The speed of industrial development in the world today is staggering, and the resulting industrial pollution is also shocking. Toxic industrial waste water, exhaust gas, solid waste, etc. are gradually engulfing our homes. At the same time, more and more people are beginning to care about our living environment and are beginning to realize the importance of environmental protection for sustainable development. Today, environmental protection has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
At present, printing companies all over the world are advocating environmental protection, and are stepping up the research and development of green materials and pollution-free printing methods. Among them, the most outstanding one is the US Ecoprint company. They not only develop environmentally friendly papers, cooperate with ink manufacturers, improve ink production lines, remove environmentally harmful ingredients from an early age, use pollution-free fountain solution substitutes ... even energy is generated by pollution-free wind power. Summarizing the production experience in recent years, combined with the current technical status, we can make efforts from the following aspects to reduce the pollution of printing to the environment.
Use environmentally friendly ink
Ink is indispensable in the printing industry and is used in large amounts, but it is also the most serious hazard to human health and the environment. The first is volatile organic compounds VOC. The volatilization of the ink solvent will cause a serious greenhouse effect, form photochemical smog, and damage the human nervous system. The second is the heavy metal elements such as tongs, chromium, and mercury in the ink pigment. Ink is used to print food packaging or items that are in close contact with the human body, and the consequences are unimaginable. In order to reduce the damage of ink to the environment, it is necessary to use new non-polluting ink.
UV curing ink
UV-curable ink refers to the irradiation of ultraviolet light with different wavelengths to make the ink change from liquid to solid, and to form a film and dry. Because this ink does not contain any volatile solvents, there is no VOC or other harmful substances emissions, pollution is almost zero , Is a truly environmentally friendly ink. It also has the advantages of good gloss, bright colors, and fast drying speed, making it an ideal Shanmo ink. At present, the UV ink technology is relatively mature, but when using it, it is necessary to prevent ultraviolet rays from harming the operators and avoiding the generation of ozone. These problems can be solved by equipping the operator with UV-resistant work clothes and rubber gloves and constantly blowing air around the UV lamp.
Water-based ink
This ink uses water and ethanol as solvents, VOC emissions are extremely low, environmental pollution is small, and it does not endanger human health. It is the only ink currently approved by the American Food and Drug Association among all printing inks. In the United States, 95% of flexo products are printed with water-based inks. In addition, it has the characteristics of non-flammability, bright colors, non-corrosive plate, good adhesion and strong water resistance. It should be noted that the water-based Shan ink is generally alkaline, therefore, the waste water for cleaning the ink tank, ink roller and printing plate should be precipitated by adding acidic substances before discharging, otherwise it will cause water pollution.
Water-based UV ink
Since the thinner of the currently used UV ink is toxic and irritating to the skin, this thinner should be improved. Water-based Uv ink was born under this background, it uses ethanol and water as diluents. This ink has good environmental protection characteristics of the above two inks.
New environmental protection ink
For example, vegetable oil ink, currently the most used is soybean oil. The American Soybean Oil Association standard stipulates that the content of soybean oil in sheet-fed offset printing ink is more than 20%, and the content of soybean oil in rotary offset printing ink is more than 7%. Osaka Printing Ink Company of Japan has also recently launched a new type of environmentally friendly ink, which is a sheet-fed offset printing ink. It is a 100% vegetable oil ink based on soybean oil, which meets environmental protection requirements.
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R & D and use
Non-contaminated film and developer
Since not all enterprises are currently capable of adopting CTP and digital proofing processes, laser imagesetters are also everywhere, and the use of silver-containing films has become an inevitable problem. The wastewater contains silver ions during fixing, which can cause damage to the environment. The harm of the developer can not be ignored. The developer is usually hydroquinone and other harmful drugs. Long-term exposure will cause hair loss and skin redness, and serious eye diseases.
Now there is a dry film imaging technology, using a special film can solve the above problems. It does not have the exposure and development process of traditional film, and does not require any chemicals to be imaged, so it is called "green film".
Using CTP and digital proofing
Computer direct platemaking technology directly outputs the RIP graphic information to the printing plate through the computer, removes the film as an intermediate link, reduces the steps of film output, development, fixing and printing in the platemaking, greatly reducing silver, The discharge of waste liquid such as hydroquinone, which is harmful to the human body and the environment, also reduces the harm of ultraviolet light to the human body and the pollution of the air, which brings good news to environmental protection.
The digital proofing technology corresponding to CTP is gradually phasing out the traditional proofing process of film making. Digital proofing and CTP technology together announced the advent of the era of digital printing, and also announced that after years of use, films with hidden environmental pollution risks are about to withdraw from the printing market. Heavy metals and toxic developers that are more harmful to humans and the environment will no longer be used. This technology will undoubtedly accelerate the pace of printing towards environmental protection.
However, CTP and digital proofing technology are not perfect. At present, because CTP has not yet been mass-produced, the price is relatively high and the cost of use is relatively large. Only a few large enterprises are willing to purchase, while many other small and medium-sized enterprises still use the traditional plate making method with lower cost. The same is true for digital proofing. Not only is the machine expensive, but the proofing cost is about twice that of the traditional one. These factors have restricted the development of environmentally friendly printing technology.
