaluate water-based ink
-------
^,.im> p:>;%v .ree.lv >hou!d be evaluated in the
complete oo-i M each t>pe of ink svstem.
Waterless /nks
Special lithographic presses or re-fitted
presses are needed to run waterless inks and
special plates, exposure methods, and plate
handling techniqes need to be employed when
waterless inks are used.
Waterless inks are high viscosity inks with
characteristics similar to petroleum based inks.
The major difference in these ink systems is a
resin which produces high viscosity, but requires
exact temperature controls. The temperature
must be controlled with a three stage refrigera-
tion unit. A waterless system requires a high
initial capital investment and careful monitoring
during operations.
If the printer has an experienced press
operator willing to leam about proper mixing of
ink with dryers, ink could be purchased without
incorporated dryers: Dryers can then be added
by the printer only as needed. Purchasing inks
without dryers and adding them when the color is
mixed will reduce the amount of waste skins.
Operator experience can also be a factor in
the success of waste reduction. An inexperi-
enced press operator will often mix more colors
than necessary to achieve the desired specialty
color. For a new employee, using a digital scale
whenever measuring ink will improve accuracy.
Planning ahead and using the fewest mixing
colors will reduce the amount of waste skins
needing disposal.
Once the ink has been mixed, the use of an
anti-oxidant spray will prevent ink skinning in
the fountain. These substances are physical
barriers to oxygen, and inhibit the drying reac-
tion Once the press is running, the anti-oxidant
"burns off on the ink roller, greatly reducing or
eliminating its effect. The inks can then dry on
the substrate. A potential drawback is the same
ink in the fountain may be wasted during start-up
because ifdoesn't perform as well a non-treated
ink.
Cleanup
Care should be taken to not use more solvent .
than is necessaryonly the bare minimum
needed to do the job should be used. Reuse the
solvent if possible. The reuse of inks and
solvents not only prevent pollution through
effective use of resources and materials, but can
reduce costs. Depending on the job, if solvents
are needed to clean press parts, consider using
recovered solvents. Solvent tanks and containers
should be kept closed to prevent evaporation and
emissions.
Changing from high VOC content cleaning
compounds to compounds with low or no VOCs
will reduce air emissions. For short print runs,
more VOCs are usually released from evaporat-
ing press cleaners than from the inks themselves.
Segregating and reusing solvent will extend the
life of these materials. Installing an on-site
solvent distillation unit for solvent recovery can
stretch the useful life of the solvent even further.
Such a unit may need appropriate permits as well
as trained personnel and a capial investment. It is
also recommended that aerosol products be
replaced with manual pump bottles, especially it
the product can be bought in bulk and small
containers refilled.
Several simple procedures can reduce the
quantity of solvent used for press-side cleaning
and the associated VOC emissions:
Minimize the solvent applied to a rag by
using plunger cans or squeeze bottles
Use press wipes as long as possible
before discarding. Use soiled wipes for
the initial pass and clean ones for the
last. , . .
Store used solvent-contaminated rags m
OlVJlw ซJ%*** WW. -
sealed, fireproof containers labeled
"contaminated shop towels" to avoid
solvent evaporation and a safety hazard,
Another alternative may be the use of low
vapor pressure solvents. While they may -have a
high VOC content, they evaporate at such a low
rate that less solvent is used.
22
-------
' . . , ^arrs Washers ' : '
' If parti Dashers are used to perform mainte-
nance on .press parts, use solvents not character-
ized as hazardous (ignitability: flash; point < 140
Fi'or that are not listed.wastes when spent.
Install a filtering mechanism in the parts washer
to extend the life of the solvent. A'solvent still
, may be an option to reduce the waste and re-
cover/reuse the solvent for the parts washer.
Postpress
Finishing operations may include final
trimming, die cutting, folding; collating, binding,
laminating, embossing, and assembling opera-
tions. Binding methods including stitching
(stapling), gluing, and mechanical binding. The
primary wastes are binding and laminating
chemicals, and scrap paper (Price, 1994). .
References Used
' Cross, L. 1989. "Ink Waste Disposal,"
Graphic Arts Monthly 61: 118-120.
Department of Defense. April 1995. "Recy-
cling Photo/X-ray Processing and Printing
Wastes," Department of Defense Pollution
Prevention Technical Library. . .
Jendrucko, R.J.. Coleman, T.N., and Tho-
' mas T M. 1994.."Waste Redaction Manual for
Lithographic and Screen Printers," University of
Tennessee, August 1994. :
'Legnetti, P.. 1992. "Success stories in ink,
paint and plastics applications." First annual
Conference for Southern States on Hazardous
Waste Minimization and Environmental Regula-
tions, Sept. 22-24, 1992,
Massachusetts OTA. 1994. 'Toxics Use
Reduction Success Story: Deluxe's Solvent-Free
Printing System," Office of Technical Assis-
tance Executive Office of Environmental
Affairs, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 4 p..
. price, R.L. 1994. "Printing and Publishing
Industry Pollution Preventio and Recycling.
Center for Hazardous Material Research
(CHMR) 530-4296-000.
.' Rudolph. A.C, 1991, ^L'V-Flexo'et ji. ' . .'
TAPPI Proceedings Polymers. Laminations.ฑ "".
Coatings Conference 1991,
Annotated Bibliography
- \ , . ' , -
Campbell, M.E. and W.M. Glenn. 1982.
"Printing" in Profit from Pollution Prevention: >
'A guide to Industrial Waste Reduction and
Recycling. Pp. 201-217,
This chapter, whjch is part of a larger
document, gives an overview of the printing
industry and the processes involved in the
printing. Pollution prevention opportunities
discussed include general housekeeping and ,
process control, conserving photosensitive
" materials, platemaking, inks (types, wastes, and
curing), and dirty rag recycling. Briefcase
studies are included for many of the pollution
prevention opportunities discussed.
Legnetti, P. 1992. Sucess stories in ink,
paint and plastics applications. First annual
Conference for Southern States on Hazardous
Waste Minimization and Environmental Regula-
tions, Sept. 22-24, 1992.
This article discusses the progress that has
been made in developing environmentally .
acceptable pigments. Replacements for lead
chromate, barium, and cadmium are listed.
Lewis, B. 1994. The Absence of Waste and
Beyond. FLEXO p. 19-22 ,
This article focuses on the advances in the
printing industry and how business and manufac-
turing principles such as just-in-time and total
quality management are being adopted into the
industry.
Alternatives to Petroleum-and Solvent-
Based Inks.: 1994., Fact Sheet 6. Massachusetts
Toxics Use Reduction Institute.
This fact sheet covers all the substitute inks
available for lithographic, flexographic and
gravure printing, including radiation-curable,
.vegetable oil, and water-based inks. It includes a
very comprehensive table that gives the applica-
tions, benefits, operational advantages and
disadvantages/cost, product quality, and limita-
tions for each alternative. ;
23
-------
^1, , 7 ' --- Elevtrotechnclogies Cures
Ink* ur.a CMttrt'g> m a New Light. EPRI Journal
Dec 199-i. p, 2-U29, .
This article covers applications for ultravio-
let and electron beam curing for specially
formulated inks and coatings, and focuses on
replacing gas-fired convection drying ovens with
these electrotechnologies to achieve gams in
productivity, environmental compliance, and
save energy.
Price. R.L. 1994. Printing & publishing
industry pollution prevention and recycling.
Center for Hazardous Material Research
(CHMR) 530-4296-000.
Student manual prepared for the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency. This manual
gives the history of the printing industry, and
statistics about Illinois printing establishments.
Each of the printing processes are explained and
diagramed. The common pollution prevention
and waste reduction opportunities are explained.
Rudolph, A.C. 1991. UV-Flexoetal.
TAPPI Proceedings Polymers, Laminations &
Coatings Conference 1991.
Advances in inks, and curing and printing
processes have facilitated the break through of
UV-curing technologies. The process of UV-
curing, along with its advantages and constraints
are discussed.
Stowe, Richard W. 1991. Ultraviolet curing '
and recent advances. Polymers, Laminations &
Coatings Conference. TAPPI Proceedings 1991:.
9-15
The basics of UV curing are presented, along
with recent advances in the development of UV
materials in flexographic printing and silicone
release coatings cured with UV lamps.
US EPA. 1990. Printing and Allied Indus-
tries. EPA/530-SW-90-027.4 pgs.
This is a short document that lists materials
used, including the chemical components, and
hazardous wastes that are potentially generated
for each of the processes part of the typical
printing operation. Readers are referred to the
RCRA/Supertund Hotline for further informa-
tion.
US EPA. 1990. Guide to Pollution Pre'.etv .
tlon: The Commercial Printing Industry. Office
of Research and Development. EPA/625/7-90/ -
008.
This document gives an overview of the
commercial printing industry and waste minimi-
zation assessment procedures and methods.
Waste minimization assessment worksheets are
given, along with case studies, and a listing of
organizations/agencies that can provied further
help. This document is identical to the Guide to
Waste Minimization in the Commercial Printing
Industry by USEPA RREL and California Dept
of Health Services and Toxic Substances Control
Division (also reprinted by the Hazardous Waste
Research and Information Center, Champaign,
ID.
Virginia Department of Waste Management.
1991. Virginia Waste Minimization Program.
Opportunities to Reduce Waste Generation:
Printing Industry. Report 27-1, March 1991.
This document was developed as a compo-
nent of outreach services to Virginia waste _
generators and includes the results of a survey of
14 printing companies to ascertain the waste
reduction potential of Virginia printers. The
document includes industry profile, current VOC
regulations and hazardous waste codes, waste
summaries for Virginia generators, waste mini-
mization techniques, operational costs to con-
sider, and potential barriers to implementation.
Case studies in source reduction and recycling
are given. Information about the companies
surveyed is included.
24
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Places to Look for Waste Reduction
in the Printing Industry
Good Housekeeping
* keep hazardous wastes segregated^ .nonhazardous wastes and nonhazardous from
each other to increase opportunities for recycling .' _
. do not allow personal 'caches of hazardous materials (e.g., cleanup, solvents) and establish
satellite accumulation points for hazardous waste
*- check for and repair all leaks and spills from equipment .
* keep shop clean and, orderly to prevent accidents and spills
^con=^^
, maintain spill kits and instruct all personnel on their location and proper use
.' consider secondary containment where appropriate , _ . . .
Waste Accounting
. collect accurate data on waste and emissions generation from each source/press
. establish accountability for waste generation and provide incentives for reduct.on
. provide feedback on waste reduction performance to employees
Inventory
ป order and manage materials to minimize
ป use "first in, first out" inventory policy
centralize responsibility for storing and distributing solvents
". use returnable containers and returnable plastic or wood pallets and, buck totes
. require that all potentially hazardous product samples be ore-approved and requ.re vendor
to take unused portion back .
,. materials with expired shelHi,. should be tested far effectless before discards . ;
. materials should be inspected v,hen received and ^.specification or damo9ed motenais
returned immediately to the manufacturer or suppher . , .
. store inks accordina to manufacrurer directions ,= P-en, sKlnning and drv,n, and ,n loca-
tions that will preserve shelf life , , nrn^ca\
order morals in bulk containers ma, are returned ,o ,h. supplier for refill,ng. ,f pr=c,,a, ^
keep lids on containers ,0 reduce evaporation or spillaae and to prevent contom^on v,,,h
water, ,dirt or other materials ==
-------
Photochemicals
. .nstaH Hooting lids to exc.ude air and reduce evaporation and contamination. This can
double the life of the solution.
!ฐ;&rrฑ^
life and the life of the bath.
extend lives of photo and film developing baths by adding replenishes and regenerators
{detailed description in Jendrucko, 1994)
reclaim and recycle silver from wastewater
keep sensitive process baths covered* prolong potency
squeegee chemicals from films or plates to minimize cross contaminate
use squeegees to wipe off excess liquid from film and paper in non-automated or tray
developing operations
increase use of electronic imaging when practical
recycle used photographic film and paper
always follow the recommended storage conditions for photoprocessing chem.ca.s and Mm
to increase shelf life .
use countercurrent nnsiny ^ j t cnK/pnt for final clean'tno) also in
. .ซ.?it/** c4ir4\/ cnlvent for initial cleaning ana t
using uiny awivwm >*^
photoprocessing
Platemaking
.' us, pres.nsi.ized p.a,es ,ha, are processed .* ซ*r ซ Wmetollic plo.es i. chemisT, is
recycled
, use laser plate-making with an electronic imaging system
. eliminate once-through coo.ing water for .compressors by reuse/recychng
'. reduce drag-in of contaminants, reduce drag-out of solutions by add.ng dr.pboard. and
extending drip time
* use nonhazardous developers and finishers
sell used and damaged pbles to an alummum rewcier
Alternative Materials
. use inks that reduce VOC emissions: e.g., vegetable-based;
electron beam drying where applicable
pr8PGro"ฐ"
ซ-
-------
sw.tch to. ink with pigments that do not contain hazardous heavy metals. ' .
eliminate or reduce alcohol in fountain solutions .' . :
consider using waterless offset printing, if possible for the particular printing process
use non-hazardous; low- or |no-VOC solutions to clean equipment '
use alternative fountain solutions "in lithographic printing (low or no-lPA) ;%
Printing
quent batches , '
run similar jobs back to back to' reduce waste generation between cleanup and start of the.
next run . ,
print quality in large web presses.
. dedicate one press for inks with hazardous pigments or solvents
dedicate presses for specific ink, colors, if feasible
improve quality control to- reduce rejects
" improve accuracy of counting methods, reducing excess quantises printed to accomodate .
inaccuracy , ,
' use web break detectors and automatic splicers -
use refrigerate cooling to reduce evaporative losses of fountain solution .
reuse waste paper or collect for recycling (if sheetfed, print on other side)
non-drying anti-skinnmg materials. .
, use solvent hoods to recapture solvent losses from presses
ป recover solvents with an pn-site distillation unit
' . ! , _ i . ' V '...'
Cleanup , .
. segregate and recover spent solvent according to color and type of ink. Reuse to th.n future
batches of the same ink
. use dry and non-'solvenf cleaning procedures when feasible -
use automatic blanket washes ' '
. : us,hi9h-pre,SHre washing ,,.ip.n-..<, reduce amoUn, of waste wa,e,9en.ซd,n,c,Mn
printing ... ', ._
27
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.r-prove cperat.ng practices, for efficient press , clean-up
^se c'oth towels which can be cleaned and reused
reduce dean up waste by cleaning ink fountains only after a color change, if you are runnmg
cdor sequenang (light to dark) you shouldn't have to clean the fountam
wring or centnfuge used cloths to recover solvent before laundering and reuse solvent ,n
parts washers or for additional press cleaning
excess solvent out of used towels. Collect and reuse the liquid fok initial cleanup with
xcess soven .
Slowed by clean solvent on clean rags for Anal cleanup
avoid soaking cloths in so.vent,us.e plunger or squeeze bottle to dampen cloth with only what
is necessary to complete the task
the storage drum.
use cleanup solution with lower VOC content and lower vapor pressure
. provide marked, accessible containers for segregated collection of used solvents, if feas.b.e
, use an on-site distillation unit for solvent recovery
, use less toxic cleaning 'solvents or detergent solutions instead of solvents
ป avoid cross-contamination of cleaners
. set up an in-house dirty rag cleaning operation if quantity of rags warrants, or send out to
approved industrial laundries, if available
. squeegee excess ink off equipment fc^re cleaning
' "
. increase cleaning efficiency by maintaining press clean-up equ.pment
ซ. save old inks and consider reusing as house colors .
Waste Inks
* carefully label and store special-order colors for future reuse
mix to make black ink for internal or external use
recycle after processing
. donate for reuse by printing schools or others
. control inventory and buy only as much ink as needed for the near future
, scrape or drain ink and mixing containers before disposal
, ...:_ c,-rซner or soatula instead o
remove ink from stir sticks, adhesive tope and
" '
28
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shop towels. Return-excess iok to the original-or waste container. Use
acs Steel, plastic vs. wooden'stir sticks. Wooden stir sticks can absorb add.hves
and solvents and degrade ink quality if left sitting in cans of ,nk. ,
, :; return excess ink to supplied whenever possible _ '.,''. ' ".:
.- 1 ; ' * . ' : ' . -
i t
" ' . i v
Finishing
..; .use water-based adhesives j rather than solvent-based, if appropriate
.- minimize coatings and adhesives that hinder -recycling..
V- reduce paper use by selecting properly sized paper and 'recycle waste paper and cardboard
.' 'use mechanical binding methods instead of glues or .adhesives, if appropriate
L I ' , L '
list other ideas below for future reference
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30
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Lithography
Overview
Lithography dominates the U.S. printing
industry, accounting for as much as 50
percent of all conventionally printed materials.
Approximately 85 percent of these printers
employ fewer than 20 people. There are two
types of lithographic printing: sheetfed and web.
Sheetfed presses run individual sheets of paper
through the press, while web presses feed paper
continuously from a large roll and can use either
heatset or nonheatset inks. Once the image is .
printed onto the substrate, the paper is either fed
back onto a roll or cut and/or trimmed into
"specific shapes and sizes. Web lithography is
designed to print large jbbs and is used for
newspapers, books, catalogs, periodicals, adver-
tising and business forms. Sheetfed lithography
is used mostly for short runs of books, periodi- .
cals, posters, advertising flyers, brochures,
greeting cards, packaging and fine .art reproduc-'
' tion.
Preventing pollution at the source may be
achievable at each production step used in
lithographic printing. To begin evaluating and .
implementing pollution prevention opportunities
within the printing process, principal input
materials and processes need to be outlined. The
principal materials used in lithographic printing
are inks and paper substrates (Figure 6). Addi-
tional input materials are photographic films,
photoprocessing chemicals (developers, fixers,ป
wash baths, reducers and intensifiers), printing
plates, plate processing chemicals, fountain
solutions, cleaning solvents, correction fluids,
rags and water. .'..-.
' - The lithographic process can be divided into
four major steps: prepress, makeready, press,
and post press. Prepress operations involve a
series of steps for which artwork or design for
the pVinted image is converted onto an image
carrier-the printing plate. During this step raw
materials such as photoprocessing chemicals and
solutions are used. This process continues to
change as digital prepress, with computer
transfer of digitized images,' replaces much of the
photographic process and related wastes.
Makeready are the steps taken to prepare the
press to; print. This involves attaching printing
plates to the press: adding ink and fountain
solutions to each print unit; testing the press to
make sure the image is aligned properly (regis-
tration); and, printing according to customer
specifications. While essential, paper, inks and
solvents used during makeready are basically all
waste. Anything done to reduce makeready
saves time* money and reduces waste. -
The press step is the actual printing operation
in which inks, cleaning solvents and substrates
are used (Figure 7).
Postpress involves any finishing work
performed to the printed product. This includes
any cutting,,trimming, binding by gluing or
stitching, and final packaging. This step may use
large amounts of binding and/or tape and adhe-
sives when producing books, directories, and
pads'. A specific look at each step in lithographic
printing process follows.
Prepress
Prepress includes all the steps involved in
getting the printing plates ready to be mounted
on the press. In the image processing step, the ^
material to be printed, whether a "camera-ready _
paper copy or an electronic version, is converted
to film images. Pollution prevention for this step
involves techniques and technologies used in
photo processing operations. Wastes generated
from image processing include empty containers,
used film packages, used film, outdated materials
and chemicals, spent fixer solution containing
silver spent developer solution, and waste nnse
waters. Color separations for the four primary
colors (yellow, magenta, cyan and black) are also
done in the prepress stage.
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ui
C
O
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Dampening Ink rollers
rollers _,/ ;. ,
Fountain \^^ Plate cylinder
solution'
Blanket cylinder
Impression
cylinder^
Sheet transfer
cylinder
tinted image
Figure 7. Principle of Offset Lithography
Most printing operations begin with artwork
and/or text. The "camera-ready" is the final copy
of the materials from which the printer will make
the film used to image the printing plates. Prior
to the use of electronic desktop publishing, these
camera-readies involved gluing or waxing the
back of the, art and text to another sheet of paper.
. This board was then photographed. If any errors
we're detected after this step, the board would be
corrected and re-shot. This process is still in use,
but is being replaced by electronic imaging.
