Print Buying Direct

Green Printing – Packaging and the environment – 29th June 2010
Packaging is a prime target for complaints by environmentalists, who often see a printed carton as unnecessary, a waste of the earth’s valuable resources, or as litter in the gutter. They forgot that packaging can reduce waste: in countries using sophisticated packaging methods, food waste can be virtually nil; without it, wasted food levels through damage or rotting are much, much higher.

Litter is probably one of the most visible forms of pollution encountered by us all every day. A solution for it is very difficult to find, particularly if it is taken to include all aspects from individually discarded food wrappers, newspapers and the like to larger scale tipping of household or industrial rubbish unauthorised areas for quickness and cheapness. In fact, packaging plays a relatively minor part in what gets into the local rubbish tip.

Packaging is the target of the forthcoming EC Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. Individual country initiatives such as the German Duales System Deutschland, allow for the setting-up of independent private waste collection outside the normal household system, so that the packaging could be collected separately and subsequent recycling ensured. Each package registered in the system is printed with the ‘Green Dot’ logo, for which a fee is paid, the income so generated going to pay for the collection scheme.

The German preference is for recycling above all other methods of disposal of packaging. Targets in the draft EC Directive are given as 60% recycling, 30% incineration and only 10% landfill within ten years. The French Eco-Emballage System and proposed Belgian Eco-Tax on packaging not including certain quantities of recycled materials, all seek to reinforce this dependence on recycling.

The UK relies mainly on land filling for disposal; of packaging, but the Government is now considering action with regard to encouraging waste collection and segregation for recycling taxation to discourage the use of landfill, increased re-use of some packaging, greater use of incineration with heat recovery, and council (or private) charges to enhance collection and segregation.

Careful consideration is being given to a wide range of options from an environmental, economic and practical point of View by central and local governments and industry.

Areas requiring significant discussion within such plans are the funding mechanism, practical application and end-use markets for recycled grades. Industry must and is establishing baseline data for wastes generated, materials which are recyclable, and end-use suitability.

In the UK, industry-based groups such as the British Carton Association and the Cellulose Fibre Industry Group (CEFIG) are very active in collecting data from membership, intiating industry activity, and lobbying and providing information to Government bodies.

Packaging companies such as Fields are considering the problem of solid waste management from several areas, including:

• Manufacturing waste generated during the conversion of raw materials into packaging products.
• Secondary wastes resulting from ancillary materials used for wrapping, and the protection of raw materials, and containers for liquid products such as inks and glues.
• Post conversion waste, such as household waste, which relies on consumer participation for further use.

Manufacturing waste results from the production of packaging in tow main forms. The first is trim waste due to the complicated shapes of packs, needed to hold a variety of finished goods. It is not possible to completely interlock and butt across a sheet of material or to produce three dimensional shapes without facilities to hold the shape as it is formed, and with these areas being trimmed-off or stripped-out later. Good planning and manufacturing practises ensure this type of waste is always minimised.

The second main source of industrial waste is a product being rejected as substandard, either as materials supplied to the printer or the printer’s products themselves. Again, improved production efficiencies and control, and the implementation of standard audited operating and quality assurance procedures to BS 5750 are minimising such wastes.

Post-industrial board waste generated during carton manufacture enters into a recycling system which allows in excess of 80% of the waste to be utilised, with market sectors continually being evaluated to make best use of these recycled materials, a very efficient, industry-based recycled system is in place and operative.

The types of materials used for packaging are very specific to their end use and food packaging in particular is strictly controlled both by the industry as a recognised need to protect consumers, and by legislation means under government control (notably the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations).

Recycled materials, because of their generally variable composition, are generally not allowed to come into direct contact with food, but recycled fibres are used as the bulk of boards such as white-lined chip with an outer virgin or coating layer. An example of the control of materials is the restrictions being placed on the use of heavy metals in packaging, or components of packaging. Ink makers are thus being forced to confirm that their products contain extremely low levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium even though these materials are not deliberately used in formulation but may be present as trace impurities. The possibility of taint or odour impeding product quality is rigorously tested by all suppliers, convertors and food manufacturers.

