Printing is estimated to be the
UK’s 4th most polluting
industry, mostly because of high energy and chemical use,
and associated waste.
People want to know what they can do to reduce environmental
impact, not just by using less energy in planes/cars/domestic
heating, but also in their purchasing choices. This is
especially important when it comes to choosing a printer
and it isn’t just about recycled paper. In fact to
ensure sustainability, all aspects of a company's activities
need to be addressed, as well as the design and printing
process itself.
Reproduced with kind permission from David Shorto,
paper and print buyer for Friends of the Earth and Green
Peace.
Print Issues | Recycled
Paper | Virgin
Fibre | Tips
for Designers | Reducing
your Environmental Impact | Choosing
a Printer
Unfortunately many people are dissuaded from making positive
environmental choices by myths and misinformation which
range from out of date to completely untrue. However, slowly
but surely, progress is being made and the message is getting
through.
For example:
- “Recycled paper is more damaging for the environment
than non-chlorine bleached paper produced from sustainable
forests”
False:
This vague generalisation with no basis in fact has
been perpetuated widely. It is an all-encompassing myth
that does not stand up to questioning. With more widespread
experience of the use of recycled paper, better general
environmental awareness and the scientific rigour introduced
by the requirements of forestry-certification, surely
its days are numbered.
Fact: One tonne of recycled paper saves approximately
six mature trees and 3.3 cubic yards of rapidly diminishing
landfill space (Source: Friends of the Earth).
- “Inks contain heavy metals which pollute the
environment when removed from the paper during the
recycling process"
- “The chemicals used
to extract ink are bad for the environment”
Not true:
The pigments in many petroleum-based printing inks do
contain heavy metals. However, paper mills are reporting
lower levels of heavy metals in the waste they re-pulp
due to increased usage of vegetable-based inks.
Ink is removed using sodium hydroxide, which
is the main ingredient in soap. This is so harmless that
it is even used commercially for washing fruit and vegetables!
When recycled fibre is de-inked, the residual ‘sludge’ is
considered harmless enough to be used as fertiliser. Alternatively,
it can be incorporated into building blocks or incinerated,
when it can be used to generate energy.
Water used during the de-inking process – and papermaking
processes in general – is cleaned before being returned
to the source.
Fact: The print industry is one of the most polluting industries in the
UK.
The environmental impact of a printing company can be
considerable and wide ranging.
Energy
The print industry uses significant amounts of energy.
From heating and lighting to powering equipment and final
delivery, energy is used at all stages of the print process.
It is possible to reduce energy requirements at every stage
of the process. Many companies have been innovative in
these areas and have, of course, reduced their costs as
well as reducing their environmental impact.
Big Sky use 100% locally sourced renewable energy!
Water
Large quantities of water are used in most printing processes.
Water usage can be greatly reduced by waterless printing
but also by printing with digital processes. Water usage
can be reduced by recycling the water used on presses and
measures such as sprinkler and pressure taps. A small number
of printing companies are investigating the possibilities
of rainwater harvesting.
There is strict legislation regarding contaminated water.
Printing companies are required by law to clean all water
used before disposal; in practice, some printers are more
rigorous than others.
Waste
Given that free audits and advice are available, via Envirowise,
this is a straightforward issue to tackle. Relatively high
levels of waste are generated by the print process. From
printing plates and ink tins to pallets and packaging there
is plenty of potential for reducing use, reusing and recycling
what’s left. There are, of course, financial, as
well as environmental, incentives for reducing waste levels.
Big Sky recycle 100% of their paper waste, non
goes to landfill.
Emissions
10 per cent of the UK’s VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds)
are believed to emanate from the printing industry. As
ink dries, the isopropyl alcohol (IPA), used as a damping
solution, evaporates at room temperature, releasing VOCs.
VOCs are colourless, odourless gases that are harmful to
the environment, contributing to global warming and the
production of ozone, as well as being hazardous to pressroom
workers. It is possible to reduce and even remove the need
for IPA through fastidious machine operation and maintenance.
Big Sky have eliminated use of all pre-press
chemicals!
