Environmental Sustainability — The Greening of Print
The printer’s green initiative program, known as GeoGreen, involves a concerted effort in six specific areas. The first is FSC chain-of-custody certification, which Geographics has now earned. The second is monitoring air quality and emissions. To further combat VOC emissions, the company has installed afterburners on all of its web presses to capture fugitive emissions.
Additionally, a new high-tech UV printing press, which uses ink with almost zero VOCs, was recently installed. Other air quality initiatives include the elimination of alcohol-based dampening systems, a switch to water-based varnishes and the adoption of detergent-based plate developers.
All of Geographics’ standard inks are vegetable based. To improve performance and eliminate ink waste on-press, the company has installed canister ink dispensers on its sheetfed presses, and a tote tank ink system eliminates ink drums from the web presses.
Computer-to-plate workflows have also been adopted to reduce waste. Any hazardous waste that is still produced is shipped to a fuel-blending facility for use in industrial waste-fired boilers.
GeoGreen also addresses recycling. Systems have been installed throughout the facility to extract, shred and bale paper waste for recycling. Corrugated is recycled, as is 100 percent of the printer’s printing plates. Pallets are recycled. Fluorescent bulbs, ballasts and batteries are recycled. Electronics and computers are recycled. Office paper is recycled, as well as all lubricant oils used in the plant.
“Encouragement of sustainability” is the last GeoGreen initiative but, as Hagan notes, not the least.
“We all play a role to promote sustainability so, as an extension of Geographics’ commitment, we actively encourage customers to make design and purchasing decisions that reduce the environmental impact of their printed materials.”
Times Printing
Random Lake, WI
Times Printing was the first printing company in the state of Wisconsin to join the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Green Tier Program, which promotes businesses to adhere to strict environmental guidelines and standards. As part of its “staying on top” of the Green Tier Program, Times recently installed a new regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) unit that removes the VOCs from the exhaust of its web press. Additionally, all of the lighting in the plant was replaced with energy-efficient solutions, cutting more than 18.6 million kilowatt hours.