All of these points illustrate the technology required to produce the raw materials for packaging, and the rigorous procedures and test systems needed to convert these materials into safe, reliable packs for consumer.

The moves that paper and board makers are making to produce their products in a more environmentally-friendly way are described elsewhere in this publication, but it is perhaps worth mentioning that it is important in packaging to develop material grades that allow the overall weight of material per pack to be reduced.

As a major carton manufacturing company, Field Group Ltd is involved in many industrial group activities and internally is applying BS 7750- the Environmental Management Systems Standard- and developing a Life Cycle Analysis database for specific material grade and product comparisons. We are thus committed to playing our part in improving the environment.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

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For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

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Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

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• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

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Green Printing – Emissions to air – 14th June 2010

The introduction of the UK Environmental Protection Act during 1990 and the planned harmonisation of environmental control legislation throughout the member states of the European Community has focussed the printing industry’s attention upon the often ignored topic of pollution control.

In particular, both the current and the new legislation proposed requires that printing companies install recognised equipment to control and curb the discharge of solvent contaminants to atmosphere, meeting set standards and achieving such standards within an established and well-publicised timeframe.

However, for print companies now forced, probably for the first time, to look seriously at the issue of emissions control, the choice of which system to install is not straightforward one, with a greater variety of control technology now available than ever before, each claiming significant advantages and disadvantages over its competitors.

One thing is clear, however, and that is that no single control system can be recommended for all applications, with the final choice of department upon the type of printing process, the different substrates and inks used and the drying techniques applied, the election of an optimum system for each printing plant requires an inherent understanding of all these variables, complemented and environmental costs associated with the use of the many emission control techniques now available.

Indeed, the environmental impact associated with the use of each individual emission control technique is now being given due consideration both by those drafting the governing legislation and by those recommending and installing the appropriate control technology.

Clearly, there seems little long-term environmental benefit in using a system which, although effective at removing an immediate and easily identifiable contaminant, merely replaces it as a natural by-product of the cleaning process, with an equally harmful alternative or alternatives. It is for the reason that the Environmental Protection Act when drafted banded the emission control limits in order to promote the use of pollution control techniques which are in themselves environmentally benign.

The major printing techniques subject to the imposition of emission control legislation include:
•    Heat-set web offset
•    Rotogravure
•    Flexography
•    Screen
Those techniques are utilised for a wide range of substrates, involving a variety of ink formulations and drying processes. Each of these variables will contribute towards the type and quantity of volatiles organic compound (VOC) emitted to atmosphere; variables which dictate the choice of pollution control system for each application.

In general, within the printing industry, the following techniques of VOC emission reduction can be used:
Destructive
•    Thermal incineration
•    Catalytic incineration
•    Biological incineration
Non-destructive (i.e. solvent recovery)
•    Carbon adsorption
•    Condensing filtration
•    Absorption (oil scrubbing)
Substitution
•    Water-based inks
•    Radiation-curable inks
The emission controls techniques are most commonly used in printing industry are thermal and catalytic incineration, carbon absorption and condensing filtration. Each technique has a number of advantages and disadvantages when applied to exhaust emissions arising from the different printing processes and these must be taken into account when deciding upon the type of system to install.

Peter Harrison is Joint MD of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

NEW: We now sell Large Poster Printing and Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

We have great online print prices Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing. For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website. For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Green Printing – Contaminated wastes
• Green Printing – Photographic and litho plate wastes – Compliance with consent limits
• Green Printing – Transfer of waste
• Green Printing – Duty of Care- waste producers

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run, long run and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Ireland.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

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• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
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• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’

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Green Printing – Contaminated wastes – 10th June 2010
Contaminated cleaning rags should either be sent for laundering or disposed of by a licensed company. These may fall within the special wastes category when contaminated with certain toxic or highly flammable materials.