Ink
For sheet-fed litho inks there are three main areas of
concern:
- VOCs – emitted
as the ink dries
- Heavy metals – these
are contained in certain pigments (particularly metallic
colours) and can result in environmental and worker
health hazards
- non-renewable resources – the
main oils in non-vegetable based inks are petroleum-based
It is not possible to generalise about the hazards of
ink: the make-up of an ink will depend on the print process,
the substrate, even its colour. However, these issues are
less of a problem where there is partial replacement of
the petroleum oil content with vegetable oil. A typical
sheet-fed litho vegetable ink consists of 60 per cent vegetable
oil content.
Prior to the 1960s, less harmful vegetable based inks
were commonly used for all printing applications. Then
petroleum-based (or mineral-based) inks came along, and
because, at that time, they were cheaper and performed
better, they gradually became the norm – despite
the health and environmental issues.
In recent years vegetable based inks have improved greatly – they
certainly match the performance of mineral-based inks,
and some would say they are superior.
Progress
Vegetable based inks
Vegetable based inks use vegetable oil instead of petroleum
to varying degrees – hence the word ‘based’ – a
vegetable based ink is not necessarily 100 per cent vegetable.
Vegetable based inks have much lower rates of VOC emissions than
petroleum based inks. Also, in contrast to petroleum based
inks, vegetable oils are derived from renewable resources and
the inks made from them are more easily removed from waste
paper during de-inking. Another plus is that the pigments
in the ink do not usually contain heavy metals.
Big Sky use vegetable based inks as standard!
Waterless printing
Waterless printing is basically sheet-fed litho printing
using different printing plates and a method of transferring
the image to the paper without using water. It eliminates
the need for IPA (isopropyl alcohol ) and better quality
print is claimed through reduced dot gain and improved
colour consistency.
Low alcohol printing
A number of printers are now using ‘low-alcohol’ printing
techniques which reduce both the need for IPA, in the dampening
system, and VOC emissions.
Big Sky use zero alcohol printing!
CO2 emissions and offsetting
‘Carbon neutral’ schemes that simply offset
carbon emissions by planting trees, are ineffectual because
they deal with symptoms rather than addressing the causes.
For this reason, the environmental schemes undertaken by
printing companies should focus on both reducing emissions
and offsetting carbon emissions.
Click here for a joint FOE, Greenpeace and WWF statement on this issue.
Big Sky voluntarily support various social and
environmental projects and we’re continually looking
at ways of reducing our CO2 emissions!
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There are three main reasons to use recycled fibre:
- Lower resource use: Paper manufacture is very
resource-intensive. It simply makes no sense to use paper
only once, when it can be so easily re-used.
- Less landfill: Recycling reduces the amount
of waste paper going to landfill. It is predicted that
we will run out of landfill sites in the UK during the
next decade. Landfills will be replaced by incinerators,
whose toxic fall-out has been proven to be harmful to
human health. Also, as it biodegrades in landfill (anaerobic
conditions), paper produces methane, which is 23 times
more powerful than CO2.
- No harm to forests:
Only when using 100 percent recycled paper can you can
be absolutely sure that your product has not had a detrimental
effect on any forest.
Processing recovered paper: Superficially, it’s
quite straightforward: waste paper and board is collected,
sorted and then sold for re-use. Next, the fibre is pulped,
screened (to remove foreign particles, contaminants,
and fibres not fit for re-use) and then de-inked. It
may or may not then be re-bleached.
The extent to which each of these processes is undertaken
depends on the quality of the final product. Fibre for
reuse in higher quality materials is chosen accordingly:
higher quality waste will be used in higher quality new
materials; lower grade waste will go into newsprint or
packaging. Around 70% of the original volume of recovered
paper will be used in a new material.
In summary:
Waste paper and board is collected and sorted by specialists
at central operations.
The sorted waste is sold to paper mills for processing
and re-use.
The reprocessing of recycled fibre often has the aim
of making it look like virgin fibre - i.e, very white;
but the paper manufacturers are simply responding to
market demand. Given the environmentally benign nature
of the reprocessing, if this is what it takes to persuade
people to use recycled fibre then it’s a relatively
small environmental price to pay. The aims of lower resource
use, less landfill and no harm to forests are still achieved.
Definitions of “recycled”
There are different definitions of the term “recycled” within
the industry, so it is important to check the fibre detail
of a material. It is quite normal, for example, for a
paper to be called ‘recycled’ when only
a small percentage of the fibre is actually recycled.
Post-consumer waste is when the product has
reached the end consumer, and is then recycled.
Pre-consumer waste (sometimes known as post-industrial
waste) describes printers’ waste, such as off-cuts
and unused copies which may have been over-ordered.