Electronic imaging allows text to be edited
and digitally manipulated on a computer screen
to also reduce waste generation in the prepress
stage. The image is scanned or created with
digital cameras.The cameras digitize the image
and then send it to a computer for editing. After
correction, the master copy is saved to a disk file.
Color separations can also be prepared electroni-
cally , This reduces or eliminates the need to
photograph, edit, re-shoot, and repeat photo
processing. The advantage is the elimination of a
labor intensive and time intensive process
involved in the manual layout and color separa-
tion for the film. Once the film has been devel-
oped and proofed (checked for accuracy) it is
sent to the plate making operation.
Photo Processing
As previously noted, lithographic printing
employs photography for the reproduction of
artwork and/or copy. The materials used include
paper, plastic film or emulsion. Emulsions are
usually composed of silver halide salts, including
silver chloride, silver bromide, and silver iodide.
One of the major areas for waste reduction in
the printing process focuses on photographic
chemistry management. The three separate
processes of photo processing include develop-
, ing, fixing, and washing. Many methods exist to
better manage the ray/ materials used, reclaim
valuable raw materials from the process such as
silver, and to extend the life of the chemical
baths. Additional help for assisting printers, in
reducing waste in their photo processing labs can
be obtained from vendors. New prepress pro-
cesses are regularly being brought to the market.
Some printers are installing automated recirculat-
ing silver recovery (fixer), water recovery and
chemical replenishment systems. ,
Proofs
Proofs are made from the film produced in
'the initial photo processing step described above,
to compare the press image to the customer
approved artwork and act as a final check prior
to making the printing plates. The proof will
show whether all images are in line (registered),
whether the color is right, and how the final
printed image will appear. Most proofing is now
done electronically. All major prepress manufac-
turers produce proofing systems that come in
33
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\i*t .r- Ti "-"Ai-r Jtqueeuj-based models;
Pr-vV* ari m-iiii t'e-.iuie the platemaking step
>AปU affect tone reproduction. Proofs are also
used to check camera and scanner separations
and correction in color printing.
Plates
There are a number of different type plates
used in lithographic printing: photomechanical,
electrostatic, bimetallic, relief, paper, and
polymer plates. Photomechanical surface plates
are most common. They are made from thin
anodized or grained aluminum coated with a
light-sensitive material. The most common plate
coatings are diazo compounds and photopolymer
resins, although asphalt, shellac, gum arable, and
polyvinyl alcohol are also used. An image
transparency is placed over the sensitized plate.
Then a framed glass sheet is placed over the
transparency and a vacuum is applied to pull
them tightly together. The plate is exposed to
ultraviolet light, which passes through the
transparency and hardens the coating on the plate
to make it insoluble to water or other solvents
(Jendrucko, 1995).
The next step in the platemaking process is
developing. Plates can be additive or subtractwe.
Additive plates are developed using a one step
emulsion developer that contains an oleophilic
resin. This is used to make the hardenec -nage
areas receptive to ink. Subtractive plates Dually
have an oleophilic resin included in the coating
or applied over the coating as a lacquer. When
the plate is placed in the developer solution, the
non-coated image area dissolves. The image
carrying plates accept ink from a roller and
transfer this image to a rubber blanket. The
blanket, in turn, transfers the image to the
substrate-thus, offset printing.
Electrostatic plates are non-metallic paper'
plates and are made using the same process as
making office copies. The plate is coated with a
photoconductor, which is ionized by an electro-
photographic camera. The charged paper is
exposed to the reflection of light from the image
or copy to be reproduced. The white areas of the
image reflect light to the plate, which causes a
dissipation of the charge on the image areas. The
dark areas of the image absorb light, which
causes the electrostatic charge to remain on these
areas of the plate. Toner, which is attracted to the
charged areas, is applied to the plates and torms
a visible imaae. During press operation, the toner
attracts ink and the white areas are water recep-
tive (Jendrucko, 1995).
Photomechanical plate making is the most
common method used in lithography. The plates
are coated with a photosensitive emulsion that
changes chemical properties after being exposed
to light. The exposed area, hardens, becoming
.hydrophobia .repelling the water-based fountain
solution and being receptive to ink.
After the photographic emulsion has been
exposed it must be developed. In developing the
plate, the unexposed areas are hydrpphihc
(attracts water in the fountain solution) and
become water receptive but repel the oil-based
ink.
Printers should work closely with chemical
vendors and ask them to supply nonhazardous
materials and inform them about any new
products that are less toxic to replace currently
used materials.
One of the recent technologies used in
lithographic printing includes moving away from
solvent-based plate developing systems. Switch-
ing to aqueous developed plates causes little .
disruption to the plate processing system or
printing operations (Kasper, date unknown .
Optimum performance is achieved by keeping
the liquid volumes up to the fecommended level
and closely monitoring the developer The, pnce
these systems are similar to other high-quah y
plates, and chemistry costs are less because there
is only one developing chemistry and no
replenisher. Glass marbles can be used to bnng
liquid levels of process chemicals to the bran
each time the liquid is used, which extends the
chemical's life by minimizing contact with
oxygen (Price, 1994). This technique can also be
used for film developing chemicals.
Plastic or photopolymer and etoctrosWK
plates are all alternative plate *Pฃ *"ฃฃฃซ
on alternative plate materials can be obtained
from printing trade associations as well as
34
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ver.J.orv Crun^mg .:o a computer-tor-press print
environment ma> eliminate the need for'plate
chemistry totally, but this technology is cur-
rently expensive and may not be applicable to'
all types of printing. . ,.''-.
Press
During makeready, printing plates are
attached to the cylinder. Printing occurs when
the plate rotates so that the npn-image areas can
be treated with an ink-repelling fountain/
dampening solution. The plate is then coated
with the ink, which adheres to areas of the plate
that contain the image. As the cylinder rotates;
the image is transferred to the substrate via the
impression or blanket cylinder. The press is then
fine-tuned to ensure registration and ink density
are accurate and identical on all copies coming
off the press. A final check for acceptability
usually .occurs, then the press run begins.
Although an essential step, everything generated
in makeready is waste. Finding ways, to reduce
makeready yields multiple benefits by saving
waste paper, chemicals and time which in tumx
results in less waste disposal costs and money
saved. 1 :
, A strict quality control program will help
eliminate waste by correcting problems as they
arise. It is helpful to include in this program a
process where periodic "press checks" are
performed by an unbiased party to verify the
quality of the product during a press run. The
majority of the techniques available to printers
to reduce waste at the press can be classified as
good housekeeping and material Substitution.
Figure 6 shows a typical lithographic press
roller arrangement. , ,,
The printing process itself produces scrap
paper, waste ink, cleaning solvents which result
in VOC emissions as does the ink drying
process. According to one study on VOC
emissions, the average VOC emission at three
offset printing shops was 2 tons per year. In
. lithography, a majority of the VOCs from the
ink stays with the product. With ribn-heat set
inks, approximately 95 percent of the VOCs
from the ink stays with the product, while in
heat set inks approximately 60 percent remains.
Materials Substitution
Inks ' , .
'' .. Ink substitutions for the standard petroleum'-.
based inks are now available in the form of
ultraviolet-curable or electron beam inks, and
vegetable-based inks, including soy oil-based
inks. Customer requirements can dictate the type:
of ink used.
Fountain Solution
Isopropyl alcohol.(IPA), added to the foun-
tain solution at a rate of 2 to 15 percent, has been
the most common additive used in fountain
solutions and holds the distinction of being one
of the main contributors to VOC emissions from
lithographic printing facilities. Refrigeration of"'
the fountain solution is usually used to reduce the
evaporation of the IP A. Switching to an alterna-
tive fountain solution with lower or no VOCs is a
good pollution prevention option. Typically low
or no VOC fountain solutions cost more based on
volume because the cost to produce these prod-
ucts is significantly greater compared to IPA.
Due to stringent federal air quality standards the
use of these alternative products is beginning to
increase. Additionally, due to permitting and
recordkeeping requirements, no VOC fountains
' solution may prove to be more cost effective in
the long-term.
In lithographic printing, alcohol substitutes,
such as glycol ethers, can be used in some
dampening systems. These substitutes reduce
the surface tension of the fountain solution but
have a more complex chemical structure and
higher boiling point than the alcohol dampeners.
To determine if a substitute is applicable it is
important to consider the ink, press type, paper,
type of dampening system, and printing con-
straints. This is one of the easiest ways to
minimize emissions.
Of concern with determining the substitutes
compatibility and performance with the fountain
solutions are the temperature, pH, and conductiv-
ity The conductivity of the incoming water
affects the performance of the alcohol substitute.
An automatic mixing system will accurately mix
fountain solution to the proper concentration and
can somewhat reduce risks of problems from
varying conductivity. Hard water causes calcium
35
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JecoMU aw r^u.res in ^d-.uenal water sotten-
tnซ >vstem. Tht* problem was formerl> masked
when uiina an alcohol fountain solution. Some
large operations have chosen deionizing units or
reverse osmosis to remove salts, minerals and
organic matter which would affect the perfor-
- mance of the alcohol substitute. Water tempera_
ture will now affect the viscosity of the substitute
and therefore the ink transferability.
Alcohol substitutes also have a foaming
problem. This problem can be eliminated by use
of a foam free recirculating system which
mechanically eliminates foam rather than
chemical anti-foaming agents. Adding filters to
the recirculating units will remove contamination
' and ink residue, effectively extending the life of
the solution. Evaporation of the mixture can be
reduced by the installation of a refrigeration unit.
However, ink viscosity could be increased with a
cooled sump, which may effect the printing
performance. Any changes implemented will
have to go through a "shake-down period of
trial and error until the best working conditions
are determined. The roller condition and durom-
eter (hard/soft) will become much more impor-
tant.
Cleaning Solutions
Cleaning of the press occurs most often
during make-ready as adjustments are UK-? to
the press and plates, during the "*^.<
between press runs, and at the end of the uay
(shut down). The frequency of press washes
depends on many factors including paper dust
and dried ink accumulation, the quality of the
paper, and the habits of the particular press
operator. Ink rollers and plates are typically
cleaned in place with a solvent. Residual ink is
dissolved in the solvent and scraped from the
roller with a blade. The resulting solvent/ink
waste is collected in a tray. Blankets are cleaned
during and following a run or after a color
change. Most blanket cleaning is done with
solvent wetted rags. Common cleanmg solvents
include methanol, toluene, and mchloroetnane,
' while naptha, methylene chloride and a vanety
of specially formulated solvent blends may be
used (Jendrucko, 1995).
For larger presses, installing automatic
blanket washers can increase press efficiency and
safety. The blankets can be cleaned during a
press run rather than stopping the press and using
manual cleaning methods. Due to speed of
cleaning there are fewer wasted impressions
(paper) and less cleaning solution used. Worker
safety is improved through less exposure to
moving equipment, air emissions,' and harsh
cleaning compounds.
Parts Washing
Any parts washer at the printing facility may
have the ability to be retrofitted or replaced with
units containing filters to extend the life of the
solvent. One type of parts washer now on the
market utilizes a cyclone type filter that removes
the solids and then recirculates the solvent.
Alternative cleaning solvents are available as
well Many products such as d-limomne based
compounds will work just as well as petroleum-
based solvents. They are less harmful to workers,
emit less VOCs into the air and can be disposed
of as non-hazardous waste. However, they emit a
citrus smell to which workers will need to
become accustomed. When leasing parts wash-
ing units ask the supplier about how the solvent.
is treated/recovered and what options are avail-
able.
Post Press
Wastes generated from the finishing process
include waste paper and VOC emissions, con-
taminated or spilled materials such as glue and
laminates. Waste paper is created from trimming,
off spec product and printing overruns.
References Used
"Waste Minimization for the Commercial
Printing Industry," Factsheet, State of California
Department ofToxic Substances Control, 6 p.,
1992.
"Hazardous Waste Minimization Checklist
& Assessment Manual for the Printing Industry,
California Environmental Pw^J^Ste
Deoartment ofToxic Substances Control Olfice
of CLn Prevention and Technology Devel-
opment, Sacramento, CA, 1994.
Barwick, Kathryn. "Pollution Prevention
Assessment of the Office of State Printing,
36
-------
California Department,.of" Toxic Substances -^
Control. Sacramento; CA, 1991. .; ...'..
.-Printing and Publishing Industry,, Pollution-
Prevention and Recycling:, Student Manual,"
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Office
of Pollution Prevention, Springfield, IL .and
Center for Hazardous Materials Research,
Pittsburgh, PA, 1994. '
"A Guide for Lithographic Printers," Wash-
ington State Department of Ecology, Environ-
mental Management and Pollution Prevention,
' 1994. - , '
"Prevention Factsheet: Offset Printing
Businesses," Stimular, Netherlands, June 1994.
"Printing and Publishing Industry Workshop
Manual," Illinois Environmental Protection
Agency, Office of Pollution Prevention, Center
for Hazardous Materials Research, Springfield,
IL. .. . . :'' - < '-..
"Guides to Pollution Prevention: The Com- ;
mercial Printing Industry," EPA/625/7-90/008,
ILS: EPA Office of Research and Development,
Washington, DC, August 1990.
"Multimedia Compliance/Pollution Preven-
tion Assessment Guidance for Lithographic
Printing Facilities," DCN: RZ3-SAI-R11012-
WA-00393, U.S. EPA Office of Enforcement
and Compliance Assurance, Washington, DC,
August 1995. -,.".
"Environmental Management Program,"
Printing Industries of America, Inc. and Minne-
sota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M),
' l992-
Wadden, R.A.; Scheff, P.A., Franke, I.E.,
Conroy, L.M., Keil, C.B. "Determination of
Annotated Bibliography
, "Compliance Plus GuideEnvironmental
Compliance and Pollution Prevention for Illinois
Lithdgfaph'ic Printers," 1996, Printing Industry
Publishing Corporation.
A good general reference for all lithographic
printers, even thought the document targets
Illinois-specific regulations. Has worksheets to
follow for determing compliance status.
"Pollution Prevention Assessment of the
Office of State Printing," California Environ-
mental Protection Agency, Department of Toxic
Substances Control, Doc. No. 519,44p.
A good report of an assessment on California
lithographic operation and the pollution preven-
tion suggestions to be examined for further
consideration and implementation.
"Waste Audit Study-Commericial Printing
Industry" by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.,
Hazardous and Toxic Materials Division for
California Pollution Prevention and Technology
Development, Department of Toxic Substances
Control. Doc. No. 303.
A good overall report with descriptions of
various waste minimization techniques; also
presents a number of case studies of California
printers. .
"Guide to Pollution Prevention in the Com-
mercial Printing Industry," U.S. EPA Risk
Reduction Engineering Laboratory and Center
for Environmental Research Information, 1990,
45 p.
This report covers basics of all printing
wastes and pollution prevention efforts; includes
worksheets for conducting an assessment of a
printing facility. /
"Control of Volatile Organic Compound
Emissions from Off set Lithographic Printing-
Guideline Series Draft US EPA Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards, September
1993.
Lengthy report on methods and techniques
used to control VOC emissions at lithographic
printing facilities; includes a variety of control
strategies, costs associated with these techniques,
impact analysis and selection of reasonably
37
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av Alibis ..-r.:r:i wonr..:i..>gซes. and factors to
joniiAtr :n implementing a control technology
"A Guide tor Lithographic Printers" Wash-
ington State Department of Ecology. Environ-
mental Management and Pollution.Prevention,
Report No, 94-139. September 1994.
A good primary- resource for the lithographic
printer. Has good checklists of Do's and Dont's
for each major wastestream.
"Pollution Prevention Manual for Litho-
graphic Printers," Iowa State Waste Reduction
Center, 1995.
An excellent resource with current informa-
tion. Geared toward printing plant personnel,
rather that technical assistance providers. Covers
every step in the lithographic printing process
and provides alternatives to current waste-
generating practices, provides real life examples
with case studies.
"Pollution Prevention: Strategies for the
Printing Industry," Center for Hazardous Materi-
als Research Factsheet, n.d.
Has very general information on pollution
prevention and list options for paper, waste
lubricating fluids for machinery, waste chemi-
cals, equipment cleaning wastes, and process
wastewaters.
"Water, Water Every where...But Not a Drop
5n the Ink," Graphic Arts Monthly, November
1991. . -
The article details the conversion of a
company to waterless offset lithography.
"The Seminal Soybean," Graphic Arts
Monthly, November 1991.
Article contains information on soy-based
inks, examples from companies who have
switched from petroleum based inks, procedures
needed to get soy oil seal.
Chuang, J.C, D.A. Burgoon, B.E. Buxton,
S.C. Liao, and G.M. Sverdrup. "Ink Oil Loss is
Sheet-Fed Lithographic Printing" Battelle,
March 1993. . .
In-depth scientfic report determining fraction
of ink oils lost from ink during printing process
and ink loss from sheet'fed lithographic prints
during storage.
Cross, Lisa "Ink Waste Disposal." Graphic
Arts Monthly, vol. 61, May 1989.
Lists current options for ink waste disposal
and alternatives to disposal through waste
minimization techniques.
Cross, Lisa "Litho Plates Get Eco Friendly,"
Graphic Arts Monthly, May 1993.
Discusses new governmental regulations clue
to Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and how
some printers have switched from solvent-based
plates to aqueous-based plate systems. Provides
good overview on wastewater treatment plant
operations with respect to printers.
Erhan, Sevim Z. and M.O. Bagby "Vegetable
Oil-Based Vehicles, News Ink Formulation and
Their Properties," 1992 Proceedings of the
Technical Association of the Graphic Arts, pgs.
409-425.
Technical article on vegetable oil-based
printing ink vehicles. In-depth information on the
chemical and physical properties of inks pro-
duced in this study.
Gavaskar, A.R., R.F. Olfenbuttel, and J.A.
Jones "On-site Waste Ink Recycling," US EPA
RREL, EPA/600/SR-92/251. February 1993.
Good example of process modification to
recycle waste ink, specific to newspaper presses.
Gtlbertson, T.J. "Mixing Water with Electri-
cal Energy: Successful Printing with Water-
based inks," 1991 Polymers, Laminations &
Coatings Conference.
Technical paper on developing successful
water-based printing operations.
Hultquist, S.R. "Overall Waste Disposal
Management," 1993 Proceedings of the Techni-
cal Association of the Graphic Arts, pgs. 511-
525
'This article is a regulatory overview that lists
current techniques available for disposal of;
common waste streams. Contains lots of infor-
mation on federal regulation and compliance
issues.
38
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"John-. Da1-iJ'R. "Environmentally Safe
Fountain'Solutions for the Printing.industries" in ,
Innovative Clean Technologies Case Studies '
Second? Year Project Report. US EPA, Office of
Research and Development. EPA/600/R-94/169,- ..
p/202-214. . . ' " '
Report details methodology behind the
development of a fountain solution for offset
web presses with high speed printing and other
sheet-fed presses that eliminates isoprop.yl
alcohol and mineral acids; includes demostration
procedure, evaluation parameters, performance:
results, and incentives and barriers to using this
solution.
Telschow, Roger. "Reducing Heavy Metal
Content in Offset Printing Inks" in Innovative
Clean Technologies Case Studies Second Year
Project Report. US EPA, Office of Research and
Development. EPA/600/R-94/169, p. 117-125.
This report details the methodology behind
development of a printing ink with reduced
heavy metal content for sheet-fed lithography;
includes performance results from test press
runs, cost/benefit analysis, and incentives and
barriers to using this ink.
Toth, Deborah. "Waterless Web: Steady, Not
Spectacular" Graphics Art Monthly, May 1996,
. pp. 61-62.
A review article about the current state of
waterless web, with information on the plate
producer, Toray. Also opinions from printers
using waterless web are presented.
Wadden, R.A., RA/SchefU-E. Franke,
L.M. Conroy, and C.B. Kell "Determination of
VOC Emission Rates and Compositions for
Offset Printing," July 1995. J. Air and Waste
Manage. Assoc. 45:547-555.
Technical paper on methods used to test the
concentration of VOCs in indoor air of 3 differ-
ent size printing facilities.
Watkins, L.A. "A Multi-Disciplinary Ap-
proach to Ink Recycling," 1992 Proceedings of
= the'Technical Association of the Graphic Arts,
pgs. 604-615-: . ' .
' 'Easy to read and understand article on ink
recycling. Provides examples of processes and
equipment used to reclaim ink, and case studies
with numerical data.