Waste management options – the way forward
In view of rising costs printers should first look at ways of minimising or eliminating wastes by, for instance, switching to more efficient processes or managing existing processes as efficiently as possible. In-plant treatments such as fixer and water recycling and silver recovery should be considered as savings can be significant.

Preferred options are:

1)    minimise or eliminate waste
Plate/film and plate processors offer significant savings in energy, chemicals and water. It is essential that processors are adjusted properly to get the maximum mileage out of the chemicals.
All too often we find that customers discard process solutions long before they are exhausted. For instance, the performance of aqueous-based negative plate developers, which have improved enormously in recent years, is rarely achieved in practice. Usage rate is approximately 50m2 of plates per litre of developer. Average performance is usually around 20m2 per litre of developer.

Exactly the same occurs with film chemistry. The advantages of using high performance systems are frequently lost due to failure to maximise working parameters.

The moral of the story is- re-examine working practices, consult your supplier, don’t throw away because it’s Friday.

a) Press roller washes
The large volumes of waste and the high cost of disposal by incineration make it worthwhile looking at alternative methods by cleaning rollers. There is equipment on the market which virtually eliminates the use or organic solvents and removes the ink by the use of high pressure water jets. The effluent contains water, ink residues and small quantities of detergent which could be disposed to sewers once the ink residues are removed.

2) Recycling
The technology of recycling photographic chemicals and revering sliver from chemical and film waste is well established and it is common practice to send fixers and film to specialist companies for sliver recovery.

The returns on the silver values are diminishing as the reclamation companies are facing increasing environmental costs.

It therefore makes send to look at in house recycling systems. Most major manufacturers have an impressive array of hardware to offer.

Reduction in wastes can be considerable with 80 to 85% reduction on fixers and approximately 60% savings on developers. Water and disposal costs are rising and water recycling with savings of around 80% is looking attractive for the larger user. Paybacks can be impressive. Customers are finding that this can sometimes be achieved within two years.

a)    Packaging waste
In anticipation of EC directives packaging, manufacturers are already taking steps to recue package volumes and to make it more environmentally acceptable. Re-use of smaller plastic containers is not practicable due to fears of cross contamination. However, we now have a recyclable plastic bottle where every component, including the label, is made out of the same plastic.

Containers of hazardous liquids have to meet stringent performance requirements and currently it is only technically possible to use 30% of recovered plastic in the recycled bottle. There remains a problem of finding suitable outlets for the remaining 70% of recovered plastic.

Container recycling is not well advanced in the UK but the situation will undoubtedly improve with time.

Other ways of reducing packaging include the use of larger containers, bulk delivery to tanks on customer sites and supplying process chemicals in powder form which greatly reduces the packaging and makes it easier to dispose of.

B) Waste collection services
Manufacturers cannot by law collect and treat customer’s waste unless they register themselves as licensed carriers and disposal contractors. It makes sense for industry to work in conjunction with specialist companies which have the facilities and know-how.

Milk-round collections schemes are now starting to appear in the UK for the collection and disposal of photographic wastes. These schemes work on a voucher system where the customer buys a disposal voucher at the same time that he purchases the product. The way forward is to provide a comprehensive service dealing with all printing wastes, including packaging. Many manufacturers are currently looking at the logistics of such a scheme.

There is no doubt that considerable progress has already been made and that if the industry gets its act together significant reductions in waste can be achieved. We can also anticipate that performance will continue to improve as demand for environmentally acceptable technology increases.