-
“Recycled paper is more expensive than virgin
paper”
False:
This is another over perpetuated myth. The first recycled
materials were more expensive, mainly because they were
produced in relatively small quantities and systems needed
for producing higher volumes, such as waste collection
and sorting, were not in place.
Customer demand has led to an explosion of interest
in papers containing recycled fibre. Paper companies
have responded to this market demand and there is an
unprecedented range available. Many recycled papers are
now produced in high volumes and compare favourably in
cost to virgin fibre options. Stubbornly the myth persists,
but it is usually perpetuated by printing companies that
have little experience of recycled papers and do not
have appropriate suppliers. They are, therefore, in no
position to give customers informed advice.
- “The use of recycled fibre is more energy-intensive
than using virgin fibre”
Not true:
It is simply not possible to generalise but of all
the known studies that tackle this issue not one has
reached this conclusion. Within the broad range of papers
containing recycled fibre reprocessing levels, and, therefore,
energy usage, varies immensely. Within the virgin-fibre
range, the extremes of energy usage will be much greater,
due to the different pulping methods.
In addition, individual paper mills derive energy from
different sources: some are even energy self-sufficient.
Inevitably, some paper mills are more energy efficient
than others.
The actual papermaking process is the same whether
using virgin or recycled fibre. According to a study
conducted by Kymmene (one of the world’s largest
paper manufacturers), the mechanical processing of recovered
paper uses 20-25% less energy than that of virgin paper.
- “Recycled papers are usually poor quality”
Not true:
Quality is subjective but in terms of print quality
there is little difference between papers that contain
recycled fibre and those using only virgin fibre. The
quality of recycled paper has improved steadily over
the past twenty years, and more rapidly over the last
few, due to advances in papermaking technology, improved
sorting and increased recycling rates.
Misinformation about recyclability
There are few hard and fast rules, as different reprocessing
mills have different capabilities. Laminated products,
for example, are usually removed from the waste stream
during sorting. If they are not, some or all of these
products will be removed during repulping. Not only will
more energy be required to reprocess such materials,
but the yield will be reduced. The same scenario applies
to heavily inked products, the film from window envelopes,
UV varnished products and perfect bound books.
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Shockingly, ancient forests are legally, and illegally,
logged for timber products and some of these enter the
UK, including paper.
There are only two types of virgin fibre: that produced
from certified or uncertified forestry. As of December
2006 approximately two thirds of the world’s certified
forests come under the PEFC umbrella and one third FSC.
PPE promotes
the use of FSC certified fibre because its management
practices are more stringent in environmental and social
terms.
Ancient or old growth forests
The flora and fauna of ancient or old growth forestry
will have been shaped by natural events over centuries.
On a worldwide scale such forests are relatively rare,
and decreasing, for a number of reasons. Once disturbed
or destroyed it is extremely unlikely that the forest
environment will be left to recover its former state.
‘Sustainable Forestry’
This term is, basically, a meaningless, obsolete marketing
term. Formerly it was blithely applied to all plantations
regardless of their actual status. In December 2006 Robert
Horne, one of the UK’s largest paper merchants,
announced that they will no longer use the phrase ‘sustainable
forestry’. Expect other paper companies to follow
this lead. It is no longer acceptable for paper to be
marketed using this term as detailed information is readily
available about fibre sources.
Forestry certification systems
In 1992 the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development made sustainable forest management a
priority. In order to be truly sustainable a forest would
have to be managed with three criteria in mind:
- Environmental
- Social
- Economic
Of the forestry harvested in the UK only a small percentage,
usually trimmings, goes into paper products; the vast
majority of virgin fibre is imported. Some of this imported
fibre will be certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council
(FSC), some by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forestry
Certification schemes (PEFC) and much will be uncertified.
PPE favours
FSC forestry management certification as it is widely
accepted to be more stringent in terms of both social
and environmental factors.
FSC - www.fsc-uk.org
The Forestry Stewardship Council is an international,
non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting
responsible management of the world’s forests.
Forests are inspected and certified against the 10 Principles
of Forest Stewardship which take into account environmental,
social and economic factors. The FSC is endorsed by the
WWF, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and The Woodland
Trust.
