Different Features of VOC Solvent Contents in Printing Sectors

Pages:20-22
Amaranand (Department of Print & Graphics Communication, GJUS&T, Hisar, Haryana)

Printing is the largest industry of India after auto-parts. Printing is an art of duplication. Many of the solvents, shellacs and driers employed in Printing & Packaging presses for producing films, printing plates and cleaning the machines are toxic pollutants that can cause chronic health problems. We use a wide range of potentially hazardous chemicals, require energy, and generate wastes, the cumulative impact of which can be substantial, affecting air, water, and land. Paper production costs forests, water, and energy supplies. White paper is bleached via a chlorination process that releases dangerous chemicals and pollutants into the water. Petro inks can cause lasting damage to the environment, leaching volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) which can cause cancer and birth defects into the ground, contaminating soil, groundwater and evaporation in the air. Adhesives, bindings, used in printing and packaging can render the final product unrecyclable, virtually guaranteeing that it will end up in a landfill. Controlling the emission of VOC’s is an important part of pollution reducing strategies which can be done by incorporating different types of incinerators. But since incinerator causes pollution and requires lots of fossil fuels, choosing the right product for printing operation is very important. Paper recycling is the process of recovering waste paper fiber and remaking it into new paper products which saves landfill space, energy and prevents air pollution by means of saving trees. We do have alternatives like ECF, PCF & TCF Papers. Instead of using conventional petro inks, vegetable oil inks (e.g. Soy ink) which are low in VOC’s and bio-degradable can be a very good substitution.