Archived: P2Rx no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
|
Browse by Keyword
|
Printing-Lithography: P2 Opportunities
Why Change?
- To gain or maintain market advantage
- To improve operational efficiency
- To avoid environmental regulation
- To improve product and work environment or
- To reduce risk exposure for employees, insurers, or creditors
How to Change?
- Compare operations using a checklist
- Generate options/alternatives for action
- Ink
- Fixer
- Blanket wash
- Fountain solution
- Consider ramifications of alternatives
- Act on best alternative
- Evaluate change
Top 10 ways to improve your environmental and waste reduction activities:
- Use closed loop recycling of fixer, with silver recovery, instead of
discharging the fixer solution down the drain or septic tank
- Use a variable flow rate when rinsing film instead of a continuous flow to
reduce the amount of water used and contaminated by the film processing
operation
- Recycle waste and scrap film, or use a direct to plate technology to
reduce the amount of silver associated with photographic films instead of
throwing away these types of films
- Recycle or reuse aluminum plates instead of discarding them into a waste
receptacle. Also, use closed loop recycling, with off site metal
reclamation, for metal etching solutions instead of discarding the metal
etching solutions down the drain
- Use low or zero-VOC fountain solutions or consider waterless printing
operations as well as replace isopropyl alcohol with alcohol substitutes in
fountains solutions (avoid glycol ethers that are classified as a Hazardous
Air Pollutant
- Use low vapor pressure solvents and blanket washes, or water miscible
solvents that also have a flashpoint greater than 140 degrees Fahrenheit
- Use solvents and blanket washes that contain no hazardous air pollutants
such as toluene or 111-trichloroethane. Also, consider the use of automatic
blanket washers, and consider on-site reclamation of solvents and blanket
washes
- Centrifuge shop towels to remove excess solvents prior to laundering
- Blend and reuse current ink supplies as in house black, instead of
disposing of them in a waste receptacle where they can be considered a
hazardous waste
- Recycle all waste paper and office paper instead of disposing of them in a
waste receptacle
Source: PRINT WI$ER; A handbook for Wisconsin Lithographic Printers on
Environmental Compliance and Pollution Prevention manual
Top of Page
