UV-curable ink chemistries have been optimised for curing using mercury arc lamps for decades, so the mercury arc lamp habit is well-entrenched in the printing business. The lamps have been the workhorses of curing applications and used in a wide range of applications for many years. But times and technologies change. The good news is that we have a solid market in LED curing lamps and inks. Printers still using technologies that use mercury should be thinking about making the leap to LED. Fluorescent lamps will be around for the next couple of years, but the printing industry needs to accelerate its adoption of LED based alternatives for ink curing. The end of 2025 marks the end of exemptions for the use of mercury in products such as fluorescent lamps.

Printers have a few options, such as stockpiling replacement lamps, which quite a few companies are doing. But this ties up capital, distorts the market, and only defers the inevitable. Far more sensible is to make the transition now and to get used to the new reality. Fortunately LED lamps have several compelling attractions, in that they require barely any time to warm up and last far longer than fluorescent lamps. They can deliver an extremely smooth spectral curve that can be read without needing a high resolution measurement device. They also generate much less heat, so the range of substrates that can be printed is greater. And with LED lamps there is no risk of UV radiation which isn’t good for your health.

New investment carries its own risk, but when it comes to inks and curing, staying within the rules has to be a good idea. The matter of mercury arc versus LED can get complicated, so it’s also good that regulations have simplified the argument. Banning the use of mercury is in the interests of us all, so we should welcome both the rules and the development of LED-based alternatives. We should probably not dwell on the fact that there is probably more mercury in your mouth (800mg per dental filling) than in the average curing lamp (10 – 100mg). But that’s an altogether different concern.

Laurel Brunner

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. This weekly commentary helps printing companies keep up to date with environmental standards, and how environmentally friendly business management can help improve their bottom lines. Verdigris is supported by the following companies: Agfa Graphics, EFI, Fespa, Fujifilm, HP, Kodak, Miraclon, Ricoh, Unity Publishing and Xeikon.

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There are 17 UNSDGs, ranging from eliminating poverty in the number one spot to partnerships for achieving the goals themselves at number 17. In between are a range of objectives that businesses should at least be aware of, if not strive to achieve. Climate action is one, and improving life below the water is another. They are mostly about fixing things that are unfair or damaging for the planet. But only a couple of UNSDGs are really likely to be lovingly embraced by the printing community.

Goal 12, for instance, is to ‘ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns’, and goal nine is to ‘build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation’. The former is the UNSDG most frequently cited for ISO documents and it is the most attainable by print service providers. Efficient print media production, where automation is maximised and waste minimised should be the objective for all organisations and their customers.

Printing companies can aim to achieve UNSDG 12 without breaking a sweat. Using recycled papers, water-based inks and printing on demand all contribute to sustainable production patterns. Working with processless plates and fully automated workflows that maximise throughput and minimise energy related emissions also helps.

Building resilient infrastructure is probably a bit of a stretch but sustainable industrialisation is well within bounds. It doesn’t have to be on a massive scale: it could be as simple as growing the business through automation and investing in energy efficient kit. It could include investing in insulation and water management or developing an environmental policy that includes building management, recycling and the like. Even support for local litter clean up operations would probably count.

Dry as they sound to most people slaving away at daily life, the UNSDGs are important because they aim so very high. But change begins on the ground. Awareness of the goals is the first step towards understanding what we can all do to help achieve them, but action might take a while.

– Laurel Brunner

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. This weekly commentary helps printing companies keep up to date with environmental standards, and how environmentally friendly business management can help improve their bottom lines. Verdigris is supported by the following companies: Agfa Graphics, EFI, Fespa, Fujifilm, HP, Kodak, Miraclon, Ricoh, Unity Publishing and Xeikon.

The post The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals appeared first on Digital Printer.

In any business the first step towards reducing emissions is to adopt best practises and to invest in new technologies to reduce energy demands and improve productivity. Most paper mills still depend on coal, oil and gas so a switch to renewable energy and bio fuels would be a healthy start. Coal is being phased out in Europe making it more expensive; the transition to renewables and biofuels will get more painful the longer it is left. Pulp and paper producers could also recover more heat from pulping and paper production processes but this too takes investment.

Investment into new processing technologies and improved supply chain management would make further differences. This includes new ways of managing recycling processes, from collecting raw materials to processing them into new paper based products, including deinking methods. Local cooperations for recycling innovations could help here, but so far have been unforthcoming.

Work needs to get underway quickly because the alternative will be policies that might not be in the interests of the paper business. For instance as part of its efforts to cut emissions by 40+% by 2030, the EU is reforming its Emissions Trading System (ETS). This system caps how much carbon dioxide over 11,000 sites of heavy industry, including pulp and paper, can emit.

Beyond the EU actions on commitments to reduce emissions and reduce the rate of climate change are less robust. However such commitments will eventually inform government policies, and force changes in industrial practises. In the pulp and paper sector this may well be the only way we will see more open attitudes to new technologies and the disruption that inevitably comes with them. Climate change related policy decisions will drive up paper prices in the short term and in the long term paper’s sustainability may not be a strong enough argument to keep media buyers on board. Lack of visible commitment from pulp and paper producers may drive them to further embrace digital options rather than printed matter.

– Laurel Brunner

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. This weekly commentary helps printing companies keep up to date with environmental standards, and how environmentally friendly business management can help improve their bottom lines. Verdigris is supported by the following companies: Agfa Graphics, EFI, Fespa, HP, Kodak, Kornit, Ricoh, Spindrift, Splash PR, Unity Publishing and Xeikon.

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