Peter Harrison is Joint MD of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

NEW: We now sell Large Poster Printing and Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

We have great online print prices Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing. For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website. For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Green Printing – Photographic and litho plate wastes – Compliance with consent limits
• Green Printing – Transfer of waste
• Green Printing – Duty of Care- waste producers
• Green Printing – Management of printing wastes
  

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run, long run and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Ireland.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

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See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

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Green Printing – Disposal to sewers – 25th May 2010
Generally, the impact of printing wastes at large municipal sewage works is low as the volume discharged is small in comparison with domestic waste and greatly diluted by the time is reaches the treatment works. As a result water companies have rarely placed limitations on discharges from printing works except where volumes were large or the effluent contained materials which are difficult to treat.

It therefore comes as a shock to many companies to find that it has been an offence since 1973 to discharge trade waste to sewers without first obtaining a permit (Consent to Discharge) from local water company. It is also now a breach of the Duty of Care requirements to discharge wastes without consent. Here again, the situation is changing as discharges from sewage works into rivers or coastal waters which are regulated by the National Rivers Authority (NRA) are now being closely monitored and tightly controlled. In turn, water companies are now starting to place stricter controls on discharges to sewers.

Consent limits
The consent will place a number of limitations on the wastes that can be discharged to sewers. These limits vary widely throughout the UK and can even vary within a town depending on local circumstances and capacity of the sewage works to which you discharge.

Whilst most printers discharge to sewage plants, there are a few which discharge direct to streams or to septic tank systems. That’s unfortunate as the capability of septic tanks to deal with industrial wastes is somewhat limited and the limits for discharge into surface waters set by the NRA can be extremely tough. In practice it may not be possible to discharge trade wastes of any description.

Limits are likely to be based on the following parameters:

•    pH- typically in range pH 6-10.
•    Heavy metals- (sliver) – typically 2-5mg/litre. Limits in the UK can be as low as 1mg to as high as 8mg/litre depending on location.
•    Solvents- generally discharges of highly flammable or water-immiscible wastes are forbidden.
•    Volume- based on average water use.
Fresh water should not normally be added to effluents to bring the concentrations within the permitted limits.

Limitations may also be placed on the amount of undissolved solid materials present in the outgoing effluent. A chemical or biological oxygen demand (COD or BOD) limit may be placed on large volume discharges. This parameter measure the amount of oxygen required to degrade organic materials present in the waste stream.

It is sometimes assumed that suppliers are responsible for taking care of customers’ waste and negotiating consent limits with the authorities. Not so, the law clearly places the onus for this on the waste producer. However, manufacturers appreciate that customers do require assistance and will provide relevant information and advice about waste arising from their products and processes.

When negotiating with the authorities you should take the following factors into consideration:
•    The volume of chemicals and waste anticipated per week or per month etc.
•    The volume of water used during the same period.
•    Frequency and quantity of waste discharged.
•    Information on the nature of the waste.
•    Hazardous components etc.
•    Relevant safety information.

The waster companies will take all factors into consideration, including discharges from nearby companies. Many photographic and printing wastes will not fully comply with local discharges limits. In some cases waster companies may permit discharge of untreated wastes to sewers, particularly of the quantity is small, or if the effluent is discharged over an extended period, but don’t count on it.

Peter Harrison is Joint MD of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

NEW: We now sell Large Poster Printing and Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

We have great online print prices Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing. For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website. For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Green Printing – Transfer of waste
• Green Printing – Duty of Care- waste producers
• Green Printing – Management of printing wastes
• Green Printing – Biologically oxidising substances
  

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run, long run and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Ireland.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

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Green Printing – Transfer of waste - 18th May 2010
Waste can now only be removed from site by a licensed carrier and stored, treated, recycled or disposed at licensed facilities.

Each type of waste must be documented. This is done by means of a written transfer note, normally provided by the waste carrier or disposal contractor. Copies of the transfer notes must be kept for at least two years and are subject to inspection by the local waste regulations authority. Failure to maintain proper records is an offence.

Transfer notes should carry the following information:

• Description of the waste. This must accurately describe the wastes e.g. paper, wood, plastic containers, etc. it is not permissible to give a vague description such as ‘mixed waste’.
• Packaging- e.g. number of drums, weight etc.
• Details of firm collecting waste: name of person collecting the waste. Name and address of company, designation- e.g. waste carrier, plus registration number.
• Address where waste was collected, date of transfer. The note should be signed by both parties- the waste producer and by the person collecting the waste.

