Environmental Yellow Pages - Compliance Guides

Encourage customers to use paper that has one or more of the following characteristics. It is: non-de-inked unbleached made with a high content of recycled material made with a high Post Consumer* content
Additionally they should consider that: glossy paper is often not as readily recycled. colored paper is often not as readily recycled.
Waste paper generated by printers should be segregated according to their quality for recycling. This allows the greatest profit from the possible sale of scrap paper to recyclers. It?s a common practice for printers to purchase extra paper and run extra copies in anticipation of rejects. By operating a more efficient process and utilizing some of the options presented, particularly those in the ?Make Ready/Printing? section, printers can reduce the need for this, at a significant savings in time and material.
Post-consumer indicates that it is paper that has been collected from waste that has already been used by customers. It is paper waste that has already served its intended function and would normally be thrown out in the trash. This is contrasted with recycled paper this is from pre-consumer waste. Pre-consumer (also known as post-commercial) wastes are wastes from paper making or forming processes.

INKS

Inks contain three main components:

Pigments ? pigments are used to give the inks their different colors. The pigments used for certain colors are often the same regardless of what type of ink is being used. Many pigments are compounds that contain heavy metals such as barium, copper, lead, cadmium, mercury, etc. Many of these heavy metals have been linked to health and environmental effects and their use and disposal are closely regulated.
Solvents or carriers ? Solvents and carriers present several issues of concern. Wastes containing most of these solvents are considered hazardous and must be disposed of properly as such. They may be considered Volatile Organic Compounds and their air emissions regulated as such. They may be considered toxic and thus any air emissions regulated as Hazardous Air Pollutants. There is also the related issue of worker exposure.
Binders ? Binders are typically resins of some form and generally not a concern once they have been cured (dried).

Soybean (Vegetable) Oil Based Inks

Vegetable oils such as linseed, canola, and soybean are being used to replace a portion of the petroleum oils found in inks.

Be careful, often formulations with a very low percentage of soybean oil content will claim to be ?Soybean-based?. A good guideline for soybean oil content is at least: 55 % for newspaper ink, 20 % for sheet fed ink, 18 % for heat-set ink 40 % for form ink.
Soybean oil based inks: reduce VOC emissions can usually be cleaned off of presses easier than traditional inks when using water-based cleaners. offer increased coverage over petroleum inks flow smoother, helping to reduce start up waste.
Black colored soybean oil based inks cost more than petroleum inks, but for other colors the prices are very comparable.
Formulations with 100% vegetable oil as carrier dry slowly, but formulations with lower percentages dry at an acceptable rate.
Look closely at other ingredients listed on MSDSs, because vegetable oil based inks may still contain pigments that pose problems associated with heavy metals content.

Ultraviolet (UV) Curable Inks

For any chemists out there, these inks contain one or more types of monomers that are crosslinked by a photosynthesizer that selectively absorbs ultraviolet energy.

The following are some advantages of UV inks: they do not readily cure under normal conditions but cure rapidly when exposed to ultraviolet light. they do not require drying ovens or racks. They cure very quickly under UV light, sometimes allowing an increase in production rate. they do not contain traditional solvents. they can remain in fountains and on plates for longer periods of time between runs without drying or curing and affecting quality. This reduces the need to clean the presses.
The following are some disadvantages of UV inks: they cost more than traditional inks. they may not perform as good in color matching and opacity. they reduce worker exposure to traditional solvents, but may pose new safety hazards such as exposure to UV light and different chemicals in these inks. they may still contain pigments that pose problems associated with heavy metals content. They may pose problems later when it comes to de-inking paper during recycling processes.

Water Based and Water Borne Inks

Water-based (water borne) inks contain pigments suspended in a mixture of water and film-forming compounds.

These inks contain little or no VOCs.
Generally they require more energy for drying than traditional inks. To compensate somewhat, their ?ink strength? (solids content) has been increased in order to minimize the amount of water that needs to evaporate during drying.
Even short periods of shut down pose problems because the dried ink is not soluble in the liquid ink. That is, the liquid ink will not cause any dried ink to reflow on the presses. Thus, more clean-ups may be required.
These inks tend to be low in gloss.
Paper curl may be a problem.
Look closely at other ingredients listed on MSDSs, because water based inks may still contain pigments that pose problems associated with heavy metals content.

Recycling and Disposal of Inks and Printing Solutions

Usually waste inks can be collected and shipped back to the manufacturer for recycling. These inks will be mixed and used to
formulate some grade of black ink that can be sold again. Printers benefit by avoiding disposal costs and may receive some type of credit or be able to purchase these inks at a lower cost than virgin ink.
Waste printing solutions, inks and sludges should be disposed by an approved hauler, usually as a hazardous waste.
Empty ink containers can be placed in a dumpster to be disposed of at the local landfill if: any ink residues are complete dry, or after all of the ink is removed, the containers are triple rinsed. Any rinse water must be collected and disposed of properly.

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