Environmental Considerations is the sixth Web Offset Champion Group’s best practice guide. It looks at the underlying issues of the 4Es of Energy, Economy, Efficiency, Ecology and how to improve business performance from the 4Rs - Redesign, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Environmental Best Practice for Web Offset Printers

Web offset production is a complex flow of raw material inputs, some of which incur waste during production, plus an output of the finished job — along with other liquid and solid waste.

Reduction of process waste is economically important as energy prices have hit the roof and are unlikely to return to previous levels; the costs of water and waste disposal are climbing; and most raw materials have increased in cost. Waste is often seen as valueless but its recycling/re-use value can be much higher than the cost of its disposal — it includes all materials and packaging used in the production process.

Benefits of an environmental manufacturing strategy

One of the guide’s key findings of the guide is that an environmental policy integrated into a manufacturing strategy has compelling business advantages. These include the opportunity to reduce costs, increase competitiveness, become more innovative and enhance staff and customer confidence, whilst avoiding the potentially expensive risks of non-compliance.

In many cases, companies may also qualify for funding opportunities, tax incentives and reduced insurance premiums. In addition, environmentally aware printers benefit from an increasingly positive brand value perception, particularly as more and more of their customers are adopting third-party certified Corporate Social Responsibility reporting. Businesses that take only a minimum compliance approach miss all of these opportunities and have a higher risk of fines and remedial costs.

‘For this guide, we have been able to draw from the resources and experience of Quad/Graphics who have implemented pro-active environmental programmes that are economically effective,’ commented Randall Freeman, vice president of Business Development of QuadTech and a member of WOCG.

There is significant scope to reduce the toxicity and volume of chemistry in the offset printing process. This includes alcohol-free fountain solutions, vegetable cleaning agents and inks, and a new generation of virtually process-free plates. Computer hardware and software have already played critical roles in finding non-chemical prepress alternatives. Good maintenance is also environmentally important because it helps reduce energy, waste, cleaning materials and noise, plus it facilitate health and safety compliance.