There is also a requirement to inform the carrier of any problems or hazards associated with handling the waste. Information on the wastes can be obtained by reference to product safety data sheets or from your supplier.

Multiple consignments
In the case where wastes are collected regularly it is permissible to have a single transfer note to cover multiple consignments shipped over a maximum period of one year. This is only valid provided the nature of the waste remains unchanged and that all other details on the transfer note also remain unchanged during that period.

It goes without saying that wastes placed in the waste containers should match up with the description given on the transfer note. This can be a problem where wastes are segregated, for instance when waste metal or paper is stored separately from other wastes. It is by no means unusual to find that wastes can end up in the wring container. Invariably this is not noticed until the waste arrives at the disposal facility.

Not only does this cause unnecessary expense in sorting and disposing of the waste, it is also a criminal offence by both parties. In serious cases, the carrier runs the risk of having his vehicle confiscated. Understandably, waste carriers could become extremely reluctant to do business if problems persist.

It is clearly good practice to impress on employees exactly how and why wastes should be segregated and placed in the correct containers.

Peter Harrison is Joint MD of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

NEW: We now sell Large Poster Printing and Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

We have great online print prices Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing. For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website. For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Green Printing – Duty of Care- waste producers
• Green Printing – Management of printing wastes
• Green Printing – Biologically oxidising substances
  

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run, long run and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Ireland.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

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Green Printing – Duty of Care- waste producers - 17th May 2010
Obligations are placed on everyone who is involved in the waste chain to manage controlled waste in a responsible manner.

• To ensure that no other person in the waste chain unwittingly breaks the Duty of Care requirements due to your actions or negligence.
• To prevent the escape of waste on your premises or during transfer.
• To ensure the waste is transferred to an authorise person such as a licensed carrier.
• To ensure that controlled wastes are properly documented and that sufficient information is given in writing to comply with Duty of Care requirements.
• To keep records of the wastes transferred and make them available on request to the authorities.

Responsibility placed on printers who produce the waste are not particularly onerous and should not be a problem for printing companies who maintain good housekeeping practices.

• Storage: wastes should be stored safely, managers should ensure that waste is packed properly and does not escape on site, or beyond the perimeter of the site.
• Liquid wastes should be stored with particular care as spillages to drains or soil can cause serious pollution problems which can be extremely costly for you to clean up.
• Large storage containers should be stored on an impervious hard staining area which is bounded by a low wall, or small containers on a drip tray to contain spillages. Extra requirements apply to the storage of special and highly flammable wastes.
• When security is a problem, for instance where there is no perimeter fence, it is recommended that lockable skips are used. May printing shops have no external storage areas, in which case the quantity of waste stored on site should be kept to a minimum?

Peter Harrison is Joint MD of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

NEW: We now sell Large Poster Printing and Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

We have great online print prices Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing. For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website. For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Green Printing – Management of printing wastes
• Green Printing – Biologically oxidising substances
• Green Printing – Chemical factors

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run, long run and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Ireland.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

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Green Printing – Management of printing wastes
The legacy if environmental damage left behind by former industries and the evidence that industry and society is continuing to pollute the planet at an increasing rare have left to demands for tighter controls. As a result, industry has, during the last 10 years, had to meet the challenges posed by an increasing volume of EC and UK legislation aimed to preventing further damage to the environment and ensuring that the polluter pays for the damage he has caused.

Environmental issues in the UK were focused sharply in 1990 with the introduction of the Environmental Protection Act. Since then a wide range of new regulations has been introduced under the umbrella of the Act which radically changes they way industry will have to manage its environmental affairs in future. There is much to come.

Nowhere is the effect of these regulations more apparent than on the issue of how industry manages its waste.

