Pay attention to green printing, environmental protection materials first
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The gradual improvement of people's awareness of environmental protection has prompted more and more people to pay attention to the adverse effects of printing on the environment and human health. Here, the author will introduce the materials that may cause pollution in the pre-press plate making, printing and post-press processing, as well as the development trend of environmentally friendly materials in the future.
Prepress platemaking
1. Film
When using photographic film for plate making, the discharge of developer will seriously pollute the environment, so with the advancement of printing environmental protection process, the use of photographic film will be less and less, instead it will be inkjet film, and then no longer need Contaminated developer and fixer.
2. Plate
Different printing methods use different environmentally friendly printing plates. In the future, offset printing will use CTP aluminum plate flushed with chemical-free liquid, no need for highly contaminated organic developer; flexo will use laser-cut low-contamination rubber plate or resin CTP plate, and use water to develop; gravure will be used The electronic engraving method no longer uses the etching copper plate method; the screen printing will use a low-pollution environmentally friendly screen and a photosensitive film, and use water to develop; digital printing will use an erasable printing plate.
3. Refrigeration refrigerant (refrigerant)
Due to the old Freon (R22) snow, it has been proven to destroy the ozone layer. Therefore, the CTP equipment and the refrigeration system of the plate processor and the fountain solution cooling system will choose the "Environmental Snow" (R134a, R410a) compressor. .
Printing link
1. Ink
Offset printing uses inks made from soy oil-based solvents, resins, heavy metal-free pigments or dyes; gravure and flexo printing are water-based inks and are the future trend. In addition, the use of paper cans or ink in large drums is a way to save energy and reduce waste.
2. Dampening solution
Traditional dampening solutions contain alcohol or isopropanol. By evaporation and discharge, VOC is produced, which pollutes the atmosphere and the environment. Currently, although there are alcohol-free fountain solutions, it may emit more VOCs. I have seen some kind of alcohol-free fountain solution, which really reduces the pollution of alcohol to the environment, but the VOC emissions of the added replacement agent are much higher than the VOC emissions of alcohol. Printing companies no longer use alcohol dampening solution, it must be the future trend.
3. Spraying powder
Nowadays, the powder used for dusting has been changed to starch, because calcium carbonate powder is heavy and difficult to fly, but it is harmful to human body and its use will be limited.
In the future, it will be possible to switch to LED UV-curable inks or water-based glazing.
4. Ink roller
Most offset ink rollers use NBR vulcanization. However, for many printed materials that are prohibited from exceeding the standard of phosphorus, the use of such an ink roller during printing causes precipitation of phosphide and is transferred to the paper by the ink, thereby causing harm to the human body. With the advancement of the times, the printing industry has also introduced the corresponding environmentally friendly ink roller.
5. Cycle oil
Most presses use circulating oils (especially circulating oils with special additives) to lubricate and cool, but they all produce VOCs that affect the health of the operator. In addition, in addition to recycling some of the waste cycle oil, the general printing company will discharge a considerable part of the waste cycle oil into the sewer, thus seriously polluting the environment.
6. Lighting tube
The printing workshop is an area that consumes a lot of lighting power, so it can be replaced with a T5 lighting tube instead of a T8 lighting tube. Although this change is small, the effect is remarkable. According to the author's understanding, a printing company uses this method to save nearly 1.5 million yuan in electricity bills every year, and after installing nano-reflective sheets on the basis of T5 lighting tubes, it can save more than 1.4 million per year. Electricity is used, which also reduces the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by power generation.
Post-press processing
1. Varnish
Waterborne glazing oil is divided into bright and matt type. Although the main components are water-soluble resins, most water-based glazing oils are still organic pollution varnishes. It will pollute the environment by volatilization and discharge, especially when cleaning, it requires a lot of water, which is wasteful and not environmentally friendly.
UV coatings do not contain VOC, but existing UV coatings also have other environmentally unfriendly aspects, such as containing special odors, ozone emissions, high energy consumption, glazing film degradation, and difficult recycling.
At present, the technical requirements for environmental labeling products announced by the state have clearly stipulated that the glazing oil should not contain harmful substances such as DINP, DNOP, DEHP, DIDP, BBP, DBP, etc., and stipulates that all kinds of heavy metals and other chemical substances contained in it cannot exceed the standard. .
2. Plastic oil
Blister oils are usually formulated from ester/ketone solvents and thermoplastic polyurethane resins for bonding between paperboard and plastic films such as PP, PET, and PVC. Environmentally friendly plastic oil is mostly water-based plastic oil.
3. Adhesive
The adhesives used in post-press processing are mainly classified into the following categories according to their uses.
(1) Adhesive for binding: At present, hot melt adhesive (EVA) is commonly used, which generates odor and pollutes indoor air during hot melt processing. However, in the future, PUR adhesive will gradually replace hot melt adhesive. PUR adhesive has more advantages than hot melt adhesive and is more environmentally friendly. However, due to cost reasons, the promotion of PUR adhesives will take time, and the introduction of HJ/T 220-2005 “Technical Requirements for Environmental Labeling Products” will help accelerate this process.
(2) Adhesive for crepe paper: It is mainly used for the bonding of color box paper and corrugated paper. Most of the materials used at present are water-based white latex. HJ/T 220-2005 "Technical Requirements for Environmental Labeling Products" has restrictions on the content of benzene, toluene and hydrocarbons.
(3) Adhesives for paste boxes: mainly water-based or environmentally friendly white latex or polyurethane coated rubber (PU), the pollution degree has been reduced much compared with the earlier solvent-based glue.
(4) Adhesive for film coating: HJ/T 220-2005
The "Technical Requirements for Environmental Labeling Products" has specified that the filming glue must be a water-based adhesive, and the total amount of benzene, xylene and halogenated hydrocarbons must not exceed the standard.
(5) Adhesives for enamel: mainly starch or corn glue, used for the bonding of corrugated core paper and facial paper, which has basically met environmental protection standards.
4. Riding nails / nailing wire
In bookbinding and cartoning, people began to pay attention to the harm caused by lead or other heavy metals contained in the wire to the human body, especially infants and young children. Therefore, there are “green wire” products with heavy metal limits on the market.
5. Hot foil
At present, hot foils mainly include hot foil and cold foil. Gold foil materials must have metallic luster, so most of them contain components such as anodized aluminum, backing, release agent, and coloring agent. People pay more attention to whether they contain harmful substances such as formalin and formaldehyde. Since many environmental regulations stipulate that all kinds of harmful substances in printed materials should be banned or not exceeded, there are many hot foil products in the market that meet environmental protection requirements.
In the future, printed materials will be developed in the direction of low VOC emissions, low heavy metal content, low energy consumption processing, recyclability, and environmental protection that does not harm human and environmental safety. At present, 103 printing companies in China have passed the green certification. Perhaps after the number of printing companies that have passed the green certification reaches a certain number, the state will issue relevant mandatory regulations. At present, European and American countries have entered the era of product carbon footprint, and sooner or later the country will follow suit. Therefore, printing enterprises should realize environmental protection, energy conservation and emission reduction as soon as possible to enhance their own competitiveness.