It’s been known for several years now that the state of our environment is greatly suffering. The print industry could be somewhat to blame for this misfortune. I would like to discuss many ways in which we can help the environment from your home and also from within the industry. But what are the industries actually doing to help?
International paper has recently announced environmental goals that they will be setting in hope to meet this year. International paper plans to be cutting their energy usage by 15% and also reduce their greenhouse gasses by 20%, this goal is one they are hoping to have fully achieved by 2020.

International paper is a paper making company who are setting themselves many sustainability goals that they will be announcing over the next few months. But how are they planning on doing this? Firstly they will be looking at improving manufacturing efficiencies as well as exploring new technologies. They will also be consulting their employees in hope of finding some new environmentally friendly solutions to their problem. So far the company has reduced its global energy usage by 12% says Greg Gibson, vice president of the company. He quotes “we feel confident we can improve on the performance while still delivering our industry leading products and customer service.” In European operations, reduction of greenhouse emission of over 70% has been achieved since 1990 by International paper.

But this still doesn’t account for many other sectors of the industry that are contributing to the environmental issues. Just think for a second how much paper is used to produce for example a magazine, now think how many copies of that magazine there will be produced worldwide each month and now think how many different titles of magazine there are on the shelves? That is a huge amount of paper, however the magazine industry has realised this and are looking into new technologies in order to reduce the amount of paper they use. Many magazines can now be viewed on your phone, ipad or computer but what about if you could have a virtual copy on e-paper?

Electronic Paper
electronic paper has been in production for 35 years now as is set to revolutionise the way we read and write and work. E-paper is essentially an electronic sheet that you can download content onto to read, it is also made of flexible material so it can be rolled up and transported in a bag much like a magazine. It is easy and convenient to read and will soon be making an appearance into many people’s lifestyles. You will soon have the capability of holding a libraries worth of books on just one small chip. E-paper is hoping to replace the majority of newspapers and magazines within the next decade.
So how did it all start? It started in the late 60’s and the early 70’s with Xerox attempting to develop the Alto personal computer which never took off. They hoped that it would become the world’s very first word-processing PC. The machine unfortunately had a major problem, the cathode-raytube display was simply too dark and the contrast was unsatisfactory, this was however the best available at the time. Sadly the machine could only be used in a dark room. It was a challenge for many scientists to attempt to create a better display that could be used in brightly lit rooms as well as darkened ones. Then the Gryicon rotating ball display was invented which was based on a phenomenon called ‘elecrocapillarity’. This worked by moving coloured liquids against a plain white background. The development however was then delayed until the early 90’s which then became the starting point for today’s electronic paper. So how was e-paper actually born?
The need for e-paper was discovered in 1989, Xerox had predicted a future of a paperless office.

Did you know?
The amount of paper wasted each year in the typical office is about two and a half pounds every week. Thats about 10-12 pounds of paper every month!

However the paperless office sadly never happened and instead the invention of personal computers instigated for paper and wastage in the office. Many offices keep soft copies and hard copies of everything they do which before backup systems where developed was a very necessary process but in today’s world the need for soft copies is forever decreasing. Other reasons for the large amount of print outs is often that most readers prefer to read something on paper as opposed to on a computer screen as it is proven it is much easier on the eye. Therefore when making e-paper it must look as much like ink on paper as possible as this is the ‘perfect display’.

Reasons that e-paper has not yet been fully mastered and adopted by the general public is simply that no technology is sufficiently paper-like enough quite yet. But what is needed to make the perfect reading material?

· Thin

· Flexible

· Capable of storing readable images

· Highly readable in ambient light

· Good resolution

· High whiteness

· Good contrast

· Quite cheap

Finding technology that has all these properties is proving difficult, this does not mean that e-paper is not currently available it just means it hasn’t been perfected yet. You could say it is in the early stages. Remember the old televisions? Look at them now, and they are forever improving, just imagine where your office could be in 20 years time.

E-paper will not only cut down the need to print newspapers and magazines we could also hope to be seeing electronic billboards which would create a whole new level for advertisers to explore, this could include teaser trailers being played at bus stops or moving images for advertisements on billboards in city centres, the possibilities are endless. Eventually we can hope to see e-paper in our pocket as portable media devices.

But how is e-paper expected to behave, well, e-paper will be embodying a cylindrical tube with a diameter of about 1cm and will be 15-20cm in length, this is perfect size for ones pocket. The tube will contain a tightly rolled sheet; this will be the e-paper which can be rolled and unrolled for reading and storage. You will be able to download books, newspapers and magazines at the touch of a button onto a chip; you will also be able to use it for internet and email anywhere in the world. Better yet it will only cost less that £75, in the future we can hope that nearly anyone will have one!

How does it work?

E-paper is made up of two part, the ‘frontplane’ and the ‘backplane’, the frontplane is the electronic ink and the backplane is the electronics required to create the text, patterns and images on the page out of ‘e-ink’.

Many different methods have been used to try and create successful e-paper but the best way so far is the ‘electrophoretic’ method, this consists of millions of tiny microcapsules, which measure 100microns in diameter – this is about as wide as a piece of human hair. Each one of these little microcapsules will be filled with a clear fluid which contains a positive charge white particle a negatively charged black particle. When a negative electronic field is created the white particle moves to the top of the microcapsule, this causes the area to appear as a white dot, while the black particles move to the bottom of the capsule and are hidden from view. When a positive electric field is applied, the black particles travel to the top and the white particles shift to the bottom, creating a picture or black text.

