There have been hundreds of articles published about green manufacturing and printing. Very few get to the core.
In the pressroom there are many variables that are all related and inter-react with each other performing the print process.
Using pressroom products that are made to compliment and work in unison is a vital key to the green pressroom.
All manufacturing consumes energy. If the consumables used for manufacturing can reduce or eliminate energy consumption it has established itself as a contributor to less energy requirements.
* If the consumables are made from renewable and biodegradable materials there will be a positive green effect.
We have come up with rules that will contribute to using less consumables and energy to manufacture your printed product.
Rule #1 Use Pressroom Products that have a minimal or non Hazardous Ingredients per the following rules and regulations.
A. There are no ingredients subject to reporting under Section 313 of 40 CFR Part 372 or Class 1 or 11 list of
ozone depleting substances as defined by 40 CFR Part 82
B. None of the components used in the products are listed by IARC, NTP, OSHA, or ACGIH as a carcinogen or reproductive toxin.
There are many everyday household products that we will not use in our facility because when they are used in any business they require a MSDS sheet. A large number household
products would not meet our rules for green manufacturing.
Rule # 2 Only use pressroom products that have a Flash point greater than 200ºF/ 95ºC
Rule #3 Product is free of CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 65 listed materials
A. Proper wording is as follows:
This product contains no level of listed substances, which the State of California has found to cause cancer,
birth defects or other reproductive harm, which would require a warning under the statute.
Rule # 4 The products must be certified to Coneg/TPCH specification's and verified by and independent lab.
Rule # 5 The product should not contain any of the following phthalates:
CAS#'s
117-81-7
84-74-2
85-68-7
28533-12-0
26761-40-0
68515-49-1
117-84-0
84-75-3
Rule # 6 The product should not contain any EPA Priority Persistent Bioaccumulative & Toxic Substances.
Rule # 7 The ink dries by itself and does not require external energy.
A. No UV required
B. no IR required
This alone can be a savings of up to 50% of the required power
Rule # 8 Items 1 through 6 must be on the MSDS sheets.
When all of the above criteria is met usually the following will occur:
* There will less waste heat coming off of the machinery thusly less air conditioning is required.
* When there are virtually no fumes given off by the printing process there is less air exchange required and thusly less heating and air conditioning required.
* With virtually non toxic printing consumables there is an extreme reduction or elimination for hazardous wast disposal.
* Our Process will meet the specs for packaging ,tray liners, pharmacutical and childrens printing along with commercial.
* Further enhancements are being tested and will be available by the end of this year.
*
Mercer Color Corporation’s Ecologically Controlled Offset Printing, or in short ECOLITH®, is a process that incorporates every aspect of the pressroom. ECOLITH® is a manufacturing process that has minute VOC's, zero HAP's, zero 313's and zero acetone. The ECOLITH® process operates at less than eight percent of the allowable amount of VOC's per the new EPA CTG for Lithographic and Letter Press Printing, publication October of 2006. The ECOLITH® process was developed with our suppliers to encompass a holistic approach to offset printing. Vegetable and seed oil based inks, bio based washups, Coneg certified fountain solution, along with press modification procedures and training are the culmination of our efforts resulting in the ECOLITH® process. Using the ECOLITH® process is the right thing to do because the health and safety of our employees and customers depend on it. With the addition of recycled paper the ECOLITH® process becomes the complete holistic procedure for offset printing manufacturing.