39
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Case Studies
Case Study 1 , . im,
Aetna's in-house Printing Plant Leads the Way
Pollution Prevention: Environmental Management s Next
Goal
Michael Feldman
GAFTWORLD Vol. 5, Issue 6, 1993
different projects.
They eliminated alcohol
ink and water balance. The problems we e
cut off the dampening system
vendor assistance; 3) switching
figuring all the roliers
yearvith a savings of S42.000 annually in
^ inks with
ฃ he dampening solutions; 4)
" rol,ers and experimenting to
.. The results from this
from , 1 ,000 ga,./year to 5,000 Sa,/
isposal costs.
Dampening solution disposal
Holvent was dumped at a designated sink ^^^'^lewe^Tystem. Contamination prob-
canisters. and then discharged d.rectly into the TJ1"^1 s (Q develop a ..putnp mobile."
lems from other materials dumped into the sink ซ * gss ^ ^ used dampen-
This is a cart with a 55 gal. drum and pump-tnai mo ^ j^ ^^.^ ^.^ whe(e dmm
tS!^ ฑX;^el^^^rcoal system. This project costs S2.000 annually to
Srgetheactiv'ated carbon and saves 548,000 in disposal costs.
. finA nnn in ink disDOS&l costs fllonc ana a>~ *
Ink reclamation saves the company SZUU.uuu in IHR. uซ^ ^ ^^ ordered on a job by job
reduced new ink purchases each year. Previousl^pr?fXtehisl ink was special ordered and if the
basis resulting in 7,500 Ibs. of ink _m ^ ซ Computer software was ordered to
print job changed or was cancelled, the ink was unusawc P new pmwas co,ors
Other efforts'
chlorinated to nonchlorinated'
with environmental regulations.
p.**-
te mnnte ปd
40
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Case Study 2
Pollution Prevention Works for Iowa: Case Summaries
Moore Business Forms & Systems Diyision
May. 1994 ''''*'; - - ;
.'..,..' t - - ' - -
Moore prints custom business forms for a wide range of customers: The company wanted
to find ways to use the paper waste not amenable to recycling such as carbon-backed coated
mixed and "dirty papers". In partnership with a number of different groups, Moore developed a
refuse-derived fuel cubing program in 1992. .The process shreds waste matenals, adds moisture
orproper mixing and compaction, removes tramp ferrous metals w.th magnets and extrudes
mate S foe?pellets. The product is^sold to coal fired power plants that m,x the cubes w,th
coda^approximately a 10 percent ratio of total fuel. The company m now able tc.divert
Ssentiallv all unrecyclable paper waste to fuel. Through diverting 912 tons/year from the
landfill, Moore saved $10,032/year in'landfill fees. When transportation savings are included the
savings total SI 1,832/year. . ' . '
Case Study 3
Toxics Use Reduction Case Study ^ ' ,
Alcohol Free Fountain Solution a* Amencraft Carton, Inc.
Office of Technical Assistance, Massachusetts
September .1993 . V ;
ft Carton Inc is a $30 million a year folding carton manufacturer and printer.
ist 1991 Americraft mixed-fountain solution for its presses in the traditional manner
A solution of 15-25 percent isopropyl alcohol (IPA), tap water, and .etch.material ""n^"1
by hand into a drum and stirred with a wooden paddle. Amencraft received bulk delivenes of
IPA every two to three weeks. Up to six 55 gallon drums of waste solution were generated
monthly by the company's four sheetfed offset presses. ;
volatile organic compound (VOC), thereby increasmg the costand complex.ty of atr em.ss.on
permitting and reporting.
jrj=c^^sts;--5sSSr"
41
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tor '-d-in.* <* 10 microns and for further chilling as well as solution recharging. The
ซ I hoidmjunk ,,th a 250 gallon capacity to ensure adequate quantu.es at all umes. .
i L i A- ,hp,>nri of losses and costs associated with hand mixed
v reduced use of VOCs and VOC emissions through the replacement of IPA The S108.00U
longer.
of Cos. Saving Through Waste Reduction by
Small Industries in Tennessee
TVA8: Magazine Printing
Tennessee Valley Authority '
estimated S200.000 to 5250,000 annually.
.
Case Study 5
Proiec, Case Stud,
US EPA, 1994
mmmmtmm
The John Roberts Company in Minneapolis employs :
brochures, catalogs, formsjimited edition fine^t pnnts ;
because the mdus-
discharging to the sanitary sewer.
42
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The.-ompanVthoroirahlv investigated the.reasons they were using the solvents, the properties
that the solvent requ.red foriheir needs, and how. the solvents were applied by the pres: person-
nel The-goal was to- find a substitute solvent, that was better matched to-the task that did not
substantially affect' work procedure or productivu'y.-
The raisin- of awareness in the effort to find a substitute resulted in a reduction in the misuse
of the all-purpose cleaning solvent. .Usage of the solvent which was a mixture of -acetone,
toluene, MEK, and isopropyl alcohol, was reduced from 152 fifty-five gallon drums to m the
firsTyear A new replacement solvent, an ultra-fast blanket wash, was blended espec.ally for the
company' and performed well with respect to speed and lack of an o.ly film.
Only 38 fifty-five gallon drums of this new blanket wash were 'purchased in the first year.
Even a L including the purchase of , the replacement solvents, the company saved more than_ ,
S oSo the first'year by changing solvents and using them more prudent^ In add.uon, the
contribution of -the company.* the laundry's effluent no longer exceeded hmus.
An additional effort undertaken was the purchase of a centrifuge to
'price. .''-' , ' ' . i .-'."'
continued making improvements on the solvent alternative, and replaced it
fewer drams of solvent each month.
Case Study 6 , ,
Pollution Prevention Efforts at the Journal Press, Inc.
States, NEWMOA
December 1993
sells the used plates and film to a scrap metal dealer for resale.
cals used in the printing prpcess. Isopropyl al
^
43
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recycling outlet for its waste ink.
Case Study 7 .
Waste Water Reduction at the Stinehour Press, Inc.
1Kฃ#^^
States, NEWMOA
December 1993
The Stinehour Press has ha
generated from their printing and
charge waste waters from these processes
under the auspices of a NPDES permit. No
discharge to the Connecticut River was co-
infeasible. In the late 1980's the comipany
as hazardous waste. Costs related "
The volume ofwast
combination of closed-loop
waste to surface waters
the Stinehour Press and
difficult and economically
waters and managing them
waste mounted.and
issues, cost and .lability.
and up to 5456
i water streams to 77
rough recycling ana ruis icuuv.su .,-ซ..
jtdiiw*'-* f" ""
gallons per month.
R%^P a..hefaciiUy use ,2gaiionsof rinse w^r to,^^^
proceed. During peak operadon, thiscouU be ซ ^^^S waซe,s wซre
waters contain low concentrations of silver (.vt . w ^ ^ ^ whether the material would
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
wafer from the company's well system.
On-site discharge of film processor waste
tion has been drastically reduced. This has been ^7^"'"'^ mm processors. Rinse water
" ^ I*:r^vloSe -ycling unit. A small pump then forces
44
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the rinse walkthrough the ion exchange 'column. Silver ions within 'the nrise water are ex-
changed with ions from the resinf column.: De.-silvered,water leaving the resm column is further. -
filtered to remove any resin particles which may have been dislodged during the recycling
.process. The recycled wateris then pumped back into film processors.
The plumbing within the ion1 exchange systems' is equipped with valves which allow the
operator to back flush the system. This is considered to be an important feature because ,t allows
ฐhe operator to "fluff" the resin within the non-exchange column. "Ruffing the resm reduces the
effect of channeling within the ion exchange column and helps to maintain the effic.ency of the
system. ' . ' ' ' , . " '
Company personnel collect '25 gallons ofspent rinse water from the ion exchange-units on a
v7as"s The water is evaporated on site under the terms of a state permit. The ,on exchange
oumns within the recycling system, are removed every three months. The spent jon exchange
columns are rimed to" the manufacturer for silver recovery and regeneration, After regenerate
the ion exchange columns are returned to.the Stinehour Press for reuse.
The company uses a batch type electrolytic silver recovery unit equipped with a tailing
system to remove silver from spent fixer. During, the electrolytic process an elec.tr.cal current.
applied^?woelectrodes which are immersed in the fixer. Silver from the solute collects on
the cathode. Silver flake is removed from the silver recovery -unit penod.cally and sold.
An ion exchange tailing system is used to.further remove silver from the spent fixer. This
second Tver ecov'ery step'enLes.that spent fixer is not a hazardous waste based on ,ts silver
content The tailing cartridge is also sent off-site for silver recovery and regenerate. The de-
silvered fixer is storedon-siteuntiUtcan.be evaporated. ,
Evaporation , ^ ^ er de-silvered fixer, fountain solution, and press bucket
*" . ' .1 'i ฃ...ซป,ป ',n ftijacซป u/nQtp *;trehms.
.
replacement for this solution was found. : ,
A cost analysis outlihinglthe expenses and savings associated with the project appear below:
Gross Annual Savings l
Operating & Disposal Costs
Net Annual Savings
Gross Equipment Costs
...''., . i
Amount of State Grant
Stinehour Investment
$45,042
$18,105
$26,937
$38,247
;S 15,020
$23,217
-------
Puvback period en Gro^ Cost , I..6 >ears
Pas back period on Sunehour Investment
Percentage of Waste Reduced
0.9 years
92.5 percent
Th,s onalvsis does not include figures relating to the reduction in the
sor rinse water used prior to recycling. The amount of nnse water requ.red by
been reduced by more than 99 percent.
has
Ill "^
Case Study 8
Case Study: McNaughton & Gunn, Inc., Saline, Ml
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Environmental Assistance Dms.on
November 1995, #9509 -
Through ft. effom of a voiumeer emp,oy=e conjmtaee. dubbed the "Recyding Fanatics.-
,h= company has achieved source reduction in ,he follow.ng ปays.
^ Purchased two new ink pumping systems
with cardboard separators.
ซ, Modified beverage vending machine to eliminate disposable cups
The company provides each of it's 250 employees with a ceramic mug to use in place of poly-
styrene cups.
* Modified purchasing policies
Janitorial supplies are now purchased in bulk and aerosol cans have been eliminated.
. Modified all three film processors so they are on a complete chemistry recycling system
dded to it to prolong its' life. The fixer goes through a silver
The developer has a rejuvenator aaaea F B system and the only
H iซ then returned to the processor, i nis is ซi c.ivปcu iuv/f "/
repkn^hment needed is to compensate for oxidation.
* Purchased an office copier capable of two-sided copying
This resulted in a major reduction in paper use and a savings in paper purchase costs^
* m that reauires less film and fewer chemicals for develops
reSron^comm^n eliminated the need for most memos
All Requests for"uTes'and purchase orders are also done electronically, thereby reducing
paper use.
46
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I -)o; M -Nau^Hton &. (junto eenerated -an income .of 5280.000 from.recycling film plate'
and paper'NewVecvclina programs, along with source reduction strategies, allowed the corn-
pans to reduce solid Bastes by half. The company isrecycling in the followmg ways:
V^oPtnble based colored ink is stilPreceived in. five pound cans due to the small quantities
Jrdeซd SS cans and lids are all recycled! the cardboard boxes and separators are P,cked up
sy the ink manufacturer.fbr reuse-.
b ceiling pipes to a paper baler where it is compa
t juw ^ j. The bales are then loaded on semi-trailers and trans-
ported to a paper mill.for recycling. , ' ';....',
ป Film scraps are sent off-site and processed to reclaim their silver content.
* Over 125,000 pounds of aluminum printing plates are recycled each year.
* Each workstation has a recyclingJiasket to collect office paper for recycling. .
^ Batteries used in the plant and in the employees'homes are recycled. .
* Wood waste from broken pallets is shredded (by an outside vendor) :into wood chips.
Other steps the company has often to contribute to preserving the environment include:
Changed to an environmentally ^friendly chemistry system for plate developing.
ป Now use vegetable based ink on oil sheetfed presses.
* Totally eliminated isopropy! alcohol form the dampening systems of all presses.
T K.^Mo.lnw-VOC solvents for blanket and roller washes. ,
--^2
:.'
Case Study 9
Techn,.ogy Crea.es Reซ,..y "Green" '"^Neซ fr=
Autumn 1995
quality ink. ,
Mil has discovered how .ocha^ in. sW,e
ous ปas,=, iซo high gradซ ink. ta addkion ,o
^^t^ฃ^
prints better on recycled paper.
process, known us LUhographic .nk-W.Me Recovery ^**ฃZฃ
47
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The waste ink which once represented a disposal and reporting liability for printers is now a
] S-000 per barrel asset. In addition to the money savings this process represents, it also con-
' se"rvซ na ura resources. Prasil estimates that his ink recovery system can save an equ.valen of
1 560 million cubic feet of natural gas and 660,000 barrels of crude oil, and can reduce air pollu-
tion by 3 780.000 tons. The ink recovery also uses 98.5 percent less energy than manufacturing
SniSm virgin raw materials. European countries, which lack the richness of raw matena, -
resources of the United States, could prove an eager market for LIRT ink.
The to,ซoc *$ฃ%^^^ฃ%^^
nerzv ,n cooperation with the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services
% and ihe-Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Th.s grant was .
awarded and the project in underway. ,
If you have an interest in trying the LIRT ink or learning more about;fc We recycling
process, contact the UT Center for Industrial Services m NashvUle. 615/847-8007.
Update From: Tennessee Materials Exchange Bulletin, Summer 1996, Bulletin Na. 3
The black ink is produced from ink wastes that would normally be disPฐ^dfฐ^^n^hSaht"Up
s^Slies of "recycled black" are available now, and various earth tones w,ll be devel-
oped in the near future.
Case Study 10 .ซ..
Running "Green/' An Environmental Case Study
Stu McMichael
Business Management, Printing Industries of America, Inc.
1993 '
alternatives whenever possible.
Using OSHA and EPA standards as benchmarks, the company took steps to go beyond
existing requirements. Some examples:
48
-------
, ' Corrp.erey changed the way they .made plates', switching to an a'queous plate processing :
system, arast.caily cutting'polymer waste.' :: ' - v. ,.:.'.
Converted to soy inks', now using them exclusively with excellent results.
' V Use water from four dehumidifiers controling moisture buildup in their paper in press water,
I j fountains. .--.-. " "''"."
V .Recycle all paper, including office paper waste. ' _ /
. PHn, the great majority of their jobs on recycled paper and educate customers on what's
available. ' . . ' ' .
rlpwpioo na TUia is extraaea, coiieuicu, HIBH i- ..,_.-, .-_,.. 4
pure silver These coi.s are given to the people Corking at the press for Chnstmas presents.
' The transition to environmentally friendly materials has been expensive due to the
need to ekp^TSS, diffeieni chemicals, plates and papers. On-the bottom hne, for th.s press
t doeฐcost more to produce their products. But the marketing edge , the.r.env.ronmentaily
community is a benefit that far outweighs the downside.
Case Study 11
Cleaner Technologies Substitutes Assessment for
Lithographic Blanket Washes
Design for the Environment, US EPA
EPA-744,H-95-008
August 1996 '
ur ,- r,f. HP nn
The.first.major publication of the pf
Project, the draft Cleaner Technologies
' is now available. The DfE
.
Results of the blanket wash performance demonstrations and a cost ana.ysis for each prodoct;
" Descriptions of the individual chemicals used^inthe 37 ^washes and of the human
health and I environmental hazards associated w.th these chem.cals,
V Discussions of the environmental and occupa^ona, risks inherent to each b.anket wash solut.on
as a whole, including VOC content and flommabihiy; ; ,
. Discussions of re.evan. international trade issues, energy and natural resource issues, and
Federal regulations; and, . , _ , ,
-. Descriptions of pollution prevention opportunities, emphasizing simo.e changes that can
made to everyday work practices. .
' The CTSA is valuable resource for anyone intersted in the lithographic printing .ndustry.
For example: i
-------
be* Miied tor the current market. Suppl.ers interested in manufacturing new b anket washes can
uซ r^ Ironlntul and human health data presented for individual chem.cal components as a
building block for designing more environmentally friendly .formulations. .
Technical assistance programs can use the CTS A as a source of background information on
HthoIraX blanket wastes and the DfE Lithography Project. They will find ^e comparatwe
nsk! perforrnance. and cost analysis useful when working with pnnten to reduce VOC emissions
and hazardous wastes.
Printers will be interested in the in-depth information on blanket washes arid their chemical
Printers wm ซ methodology used to evaluate blanket washed may also be
S3STSJฑSS^^
blanket washes or of other alternative products or processes. . .
, as of Aug. 23. 1996).
50
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Screen Printing
Overview
There are about 40,000 graphic art screen
printing and textile printing shops in the
United States, These mostly small- and medium-:
sized businesses perform diversexfunctions
'ranging from the printing of billboard advertise-
ments, greeting cards,.art books, clothing and
posters to printing onto electronic equipment (US
EPA, 1995a), .
Screen printing is probably the most versatile
of the printing techniques, as it can place rela-
tively heavy deposits of ink onto practically any
type'of surface with few limitations on the size
and shape of the object being printed. The
ability to print variable thicknesses of ink with a
hi^h quantity of pigment, allows for brilliant
colors, back lighting effects, and durable prod-
ucts which are able to withstand harsh outdoor
weather conditions or laundering. Unlike many
other printing methods/substrates for screen
printing can include all types of plastics, fabrics.
metals papers, as well as exotic substrates such
iis leather, masonite, glass, ceramics, wood, and
electronic circuit boards. While screen printing
does compete with other printing techniques for
some products (especially for small paper
substrate products), it has a specialized, market
niche for many graphic art materials and textile
printing applications. Comparatively low
equipment investment costs allow for low-cost
short production-runs (US EPA/I994a).'
Screen printing uses, a porous mesh screen
with an ink-resi'stant image on its surface as a
template to transfer ink to substrates. The type of,
material used to make a screen depends on the
substrate being used as, well as the desired
appearance of the product. Screen preparation
begins by tightly stretching and securing the
. material in a rigid frame so that it is level and
smooth. Non-image areas of the screen must be
blpcked and image areas open tq allow ink to
pass through to the substrate (Figure 8).
The image can be transferred to the screen
manually, but it is more common,to use a direct
coating photomechanical stencil, which consists
of an emulsion of bichromated gelatin or bichro-
mated polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) applied to the
screen's surface. The emulsion is spread and
leveled either manually with a squeegee or -
automatically. When,the coating has hardened, a
stencil is applied and the screen is exposed to
UV light that causes a photochemical reaction
and makes the emulsion insoluble. The unreacted
emulsion, which is still water soluble, is rinsed
Figure 8. Principle of Screen Printing.
51
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on, A rubber-:.-pe b;jde -queegeei is swept
acroi-, she screen surface, pressing ink through
the unco%ered mesh to print the image defined by
the stencil. Many screen printing facilities
reclaim their screens for reuse because the screen
material is valuable and costly to replace (US
EPA. 1994a).
Screen reclamation has three steps. First, any
residual ink must be removed with a solvent,
usually sprayed directly on the screen. Some
common ink removal solvents are d-limonene-
based products, glycol ether and dibasic ester
blends, mineral spirits, methyl ethyl ketone,
acetone, butyl celusol, cyclohexane, toluene, and
methyl isobutyl ketone (Jendrucko, 1994). If the
image on the screen is not going to be reused, the
emulsion that blocks the non-image area needs to
be removed. Emulsion remover is generally
sprayed onto the screen then brushed into its
pores. Typical emulsion removers contain
sodium metaperiodate or salts of periodic acid
After the ink and emulsion have been removed.
there is often a ghost image that, remains on the
screen. A haze remover, which usually contains
, potassium hydroxide and aliphatic ether alcohols,
is applied to the affected areas to remove the
ghost. The use of these screen reclamation
products, however, can pose potential risks to the
people who work with them and to the environ-
ment (US EPA, 1995a).
The number of workers exposed to screen
reclamation products in the graphics section of
the screen printing industry is estimated to be as
low as'20.000 or as high as 60,000 depending on
how many workers at each facility spend part of
their time reclaiming screens (US EPA, 1994a).
A Workplace Practices Survey for screen print-
ers, conducted by the Screenprinting and Graphic
Imaging Association International (SGIA),
reported that almost 36 percent of the respon-
dents had implemented changes in workplace
practices to reduce their use of ink removal/
reclamation products (US EPA, 1994b).