In addition to forest management and certification,
the FSC Chain of Custody tracks the timber from the forest
to the paper mill and sometimes to the printer. If a
printer is FSC certified, then the end product can also
be FSC certified ensuring that there has been no contamination
between FSC and non-FSC material. However, the Chain
of Custody is broken if the manufacturing mill or printer
is not FSC certified.
In 2005 the FSC introduced the Mixed Sources label.
This label allows for the inclusion of controlled wood
and (where stated) reclaimed material as laid down in
the standards. Controlled sources exclude:
- illegally harvested timber
- forests where high conservation
values are threatened
- genetically modified organisms
- wood from forests harvested for
the purpose of converting the land to plantations or
other non-forest use.
An FSC accredited paper mill must be able to prove
the origins of all the fibre it uses to the FSC.
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Designers are well aware of the power of print. Design
can also greatly influence the environmental impact of
a printed product. Reducing the environmental impact
will often reduce material and /or print costs too. Consult
your printing company before commencing the design.
Waste
Check size availability for your chosen material by
consulting your printer or paper supplier before designing
your product. Many materials are available in a limited
range of sizes which will limit the options for waste-
and cost-effective formats.
The most waste- and cost-effective formats are A (eg.
A4, A3) sizes, as all materials and printing presses
are, essentially, based around these. Some materials
are available in B sizes which can accommodate, cost-effectively,
sizes slightly larger than A range.
Consider factors such as updating; many products are
discarded and reprinted due to obsolete information.
Choose a design, and binding method, that allows for
the updating of information and reduces waste and reprint
costs.
Recyclability
Laminated and UV-varnished and products cannot always
be recycled. It is preferable to use water-based coatings – ask
your printer about these.
High levels of ink coverage - that is, areas of solid
colour, especially dark colours - may render a product
non-recyclable as it will be difficult, and energy intensive,
to remove the ink.
Designing without bleeds may mean that more pages can
be positioned on the printer’s sheet, thereby reducing
the print run and the cost (substantially for some projects).
It will also mean less trimming, thus saving paper and
ink, and that the trimmed, unprinted waste can be processed
as white waste.
Window envelopes cannot currently be recycled in the
UK. Unless the windows have been cut/torn out, the envelopes
will be removed from the waste paper when it is sorted.
Try to avoid using window envelopes, wherever possible,
by personalising the envelope and not the contents.
Avoid perfect binding where possible as it is not easy
to recycle such products; consider other options such
as saddle stitching and wiro binding.
Other issues to consider
Try to avoid metallic or fluorescent colours as they
are only available in petroleum based inks.
Metallic inks also contain high levels of heavy metals
which are hazardous to the environment and to pressroom
workers.
Environmental statement on materials
Publicise the steps you have taken, on your materials.
Not only does this show that you take these issues seriously
and what can be achieved, but it helps to promote awareness
and to educate.
Advise your clients to use an environmental printer!
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- Paper
Choose a material that contains a high percentage
of post-consumer waste. The more post-consumer waste
we use the less that ends up in landfill sites.
If using
a material that contains virgin fibre ensure that it
is an FSC certified material. At the present time the
FSC certification scheme has the most stringent forestry
management standards in environmental and social terms.
Choose
a material that is manufactured in the United Kingdom
or Europe.
- Inks
Vegetable based inks are not available for all print
processes or used by all printers where they are available.
Ask your printers what their policy is and what your
options are.
- Envelopes
A wide range of stock, and bespoke, envelopes made
from recycled material is available, as is non-plastic
(glassine) window film. Even better: try to avoid the
use of window envelopes.
- Recyclability – things
to avoid
All paper
is recyclable. It’s the additional
processes that may render a product non-recyclable.
There are no hard and fast rules as different mills
have different reprocessing capabilities but the following
may not be recyclable: heavily inked products; laminated
products; window envelopes.
Top
Use only environmentally-accredited printing companies.
In most cases this will mean holding ISO 14001 – with
a UKAS certified auditor. ISO 14001 demands environmental
awareness, and improvement, on an ongoing basis. Beware
of companies that claim to be ‘green’ but are
not accredited. There are appropriate environmental schemes
for companies of all sizes and print processes.
* Choose an appropriate printer
for your product . Work with them when deciding designs
and formats
Small changes in size can greatly affect the method of
printing, the material options, the amount of waste generated – all
of which can impact on cost.
For example: if choosing a web printer choose one with
optimum cut offs. On a 16 page web press a 625mm cut off
rather than 630mm will save 63 tonnes of waste paper a
year!
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