Nicole - A bit about inks, paper and printing

INK


Ink is made from combining pigments, binders (which help the pigment adhere to the paper and a vehicle that is used to hold and carry the pigment.  Vegetable oil (eg. cottonseed, linseed, or soy), petroleum and water all can be used a a vehicle in different kinds of ink.  The benefits of soy based inks have been very much exaggerated (the content of soy is only about 14%, the remaining 86% is still oil) however, vegetable inks in general do tend to release fewer VOC's (the fumes emitted from solvents) than petroleum based inks and are also easier to de-ink during paper recycling.  Water based inks are the best for the environment as they emit no VOC's and are easier to clean up.


PRINTING


Digital printing is usually considered environmentally preferable for jobs requiring fewer than 2,000 copies.  Digital printers use inks that don't use any alcohol or emit VOC's.  There is also no messy clean up required and the ink cartridges can be recycled.


Things to look for when choosing a printer are that they have FCC certification and ISO 14000 certification.  It's worth nothing that a printer may use FCS-certified paper without being certified themselves.


PAPER


Most environmental organisations and independent studies have concluded that there are clear benefits to recycling paper.  Every sheet of paper that is reclaimed keeps material out of landfills and I will now be making a mental note about how many of the items I receive through the post use recycled paper and base some of my future purchasing decisions on that information.


Note: recycled paper content can be made up of either of the following: 


Pre-consumer waste: - scraps and ends from the manufacturing process, as well as test sheets and over-runs from printers.  Pre-consumer waste is reported to make up 20% of the reclaimed content used in paper today.


Post-consumer waste: - material that has reached the consumer, been used, and is then collected to make new product.


TREE-FREE PAPER


Tree-free paper is made using fibres from non-tree sources.  There are two types:


ORGANIC TREE-FREE PAPER which uses material derived from plant sources such as residues from agricultural crops, or plants frown specifically for paper-making such as hemp, bamboo and kenaf.
NON-ORGANIC TREE-FREE PAPER which is usually made of plastic polymers or minerals.
However, when the full life-cycle of individual products are analysed  their environmental benefits are not always as impressive as they may first seem as although ' technically' recyclable, without special recycling facilities the items printed on synthetic (non-organic) papers will most likely end up in landfills.
To date the best options in tree-free papers are  those that are made from agricultural waste that would otherwise be thrown away or burned.

END