Prepress -
Stencils and Screen Preparation
Several types of emulsions or stencils, such
as indirect or direct photo stencils, are used in
transferring an image to a screen. Most direct
stencils are water-soluble, and thus incompatibly
with water-based inks. -However, chemical
curing of water-soluble stencils can improve
their resistance to water. A water-resistant
stencil must accompany a solvent-based ink, and
a solvent-resistant stencil must accompany a
water-based ink. Solvent and UV curable inks
are typically coupled with water-resistant emul-
sions. Thus, a commercial facility using 90
percent solvent-based inks and 10 percent UV
curable inks can use the same water resistant
emulsion systems for both inks. If, however, the
screen printing facility wants to replace some of
its solvent-based inks with water-based inks, a
new type of solvent resistant emulsion will have
to be used to complement the water-based inks.
Using solvent-resistant emulsion with water-
based inks will cause the emulsion- to erode
quickly and pinholes will show up in the stencil.
Press
A simple way to reduce waste is to keep the
various waste segregated. Do not mix various
waste streams in an effort to conserve space.
This will cause problems and cost money in the
disposal or recovery of reusable materials from
the wastes.
Ink
Ink categories'include traditional solvent-
based inks (which include enamels), ultraviolet
(UV)-curable inks, water-based inks, and plasti-
sols (for textile printing).
The most common screen printing inks are
solvent-based. They dry through solvent evapo-
ration, which produces VOC emissions. De-.
pending on the quantity of ink used, VOC
emissions can create regulatory problems for
printers, especially those located in
nonattainment areas as designated under the
Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990
(Jendrucko. 1994).
Water-based inks include water, emulsion
resins, other resins, pigments, and additives
Many printers observe that these water-based
inks have more vibrant colors and print more
crisply than their solvent-based counterparts. .
The sharper definition possible with water-based
inks allows printers to use finer dot patterns tn
52
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;..--,_..; -r-.^jv-N onnune \VjterLbased inks do
noTrequire c^amc solvents when.cleamng the '
rr-^es and., if free of heavy metals, do not .
produce hazardous wastes. They are usually less
expensive than solventrbased inks and are simdar
in quality, gloss, and adhesion. However, water-
based inks require a longer drying time than
solvent-based inks (Alaska Health Project,
1987). ' :
Excess ink used in the screen printing
process is currently recaptured. The ink left on
the screen is squeegeed back into the can prior to
washing the screen. This not only reduces the
amount of ink used but also decreases the .
amount of cleaning emulsions needed to wash
the screen (Alaska Health Project,. 1987).
Postpress
Screen Reclamation
While screen reclamation techniques may
vary significantly from one screen printer to
another, two basic functions must be performed
in order to restore a used screen prior to reuse:
. removal of ink and removal of emulsion (sten-
cil). A third step, removing any remaining
- "ahost image" or haze, may be required depend-
ina upon the type of ink used, effectiveness of
ink removal and/or emulsion remover products,
and the length of time that ink and stencil have
been on the screen (US EPA, 1994a).
Screen reclamation activities generate
- solvent waste and wastewater. VOC emissions
may also be associated with the solvent used to
remove inks, (Jendrucko, 1994).
Ink removal (also called screen washing or
screen cleaning) precedes stencil removal so that
excess ink does not interfere with removal of the
stencil. Ink is also removed at other times prior
to screen reclamation (for example, when dust
gets into the ink and clogs the screen mesh, or at
, lunch break, t6 avoid ink drying on the screen).
This "process cleaning" usually occurs at press
side, in a separate ink removal area of the shop,
or in an area where emulsion and haze are
. removed. . .'
Most emulsion removers are packaged in a
' water solution or as a powder to be dissolved in
water, the water acts as a carrier tor :he ac'.uai
-.redaimiiig chemical. The predominant.chemical '
in.ah7emulsion remover is often sodium'
metapenod'ate-'' Because periodate needs^water as
a carrier to reach certain chemical groups in the
emulsion, it is more difficult to reclaim a water-
resistant emulsion than one which is only sol-
vent-resistant. Most commercially available
emulsion removers are able to remove either
water resistant or solvent resistant emulsions.
High pressure water'spray can also facilitate
emulsion removal and may lower the quantity of
emulsion remover required. The rinse water ,
should be evaluated for recycling possibilities
since the major contaminant would be suspended
solids. Special care must be taken to ensure that
the emulsion remover does not dry 0n the screen.
as the screen willbecome almost impossible to .
clean even with repeated applications of the
remover, thus adding to, regulated waste quanti-
ties (US EPAv1994a).
A haze or ghost Image is sometimes visible
after the emulsion has been removed. This
results from ink'or stencil being caught in the
knuckle (the area between the overlap .of the
screen threads) or dried/stained into the threads
' of the screen! Staining of the mesh frequently
occurs when petroleum-based solvents are used
in the ink removal process. The solvent dis-
solves the ink, leaving behind traces of the
- pigment and resin in the screen. The residual
pigment and resin bonds to the screen after the
solvent .evaporates, leading to haze accumula-
tion Ghost images are especially common when
dark inks (blue, black, purple and green),are
used or if an excessively long time period
elapsed prior to ink removal from the screen. A
ซhost image is particularly likely when using
solvent-based ink systems, as opposed to other
ink systems. If the ghost image is dark or will
interfere with later reimaging Or printing, a haze
remover product can be applied until the image
disappears or fades. The level of cleanliness :
required at the end of the process vanes depend-
ing on the kind of printing job that the screen
wfll be used for after reclamation. Some printers
can use screens with light ghost haze, others
cannot. Haze remover can potentially damage
the screen mesh, particularly caustic haze
removers that are traditionally used in the
53
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mJiMr\ The s\.:e<.Mve u-e of thes-e products.
such as applunc the chemical and leaung u_on
the screen 100 long, can \seaken the mesh (LS
EPA. S*)94ai.
The major health impact on the general
population for screen reclamation products is
probably their release of VOCs that may be
detrimental to the worker's health and contrib-
ute to the formation of smog in the air. The
traditional products, because of their volatility,
are likely to have a much greater impact than
the alternative products on ambient air quality.
The major benefit identified for switching from
traditional screen reclamation methods to
alternative methods is a significant reduct.on in
inhalation risks to workers (US EPA, 1994a).
Issues which are important in the selection
of chemical alternatives are: risk, performance,
disposal, quantity used (is more required to do
the same job), cost, employee acceptance
(perceived benefit), effectiveness (cleaning
time), effect on substrate (detrimental effects to
the screen), and effect on print quality.
Equipment Modification
Several types of equipment can be used in
screen reclamation to prevent pollution. Many
of these systems can save money as well as
reduce regulatory requirements, facilitate
compliance and reduce the amount of chemicals
used in screen reclamation. Each printer needs
to examine his or her particular process to
determine the applicability of any or all of these
equipment modifications. In addition, printers
should consult their operating permit and
applicable water and waste disposal regulations
to ensure compliance before making equipment
changes (US EPA, 1994a).
The current practice of screen printers is the
use of hand held pump bottles to apply screen
reclamation chemicals to the used screen which
can help reduce emissions and potential expo-
., sures with more effective application (US EPA.
1994a). By allowing the screen reclaimer to
control the amount and direction of ink re-
mover, emulsion remover, and/or haze remover
pump bottles effectively minimize the amount
of solution used and reduce chemical waste at
the source. Other sprayer/application systems
are also on the market, but the printer will be the
one to best determine what will work for their
shop.
To further minimize chemical throughput,
the more complex systems frequently combine
solvent recirculation systems with a spray
applicator system. For the smaller printer who
spends minimal time in reclamation, the rela-
tively inexpensive spray bottle might be the most
cost effective. However, companies that spend a
substantial amount of time and effort in reclama-
tion might find the more extensive spray systems
a viable option. While the initial costs may be
substantially higher, some or all of the cost may
be recovered through decreased solvent use.
Further, these systems may decrease labor costs
because they tend to be quicker and easier
methods for cleaning screens. In addition to
surveying product literature, a printer may wish
to check with several suppliers as well as other
printers to determine feasability for their situa-
tion '(US EPA, 1994a).
A washout booth can also minimize expo-
sures and waste by containing the reclamation
process in a confined area and collecting spent
chemicals for proper reuse or disposal (US EPA,
1994a). The premise of the washout booth is that
concentrating the ink and/or emulsion remover
within a specific area will minimize the quantity
of solvent necessary for reclamation, while
maximizing the cleaning potential of the quantity
used. Consequently, these booths are built to
focus the cleaning solution in a small semi-
contained area (usually box shaped). Although
some booths consist of multiple cleaning areas to
separate the ink and emulsion removal functions,
single unit booths are equipped to remove both
ink and emulsion. Waste solution is usually
funneled into a drain where it may be recycled or
disposed of in several ways.
A booth can be made to specifications;
however, the price increases according to size
and level of complexity. For the small printer
that reclaims very few screens, such an apparatus
may not be a prudent or feasible investment.
However, for printers with a sizeable reclamat.on
operation, a washout booth may be a positive
54
-------
'n P-.r.'.-Jr^ -hvuld consider their indi-.. , ;
u situation, as weH'as other sourcesof' ; ' ;
Product information to make .a choice that .
remains consistent with good business practices
lUSE.PA. 1994a). .
Filtration systems can be used to remove,
specific substances from the waste Stream, -
facilitating cpmpliance and allowing reuse of
some chemicals (US EPA, I994a). They work
by several different processes. Used indepen-
dently, these products may not provide unique
pollution prevention opportunities; however .
when used in conjunction with a recirculator/
recycler, the filtration of solvent may allow for
substantial decreases in the quantity of solvent
used A filtration system's function within the
solvent recirculation process is to filter out
particulates (filters), heavy metals -
(nanofiltration, reverse osmosis), hydrocarbons
(ultrafiltration), and other waste products. This
process of treating the effluent makes it possible
for conditioned solution to recirculate back for
'reuse in subsequent reclamation.
By screening the effluent resulting from the
reclamation process, filtering systems also
facilitate compliance with effluent .guidelines.
The cosrof these systems should be carefully
considered by a printing facility. Printers should
also consider potential savings generated by
reducing the use, of chemicals and by avoiding
fines that could result from noncomphance with
federal, state, and local environmental regula-
tions (US EPA, 1994a).
A recirculation system, through a combina-
tion of several technologies, allows a printer to
'minimize solvent usage, and consequently,
minimizes pollution at the source. Its purpose is
to filter contaminants from.the cleaning solution
so that the filtered solution can be reapplied to
future screens. Generally, a recirculation system
consists of an applicator/sprayer system, a
filtration unit, and a recirculating mechanism.
A recirculation system can take on a variety
of different forms. From a simple ink remover
recirculator, to a system that involves complete
reclamation, these systems can be made to fit
almost any operation. If a printer dec.des that
th"is is an appropriate.me-ihcti of.poiiu'.ion pri- .
\entton. he/she should carefulU consider the va.jt ^ -
array of options in order to properly match the
system to their facility. Further, printers should , ,
keep in mind that recirculation-systems are not '
closed systems. Printers should consult appli-
cable water and wastewater disposal regulations
to ensure compliance (US EPA, I994a).
Distillation devices that can be used to,
reclaim used solvent represent another alterna-
tive for addressing screen reclamation waste
issues. These devices separate the contaminants
from screen reclamation effluent and provide an
effective way to recycle and reuse spent solvent.
Thus like a filtration and recirculation system,
these solvent distillers provide an opportunity to
reduce solvent use, raw materials purchased, and
operating costs.
Distillation units can provide a cost-effective
method to reclaim solvent used in screen recla-
mation, and this may result in other benefits as
well (lower cost, compliance benefits). Differen-
tial distillers can vary in size (two-to three gallon
capacity up to 250 gallons) as well as in cost.
The relatively high'cost may prohibit many-small
printers from utilizing this technology. When
purchasing these units, printers should consider
cost relevant environmental regulations, and
changes in the Uniform Fire Code-affecting the
availability and use of distillers (US EPA.
1994a). .'--.
Use of an automatic screen wastier for ink
. removal may significantly reduce air ermss.ons
of certain volatile ink remover components,
although the amount of reduction depends on the
chemical components of the formulation (US
EPA, 1994a).
Totally enclosed systems.are commercially
'available for ink, emulsion, and haze removal or
ink only removal. These systems can reduce the
quantity of chemicals necessary for screen
cleaning and reduce air emissions Labor
involved with screen cleaning will also be
reduced. These systems arexurrent y expensive
and may be cost prohibitive for small printers
(Jendruckb, 1994).
55
-------
Man% printers have found that by making
-imple process modification* they can reduce
>olvent use. waste disposal costs and employee
exposure to harmful chemicals.
Whenever possible, avoid delays in cleaning
and reclaiming the screen. The quantity of
chemicals needed to remove ink, emulsion, and
haze can be reduced if screens are cleaned
promptly (US EPA. 1994b).
A printer in Minnesota reported that he had
identified chemical overspray not directed at the
screen during emulsion and haze removal as one
of the biggest sources of chemical loss. Employ-
ees butlt~a simple "catching frame" to place
around the screen during the chemical applica-
tion steps. The catching frame is used to capture
the overspray, which is then recycled or reused
(US EPA, 1994a).
A printer in New York said his facility keeps
chemicals in safety cans or other sealed contain-
ers to minimize solvent loss from evaporation
They used to use a pump and spray unit to apply
ink degradant and emulsion remover, followed
by a high-pressure water wash. They only use
haze remover if it is absolutely necessary. This
facility has now gone to manual, spot application
of the ink degradant and manual application of
the emulsion remover, followed by a low-
pressure rinse. A Final high-pressure water blast
follows this rinse step. Results of industrial
hygiene monitoring at the facility indicate that
this new method of applying chemicals results in
no overspray of chemicals and reduced worker
exposure, since the high-pressure water blaster
no longer disperses the chemicals as a mist in the
air. They have also reduced the accidental
discharges from crimped or cracked discharge
lines in the pump system. This printer estimates
that the new methods of applying chemicals to
the screen have resulted in a 15 percent reduction
in material use (US EPA, 1994a).
H
An alternative technique for ink removal is
to use a high-pressure water blast. The high
velocity fluid impacting the screen loosens the
emulsion and increases the removal efficiency.
Pressures up to 4,000 psi have been used without
damaging screens. The combination of this and :
previous~measures could potentially reduce
emulsion remover use by as much as 75 percent
(Jendrucko, 1994). Precautions will have to be
taken to protect the employees from the noise
. generated by the high pressure jet.
Using haze remover can cause screens to
become brittle and tear more easily. It also
contributes chemicals to the wastewater stream.
Therefore, it is beneficial to'minimize its use.
Several simple techniques can be used to accom-
plish this reduction:
Apply haze remover only to the affected area
instead of over the entire screen
Avoid allowing used screens to sit for a long
period of time before reclamation because the
longer ink and emulsion remain on the screen the
more likely "ghost" images will form
Apply an ink degradant to the screen before
reclamation to prevent "ghost" image formation
(Jendrucko, 1994).
Screen Disposal
Many screen printing facilities reclaim their
screens for reuse because the screen material is
valuable and costly to replace. Screen fabric can
be one of the most expensive supplies that a
screen printer uses and can have a large impact
on cost of operations. For example, the most
commonly used fabric, polyester, costs $10 to
$40 per square yard. A shop that wastes S100,
$200 per week in fabric costs from ruining
screens or failing to reclaim them, increases its
production costs by as much as $5,000 to
$10,000. The average monthly expense for fabric
is $360. In addition, reclaiming screens has the
advantage of saving labor time needed for
stretching mesh across the frame and adjusting it
to the correct tension. Some printers believe that
using retensionable frames when stretching the
mesh "work hardens" the fabric, improving the
printability and longevity of the screen. Other
printers note that reusing screens for other jobs,
instead of storing them in an imaged screen
inventory, saves both screen fabric-costs and
storage space often needed for presses (US EPA.
1994a).
-------
nns-and
with lor(g, production
extremely small screens; such" as those
-
10 print en medicine bottles,simply cut the
screen mesh out of the- frame after completion of
the production run. By simply disposing of the
screens, printers could eliminate the high cost of
reclamation chemicals and labor time associated
with screen reclamation, as well as reduce the
risk associated with occupational and population
exposure to these chemicals. However, printers
have to dispose of more screens, some of which
may be designated as hazardous waste due to the
chemicals applied to them during imaging and
printing. "Due to the different types of source
reduction involved in these two options, they are
difficult to directly compare in terms of pollution
prevention. Based on Design for the Environ- -
ment (DfE) analysis, it is clear that screen
disposal is not a cost-effective option for a
majority of screen printing facilities. However,
printers should riot view this cost estimate as a
final analysis, because the operations of any one
facility can be different from the assumptions
used in generating this analysis: Screen. disposal
would be more cost-effective in circumstances
where production runs approach the useful life of
a screen and where the size of the screen is
relatively small (US EPA, 1994a),
References Used
Alaska Health Project. "Waste Reduction
Assistance Program (WRAP) Cm-Site Consulta-
tion Audit Report: Printing Company." 21 p.,
1987. :
Jendrucko, R.J., Coleman, T.N., and T.M.
Thomas "Waste Reduction Manual for Litho-
craphic and Screen Printers," Department of
.Engineering Science and Mechanics, University
'of Tennessee. August ,1994,
US EPA "Designing Solutions for Screen
Printers" 'Design for the Environment Printing
Project Factsheet. US EPA. 1.995. 2p. '
! US EPA, 1 994a "Cleaner Technologies
Substitutes Assessment: Industry: Screen
Printing Use Cluster: Screen Reclamation.
(Draft)" US EPA, Washington, DC, 1994.
US EPA. 1994b "Work Practice
for Screen Reclamation-Case Study 4: Screen
Pnniina." Design for the Environment Printing -
Project^actsheiet. US EPA. 1994.'4 p. '
Annotated Bibliography
"Chemical Alternatives for Screen Reclama-
tion-Case Study 5: Screen Printing." Design for
the Environment Printing Project Factsheet. US
EPA. 1994. 4 p.
Factshee.t compares chemical alternatives for
screen reclamation to traditional systems (in-
cludes only chemical composition of alternative, -
not product name). Tests were conducted at two .
facilities-includes performance,'risk and cost
data.
' . "Designing Solutions for-Screen Printers."
Design for the Environment Printing Project
.Factsheet. US EPA. 1995. 2p.
Factsheet gives overview of DfE project,
gives no information about results of study.
"Reducing the Use of Reclamation Chemi-
cals in Screen Printing: Screen Printing" Design
for the Environment Printing Project Factsheet.
US EPA. 1993.4 p:
Very good factsheet. Case study of Romo
Incorporated gives lots of good basic ideas, some
easy and inexpensive to apply-includes cost and
waste reduction data.
"Technology Alternatives for Screen Recla-
mation-Case Study 2: Screen Printing." Design
for the Environment Printing Project Factsheet.
US EPA. 1994. 4 p.
Factsheet discusses three alternative tech-
nologies for screen reclamation-compares risk.
performance and cost to traditional methods.
US EPA. 1994a. "Cleaner Technologies
Substitutes Assessment: Industry. Screen -
Printing Use Cluster: Screen Reclamation
(Draft)" Washington, DC: United States Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency, 1994.
Massive technical document including lots ot
data Compares alternative and traditional screen
reclamation products, technologies, and pr*
cesses in terms of environmental and human
health exposure and risk, performance and cost
Includes general screen printing information and
57
-------
: ,vd o-.eMtl v/.ut-.on pre'.emion opportunities. .
An executive summary is Bailable.
US EPA 1994b. "Work Practice Alterna-
tives for Screen Reclamation-Case Study 4:
Screen Printing," Design for the Environment
Printing Project Factsheet. US EPA. 1994. 4 p.
Very good factsheet lists general pollution
prevention opportunities including process
improvements and materials management/
inventory control.
"A Guide for Screen Printers." Washington
State Department of Ecology, Environmental
Management and Pollution Prevention, 94-137,
September 1994.
A good primary resource for the screen
printer. Has good checklists of Do's and Don'ts
for each major wastestream.
Pollution Prevention for Printers and
Preprocessors. Metro-Dade County Depart-
ment of Environmental Resources Management,
October 1995.