Vigorously promote flexible printing
Because of its good printing quality, wide printing materials, low investment and high efficiency, and good environmental performance, flexo printing has developed rapidly in developed countries such as Europe and the United States. An important reason why flexo is unique in the packaging field is that it uses water-based inks and does not contain toxic organic matter, which is in line with the green development trend of modern packaging and printing. The biggest feature of water-based ink is that it significantly reduces VOC emissions, thereby reducing air pollution and improving the working environment of the printing workshop. Because of its environmental protection characteristics, it is especially suitable for packaging and printing of food, beverages, medicines and other items.
Flexo printing can also use solvent-free UV ink, so there is no solvent emissions and no environmental pollution. In short, due to the use of environmentally friendly green materials for flexographic printing, the range of applications is constantly expanding, and it is the leader in packaging and printing. Therefore, to achieve green printing, we must vigorously promote flexographic printing.
Try waterless offset printing and alcohol-free printing
Waterless offset printing uses a printing plate coated with silicone resin that repels ink. The removal of the coating on the graphic part can absorb the ink and realize the transfer of the graphic. Therefore, no fountain solution is needed to achieve water-ink balance. The fountain solution contains volatile organic compounds such as volatile isopropyl alcohol, which will be inhaled by the human body for a long time, which will affect the function of the kidneys and lungs, and even cause dermatitis or damage to the nervous system. The inks generally used for waterless offset printing are soybean oil inks and aromatic hydrocarbon-free inks. They do not produce VOCs, so they will not affect the human body and the environment. Therefore, removing the fountain solution and using non-solvent inks can be said to be a major contribution of waterless offset printing to environmental protection.
In addition to removing the fountain solution in the production process, we can also look for its substitutes to reduce the harm of IPA to workers' health and the environment. Alcohol-free printing just meets the requirements. This substitute is mainly composed of one or two chemicals such as ethylene glycol and ether plus other additives, and has better environmental performance. Of course, the use of substitutes will also bring some new problems. For example, the new fountain solution evaporates too slowly, which is not conducive to the cooling of the machine, and the substitutes do not have alcohol to disinfect the dampening system.
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Open up the digital printing market
Because digital printing is directly from the computer to the printed matter, no film or printing plate is needed, eliminating many intermediate steps of traditional printing, and avoiding the use of toxic chemicals such as developer. Digital printing uses a new imaging technology, which can largely avoid a series of problems caused by the volatilization of organic solvents in the process of image and text transfer in traditional printing. The main imaging principles of digital printing are as follows:
Electrostatic photography
Its basic principle is to use laser scanning to form an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductor, then use the Coulomb force between the charged toner and the electrostatic latent image to realize the visualization of the latent image, and finally transfer the toner to the substrate . Since electrostatic photography uses toner, no volatile organic compounds are produced during the entire printing process, which is a non-polluting imaging technology.
Inkjet printing
The ink is ejected from the fine nozzle onto the substrate at a certain speed, and finally the ink image is reproduced through the interaction of the ink and the substrate. According to the inkjet method, it is divided into continuous inkjet and on-demand inkjet.
Magnetic recording imaging
This technology relies on the magnetic material to form a latent image under the action of an external magnetic field, then uses the interaction of magnetic toner and the magnetic force of the latent image to complete the visualization of the latent image, and finally transfers the magnetic toner to the substrate to complete the printing .
Electrocoagulation imaging
The electrochemical reaction causes the ink to agglomerate, so that the ink is fixed on the surface of the imaging drum to form an image, and the ink that has not reacted in the non-graphic part is still liquid and can be scraped off. Finally, the ink fixed on the surface of the cylinder can be transferred to the substrate by the action of pressure.
Eliminate laminating and plastic coating processes
In order to be beautiful and protect the mountains, many prints are now covered with plastic film, but this process will cause serious environmental pollution. First of all, it will cause white pollution like the plastic products we usually use. The film covering the surface of the printed matter is as difficult to degrade as other plastic products, and benzene is involved in the processing, which is harmful to the human body. In addition, the coated paper cannot be recycled, wasting resources. The source of cellulose for papermaking in China is recycled old paper, which is made into pulp after deinking and recycled. However, the coated paper cannot be recycled. On the contrary, if simply incinerated, it will cause secondary pollution. The laminating process also often has problems such as blistering, wrinkling, and film shedding. Therefore, the lamination and plastic coating process is a technology that is harmful to the environment. We should avoid using this post-press processing process.
Use environmentally friendly glazing paint
Like post-print glazing, it can also protect the cover and improve the gloss of the printed product, but the process is simpler than the film and the cost is lower. In the past, solvent-based varnishes were used. VOC will evaporate during use, which is very unsafe and causes great damage to the environment. The new water-based glazing oil and UV glazing oil do not contain solvents and can be widely used. Especially in the field of packaging and printing, water-based varnish will not cause harm to human body, and has been widely used in the packaging of cigarette labels, wine labels, food packaging bags and other products.
In addition to the above main ways, as long as we are a caring person in production practice, we will find more ways to improve the printing process and achieve green printing. In short, printed matter is everywhere, and printing is closely related to people. Green printing is not only related to the long-term interests of the printing industry itself, but also related to the coordinated development of the whole society. How to realize green printing, each enterprise should formulate a reasonable plan according to its actual situation. Only in this way can the sustainable development of the printing industry be achieved and the printing industry prosper.
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