We all know about waste, all industries produce it, yet until recent years waste was not considered to be a major issue. Disposal was cheap, and printing waste either ended up in the sewers or was taken to the local landfill requirements relating to the management of wastes.

Why manage waste?
The Controlled Waste Regulations which came into force on the 1st April 1992 greatly extend the range of wastes which are subject to legal controls. The Duty of Care Regulations which came into force on the same sate impose obligations on all people involved in the waste chain to manage controlled wastes in a responsible manner. Failure to comply is a criminal offence which can result in prosecutions and fines. There is every indication that the authorities are monitoring waste movements closely and are prepared to prosecute.

At the same time, disposal costs, which have been rising steadily in recent years, are now escalating dramatically as tighter restrictions are placed on the operation of waste storage, treatment and disposal sites. Disposal facilities are becoming more difficult to find, no-one wants landfill tips or waste incinerators in their back yard. It is therefore important that companies should know the waste they produce, understand their legal obligations and have a clear understanding of the costs involved in managing their waste.

Controlled waste and Duty of Care
The Environmental Protection Act of 1990, under these regulations were made, defines waste in the broadest possible terms which can lead to uncertainty and misunderstanding. The courts have taken the line that waste should be defined from the viewpoint of the person who actually produces or disposes of the material.

For instance, would you regard the material discard as:

A waste, scrap an effluent or unwanted material arising from a process? Or is it contaminated, broken, worn out or spoiled material which is no longer suitable for its original purpose? If the answer to any of these is yes- its waste.

The controlled waste regulations define household, industrial and commercial wastes which are subject to regulatory control and to which the Duty of Care requirements apply. In practice this includes all wastes that the printing and graphic arts industry are likely to produce. Many materials which would not normally be considered waste come within this definition, for instance, scrap metal or chemicals which are sent away for recovery. Building and demolition waste arising from work carried out on your premises is also controlled waste.

Special wastes
Certain types of hazardous waste such as highly flammable solvents or corrosive wastes are subject to the Control of Pollution (Special Wastes) Regulations of 1980. These wastes are now subject to the Duty of Care requirements in addition to the conditions which apply under the special waste regulations.

To be continued…

Peter Harrison is Joint MD of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

NEW: We now sell Large Poster Printing and Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

We have great online print prices Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing. For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website. For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Green Printing – Biologically oxidising substances
• Green Printing – Chemical factors
• Green Printing – Waste

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run, long run and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Ireland.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

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Green Printing – Biologically oxidising substances – 29th April 2010
Biochemical oxygen demand or BOD5 means the amount of oxygen in mg/litre consumed by micro-organisms whilst breaking down a product (over five days). Products with a very high BOD rating being dumped into a river can lead to all the oxygen being consumed and any aquatic life killed (due to lack of breath!). Some examples of different BOD ratings are shown across:

BOD5 (mg O2/L)
Average domestic drainage water                300
Average photographic drainage water            200
Food stuff industry                        2,000-5,000
Cattle farm                            40,000

Nutrients
Nutrients are not toxic and do not use oxygen. However, they can cause excessive growth of micro-organisms (algae). Nutrients are substances such as phosphates and nitrates are substances such as phosphates and nitrates (e.g. used by the agricultural industry for fertiliser).

Practical solutions to ecology
But are there practical waste disposal solutions for today’s businesses working in hard recessionary times? Can you become greener and still have a viable, profitable business?

Suppliers such as Agfa have tried to address the industry’s waste disposal problems by offering a number of very practical and simple solutions.

• Equipment to cut chemical consumption (and costs).
• Equipment to cut silver levels in fixer and wash waste and to harvest the silver.
• Chemical collection service
• More environmentally friendly-packaging.