A good booklet on general pollution preven-
tion practices applicable to all types of printing
broken down by process.
Factsheets
"Removing solvent and ink from printer
shop towels and disposable wipes" MnTAP
1991,6 p. -
Presents options for removing solvent from
shop towels and management of disposable
wipes, includes some vendors.
Office of Waste Reduction Fact Sheet,
Washington State Department of Ecology Nov
1988, Printing Shops, 4 p.
A listing of general pollution prevention
opportunities for all types of printers.
Center for Hazardous Materials Research
"Pollution Prevention: Strategies for the Printing
Industry," 4 p. .
Reasons to practice pollution prevention and
general tips for all types of printers.
"Waste Reduction for the Commercial
Printing Industry" California Department of
Health Sevices Toxic Substances Control Dm-
Alternative.Technology Division. Aug 19S9..
6 p. . .
Waste reduction incentives, requirements
and alternatives .including inks and solvents.
"Waste Reduction Checklist" Office of
Waste Reduction Services, State of Michigan,
Departments of Commerce and Natural Re-
sources, Dec 1989, 6 p.
Checklist of general pollution prevention
opportunities for all types of printers.
"Management of Solvents and Wipes in the
Printing Industry" SHWEC Waste Education
Series, May 1994,4 p.
Proper management of cleanup wipes and
methods of reducing solvent waste.
"Hazardous Waste Reduction Facts: General
Commercial Printers" City of Santa Monica
Department of General Services, 2 p.
General pollution prevention tips for all
types of printers.
"Pollution Prevention Opportunities in
Printing" USEPA Region 3, Oct 1990
General pollution prevention tips for all
types of printers.
"Lithosraphic Ink Wastes: How to Reduce.
Reuse,'and Recyle Ink Waste" SHWEC Waste
Education Series, Aug 1995,6 p.
Discusses ink management techniques
including 2 case studies and some ink recycling
services providers.
"Waste Reduction Opportunities for Print-
ers" SHWEC Waste Education Series, Aug 1994,
4 p. , .
Lists potential sources and types of printers
waste and to waste and emission reduction
opportunities for printers.
58
-------
Case Studies
of Reckon Che.icoU in Screen
US E?A, 1995,4 p.
Romo incorporated of
wide variety of products''
,:' Wisconsin is a commercial screen printer that produces a
' ^ baHners. pomt-of-purchase displays and original
M,out o. percent of the company's printing uses traditional solvent-
uses ultraviolet (UV) curable inks.
'ป ,- ซ prevention opportunities in the screen reclamation-
- r P X!sc S^ฐ cre'n durability and the quality of printing, but
eclamation is crucial to oroducts the process seemed to
aso requ,. - ,,- of expenii^ ^^^^T^ concentrated on ail three
provide a large &w\lo?n**"l^ฃm cleaning), emulsion removal,and haze or
i Pollฐution. through three strategies:
i) : . reducing the volume of all products used
!i" ' . testing alternative application techniques
.
^
, . . .
In-process recycling
.-.,.
screen cleaning product
. i weeks
g and filterine system
curement costs alone. ,._ .
Alternative application techniques uosine the solvent onto the screen.
Forvears the screen^^^^^^^^ฃ^ฐ*
'
-------
3:
ti '^e :
prcduct
-reside .creen deanmg product. Romo was able to redu,.
a'ue.onebv -approximately 70 percent- Although the new
ene .ind methyl ,>cbu 1 Wewne PP ^ ^ ^^ u pertomed
xpene -SI 3 per ga o n v ^ ^ucl for press.slde cleaning. Saving,
^^
l
S2.450 that harnessed the physical power
emulsion remover product used on
.uremi^ disturb K
confident enough that
1 hmher pressure ปl. 500
l amount of emulsion remover needed was
' screen and creating U
(It ฃ/ปw~~
pressure to reduce the amount of < _
vas concerned that the increased pres-
,esh. After five years of use, they were
the mesh that they bought another even
*00 Another way Romo reduced the
U with water before applying it to the
aver. Formerly, employees dipped a scrub
containers before bringing the brush to
adding a spray nozzle to evenly
"! he emulsion remover onto the screen.
company almost 53,800 per year
Haze remover use change
has ,akซn ปซ
remover precisely ป. he pan of , he
First the screen reclaimer
i before applying emulsion,
' .... .. Advantages
Modification ^ 9.
}
*'t Sprayer-applicator systems
ปt
il
W&shout booths
Filtrat.on systems
Recirculation systems'
Distillation units
Automatic screen washers
Minimize cleaning solution used,
reduce chemical waste at the source,
may decrease labor costs because
screen cleaning will be faster and eas,er
Minimize exposures and waste
Minimize cleaning solution used,
recycle solutions
Reclaim solvent for reuse
Reduces air emissions
of chemicals used, labor
. .
for a|temMive c,eml.
Disadvantages
Cost of sprayer system
Expense of systems
Disposal of filter and/
or concentrate
Expensive and pro
hibitive for small
printers. Disposal of
sludge
Expensive and pro-
for small
l be
-------
Boosts Productivity for Indianapolis
"
Apparel Decorator'
EPR! Journal, October/November 1994
. .
Materials Fabrication recently evaluated the Me g ' *^ฃ Four ,R els, each rated
cunng ovens a, Logo 7, ,nc . major ^^^ were =,a,Ld through a
savings of
! nearlv S900 per silk-screening machine.
-
Case Study 3
; bcreenpnmmy ซ' r-
1! and Massachusetts Office
.; September 1993
Th= facility is Printing a wide
lhe regulatory environment that was
-ป -
l! technpjogies.
_ miv
iwo uv
and then' into
the us. of water based technology.
screen priming process. , ,
; The following a. SCM, recommenda-ions and wor, prac.ce
for eftecttve
-------
. .-.-,- -=:, -.-:.
on woปr.fcซe
-------
', laraef am
'' "' . of solvent based ink.
The facim, did no. find ,h Jw-f*-"!* %%^ S?i" Sh^hW
-S^Cri^^
system, but they are difficuk to dry. , ^
S
Case Study-Waste Water Issues"
^M^sa^sensOHiceof^hnicol
September 1993 .
ti-corn-
ply with state and. federal regulations,
products with both solvent and UV
.... screen printing operation was re-
operations producing a waste water stream to ^
to clean and reclaim J-
ink removal and reclaiming. ||
-
sys,em ปas designed^, dlows for .
X. This mm-maes the use or ปซ
teili.y. To ins.a.1 .hi. **. ปaซr
^
-------
~cre=n reclairu..on area has reduced.S9.000per>ear
ion Prevention Opportunities in Screen Prinซng
Operations: A Case Study
,^iwuii>"ฃ? r -
efficient use of cleaners
*'' .ndustries. which involves passmg the
!" through two or ideally three baths of cleaner
i ltirouS" . .__ . .. TT,,, col vent (or nnse)
ln, requiring ctemiog (o, rinsmg,
Fresh solvent (or rins=*aซ0 ,s only
in the case of
l! mple countercurrent system. t d
1 J ^^
,i further review in the future. -
generation.
-------
Case Study 6
Technology Alternatives for Streen Reclamation
Design -lor the Environment Printing Project
US EPA '. . , - ' . '
'I S^lobiro down/cod torn EnviroSense h,p://e,ine(.gov/) -
s
developed
This case study focuses on
ce
how the DfE eoncep s can
reclamation. .
,, change both the types and
sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) spray. -
This case study presents: ' '-,..-'
,,- Oescnptions of two commercially avai,ab,e ,echnolosies ,ha, can reduce a factiuy, Usai8
11 of traditional solvent-based ink removers. . _ . _. ,
!i : ,)Descrip,ionofa,echnoiogXnowunderdeve,opr,en,,hatcouldfunherreduc,,h=cos,s
jUndpotemialhealthrisksofscreenreclamatton.
I 3, Comparative cos, performance and risk .nfonnation for three reclamat.on ,=chno,og,es.
',!'' ThecOstsandHs^reachoftheth^^e^hno^-comp^
risks of a traditional screen rec'ama"O"^b . sodium periodate solution as the emulsion
consists of lacquer thinner as the in* remo '/cvcbhexane b)end as the haze remover. These
remover, and a xylene/acetone/mineral spi . .^.^^ they.were commonly used in screen
chemicals were selected because ^^^.^ }| WM ^^ lhat these chemicals were
2,127 in: (approximately 15 ff) m size.
ii
IT I ,
High Pressure Screen Washers
. TWO high pressure screen o^
of one^ysiem was evaluated ,n a pnn shop as part ^of the U screen M
pressure washers typically work as follows. Exces * mk ,s :^ f .$ ,ied and aUowed
No ink,emover is ปPPปW^^^A^TteปS one minute. The ink and stencil are
work, typically for anywhere fro"srled L both sides of the screen at a pressure of
are formulated ,o allow
. = ^ manufilcwr=rs also
are
typically disposed of as hazardous
-------
'"
- -
. nsks associ
ic solvents. *ere
jt this system were notably lower'
reclamation chemicals, particularly with
pressure screen reclamation system, health
' the reclamation chemicals. Dermal
_ . --] risks from
high pressure
system.
. printing' facility where the technology
'performance was very good. On screens wuh
5! r :. . . ..icinn residue on tne sci
wซer-based inks, the stencil dissolved
^ ^^^ ^ complgtely
in- in size, the cost estimate for the h.gh Press^ Using the- same assumptions, the
^compared to that of ซ^^^ฃ^E7 per fcreen: 30 percent more that
estimated reclamation cost using the tradition* I sy i labor cQSts for lhe
*ash. with the greatest ^nslM) account for just 12
complexity 0f.
The bas, component or,he .
-------
A m manual application of the traditional screen reclamation chemicals, the DfE
M^ป:ป^
volatile orzantcs-used in solvents (mineral spin and ac^5 of the chemicals remained
as 70 pe^ - Al*6ujh the ^
high, these risks could be ซ^.dR^^f fJLval only, the risks associated with
rema,ned the same as the traditional system'.risks for these steps.
are several
^
ers were not conducted as part of this project. .
screen
Screen Printin,^
ing that the washers were ^^^^n^aMmatic screen washer ranged from alow
claimed per day. Screen reclamation^ ^SlotlsA reclamation. The largest cost component.
of $4. 1 3 to S 10J4 compared to SA27 t ad uc^al ^ ^ ^.^^^ ^ savings f
^^
^
to its capacity of over 100 screens per day..
Sodium Bicarbonate Spray
A sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) spray technc^y
Prinung Project to determined it is P
technology/This technology curren
.teflon from metal P
hazardous cleaning
' appears to be a promising
: ' soLm bicarbonate spray technology
conducted a one-day site visit to
. were inked 'with three types
*** as paint, grease, or
. ^ ^ ^ g
in other applications, it
-f _
for screen' reclamation. DfE staff
- ^ Three imaged screens
P^ced inside an enclosed cleaning
the sodium bicarbonate spray. No
-------
spray for screens with solvent-based ink and ^ซ m ., area took approximately 15
n stringy rolls- and ,nk flaked of f noher thand ^d.^ ificmt haze or ink res.due sops.
minutes to clean. Following this cle^ng. ^e were e ^ ^ ^ ^ damage of a _
^r^S^ No evaluation of sabse.uent use of
these screens was made.
. i
Based on these limited demonstrating ,
research, this may be a promising new scซ n
needed to clean the screens faster and
Jhvsical support behind the screen great y
! suggested as a means of impiov,ng emul w
I C
Ji performance can be given.
'
Cost
results indicate that with further testing and
technology. Some modifications are
my of screen damage. For example, the
. stress on the mesh. Use of hot water was
ioval Other modifications may include de-
modifying the delivery rate and pressure of^the
. ,_ _, uปfซ,ป , H^finitive evaluation ot
Sta. d. ซ"ซซ-
assumed to the cost of equ.pmcnt
The eq uipmen, used in fe performance
S-P-.OOC '
-------
"._ r.^..~s Corked together, to evaluate-jUername screen reciarriati-cn sr:duc:
> ^aU^ndir.:e,cherriicai:Nystems--were evaluated: Most"svstems;; included an
'.an emulsion remover, and a haze remover,; ;. ,-
cost of a traditional system.
Background
.and ermronmental risks ,f the alternative system compared to a
system; arid the cost of the alternative system compared to the
substitute for their current reclamation products.
I) systems, as with all
reclamation system
cts are .masked. The actual trade name for - ;
or in the final project report. Trade names
'
; ' able, some manufacturers asked
name
. O
: MUblished using a 'rad'llOTal'sol*"''
:[ US5d in .he comparison cons,S,s of '
! solution as the emulsion remove, and a
, the haze remover. These
^ ,h= ink remover, a sodium periodaK
"o*/minVrฐ I ,pin,S/cvdohex3non. blend ns
^'^'een printers indicated they were '
ecป ^.^^ it was
. s,reens pe, da, each in= in si.e.
Promising Performance
- performance was evaluated in
Technical Foundation's laboratory
field demons,,a,,ons a, volunteer pnnters
dedrformance information' under
? ^monslrated in.lwo or three
operating conditions. .
Laboratory Testing
DurinB laboratory testing, three
o'ne tha, had been inked
lication, sevens were
-------
.Sv$!e~" ฐ" pr were required to remove the solvent-based ink. The
T*o apphcaiions of the Chi inkhre?wo screens UV-curable and watered ink), however.
, ink dissolved more eas.ly on the other ฃ^ applying the ink remover. On two of
System Epsilon . was easy to 'use, and rinsed clean of
stains of all three screens.
I On-Site
Si
! follows.
i !rปk Remover Performance
Chi
some of the workers who .,
". Facility D j
'
!1
Remover
easily.
Haze Remover Performance
System Cbi
. , . manufacturer recommended apply-
-------
.. . :_ ,,-,,- . - r-.rnoAer.iand a,haze.remover v.as net.needed. AL Facilii;- C. ฑ^a;e .
' t" "'-".^"^-7'ne h'az- howler, a shost.l'nuge remained on the.screen-fhat ccnunuea ;o
i,y.^ o-^:r ume/For l(ฃht haze, the haze remover was acceptable, but m most cases, this tacduv
needed 'to de'haze the screen again with another product. , . .
System Epsilon- ' , . - , .
Both facilities evaluated the haze remover performance as "acceptable." and similar in
efficacy to their standard haze removers. ' .
Overali Evaluation .
System Chi
!l- printing operations.
' System Epsilon
1 pnms Mhyl^d ^*^^^^L^^ ,hese d.fferences.
Reduced Risk
traditional system.
Cost Savings M
"Th.'p.ribcnu^'demante^^
ceduce their costs for screen re^amat.on by switch m> o an ^ ^ J y. u included
alternate,systems were compared to .osts of -^^'^onal and alternative
^
traditional system ink remover only. ,
71
-------
li SreeTas recorded by employees.
;i ' , . ,
ii System Epsiion ' ffom $6 27 tq S3.08/screen. This |l
!s=iiiiiis2!S2H:-;
72
-------
Flexogi-aphy
- Overview
Flexographic printing uses a printing plate
made of rubber.' plastic, or some other flexible.
material. Ink is applied to a raised image on the
plate, which transfers the image to the printing
substrate. The fast-drying inks used in
flexography make it ideal for printing on materi-
als like plastics and foils. This makes
flexography the predominant method used for
printing flexible bags, wrappers, and similar
forms of packaging. The soft rubber plates are
also-well-suited to printing on thick, compress-
ible surfaces such as cardboard packaging. Inks
used in flexography are usually eit.herater-
based or solvent-based (Pferdehirt.
The print area or image
consists of a raised surface,.
known as relief printing,
that can be inked and
pressed onto the substrate.
Non-image areas are below
the printing surface and do
not reproduce (Price, 1994).
Both sheet-fed presses and
web presses are used in
flexographic printing. A
diagram for flexographic
printing is shown in Figure
. 9. ' ' ' ' .
. All original text,
pictures, and illustrations
are photographed to convert
them into the proper
positive or negative films to
make the plate which
reproduces the image on the,
substrate: This step in-
cludes the use of photo-
graphic chemicals, paper,
and film. The plates are
made photomechanically,
using a flexible material
such as plastic or rubber, and coated with.solu-
tions to make certain areas insoluble in water.
Wastewater from this process may contain acids.
alkalis, solvents, plate coatings, and developers.
If Using metal plates, non-image areas are etched
with an acid solution-ihat result in high-concen-
trations of heavy metals in the waste water: If
using rubber or plastic plates, no metals are
introduced into the waste water. Ink is applied to
the image on the plate. From the plate ink is
transferred directly to the substrate. Wastes
associated with this process are waste paper.
waste ink. and cleaning solvents. Air emissions
containing VOCs from inks and cleaning sol-
vents are important waste streams (Price. 199-li.
Rubber/\ / Anilox
Plate
Cylinder
Substrate
Impression
Cylinder
Figure 9. Principle of Flexography
73
-------
p plates,
,nks. and hydrocarbon solvents. as w
(Shapiro. I993a)
"andna\e'microprocessor-controlled
ure wuh processor and dryer/light Urn
units. Liaht finishing via UV sources w.th
advancedautomation and computerized controls
ensures accurate platemaking and reduced
operator handling. These systems work wen .
with a solvent-reclamation unit i
1994).
Press
Inks
Water-based inks have been used most
^"1***inUO WQStCS RO***e . r;A fhป*ir
1 hazardous wastes (Shap.ro, 1993a).
Prepress
Plate Preparation
.based solvents and other more accept-
particularly troublesome with frozen
packaging.
Sesssstt-
are
and
(Thompson. 1994).
Systems (Shapiro. I993b),
tendency to bridge. Pnnซn^ P ^
using ceramic an.lox cyhndeซ an j ^
release the ink more read ly toth
Good ink trapping msures gooa j ^ ^^
-------
..
- aiachol. i.e.. increase warm
a:r moemr.:. Enclosed ink s>stems and ink
temperature control can reduce arnine loss and ;
retain the color strength at the original viscosity.
\Vater-based.inks dry in a 3-step process; water
evaporates from the ink. amines must leave the
ink for the ink to have water resistance, and the
polymer emulsion panicles must join to create a
film or network in the dried ink film. Water inks
are more stable,in high humidity conditions and
do not suffer solvent loss and-the resulting
changes in viscosity that solvent inks do. To
maintain good process printing with water-based
'inks, it is necessary to prevent excessive rne-
chanical agitation, maintain suitable pH, keep
temperatures below 110 "F.refingerpnnt press
using water inks, and.change to ceram.c anilox.
cylinders (Matthiesen, 1993), '\
A new class of water-dispersible polyester
resins is finding application in water-borne
flexographic printing inks and overprint lacquers.
Unlike other aqueous ink systems .that rely on
relatively hiah acid resins for water
dispersibility, the new polyesters require no
neutralizing agents, such as ammonia or .amines.
to maintain water dispersibility. The need to
balance ink PH on the press .is thus unnecessary.
and odor problems associated with volatile
amines are avoided. These polyester systems dry
faster on the substrate, allowing faster press
speeds or lower oven temperatures, and they
exhibit rewettabiUty on the press (cylinders,
plates, anilox rolls). This is all made possible
because the linear aromatic polyesters contain
sodiosulfo groups (Barton, 1991).
Achievements in doctor blade technology
have resulted in high quality flexographic
priming and pollution prevention through
controlled ink transfer from the ink container to
the substrate. The average two-roll system with
us ink fountain, fountain roller and amlox.roll is
a veritable open reservoir, exposing large quanti-
ties of solvents that are readily evaporated. The
chambered doctor blade halts this evaporation
Ink enters the chamber from the reservoir or ink
sump by a pump. The ink is held in,the.manifoU
area wLa small area exposed to the anilox roll.
A' doctor blade is positioned to shearoff the
e\ce>i mk'.us the anilox vurn-s. re'.'-irry.r.i. -.ซ t. ซ..:_, ...
ink to the chamber. A second plastic or, rr.eul -;,
..blade retains the ink within the chamber. The
chamber is sealed off completely so that no ink
goes beyond the width of the unit. Anilox roll -
technology has advanced to accommodate the
wear of the doctor blade. When cleaning anilox
rolls, use automated systems with ultrasonic or
high-pressure, and liquid cleaning (versus
mechanical) to reduce damage to rolls or cells.
