During the past decades, the demand for sustainability has been amplified around the world and it is something in which the digital printing industry has been very involved in order to reduce its footprint.

From 1965 to 2019, carbon dioxide levels increased from 320 parts per million (ppm) to 408 ppm, making the earth warmer every decade.

As result of the pandemic lockdown, the decrease in oil demand was reflected in its prices, which fell to levels never seen before. This makes us see that we can make changes towards sustainability. Industrial companies are now scrambling to deploy more renewable energy sources for industrial applications.

While the world was in lockdown during the start of the pandemic, energy consumption was down roughly 25%, and global CO2 emissions down 8%. But as life gradually returns to normal, companies in general have realized their responsibility in the transition to a much more sustainable form of business.

Sustainable printing methods are becoming more and more popular as individuals and businesses work to reduce their environmental footprint. There are an increasing number of environmentally friendly printers that are more eco-friendly, with energy saving features and also incredibility efficient. Advances in technology allow suppliers to produce sustainable printed material with no effect on quality or in price.

Environmentally friendly innovations

LED UV Printing

UV-LED printing is one of the best ‘green’ printing innovations, which has been on the market for a few years now. It uses less power than traditional print-drying technology and the instant on/off functionality reduces standby consumption between jobs and reduces overall CO2 emissions and the instant drying process means there’s no need for an anti-set off powder spray or a sealing coat.

Ecocracy recyclable banner

This recyclable fabric for banners and signage was developed by combining Toppan’s processing technologies with Dow’s plastics expertise.

This material enables banners and signage printed on this substrate to be re-pelletized as a recycled resin, which can then be blended with timber from wood waste to produce wood-plastic composite materials for such items as benches, floors, and plant pots.

ECOLUSTER

Toppan Printing has developed an eco-friendly manufacturing method for offset printing that combines oil-based biomass ink with water-based varnish.

ECOLUSTER use of plant-derived material and the absence of UV lamps make it possible to reduce CO2 emissions associated with raw ink materials and the printing process by roughly 34% compared with general UV offset printing.

Paper tube-pouch

Toppan Printing developed a new paper-based version of the existing tube-pouch, which is shaped like a tube and easy to squeeze like a pouch. The paper tube-pouch is ideal for use in the food, toiletry, and pharmaceutical sectors.

Due to the use of thinner film material, the conventional tube-pouch is easier to squeeze and uses 30% less plastic than the type of laminated tube widely used for toothpaste. The new paper tube-pouch maintains the tube-pouch’s functionality while demonstrating better environmental performance by employing a paper-based material for the body, making possible a 50% reduction in plastic volume. Coupled with a redesign of the plastic parts of the head section, this enables plastic to be reduced by a total of 65%.

Plastic Recycling Scheme for Multilayer Packaging

Toyo Ink and ITOCHU entered into a cooperative agreement to develop an innovative plastic recovery technology for multilayered flexible packaging, where a deinking coating agent and a delaminating adhesive are applied to the plastic film surrounding the ink layers. After use, the packaging waste is subjected to an alkaline treatment in which the coating agent, adhesive and interlaying ink layers are cleanly released from the film substrate. This results in the recovery of high-quality plastic material that can then be reused to create products of new value, making currently unrecyclable multilayer plastic packaging into a recyclable material.

Biodegradable Polyurethane Adhesive

Toyochem has developed a new series of biodegradable pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs), marketed under the Cyabines eries of polyurethane PSAs, suitable for materials for the packaging, construction, agriculture, etc.

By using plant-derived raw materials, the Cyabine adhesive achieves a biomass content on a dry weight basis of up to 45%. This means the product can reduce CO2 emissions throughout the lifecycle of the newly developed product, without compromising on adhesive performance.

The new PSA system demonstrates biodegradation rates of 60% or higher after 60 days. When combined with other biodegradable materials used in a wide range of products, it helps to improve the overall biodegradability of these products.

French print software developer Caldera has added drivers for the new HP Latex 700 and 800 printers to its award-winning RIP program. CalderaRIP Version 14 can now be used to operate all four of the new HP Latex models, enabling HP users to get the most out of the new technology with drivers they already know and trust. The certification of the new drivers will ensure that Caldera continues to offer continuity and serve customers’ needs in the fast-moving digital print market.

The new additions to the HP Latex range offer a combination of consistent, high-quality printing on a wide range of substrates with fast turnaround times. With speeds of up to 334 square feet per hour for the Latex 700 and up to 388 square feet per hour for the Latex 800, these printers are also extraordinarily versatile – applications include textile, banners, signage, vehicle wraps, home décor, packaging, transparent vinyl, window and backlit printing. The Latex 700W and 800W have additionally been optimized for white ink, expanding the range of these printers even further. Used in combination with CalderaRIP Version 14 they deliver excellent productivity gains, and promise a fast return on investment.

Plastic pollution has become one of the most persistent environmental concerns, as a constant increase of the demand and production of disposable plastic products, overpassing the environment’s ability to decompose them. Sadly, the plastics industry fails to recognize the propagation of social and political changes regarding single-use plastics, especially, plastics made from fossil fuels.

Plastic pollution is an issue that stresses worldwide cooperation, similar to climate change. Studies reveal that the production of plastics from fossil fuel is only cost effective when the components not used for plastics are used for energy production, treating plastic more as a byproduct of the industry. Therefore, if the industry transitions away from fossil fuels, and towards renewable resources, then the production of wasteful single-use plastic could be severely reduced, if not completely eliminated.

Regardless of the benefits, 3D printing generates large amounts of waste, to enumerate some, starting from the result of failed prints to rejected support structures. Furthermore, the ability to create components without machining or tools causes that many prints are used as disposable prototypes.

Generally, most “Eco-Friendly” plastic filaments aren’t easy to find and neither a cheap alternative, but recycled filament could be an option that helps reduce the CO2 footprint, following the criteria of the 6R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Redesign and Remanufacture), PLA (polylactic acid) and ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) are the most promising regarding the fabrication of “green” filament, ranging from a factory process to a domestic plastic extruder.

ABS is a petroleum derivate product, generally recyclable and PLA is biodegradable and bioactive thermoplastic derived from resources such as corn, roots, sugarcane and other renewable resources.

Nowadays, market offers various filaments made from second hand PLA, PET, ABS, and HIPS. Re-Filament, a Dutch startup company made filament from recycled plastic bottles (PET) and old car dashboards (ABS), other commercially available filament spools from HIPS are made from old refrigerators or automotive parts.

The Jeti Tauro H3300 UHS LED is Agfa’s new flagship, targeted to the high end of the sign & display market. The UV LED inkjet engine prints media up to 3.3 m wide in four or six colors at a speed up to 600 m²/h.

“The Jeti Tauro was already a synonym for highly productive hybrid printing with advanced automation, yet with the Jeti Tauro H3300 UHS LED, we have raised the bar even more,” says Reinhilde Alaert, product manager sign & display at Agfa. “When developing this new flagship, we went all out to make it fit for extreme workloads. On top of that, it is a versatile all-in-one machine that can print rigids and sheets as well as roll materials at the highest quality and the lowest ink consumption. It is the epitome of our ‘Extreme Productivity. Extreme Quality.”

On March 9th, Agfa will host a virtual event dedicated to the new Jeti Tauro H3300 UHS LED under the heading “Meet the beast.” Presentations covering market trends, as well as the new printer’s features and benefits, will be alternated with expert talks about applications and advanced workflow and color management.