Is ‘print’ really a dirty word?

These days, we’re constantly being told to ‘go paperless’ and to ‘move online’. Printing, it seems, has become a dirty word in an age of environmental concern. However, the print industry has a history of resolutely reinventing itself as technology unfolds. Today, is no exception, with the industry morphing yet again, this time driven forward by an eco-friendly conscience. So, maybe the word ‘print’ may not be such a dirty word after all…

Think of all the ways in which we use and communicate with paper and printed products and yet print and paper products are believed to account for just 1% or less of our entire human carbon footprint. Compare this to the ICT sector, it’s GHG (greenhouse gas) contribution is currently 2-3% and growing fast!

Paper

Surprisingly, even in our digital age, the world uses a lot of paper. In fact, almost 400 million tons of the stuff is currently consumed every year. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing! When you consider that paper is renewable, recyclable and biodegradable, it is in fact, one of the world’s most sustainable products!

Celloluse fibre is the primary raw material used in paper making. Across Europe, currently around 54% of it comes from recycled paper, with only the remaining 46% from freshly felled trees.

We constantly hear heart-breaking stories of rampant deforestation, measured by the size of football pitches. However, what we don’t hear so often is the good news. In fact, the vast majority of freshly felled trees come from sustainable forests in Europe, specifically grown for paper production. These forests are actually GROWING, by 1,500 football pitches every day! How’s that for scoring a convincing goal for carbon reduction?

Alternatives to Traditional Printing

Traditional ‘offset’ printing produces volatile compounds and hazardous waste. However, a new process of waterless printing uses a layer of silicon to repel the ink instead of water which doesn’t cause so much waste. Some experts even argue that the process actually improves image clarity.

UV Printers use less energy than traditional printing presses by employing ultra‐violet light to dry the ink, which it does in just a few seconds. Not only does this save energy, it also means a faster turnaround time on those super urgent jobs!

Digital Printing

Digital printing creates far less carbon than conventional printing, largely due to not requiring printing plates, producing considerably less waste and using less chemicals. Digital presses have many green product features including reduced power usage, toner that includes plant based products, mercury free scanner lights and recycled construction plastic, to mention just a few.

Digital and Traditional Inks

It is estimated that 800 million kilograms of petroleum-based pigment is used around the world for printing every year. That sounds pretty grim, right? Well today, eco-friendly alternatives are on the rise. Amazingly, these inks are made from vegetables such as soy. Such organic based inks don’t contain the harmful compounds used in petroleum based inks.

Today, researchers are even pioneering the idea of ink created from algae. Not only is algae in plentiful supply, but furthermore, it doesn’t rely on fertilisers or herbicides in order to flourish.

Thanks to sustainable forests, much of today’s paper is now traceable to back it’s source, many print companies are committing themselves to environmental programmes such as Carbon Balanced Printing, ink manufacturers are embracing innovation, consuming less energy and producing less waste. We, as consumers, can rest assured that the next time we 'go to print’, that it’s not such a bad thing after all.