Here is a diagram to help you...

 

 

 

Eco Products

Electronic paper could be considered as an eco product; however what exactly is an eco product? An eco product is a product that is sustainable, these products use one or more methods to reduce their impact on the environment overall.

How do eco products reduce their impact on the environment?

· Derive from recycled materials (plastics and metals)

· Reduce the amount of energy they use

· Adjust the energy used to suit various tasks

· Less weight/size or packaging meaning that less materials are used

· Longer lasting

· Can be easily repaired

· Solar power/wind up devices can generate their own energy

· Containing less harmful chemicals

· Easily taken to pieces for easier recycling

How Print Is Going ‘Greener’

Over the years the printing industry has been attempting to be good to the environment and to go green. They are using a combination of greener technology as well as meeting customer demands, using tighter regulations and cost pressures which have altered the industry, the industry has cut down a substantial amount of chemicals, emissions and waste. Over the past 10 years you can clearly see that companies are recycling a lot more and making use of forest certified substrates. Many printing companies even have environmental management systems now as well.

But why go green?
The printing industries are going green in hope to:

· Reduce costs

· Reduce waste

· Increase environmental performance

· Improve working conditions

The industry are also finding that by taking a new constructive approach to environmental matters is having a positive effect on your company in areas such as:

· Company’s profitability

· Staff confidence

· Relationships with customers

· Relationships with regulators

But how are they going green?

Printers are now recycling all paper waste, this is helping dramatically because it is reducing the need to cut down quite as many tree’s to make new paper. However new paper is of course still being made but many environmental projects promise to plant a new tree for every tree they cut down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some printing companies are even replacing the inks they use; some companies are using vegetable based inks as an alternative. However vegetable based paste inks are not suitable for all types of printing, they are becoming much more popular for sectors such as commercial, newspaper and magazine printing. These pastes are good for the environment because they are less hazardous than those based on mineral oil; they are based on a renewable resource. Other inks that help the environment are UV inks which can be used for processes such as screen printing, UV ink helps the environment because they set using UV light, this is opposed to evaporation of solvent from the ink, this will reduce VOC emissions and eliminating drying problems.

Printing companies are also using their resources more efficiently; the cost of waste can be from 4-16%, of the turn over for many types of printers. If you begin to understand the cost of waste, this could help you to identify possible saving options, from improving resource efficiency.
Did you know it is estimated that the average substrate wastage rate is 17%, within a range of 7-33%. This can be calculated by comparing the tonnage of waste with the tonnage of substrate purchased. Printing companies are also making more efficiant flyer and poster printing, they can be made out of recycled materials.

Carbon Footprint

companies are also making a conscious effort to reduce their carbon footprint. Reducing your carbon footprint can benefit both you and the environment – this is because carbon footprint is the measurement of energy use, particularly for transport and is linked to direct energy costs.
companies also need to watch their consumption of energy because using electricity obtained from fossil fuels i.e. gas and oil can lead to emission of carbon dioxide which is known as a greenhouse gas which is a large contributor to global warming. You can reduce these emissions by becoming more energy efficient.
Even from home you can help by not leaving appliances on standby you should unplug them when no in use, you should also try and use public transport as much as possible this will reduce your carbon footprint because there will be less vehicles on the road if people begin sharing a bus. You should also consider properly insulating and heating your homes efficiently, instead of coal/log fires you should use electric heaters and also insulating your houses properly can cut emissions because less heat will be escaping into the atmosphere.

Recycling

Recycling happens both from homes and from businesses but what exactly happens to our recycling and how does it help the environment?
Recycling is collected using a ‘kerbside sort’ scheme which is where the recycling bin is put into the lorry at the side of the curb and then taken off to a place called MRF (materials recovery facility). The rubbish bin is also taken but is sorted into a different compartment to the recyclable goods.

When arriving at the MRF another process of sorting is taking place, the recyclable goods are sorted and separated by hand or by a machine into their different types, for example plastic bottles, cardboard, paper and metal are all separated into different places. These are then sent to the appropriate manufacturer and can then be made into new products. Once sorted these recycled material become very valuable products.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you know?

Facts and Figures

1. All newspapers manufactured In the UK are now made from 100% recycled paper

2. All garden and kitchen waste is recycled very close to where it was collected

3. Glass in the UK is mainly used to make new glass this is over 80% of what is collected

4. Some countries are prepared to pay very high prices for waste plastic and other recyclables this is apparent in places such as China.

Recycling holds more benefits than using raw materials because:

· The use for natural resources such as oil is reduced

· Recycling dramatically reduces energy use and carbon emissions when being manufactured

· The impact of transport is also reduced

· Less materials being sent to landfill

Here is a chart to show how much material is recycled in the UK and how much is exported abroad:

Material

Reprocessed in the UK

| Reprocessed Abroad

Paper

49%

51%

Glass

81%

19%

Aluminium

66%

34%

Plastic

33%

67%

Wood

100%

0%

Whether it is recycling or reducing your carbon footprint the printing industry hopes to see people at home trying to do their bit for the environment as well as the print industry. The print industry holds a big responsibility for alot of environmental problems but with the initiative to ‘go greener’ we should start to see a good impact on the environment in the upcoming years along with big changes!

Posted By Victoria Blackwell