Chrome-plated rods have been replaced by
laser-engraved ceramic surfac.es. The blades
now wear instead of the roller (Shapiro. 1993b).
By using the chambered doctor blade system
and other related improvements, the fountain and
the ensuing solvent exposure and evaporation
have been reduced. The only ink solvents
evaporating are those carried b^ the anilox roll to
the printing plates and then to the substrate. No-
matter what the press speed, the ink amount
deposited using doctor blades will be consistent.
Laser-engraved ceramic rollers wear better with
the doctor blade in place. An innovative cham-
ber blade system with automatic washing system
(automatic blanket cleaners and .ink levelers)
built into the unit solves problems of ink rem-
nants and reduces the amount of water previ-
ously used to clean the printing system (Price
1994 )' Some continuing problems with the blade
systems include end-seal leaks, inks spitting-up
from seals on impression drums, set up-and
cleaning time on chamber systems, and part .
corrosion with water-based inks (Shapiro,
1.993b). - >
Several new and innovative drying and
curing technologies have been developed that
educe energy costs and work well with new ,nk
formulations (Wold, 1991). Infrared drying uses
electromagnetic radiation and high energy
conltrafion. It requires moderate capita, cost.
and has high operating costs; it is often used ,n
conjunction wiVh convection air dryers to provide
the sensible heating load to the coated web.
Radio frequency uses high frequency^ ectnca
energy to dry water and solvent based coatings
:Sighlrgy concentrate. There.e high
capital costs and moderate operating costs.
75
-------
some-
> rad.o frequency
Post Press
Refer 10 the general pollution prevention
section.
Like
Letterpress
, 'letterpress uses a plate
euerpress continues to decline dramatic
The three tvpes of letterpresses in use today
C-n'er tor Hazardous Material Research
,CHMR) 530-4296-000. 1994.
Shapiro F. I993a. High-quality nexo can be
ehv,ronmUuy responsible. FLEXO 18(8):68-
71.
Shapiro. F. 1993b. Pollution Prevention.
Boxboard Containers. May 1993.
Thompson, D.F. 1994. Green nexo: Con-
verter can create competitive edge. Paper. FUm
& Foil Converter April 1994: 68-70,
Wold JL. 1991'. Maintaining productivity
with convection air dryers when switching
' fromSolvent based to water based applications
nTuding between station C.I. flexo pres*.
Polymers, Laminations & Coatings 1991. 3U3
313.
Annotated Bibliography
-based inks based
d
References Used
energy m=asur,
on a new class of
Laminations & Coaungs Conference
n
. D.
Water Based Inks
discussed.
Water inks can offer
Headed?"
pfe,d=hir,.WP. .993.^= Study: Ro"
paper
ing water-based printing
Autumn
1993.
Kirsch, and G.P-
Price RL. 1994. Printing & publishing
indusuy pollution prevention and recycling.
76
-------
-., s '.'.SEPA'RREL Environmental .
3nef: EPA,600,S;93;OOS.; . ,'
m< brief reports on an assessment at a plant
manufacturing high density polyethylene product
earners and printed polystyrene packaging -_
labels ' Most of the waste 'was generated .by the
cleaning of printing presses and printing plates.
Opportunities for minimizing solvent waste were
recommended.
Kirsch, F.W. and G.P. Looby. 1990. Waste,
minimization assessment for a manufacturer of
printed plastic bags. USEPA RREL Environ-
mental Research Brief. EPA/600/M-90/OI7.
This is a report of art assessment at a plant
manufacturing - 1.8 million Ibs. of printed
plastic bags for snack foods annually. The
lamination process waste could be handled -with
an automatic adhesive/solvent mixing system.
Matthiesen.D. 1993. Water Based Inks-
Techniques in process printing. fTAPPI Second
Annual Converting Short Course. May 1993.
' 'This paper provides a thorough overview of
the phvsical properties of water-based mksjmd ,
how those properties affect print quality. Nu-
merous recommendations are made on how to
maintain and improve print quality.
Parsons. R., B. Donovan, and M. Hayward.
Ultrafiltration for the treatment of ink and starch
wastewater in the corrugated container industry-
This technical'paper describes the use of
, Ultrafiltration in treating flexographic ink wash-
water and dilute starch adhesive waste.
Pferdehirt,W.P.1993. Case Study: Roll
the presses but hold the wastes: P2 and the
printing industry. Pollution Prevention Review..
Autumn'1993. . ' '
, A review of the printing industry, including a
description of the basic printing processes, is
ajven Waste reduction opportunities are ex-
nlai-ned along with a review of progress that has
. been made in pollution prevention in the printing
industry. .
;
Price RL. 1994. Printing & publishing
industry pollution prevention and -recycling,
Center for Hazardous Material Research
(CHMR) 530-4296-000.
Student manual prep-u=u ;---
Environmental Protection Agency T-hu rranu.iv
2iv es the .history of the printing industry, and '
statistics about-Illinois'printing establishments.
Each of the printing processes^ are explained and
diagramed. The common pollution prevention
and waste reduction opportunities are explained.
Shapiro. F. 1993. High-quality flexo can be
environmentally responsible. FLEXO 18<8):68- ,
71. The effects of environmental legislation and
resulting compliance on the printing industry is
discussed.
Shapiro. F. Impact of hazardous waste on
the package printer/converter. FLEXO
Wastes generated at each step of the printing ,
process are described, along with ways to
. minimize those wastes.
Shapiro, F. 1993. Pollution Prevention.
Boxboard Containers.- May 1993: ซ
Pollution prevention and waste reduction in
the boxboard industry are discussed in relation to
compliance with regulations and quality manu-
facturing.
Shields G.N. 1994. New method to clean
aniloxrools. FLEXO 19(4):36-40.
Automated cleaning'systems with multiple-
nozzle spray bars, and liquid-through-hqutd
spray cleaning are discussed. ,
Strutt, D.B. 1991... Photopolymers achieve
new quality levels in flexographic P""^g-
Polymers, Laminations & Cqatmgs 19V l. JJ'-
338
" The use of photopolymer printing plates and
their impact on quality and printing speed are
discussed.
Thompson, D.F. 1994. Green flex* Con-
verter can create competitive edge Paper. Film
& Foil Converter April 1994: 68-70.
A brief overview of P2 and waste reduct.on
opportunities in flexographic printing.
WoldJL 1991. Maintaining productivity
with convection air dryers when switching from
Tolvent based to water based applications mclud-
77
-------
UmD *tr z V*"rin.-"ecologies are res,ev,ed.
The techmcal aspects of drv.ng. including heat
transfer and e^ aporation rates, are presented
along wuh actual data from test drying stanons.
Related industries
Hang M. 1994. Alternative Plate Process-
ing. aEXO 19(1): 50-52.
Case Studies
Plate
wuh svater-^ashable plate systems
as alternatives co perchloroethylene washout
solutions.
Mounsey, G. 1994. Alternative Washout
Solutions. FLEXO 19(4): 31. .
The hazards of perc/butyl washout soluuons
and the benefits of alternative washout soluuons
are discussed. '.,
^Hazardous Material in Wide Web
' ^xographk .^"9^^^
!* USEPA RREL Project Summary.
. 1993.
1 ^srissgsKSSSSS.
isrsrr^ss.-.---^^^.
-------
Cose^tudy 2 / _
Achievements in Source Reduction and Recycling for Ten
Industries in the United States
;j iiSEPARRETReport. EPA/600/2-9W051. 1991 . '.
Amko Plastics. Inc., in Cincinnati, Ohio is a decorative printer for packaging of consumer
Amko Piast.es. ^ industrial packaging employing approximately 280 people.
to water-based inks, they have minimized their volatile
onsonc
ambient air' quality of the press room.
^
' stฐtions 10
... I j
heated air onto the ; j
gtween sut.v's'31 *^ '-*"-' f* ----. r i
printed film (increased drying capability for water- ase m s ... .
, redesign of in. metering sys^emsTor handling a higher strength in. and thinner applicat.on ;;
.., replace metal anilox rails, wHich were having their wear-life drastically reduced, with more ;,
expensive ceramic rolls
ceramic anilox rolls
from Flexographic Printing inks
- - ' "Waste
^ ( j
generic
Greensboro to recycle used solvent
79
-------
I
Case Study 4
V.n*r.P-ซtoซ^Cha*^,
Case Summaries of Waste Keauaiw i
Waste Reduction Resource
''' I^^^MT~"^^"^^"
, Raleigh, NC, 1989
Jve teen reduซd by approximately 55
c been more dlff,.
than surface-print inks.
Redซdion at ซ. Meyer Company
KWBsasssSS^SS1
FT M v'er sSed ?rom solvent-based jn^1"^ ^omumce quality was un-
S amount of water used.
1 ,
toS5.200 ^^
-------
Case Study 6
VOC Reduction at Hampden
Toxics Use Reduction Case Study, C201-1, 8/93
Massachusetts Office of Technical Assistance -
.equipment. ' .".,''''..
o j f nrf,hM 1C I acrylic copปlymซ tesin inks and coatings have fa* drying charac-
: HarafKicn found that I C.I, acryuc co^ ^y ^ fint ฃnergy Science5
Brislics. ThemuUly sensu.ve H 1ms a"Snology is also used to. improve drying. The
ronment.:
Case Study 7
A (UV) Cure That's Eco-Fnendly
Graphic Arts Monthly, November 199 V.S6
81
-------
Case Study 8 ion Case study
Tubed Products, Inc. Usej^ , h of Massachusetts
Office of Technical Assistance^ Cornmonwe ^^_____
StUdy N0' 3^^ 7'MA is a manufacturer of p I asuc squeeze tubesand
rwceutical. and household chemical market. About 40
Hubes wuh specific logos and information specified b
customers.
Trials wUh their firs, U
canllv reduced emissions,
dot dry on *= press, and
after Corking ปllh coating
ซฃir first production , i
less energy
used
space. reduced wป,,e i
^^j,, colors. In I97V.
UV-curabie ซb. coarings. -hey
inks and coalings. La"'.. on-
o.
for vu
transfer mechanisms.
The benefits of switching to
...r^scssss**ป
it'
Problems When
Converting to Water
ป F. Lamar Jones, Label America, Inc.
*'Flexo, July 1990
* * ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^"^^
" "^ "^ ' ~-'- n^d but only with solvent-based inks.
-------
vt .:,..>= ,..- ,.---.--.-..- -- , anowed us to "w-ork off thS inventory
c; t-ss 5^;^^- r-ป' "^^r tooli;"d:mk
additives.
UUU Ull>-^"'^ : , , ;_|,c - . - .
tant. than heat: in the drying of water-based mics.
...^"===2SSSSS;~
, ...-j : ,^ป nrpcsronm and large enough to accommoaaic u v _ . d
the ink container. Residual ink in the pan, ouc*ei. anu
circulates through'until they are clean (about 3
fij Label America. Inc. specializes in EDP labels, both pinfed
Substrates - paper vs film. Label Amer ^ v be rough. Ink cover-,
and,heetfed,so the bulk of th< ^m. ^ ^P P^ ^ ^ ^ proper pn and
.: With the SWilchtoJater-based inks, we had, make .ore use. fZahn cups .dpH
meters to maintain the -ink quality. ......
i record of ink inventory
Case Study 10
The Spirit of Innovation
Martha Ortmann
Boxboard Containers
Lawrence Paper decided to retrofit
tttszgggz*******
-------
> .
!heFlaซ^tem The ,e, ป stern ^- ^'
more cfwn. and blade pressure , , * erm.n
rolls are used as opposed to mechanically ens
automatically. Laser engraved amtox
u M cv^tem used 30 to 40 Ibs. of ink per ink change
Advantages of the new system: the oW syซem used ^ ^^ Qf .^
lS^ no^^S "nutes versus an hour with the oซ system; the
liable, making repairs easier.
11 - --- Institutes, Inc.
million product carriers each year.
Lssions);
-------
Case Study 12 .
Thinking Positive about Compliance Pollution Prevention
through Process Improvement
Fred Shapiro ._' - ^ซn -
Polymers; Laminations & Coatings Conference: 315-320 .
j A nexographic printer 'of stationery items and coating paperboard with overall solicT colors
Added in
purchased so
could
f ^ , 5d !Ch8duling of colors
85
-------
86
-------
Gravure
Overview
Gravure printing process is used for long
runs of multi-colored, high quality jobs at
high press speeds/Examples of gravure printed
- products include art books, greeting cards, ,.
advertising, currency, stamps, wall paper,
wrapping paper, magazines, wood laminates and
some packaging. Gravure printing is a direct
printing process that uses a type of image earner
called intaglio. Intaglio means the printing plae.
in cylinder~form. is recessed and consists of cell
wells that are etched or engraved to differing
depths and/or sizes. These cylinders are= usually
made of steel and plated with copper and a light-_
sensitive coating. After being machined to
remove imperfections in the. copper, most ;
cylinders are now laser engraved Jn the past.
they were either engraved using a;diamond stylus
or chemically etched using ferric chloride which..
creates pollution. If the cylinder was chemically
etched a resist (in the form of a negative image)
was transferred to the cylinder before etching.
The resist protects the non-image areas of the
cylinder from the etchant. After etching, the
resist was stripped off. The operation is analo-
gous to the manufacture of printed circuit boards.
Following engraving, the cylinder is proofedttnd
tested, reworked if necessary, and then chrome ,
plated (US EPA, J9S(p). Often corrections and
touch-ups are still done using the old process.
In direct image carriers such as gravure
cylinders the ink is applied directly to the
cylinder and from the cylinder it is transferred to
the substrate. Modern gravure presses have the
cylinders rotate in an ink bath where each cell ot
the design is flooded with ink. A system called a
"doctor blade" is angled against the cylinder to
wipe away the excess ink, leaving ink only in the
cell wells. The doctor blade is normally posi-
tioned as close as possible to the nip point of the
substrate meeting the cylinder. This,is done so.
Printed image
Impression clinder
Paper
Doctor blade
Plate
Plate cylinder
Ink
Figure 10. Principle of Gravure Printing
87
-------
rut be tore :t
an
.: .r.
e substrate ind the
i rollers drav./force the
isiirc ircm HUI.H = -'J>ป"' 'u"v-'-1 ,
, cut of :he ceil cavity and transfer it to the
>ubstrate Figure 10).
Gravure printers usually use solvent-based
,nks although use of water-based is increasing
due to lufatorv issues. Processes that continue
to u e ofvent inks can run considerably faster
han processes that have changed to water-based
nks The nature of solvent evaporation allows ,
he inks to dry much quicker and allows for
fatter press runs. This is especially true on
mult -color jobs where the basic process color
ThemeCMYK (cyan-magenta-yellow-black [or
key]' used to produce many different hues.
Ses,and colors. This is commonly called
process color printing.
presses use the gravure process
HeaVeT^ers'for theVbod .ndu5cr%. foil,, and
rnetaihzed papers. Less common substrates are
cellophane, polvurethanes and tissues^ Coated
papers and board probably make up the bulk of
the more common printing substrates One of
the more popular coatings used is a clay coating.
This ati'ng'is generally applied when the paper
or board is manufactured. There are single.
double, one-sided, and two-sided coated papers.
The end use is generally decided by end product/
customer specification and the manufacturing
process.
Engraved cylinders are stored by th? printer
untifttfe job is scheduled on the press. Cylinder,
(only one if a single color) are then mounted on
he press and matched with the correct size and
hardness of impression rollers. When all of the
flinders have been mounted in the press, each
printing unit is set with the correct inks and
Sirs A proof is then pulled by the press crew
"ometimes on a proof-press). Press^rooft; can
be done on non-virgin substrates or obsole*
er'and end rolls to reduce waste and pollu-
Color adjustments and registration correc-
' are made. Once customer approval.s
The basic raw materials used in
ป remove excess
form.
Substrates have an impact on
with new designs.
PrePress
Cylinder Preparation
Hi
88
-------
.'.'..' - ~~->. '- ^rrrference o-f the '-.-..
..,._,.- ---..-a, .-,-.:'.;:'Ape.of press and the
^"^at c' vneJe^iiH. if any.' ' \ .. . ..-."
. Dependina on the press, cylinders can be
made of copper-plated steel oraluminum. In
preparation for plating, cylinders are heated in
warm- water and then put into a muriatic acid .
bath that str.ps the chrome plating and rust from
the cylinder.' They are then rinsed clean. Steel
cvlinders are nickel-plated to promote the
bonding of the copper, and the aluminum cylin-
ders are zinc-plated for the same reason. Alumi-
num cv-linders are also treated with cyanide prior
to copper plating. The final process after engrav-
in-is To chrome plate eachcylinder and ready it
for proofing (EPA/600/S-93/009). If the printer
does not.make its own cylinders,.they are
proofed at the manufacturer before shipment to,
the printing company. During proofing, design.
engravin- and color separation approvals are
underSiancUng.rr ihe
iven.
Press
Process Modification
There are several methods'available to;
address pollution prevention and waste reduction
in wavure printing environments. Each me hod
should be evaluated for its practical application.
both in cost and resource consumption. Caut.on
should be used to ensure that a prevention
proaram or waste reduction program is not
discarded based solely on cost. ,
In conjunction with shallower ink pans,
improved doctor blade technology results in
reduced ink usage. Vapor recovery systems can
be one of the largest contributors to reducing
pollution in solvent-based operations. These
. svstems need to be matched to the specific
environment and have been successfully earned
out -in many printing companies, I" addition
alternative chemical solutions can significantly
reduce pollution. Test runs and trial projects
should, be-considered'when searching for safe
alternatives., '.
Printers need to develop partnerships with
each of their major raw material suppliers..
Within these partnerships there needs to be a
matched uith- materialise a'quatu> jirii^eu ' -
product is achieved; Suppliers, have, technical
assistance available to their customers so an . ; ^
acceptable product can be manufactured with as
little pollution and waste as possible. Develop-
ment of partnerships with ink vendors is essential '
so that use of the. technical assistance that the ink
and solvent suppliers can provide is used.
Partnerships with ink vendors allows printers to
take advantage of dn ink technician's assistance
with "ink kitchens" 'that automatically mix inks
to the correct color and quantity thereby reducing
the opportunity for waste and pollution.
Post Press
Equipment Modifications
- . There are many types of equipment modifi-
cations that printers can use to 'help reduce
pollution. The type and degree of modification
depends upon the cpmpany goals, financial
health, commitment to improvement, and
availability of new technology. Printing press
makers have taken advantage of new technology
and installed several types of process .improve-
. ment controls on their equipment. After market
items that improve the printing process are also .
available to modify existing equipment. High
temperature ovens, solvent and vapor recovery
systems (afterburner) can be improved or modi-
fied to reduce pollution. In many cases the
improvements used to reduce pollution result in
increased manufacturing output that justifies the
capital expenditure for these projects. Any
reduction in wasted resources will improve the
overall pollution prevention program. :
Process Modification
The degree to which vegetable oils
replace petroleum oils in inks to reduce VOCs
n several things, including the type of
drying temperature needed to set vegetable oil
Inls will nonnally scorch the substrate and
Vegetable inks dry slower than
89
-------
Annotated Bibliography
be
, ,.".- . - x ;u jjntin: '.hat c.
u*he ~nk \c-^rซm papers hold the ink
\ * (~\f~ \ rr* rtalriLlS'^
in (ntฃ ^LiO^ir*lt?i ^>0 s^-^s vjv^.3 ***
compared to coated papers which normally nee
heat to dr. (he inks - thereby releasing >O^_
Sov L vWeuble based mks provide beneficial
pnnung propert.es-but dn slower than petro-
leum based inks.
Water-based inks, while environmentally
friendlv. pose their own special kinds of corr-
ems in gravure printing. As a rulegate -
based inks dry slower than solvent-based mks
resulting in initial obstacles when making a
switch to water-based. They are more abrasive
and cause increased cylinder wear and they
require somewhat different engraving and
etchL processes. Water-based mks tend to
nav surface adhesion and lay-down problems
that solvent-based inks do not have. Pnnung
process adjustments are needed to maintain the
quality of finished product.
Some of the more common solvents used in
solvent-based gravure Prmtl"^f "'i
xvlene. methyl ethyl ketone (MEK). methyl
.^obutyl ketone. acetone, methylene chlonde
their use should be considered.