Agfa has a range of equipment that helps cut chemical usage and waste and gives a financial return. Agfas’ ecology equipment range, Ecomix, Ecosys FO8 and Ecosys FO3, is designed for small through to large volume users. It gives a wide number of benefits:

• Cuts fixer consumption by 75-95%
• Lower chemical costs
• Less waste packaging
• Constant silver recovery from the fixer means very little sliver is carried over into the wash water
• Sliver can be harvested at very high purity (96-98%)
• Developer and fixer mixed automatically with water. This means that the processor operator can work strictly to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) requirements.

This equipment is designed to provide a simple solution to waste reduction whilst allowing the customer to carry on working uninterrupted.

If you are a small volume user who doesn’t want to put waste to drain or the water board won’t grant you Consent to Discharge Licence, there is a solution. Set up in June 1992, Agfa offers a chemical collection service. Vouchers are available for different size collections: 20 litres, 200 litres, 400 litres and 1000 litres. The service provides containers to store the waste, labels to identify the waste and finally licensed authorised and audited companies to transport and dispose of the waste. All the Government’s legal dos and don’ts have been incorporated into the voucher, making the system simple, easy to use and legal.

New- style packaging
All of Agfa’s packaging materials are undergoing changes to make them environmentally-friendly and to ensure them conform to legislation not only in the UK but the rest of the world. Some of the changes so far include:

Chemical bottles
Chemical bottles have been changed to make them suitable for recycling. As little coloured printing as possible is used so a very pure recycled product can be produced.

Cardboard packaging
Film boxes will now be produced from one single product- cardboard. Previously several materials were used; wood, staples, foil and cardboard. In countries such as Germany where recycling is undertaken worth much enthusiasm- to sort, store and recycle four products is a lot more expensive than simply recycling just one.

Large volume packaging
Ordering 300 sheets at a time instead of 100 means economy for the user and less waste packaging. This approach is also being adopted for most products.

Environmental laws and local legislation and requirements are changing rapidly. It is important that you as a printer have the environmental facts and figures at your finger tips. We can not only offer a full range of ecology, equipment but advice and information too, in the form of seminars, conferences and environmental audits.

To be continued…

Peter Harrison is Joint MD of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

NEW: We now sell Large Poster Printing and Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

We have great online print prices Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing. For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website. For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Green Printing – Chemical factors
• Green Printing – Waste
• Newsletter Printing – Soft line drawings

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run, long run and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Ireland.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

Share
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Green Printing – Chemical factors – 26th April 2010

This category can be split into the following:

• dangerous substances
• biochemically oxidising substances
• nutrients

The EEC prepared a directive on this subject (No.76/464/EEC) which puts dangerous substances into tow lists depending on their toxicity, persistence and bio-accumulation.

‘Black’ list- disposal of these substances must be avoided.
‘Grey’ list- disposal of these substances must be reduced.

What are the ‘black’ list products?

• Organ halogen compounds.
• Organophosphorus compounds.
• Organotin compounds
• Substances having proven carcinogenic properties in or through water.
• Mercury and mercy compounds.
• Cadmium and cadmium compounds
• Persistence mineral oils.
• Persistent synthetic materials which may float sink or remain in suspension.

Fifteen years ago or more, cadmium was used in most graphic films. However due to its dangerous properties it has been completely removed by all graphic arts manufacturers.

What are the ‘grey’ list products?

• The substances of the ‘black’ list below the emission limits.
• A list of other substances:
  • metals such as zinc, copper, chromium, lead, boron, silver
  • biocides and their derivatives
  • substances which have a deleterious effect on the taste or smell of products for human consumption
  • organosilicon compounds
  • phosphorus and igorganic phosphorus compounds
  • non-persistent mineral oils
  • cyanides and fluorides
  • ammonia and nitrates

To be continued…

Peter Harrison is Joint MD of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

NEW: We now sell Large Poster Printing and Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

We have great online print prices Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing. For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website. For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Green Printing – Waste
• Newsletter Printing – Soft line drawings
• Newsletter Printing – professional- quality photographs.

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run, long run and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Ireland.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

Share
|