Duzmskas. Donald R. 1983. "The
Approach to Pressroom Ventilation in Solvent
Recovery." Gravure Research Institute. Report
Nฐ' ^formation on how one company installed a
new ventilation system for its seven rotogravure
presses and gives an in-depth description of the
system.
Norman, Edward C. 1987. "Recent Develop-
ments in the Use of Foamed Aqueous Inks in
Rotogravure Printing," Paper presented at the
Annual Meeting oฃ the Air Pollution Control
This paper presents technical information on
the use of foamed aqueous inks, which can lower
VOC emissions significantly in rotogravure
ooerations. Good basic information on this
technique- author works for Foamink Company.
Inc.
Pferdehirt,W.P. 1993. Case Study. Roll
the presses but hold the wastes: P2 and the
printing industry. Pollution Prevention Rev.ew.
of the printing industry- including a
References Used
Fleischman. M., Kirsch. F.W., and Looby,
G 199 Waste Minimization Assessment for a
Manufacturer of Rotogravure Printing Cylin-
ders " US EPA Risk Reduction Laboratory,
EPA/600/S-93/009. 1993.
Pferdeh,a.W.P. 1993. Case Study: Roll
itw nresses but hold the wastes: P2 and the
pHn^mdusto, Pollution Prevention Review.
Autumn 1993.
ic EPA 1990. "Guides to Pollution
Prevention; The Commercial Printing Industry.
CS EPA Office of Research and Development,
EPA/625/7-90/008. August 1990.
industry.
Rosen, D.R. and M.R. Wool. 1986. "Micro-
processor Control of Rotogravure Airflow.
Office of Research and Development, US EPA.
EPA/600/2-85/068. .
The report discusses the technical and
economic viability of using mซฐP^f*ฃ['
heated.
90
-------
,- .... 3 .- n.pre'.enuernn ine COITK
'-j-,1"?":^.-.:^ Industry." L'.S. EPA Risk, . '.
R^uo'"^ En.-me'enns Laborutor> and Center .
to'r Env ircnmental. Research Information, 1990.
~~ PThis report covers basics of all printing'
wastes and pollution prevention efforts; includes
worksheets for conducting an assessment or a
printing facility. . . .
Related Processes
Jendrucko. Richard J., Thomas N. Coleman,
and Gwen P. Looby "Waste Minimization .
Assessment for Manufacturer of Gravure-Coated
Metalized Paper and Metalized Film" Environ-
mental Research Brief, US EPA Risk uno
Engineering Laboratory, Sept. 1 994,
. 94/008
A waste minimization assessment was . .
performed for a plant that manufactures gravure-
coated metalized paper and film. The team s
report. Jetaliing r;nu;ru> ana- re.: :..,..,,= r.u-::
indicated that a large quantio. of unu-ej c;-V-r.^ ',
mixture is wasted. The greatest cost savings can .
be achieved by the plant through the installation
of an automated system formixing and diluting
coating mixtures.
Fleischman, Marvin; Kirsch, F. William and
Gwen P. Looby, 1993. "Waste Minimization
. Assessment for a Manufacturer of-Rotogravure
Printing Cylinders/: US EPA Risk Reduction
Laboratory,EPA/606/S-93/009.
Documentation of a waste.minimization
assessment with good information on the various
plating processes used to manufacture rotogra*
vure cylinders. Provides various minimization
options suggested to this facility with associated
savings in terms of estimated waste reduction,
waste management cost-savings, raw material
cost.savings. operating cost, total cost savings.
' implementation costs and simple payback.
Case Studies
Wซt! Szofion Assessment for . Monufarturer of
Printed Labels
EPA/600/M-91/047
billion printed labels/yr. Steerprintmg
label patterns to be pnnted chromium ^
About 75 percent of the cyhnders are clwnซJป
etched. Solvents used with ink ^^^
reclaimers. Spent reagents, filters, ctem^
Process wastewater and rinse water mt^
S &* ป P< *? lfls'
rernainder are mechanically
ป ^. recovered and sold to
shaped offsite for disposal.
- dTstillation. The team's
m waste other than water and
-------
ป -3
Tevcocrar or
lllhsolvent
oss. -e' c-.c. sav-gs
ond reuse; net ohnual saving, 55,016
Case Study 2
ii Case Study 3
f Case Study: A Gravure Printer
il Connara/ nerve, _i;.ป Rovievi
c ' 1995 Pollution Prevention Review
', ^'"1 ! . ter worked with the New Jersey Technical
adjust the co . nprcent solvents.
u, the vinyl contains 70-80 percent _, ^,,,, the overall
-------
'''. Changing'rne Press Was'ri procedure
doctor blades *.ere "washed down" between production
tn a.ls for to re- , ,nk. The
' ofnnemDlovee CSI introduced a new cleaning procedure that reduced
i
saved by eliminating, wash down resulting in a
cost savings of $440 per year. . , .. .
Switching from TRI-listed to Noniisted Solvents
, L:,ifh led CSI to change the 'solvents used to make ink for the.
Concern about employee health led CS\ to change cyclohexanone and
strike-off press. The ^^^S^^sion,' from the room where the
^
- '
a solvent which is a
(Pnmsolveฎ), was added to '
eventually replaced the PMA ymh
introduction of PMA. a glycol ether acetate. Later
and dipropylene glycol methyl ether
r press cleaning. The company
cure also an unlisted solvent. By
csss^^^rP^^r
cSyipproximately $3,370 per year. , , ,
associated fugitive emissions.
: year.
Other P2 Activities
-------
reduced
been coverea Mi
room-
..
duce emi5sions ftom
open ink surfaces.
^^r^SS-S^r35"-
I; _._j..-,;ซn production totals, job breaK-aowns.au _ .. :
H Excessive Zinc Discharge
'1 Toxi
The ซซ. wa
-------
v^~^- ;hj; kettles ar_
. _ -,n-rja> Copper concentration from these cleanups ere ce;c ^ -^^~:
:'~^~ CMU^'M- -ne'dilutionL Colors and earners were tested for zinc and copper cement
Su^'^uosutute'could be found for;the copper pigment, segregated waste water treatment ,
u possible .temporary solution.. , ' .-'_.,
, Water Conservation '
All leakin-hoses and faucets were fixed, automatic shutoffs were installed on all toilets.
All teaK-lux IIU3C3 uu*u ifc*ซ -^_J .._.ซ ซซซ*^/*t onnlintr U
- ... '-'lines and non
reduced average
130,000 gallons); nonproduction days h
the significant ii
user
ed'Hampden from :j
continued-to seek substitute chemicals
95
-------
96
-------
Appendix A
General Printing Regulations
Overview
section is
Clean Air Act (CAA)
Air Act the Environmental Protection Agency has the
m cooperation with state and local governments .to er
of the act. , : ' . -, ' ' . -
Title I Provisions for Attainment & Maintenance of National Ambient Air Qualify
,: Standards '
ity that are applied throughout the regions
where additional air control measures
were established for the following six
pollutants:
ฃ211^ ;. Primsr^^^
0,120ppm (235 ig/m-')( I-hour average)
c!ZnMonoxide 9ppm(lOmg/nY) (8-hour average)
' ' ' 35ppm (40 mg/m3)(l-hour average)
Paniculate Matter (PM-10) ' 150 \g/rn> (24-hour average)
50 \g/m3 (annual arithmetic mean)
Sulfur Dioxide 0,40 ppm (365 lg/m^4-hour average)
'"''.' -.- 0.03 ppm (80 Ig/m1) (annual arithmetic mean)
Nitrogep Dioxide \ 0.053 ppm (annual arithmetic mean)
, , 1 5 Ig/m' (arithmetic mean averaged quarterly)
Lead .
. ..n-^S,^,.^^^^,^.^
While pnnters are not commonly producers of ozone. ^ ^ Q Therefore, in -printing
^ :
97
-------
t\ j> located man-ozone non-atu\n;ment ire- ^ ."-
hiahest parts per million ippm) reading taken o'-er
^.a^tiivj:;.;" .'ซ ซ*'- - -- s wuhm these resions are then classified as to v. et er
jn> :i-h,>ur ?enod for 'hat region. ^eb Qn [he botn the s,ze of the facility-w.de em.ss.ons
they are mator A major source is derm . u if any firm has the potential to emit (PTh)
and the categcr> of the nonaitamment ^co;asidered ./major source. where potential to ^^the
lg the ambient ozone concentrations.
Title II Provisions Relating to Mobile Sources
Not specifically related to the commercial printing industry.
Title III Hazardous Air Pollutants
, .r. m a
ซ,desprซd effcci or the wildhfe.
ion of environmenml quality ovซr a large
ievab, C0n.o, S,anda,ds for
Benzene
Cadmium compounds
Carbon tetrachloride
Chromium compounds
Cobalt compounds
Cumene
Dibutylphthalate
Dieihanolamine
Ethyl benzene
Ethyl glycol
Formaldehyde
Glycol ethers
Hexane
Hydrochloric acid
, Isophorbne
Lead compounds
Methanol
Methyl ethyl ketone
Methyl isobutyl ketone
Methylene chloride
Perchloroethylene
Polycyclic organic matter
Propylene oxide
Toluene
2.4 Toluene diisocyanate
U .2 Trichloroethylene
Trichloroethylene
Vinyl Chloride
Xylenes
Title IV Acid Deposition Control
Does not directly relate to the commercial pnnting industry.
Title V .Permits '
98
-------
, '' _..- -- -..Mater. requirements-. a> ^ell as. .in;. antioipa^d :.^\^~:r.\- ..:-: .--. -
" "' ' ^m oermH term ,s f,U.>ear>, The pernm mu.t fully detail all em.-.cn -
* method to demonstrate compliance. In ocher ^cra>.
.,mpl,ance with record keeping anidmomtonng.. , _
are the potential to emit rather than the actual emissions.
.
ses to determine the time -- --^. [ ^edpe^uill include all air require-
operations may c^ซ "^Sute^?ssion monuonng programs, emergency provisos.
o-sS^S^ionUmU, Permit conditions ,! be appUcable to the source
category rather than on the individual facility. . - . - ^
Title VI Stratospheric Ozone Protection - . ;
,f - CAA
chteroftaorocarbons (CFCs, and :ซ*ซ SฐS^ฐ ^.S h r= imcrta sซtoiซK. for Class I
Clean Water Act (CWA)
Biolo.ici integrity, of *i >ป<*ปป ^"^ ฑ sl'immab AU discharges into
-------
ollutants that result m to<,c
H Pven if no wastewater is produced onsite. If any storm
Often, an NPDES pernnns required e en f no * J a permit will be necessary.
comes tnto contact wuti mdustnal activ ty or co ^^ intermediate products.
w^er mil be emermg .h. scwer
Benzene
Carbon tetrachloride
Chloroform
Cyclohexane
Ethylbenzene
formaldehyde
Hydrochloric acid
Propylene oxide
SJyrene
Toluene
Xylene (mixed)
10
10
10
1000
1000
100
5000
100
1000
1000
, 1000
Occupational Health and Safety Act
requirements. .
100
-------
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
' ' I the difference between hazardous
. -o,c,ueS,
anklima.mng petroleum or o,hซ hazardous subs,ance
******
daL mining; and
injection, damping.
any solid waste or hazardous waste into or on any
Ltt 0, any constituent thereof may enter ,hซ
,ซ, .,
; waste. It defined hazardous waste as a waste
concentration, or chenncal physu^ o ^
increase in ^^'^.^^
pose a present or fu ure hazard to human
Transported, disposed
hazardous due to us i
document 40 CFR Pan 261
quired that the,waste generator
Wastes are ! classified as ^.p
-K (specific waste sources),or types P
are acutely hazardous
or a * a , } cause or contribute to any
Qf incapacyitating reversible, illness: or (2)
or the environment when improperly treated, stored.
wa$te w ^ class,fied ^
o" ox.c characterisucs. In addition. RCRA
without testing. It is'
-
anv changes which affect their properties (
ic wastes that-occur in several industries), type
wastes that are intended to be discarded and
In 1980. the EPA adopted rules stating that any
to be considered hazardous ("mixture rule").
wastes are considered hazardous despite
derived from rule").
_
Contaminants Found in the Printing Industry
Barium Silver "
Chromium Tricholoroethylene
Carbon tetrachloride Vinyl Chloride
Methyl ethyl ketone
Spent solvents (solvents with a FP<140 F (mineral spirits)
toluene, alcohol, xylene
Listed Wastes Common in the Printing Industry
above solvents. .
101
-------
F005
U019 Benzene
U2U Carbon tetrochlonde
U055 Cumene
U056Cyclohexane
U069 Dibutyl phthatate
Un2Bhylacetote .
U359 E'hanol, 2-ethoxy
u i .hซr
U359 Bhylene glycol monoethyl ether
U 122 Formaldehyde
U \54Methanol
'uJifK -trach'.oroethvlene.
U226 Methyl chloroform
uoSOMethylene chloride
y ! 59 Methyl ethyUefone (MEK)
, , 6 , Methyl isob^, ketone ,
^ ^ Q Tetrach,oroethy,ene (perchloroethylene)
U220 Toluene
U223 Toloene diisocyanate
U228 Trichloroethylene
U043 Vinyl chlor.de
UQ4J y
U239Xylene
I . dichloroeihytene bromoform
. i ***
wซlSl
Generators are
at least 1000 kg
w ^ ^ exce ding U ^^
102
-------
rV senemtis murf s.h.p Bastes otfwuhm 90 daw. ;-, ,, ,
f status are requ.red'to meet certain rules regarding the storage of
All generators,regardless of status, are/eq ^ lnH,|,d for hazardous waste in sealed containers
. ae.
Ail wastes must be .torec ซ^ a ^ tofTransp0rtaiion-tequiretnenis A
^^
ซ^s^r^^^^^^
disposal facUity and require the necessary permu. . .- .
' ''ซ. r.fcrR A is the concept commonly known as the "Cradle to
Also included under Section G of JRCRA isme ^P ฃpA identification number ,
Grave" rule. Under thjs rule, ^^"J^^^ous- -aste produced. Prior to shippm^ a
order to allow the agency to monitor and tr^ck a r hairdo P environmental agency. The .
Jnifonn Hazardous Waste Manifest ^^^^m environmental agency, the genera-
manifest will have enough copies to ^J ฐ^J and disposal (TSD) facility. An ^du.onal
tor, transporter, and operator o the ซ"^J^ generator and the state environmental agency
copy is signed by the TSD facUuy ^nd returned^ ta ^ge ^ ^^.^ ^ ^ ^ ongmal
toPvyenfy receipt and ^^^ that th,y be retained forever.
copy for a minimum ot tnree ycais,
Compensation, and lS Aet
ssr^sssr^^ . .
103
-------
Acetone
Annmonia
Benzene
Cadmium and compounds
Carbon tetrachloride
Chloroform
Chromium and compounds
Cumerie
Cyclohexane
Dibutyl phthalate
Ethanol, 2 ethoxy
Ethyl acetate
Ethylbenzene
Formaldehyde
Hydrochloric Acid
Isophorone
Lead and compounds
Methyl chloroform
Methylene chloride
Methanol
Methyl ethyl ketone
Methyl isobutyl ketone
Perchloroethylene
Phosphoric acid
Propylene oxide
Sulfuric acid
Toluene
Toluene diisocyanate
1,1,1 Trichloroethane
l',l',2Trichloroethane
Trichloroethylene
Vinyl chloride
Xylene (mixed)
10
10
1
5000
1000
10
1000
5000
1000
100
5000
5000
1
1000
1000
5000
5000
- -5000
100
5000
100
1000
1000
100
1000
100
100
1
1000
environmental agency.
104
-------
Oerr.icai Name .
..Ammonia
Formaldehyde.,
- Hydroqujnone
Propylene oxide
Sulfuric acid
Reportable Quantity, fibs.) ' Threshold Plann.ng ijbs.)
100 ' 50ฐ -'
: 100 500-.
v -*' " 500/10,000*
, . 100 10,000
. ' ' 1000 100ฐ *
Toluene 2,4 Diisocyanate
Revised threshold planning quantity based on new or re-evaluated toxicity data
'
should be obtained from the state environmental agency
cals Listed in the Toxic Release Inventory used in the Printing Industry
Hydrochloric acid,
Ammonia ^
Barium
Cadmium
Chromium
Copper*
Cumene
Cyclohexane
Methylene chloride
Ethylbenzene
"Ethyle'ne glycol .
Ethylene oxide
Formaldehyde
Freon 113
Tetrachbroethylene
Trichloroethylene
Copper phthalocyanmep.gmentswe.edel.^d.nl,^ I ?1
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
^ risks ^iuuri with tox.city to
is the
for the EPA to require testing oTch.nica,
-
right to" test all new chemical substances to determme the.r tox tcuy ^ notification
before manufacturing, processing or .mport.ng ^^^^^commsrcS, and the use and
L the EPA may regulate ^.^^^^^^ 8 is the requirement for all users
disposal of any chemical substance ^^f^ ฐ"'he EPA. Printers using processed Him
and manufacturers to keep records ^^^'?^^ agency to determine repomng
^ : -.
105
-------
106
-------
Appendix B
Human Resources
Connecticut
Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection. Office of Pollution Prevention
79 Elm Street. 4th Floor
Hartford. CT 06106-5127
Phone: 860-424-3297
Fax: 860-424-4060
Connecticut Technical Assistance Program
(ConnTAP) " -. '
50 Columbus Blvd.. 4th Floor
Hartford. CT 06106
Phone: 203-241-0777
Fax: 203-241-2017 :
Illinois
' Illinois Waste Management and Research Center
One East Hazelwo.od Drive .
Champaign. IL 61820
Phone: 217033-8940
Fax: 217/333-8944
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pollution Prevention :
P.O.Box 19276 - ;
- "OO Churchill Rd. "
" Springfield. IL 62794-9276
Phone: 217-782-8700
Fax: 217-782-9142
Indiana
.Indiana Department of Environmental Manage-'
Offtce of Pollution Prevention and Technical-
Assistance ;
100 N. Senate St.-
PO. Box 6015 '.
. Indianapolis, IN 46206-6015
Phone: 317-233-5626
F.axf 317-233-5627 v '
Indiana Pollution Prevention and Safe Materials
Institute '. .
1291 Cumberland Avenue. Suite C '
West Lafayette, IN 47906 ,
Phone: 317-494-6450
Fax: 317-494-6422 ,
Iowa
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Waste Management Assistance Division
Wallace State Office Building
DesMoines.IA 50319-0034
Phone: 515-281-8941
Fax: 515-281-8895 ,
Iowa Waste Reduction Center
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls. IA 50614-0815 .
Phone: 319-273-2079
Fax: 319-273-2926
Maine
Maine Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Pollution Prevention
State House Station #17
Augusta, ME 04333
Phone: 207-287-28 U
Fax: 207-287-2814
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmen-
tal Affairs .
Office of Technical Assistance
100 Cambridge Street. Suite 2109
Boston, MA 02202
Phone: 617-727-3260
: Fax: 6.17-727-3827
Toxics Use Reduction Institute
University of Massachusetts Lowell
107
-------
Lowell. MA
Phone 50$
Michigan
Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic Hazardous Sub-
stance Research Center
Michigan State University Office _
A P 4 Research Complex-Engineering ,
East Lansing. MI 48824-1326
Phone-. 517-353-9718
Fax: 517-355-0250
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
'Environmental Assistance Division
P O, Box 30457
Lansing. MI 48909-7957
Phone:" 5 17-335-73 10
Fax; 517-335-4729
Grand Vallev State University
Waste Reduction and Management Program
1 Campus Drive
AUendale. MI 49401
Phone: 616-895-3048
Fax: 616-895-3864
Spill Control Association of America
1000 Town Center. 22nd Floor
Detroit. MI 48243
Phone: 313-358-4400
Fax: 313-358-3351
510 Lit'jAeue Rd.
St.' Paul. MN 55 1 55
Phone: 612-296-8643
Fax', 6 1 2-297-8676 .
Western Lake Superior Sanitary District
2626 Courtland Street
Ddiuth, MN 55806-1894
Phone: 218-722-3336 ext. 324
Fax: 218-727-7471
New Hampshire .
New Hampshire Department of Environmental
Services. Pollution Prevention Program
6 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 0330 1-6509
Phone: 603-271-2902
Fax: 603-271-2456
Minnesota
Minnesota Technical Assistance Program
(MnTAPJ
1313S Fifth Street SE. #207 ,
Minneapolis. MN 55414
Phone 612-627-1910
Fax: 612-627-4769
Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance
520 Lafayette Rd.. Second Flor
St Paul. MN 55155
Phone: 612-215-0242
Fax: 612-215-0246
Minnesota Pollution- Control Agency
* Pollution Prevention Program
New Hampshire Department of
Services. Small Business Technical and
mental Compliance Assistance Program
64 North Main Street. 2nd Floor
Concord, NH 03302-2033
Phone: 603-271-1370
Fax: 603-271-1381
New Jersey
New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection
Office of Pollution Prevention
CN423
401 East State Street
Trenton, NJ 08625
Phone: 609-777-0518
Fax: 609-777-1330
New Jersey Technical Assistance Program
-Institute of Technology
323 MLKfr. Drive
\1C Building
Newark. NJ 07102
Phone: 201-596-5864
Fax: 201-596-6367
New York
Cornell Waste Management Institute
Cornell University
466 Hollister Hall .
Ithaca. NY 14853-3501 .
Phone: 607-255-1187
Fax: 607-255-0238
108
-------
. ention-
Canada (Ontario)
Buffalo.. NY ;'-:02 '!
Phone: -lb-S53-63'0 " . '!\ ^-,; -
Fax: '~.!6,-858-7"13 ,
New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation, - : ' .
Pollution Prevention Unit ,,
50 Wolf Road .
Albany. NY 12233-8010 :
Phone: 518-457-7276
Fax: 518-457-2570 . ." .
New York State Energy Research and Develop-
ment Authority
2 Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12223
Phone: 518-465-6251, ext. 261 . .
Fax: 518-432-4630
New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership
385Jordan Rd.
Troy, NY 12180
Phone: 518-283-1010 :
Fax:. 518-283-1212 ' ' -
Ohio
Cleveland Advanced Manufacturing Program
(CAMP) ";.'
4600 Prospect Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44103-4314
Phone: 216-432-5300
Fax: 216-361-2900 / '
Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Sciences
. Center for Applied Environmental Technolog.es
I 111 Edison Drive
Cincinnati. OH 45216-2265
Phone: 513-948-2000 ' .
Fax: 513-948-2109 ,. ; ;
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pollution Prevention
PO Box 1049. 1800 Watermark Drive
Columbus. OH 43266-0149
: Phone: 614-644-3469
Fax: 614-644-2329
Environment Canada ,
Pollution Prevention and Abatement
''25; St. Clair Ave. East, 7th Floor ;
Toronto,-Ontario M4TIM2
Automotive Pans Manufacturers Association
195 The West Mall. 25 Adelaide St. E., Suite 516
Toronto, Ontario M5C1Y7
Phone: 416-620-4220
Fax: 416-620-9730' :
Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Centre
265 N. Front Street, Suite 112 '
Samia. Ontario N7T1 7X1
Phone: 519-337-3423^
Fax: 519-337-3486
Ontario Waste Exchange (ORTECH)
2395 Speakman Drive
Mississauga, Ontario L5K1B3 , ,
Phone: 905-822-4111 ext. 358
Fax: 905-823-1446 -.
Pennsylvania
Institute for Cooperation in Environmental
Management
437 Chestnut Street; Suite 715
Philadelphia.'PA 19106
Phone: 215-829-9470
Fax: 215-829-9471
Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program
Penn State University
1 117 Tech Center
UniveTsity Park, PA 16802
Phone: 814-865-0427 . ,
Fax:814-865-5909
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Resources
Pollution Prevention Program
P.O. Box 8472 ;
Harrisburg, PA 17105
Phone: 717-787-9647
Fax: 717-783-3278 . ,
. University of Pittsburgh
Applied Research Center '
Center for Hazardous Materials Research
109
-------
phone .1: :<:*? 3--
Fax ii:-5:6-555-
Canada (Quebec)
Environment Canada Librae
PO. Box 10100 ,
Saint-Foy. Quebec G1U4H5
Phonet 418-649-6545
Fax: 418-648-3859
Environment Canada
National Office of Pollution Prevention
351 Si. Joseph Blvd.
Hull. Quebec K1AOH3
Phone: 819-994-6593
Fax: 819-953-7970
Rhode Island
83 Park Street
Providence. Rl 02903-1037
Phone: 401-277-3434
Fax: 401-277-2591
Craw ford Hall
Chemical Engineering Department
Providence. RI 02908
Phone: 401-792-2443
Fax: 401-782-1180
Vermont
Fix
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
.Hazardous Waste Minimization Program
PO Box 7921 (SW/3)
Madison, WI 53707-7921
Phone: 608-267-3763
Fax: 608-267-2768
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Pollution Prevention Program
PO. Box 7921 (TS/6).
Madison. WI 53707
Phone: 608-267-9700
Fax: 608-267-5231
National and Regional Groups
National Pollution Prevention Roundtable
2000 P Street. NW. Suite 708
Washington. DC 20036
Phone: 202-466-P2T2
Fax: 202-466-7964
National Pollution Prevention Center for. Higher
Education
430 E University; Dana Bldg.
Ann Arbor. MI 48109-1115
Phone: 313-764-1412
Fax:313-936-2195
Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention
Roundtable
1 East Hazelwood Drive
Champaign. IL 61820
Phone: 217-333-8946
Fax: 217-333-8944
Vermont Department of Environmental
vator,. Pollution Prevention Program
103 South Main Street
Waierbury.VT 05671-0404
Phone: S02-241-3629
Fax: 802-241-3296
Conser-
Wisconsion
Solid and Hazardous Was^Educ^on Center
University of Wisconsin-Extension
6lOLangdonStreet.Rm.5-y
Madison. WI 53707
Phone: 608-262-0385
Northeast Waste Management Officials' Assooa-
tion(NEWMOA)
129 Portland Street. 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-367-8558
Fax: 617-367-0449
Printing Associations
Lithography
Printing Industries of America
100 Daingerfield Rd.
Alexandria. V A 22314
110
-------
Fax. .:01-3-C-0~00
Pnnung Industry ot'Illmois.and Indiana Assoaa-
tien / - i.
"0 East Lake Street . . ' :
' Chicago.'IL 60601 ... ^ .
Phone: 312-704-5000
Fax: 312-704-5025 , ' / -
'Printing Industry of Ohio ' ,
P.O. Box 81,9 '.
Westerville, OH 43086-0819
Phone:'614-794-2300
Fax: 614-794-2049 , - '
.Printing Industries of Virginia
1108 East Main St.. Suite 300
' Richmond. VA 23219 ;
Phone: 804-643-1800 .- , ( '
Printing Industries of Metropolitan Washington
7 West Tower ','-,.-"
1333HSt.,NW . .
Washington, DC 20005 . .
Phone: 202-682-3001 , .
Printing Industries of New England
10 Tech Circle , .'
'Natick, MA 01760
Phone: "508-655-8700,
Fax: 508-655-2586 ' ' .
Graphic Arts Technical Foundation
4615 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3796
Phone:- 412-621-6941 .
Fax: 412-621-3049 .
National Association of Printers and Lithogra-.
phers . ..'.
1 West Tower
,1333 H Street. >W . .'.' . '" " - :
\Vashirieton. DC
. Phone: 202-682-300V ,
National Association of Printers and Lithogra-
phers
780 Palisades Avenue
Teaneck.NJ 07666 , ".'.'.'.
Grav.ure ,
Gravure Association of America
1200-A Scottsville Rd. . .'
Rochester. NY "14624'' '
Phone: 716-436-2150
Fax: 716-436-7689
FlexograpHy .
Flexographic Technical Association
900 Marconi Ave.
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779 ,
Phone: 516-737-6020 ,
Flexographic Technical Association
210 Stephen Street
. Levittown. NY 11756 <
Phone: 516-935-7241
Fax: 516-935-1460
Screen Printing ,
Screenprinting and Graphic Imaging Association
International (SGIA)
10015 Main Street ;
Fairfax, VA 22031
Phone: 703-385-1335
. Fax: 703-273-0456 .
http://www.sgia.org/
Other Associations . .
. In-Plant Management Association
1205 W. College Ave.
Liberty, MO 64068
Phone: 816-781-1 HI
National Association of Quick Printers
401 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312-644-6610 .
Environmental Conservation Board of the
Graphic Communications Industries
1899 Preston White Drive
Reston. VA 2209lr4367
Phone: 703-648-3218
National Assoc. of Printing Ink Manufacturers
in.
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rucn. NY . ?>
Phone- jl.--i3?-.^-v<
Nanonai A^cut.on of Pnnung Ink Nlanufaccur-
ers
Phone; 201-283-9454
American Institute of Graphic Arts
1059 third Avenue
New York. NY 10021
Phone: 212-752-0813
American Newspaper Publishers Association
The Newspaper Center
1 1600 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston.VA 22091
Phone: 703-620-9500
National Association of Photographic Manufac-
lSU50Mamaroneck Avenue. Suite 307
'Harmon. NY 10528-1612
Phone: 914-698-7603
lnwmauonul Digital Imaging Association (IDIA>
seOJRoanne Way. Suite 608 .
Greensboro. NC 27409
Phone; 910-854-5697
Fax; 910-854-5956
mtemauonal Association of Printing House
Craftsmen
Phone: 612-560-1620
Waterless Pnnung Association
PO Box 59800
Oucago. IL 60645
Phone; 312-743-5677
GraPhtc Arts Education and Research Founda-
tion . .
1 899 Preston White Drive
Reston.VA 22091
Phone: 703-264-7200
112
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Appendix C
Electronic Resources
Printing Web Sites
Printers' Notional Environmental Assistance Center
^nrl .igu.umc edu/pne^pne^hraK ^ ^
PNEAC is joimly sponsored by WMRC .W t i
The
Foundalion. and
infomM,on abou, ,h= enป,ron-
environ.,, .
tions.'
GATF Homepage
home page provides information about GATF member**.
nica, Founda,ion
Workshops, products, servcies. NSTF scholarships. e,c.
"PIAHome Page , . . . '
S^t^of 'A^-lK-ne page provides inform.ion about PIA^embe^p and
search features to locate local PI A members. ;
NAPL Home Page ^
!ฃSฃ3Sฃ?ฃฃ and Li^raphers ho pagซ describes NAPL. .ists-NAPL
lTsour.es. equipment vendors^ manufacturers. e,c.
SG1A Button Page
_
|GIAm"mbซShip, suppliers. employment opportunmes, etc. ,
U S. Screen. Printing Institute \
113
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3cge
o. m-. ho.
Gravure Association of America
Craftnet Web Site ''
^tฑ^A--"^S
clubs, seminars, etc.
penaimng to a specific topic via e-maih
Videos
-Pnnters Win Through Pollution Prevention-
Waste Reduction Assistance Program
PO. Box 10009
Richmond. VA 23240-0009
(804)371-8716
US EPA
401 M Street. SW (3404)
Washington, DC 20460
< 202) 260-1023
,-ConuolUng Waste 'in Web Offset Printing-
Graphic Are Technical Foundation
4615 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh. PA 15213-3796
(412)621-6941
114
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>; . --. .rjxu- 'A'a-e EducJuion-Center
Madison. WI 53'0'
60Si 161-0385
Other
Rook of the
instant phone and fax access to more
Graphic Arts Monthly
249 W. 17th St.
New York,'NY 10011"
Sales office: 212-463-682.8
115
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116
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Appendix D
Glossary
ariilox rolla roller that supplies a predeter-
mined and uniform ink volume to the surface of
a printing plate.
. basis weight-the weight in pounds of a ream
(500 sheets) of paper cut to a given standard size
for that grade: 25 x 38 for book papers 20 x 26_
for cover papers, 22 1/2 x 38 for bnstois, 25 j/2
. x 30 1/2 for index. E.g., 500 sheets-25 x 38 of
80-lb coated'weighs eighty-pounds,
bimetal plate-in lithography, a plate used for
long runs in which the printing image base is
copper or brass and the non-printing area is
aluminum, stainless steel, or chromium.
blanket-in offset printing (lithography), a
rubber-surfaced fabric which is clamped around
a cylinder, to which the image is transferred rom,
the plate, and from which it is transferred to the
paper. , ' ''.--'
burn-in platemaking; common term used for
p'Jate exposure
catching up-m lithography, a term which
indicates that the non-image areas of a press
/ plate are starting to take ink or scum.
chalking-in printing, a term which refers to
improper-drying of ink. Pigment dusts off
'.because the vehicle has been absorbed too
rapidly into the paper.
a surface coating
formed directly on the printing surface. An artist
can pre-separate by using separate overlays for
each color.
contact screena photographically-made
halftone screen on film having a dot structure of
graded density, used in vacuum contact with the
photographic film to produce halftones.
continuous tone-a photographic image which
"contains gradient tones from black to white.
crossline screenin halftone photography, a
grid pattern with opaque lines crossing each
other at right angles, thus forming transparent
squares or "screen apertures."
curlin paper, the distortion of a sheet due to _
differences in structure or coatings from one side
to the other,.or to absorption of moisture on an.
offset press.
cyan-one of the subractive primaries,the, hue of
which is used for one of the 4-color process mks.
It reflects blue and green light and absorbs red
light. ,
dampeners-in lithography, cloth-covered^
parchment paper or rubber (bare -back) roUers
that distribute the dampening solution to the
press plate or ink roller.
from eggshell to glossy.
color separation-in photography (W^V
the process of separating colot originals into the
pdrrTry printing color components in negative or
Sve form. In lithographic platemakmg. the
manual separation of colors by handwork per-
dampening systemin _
mechanism on a press for transferring
ing solution to the plate during printing.
distributing rollers-in printing presses^ rubber
covered rollers which convey ink from the
fountain onto the ink drum.
117
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.-s.;^ -rk from the non-
elec"os-c".c =!ates-plate> for h,gh-speed laser
pnnun* u^ing zinc oxide, organic
photoconductor or cadmium sulphide coatings-
fountain solu,ion-in lithography, a solution of
water, gum arabic and other chemicals used to
dampen the plate and keep non-printing areas
from accepting ink.
hatftone-the reproduction of continuous-tone
artwork, such as a photograph through a
crossline or contact screen, wh.ch converts the
,mage into dots of various sizes.
hickeys-in lithography, spots or imperfections
m the printing due to such things as dirt on the
press, dried ink skin, paper particles, etc..
impression-in printing, the pressure of type.
pTate or blanket as it comes in contact with the
paper.
_cire_in color process printing, the un^.r-
able screen pattern caused by'incorrect screen
angles of overprinting halftones.
offsetin printing, the process of using an
intermediate blanket cylinder to transfer an
image from the image carrier to the substrate.
Short for offset lithography.
plate cylinder-the cylinder on a press on which
the plate is mounted.
process printing-the printing from a series of
two or more half-tone plates to produce interme-
diate colors and shades. In four-color process:
yellow, magenta, cyan, and black.
registerin printing, fitting two or more
printing images on the same paper in exact
alignment with each other.
screen angles-in color reproduction^ angles
at which the half-tone screens are placed with
relation to one another, to avoid undesirable
moire patterns.
trappmg-the ability to print a wet ink film over
previously printed ink. Dry trapping ,s printing
PJet !nk o've'r dry ink. Wet trapping is pnntmg
wet ink over previously printed wet ink.
ink fountain-in printing presses, the^device
which stores and supplies ink to the inking
rollers.
laser platemaking-the use of lasers for _
scanning pasteups and/or exposing plates ,n the
same or remote locations.
mokeready-in .--ฃฃฃ *2***
print
up
Heavy and
*ith the correct impression.
of the subtractive primaries the
absorbs green light.
-up-in printing, two-up, three-up. etc
toLposition of material to be printed on a larger
Seet to take advantage of full press capac-
ity.
the second side.
plaJfare used for printing both sides.
blue light.
118
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Reader Response Survey
' .. r , ,1,, rrin^T '"H..ซtrv Manual'. Reader Response Survey
Pollution E^^^^rf1^^ mlot project to develop'a comprehensive pollution prevention
Th.s manual has been 9^^ ^ fof ^ nnling industry sector. In order to determine the
manual for techmcal.ass.stan.e p ซ^ .^ ^ ^ ^^ ^^ ^ hea[. from you. . Your comments '
ut.lity and make improvements document. piease take a few moments to answer some
in H., staple and ma.l tKe survey back. We apprec.ate your
comments 'and suggestions. :
Where did you leam about this report? -
WMRC newsletter ,- Vr>m^\
' ' EPA Pollution Prevention Information Clearmghouse (PPIC)
Colleague .
E-mail announcement .
Internet site (please name).
ror .hcin,
with each statement
levซ,
The overall quality (organization, content) of the manual was high?
1
... :' s .* J "' -
The manual proved a comprehensive^,f pollution prevention techniques for meta,
finishing. '- > '.'_
' ' ' ' " 2 1
If you
5 - '-4 ' 3'.. . . ,
felt the manual was not comprehensive what informationwas lacking:
Was there any
information that was unnecessary orinaccurate.
3.
Information was easily located in the Manual.
Additional comments regarding the Manual.
-------
. resuUor> program
SherV^'^
Printing uci!it>
Uimersuv-affihaied researcher
PmateK-emploved researcher
EnMronrriental organization
Student
Other
6 Wou,d ,
-------
Index
A . -
adhesiVes i'l. 29, 31, 73, 79
air quality 37, 52, 78. 97
aqueous inks 90
aqueous plates 23
B -.' .: '.
binders 3, 4
binding 29, 31, 42 .
Blanket Wash 45 .
blanket wash 27,.41, 45
c :
chemical substitution 42. 62
." Clean Air Act 51, 97
2,.
*"
99 27 28 52, 60, 79.
distillation 10, i^, 7.i, *''*?'*'. '
doctor blade. 18, 73, 81. 87. 89, 93-
EBC 19, 20 " '
engraving 73, 87, 88, 8? >. 90
n 12 13 14 16. H. 18. W. 26. 2, 31. 4, 42. 43,45. 60. 73f 74. 7,79. 80. 91. 105
finishing li. 20. 23. 29. 31.33. 62,73 ;
fixer 16,17. 31. 43 - - . ;
flexography .4. 73 74,^ 8 \ 42
fountain solution 11, 18, 27. .31. w, ซ! . ป*
G " ' ' ' ' "':' '" ' .
A A 7 18 21 24 74. 87,. 88. 89. 90.91. 92. 94 . . .- .
gravure 4, 6. 7, 18. /ฃi. *ซป._'
H . '. . ' . ' . " ." . ..' ' -
.
51, 52. 58. 59. 61. 62. 63, 65. 73. 74.
7ft 79 92 93, 102. 103
nazer^o^rli.52.59.60.61.62.63.64
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\
,nnage earner 31. 37
mdustnai waste 19, 23
,nUoun!a,n 20 27 28/4 73
tsopropyl alcohol 31. 38. ai. <".
L
letterpress 4 6. 74 33, 38. 45. 88
iimograpny4. 11, 12. 19. 41.
lowVOC 16. 20. 44. 60. 61
M
makeready 31
material substitution 11, 3 ซ
N
non-heatset 20 Q1
nonnazardous waste 25. 79. vo,
O
organic solvents 51. 62
ozone 41. 97. 98. 99
petroleum-based ink 19. 21. 31
PH 78. 80
photochemicals 26 31 81
photoprocessing 11. iฐ- '^ ^ 51 92 93
pigments 13, 19, 21. ^-
plate making 31. 42
plate preparation 73
ptate processing 31. 4-4. 73. 75
R ' ''
15 22. 28. 31. 91. 92. 93 '
24. 65. 101. 102. 103 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 44. 51. 58. 59. 61, 73. 74, 78
1 59. 60. 61. 62. 63.
screen printing 4 11, 12. 20. 27.
shop towes .
silver recovery 17. 31. ซ, ซ->.
solvents
'.' - ' - ' '' ', ''122
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13 r< 15 16 19. 20, 21/22. 23. 25. 27..2S, 29, 31. 33. 40, 41. 44,51, 52. 53,;62, 53 -,
78 80-81.82. 90, 92. 93, 101. 102 . - .
'source reduction 13. 24, 43, 52. 78 , v , . . ,
stencil 51, 60, 61, 62; 64 4 ^ 5
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