1 Environmental Footprint Calculator (EFC). 2 Solvent Processing? Thermal Processing? Liquid...

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Environmental Footprint Calculator (EFC)

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Solvent Processing?

Thermal Processing?

Liquid Processing?

What is the Best Choice for My Business?

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One Size Fits All?

• A printer’s choice of plate processing technology depends upon several factors: – Graphic Requirements

– Ink Compatibility

– Available Equipment Footprint

– Most Important Environmental Impacts

• No one solution works for everyone

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Variables

• How do the following variables affect the environmental impact of various plate processing technologies?

•Geographic location?

•Plate gauge?

•Plate size?

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UT Center for Clean Products• Established in 1992• A multi-disciplinary research center housed within UT• Dedicated to the development, evaluation, and adoption of clean products and

materials• Conducted several projects within the printing industry, including a pollution

prevention project for the Gravure Association of America• Conducted a number of corporate endeavors where they have developed

environmental impact calculators that evaluate the overall environmental impacts associated with the manufacture, use and disposal of various products

ecoform• Founded in 2006• Practitioners working through a variety of corporate and university organizations,

including the University of Tennessee’s Center for Clean Products• Has worked with organizations such as Rubbermaid Commercial Products,

Evercare, and the Natural Stone Council

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Definition: Life Cycle Assessment

• The investigation and evaluation of the environmental impacts of a given product or service caused or necessitated by its existence.

Source: www.epa.gov

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The LCA Process

• Goal Definition & Scoping

• Inventory Analysis

• Impact Assessment

• Interpretation

Source: Lifecycle Assessment: Principles and Practice, EPA

Goal Definition &

Scope

Inventory Analysis

Impact Assessment

Interpretation

Life Cycle Assessment Framework

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The LCA Process




• Interpretation


Goal Definition &

Scope

Inventory Analysis

Impact Assessment

Interpretation


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Goal and Scope

• Goal: – To develop an interactive sustainability tool that will enable

users to determine the relative environmental impacts of digital solvent, digital thermal and liquid plate processing while incorporating customer-specific variables such as geographic location, plate gauge, plate size and number of plates.

• Scope: – Raw material production and processing– Production of the photopolymer material– Processing of the photopolymer plate

.

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Scope

Plate manufacture Imaging

Plate Mounting Printing Converting

Waste Recycled

Waste Waste Waste

Within Scope Outside Scope

Note: Transportation of raw materials was not included within the scope of this study

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The LCA Process




• Interpretation


Goal Definition &

Scope

Inventory Analysis

Impact Assessment

Interpretation


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Inventory Analysis

• Data Collection and Modeling of the Product System• Description and Verification of Data

• Inputs– Materials– Energy– Chemicals

• Outputs: – Air emissions– Water emissions– Solid Waste– Final product

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Assumptions

• A steady state of production

• A production rate of 80% maximum capacity at largest format available for each processing method

• A 50% image area

• 50% relief

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Photopolymer Manufacturer Workflow

Manufacturing Process

Energy Inp

uts

Ou

tpu

ts

Raw materials

Photopolymer

Waste

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Sheet Photopolymer – Digital Solvent Processing

DigitalPlate

LaserImager

UVExposure

PX/DTDryerWashout

FinishedPlate

PET coversheet

Dust(negligible)

Dirty solvent(Solvent + dissolvedphotopolymer)

Distillation

CleanSolvent

Still bottoms(haz waste)

CleanSolvent

SolventVapor

Electrical Power Inp

uts

Ou

tpu

ts90% recovery

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Sheet Photopolymer – Digital Thermal Processing

DigitalPlate

LaserImager

UVExposure

PX/DTLAVA

System

FinishedPlate

PET coversheet

Carbondust

(negligible)

Organicvapors

C Filter

Usedfilter w/

capturedorganics

Cleanair


uts

Ou

tpu

ts

Usedblotter

Blottermaterial

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Liquid Photopolymer

Liquidphotopolymer

Casting +Exposure

Reclaim DTPXWashout

FinishedPlate

1. Film negative 2. Coverlay3. PET substrate

SolublePhotopolymer

In water

Water +Detergent


uts

Ou

tpu

ts

Dryer

Water +salts

Water +Salts

Watervapor

Disposal

Rinsewater

Rinsewater

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The LCA Process




• Interpretation


Goal Definition &

Scope

Inventory Analysis

Impact Assessment

Interpretation


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Impact Categories

• Energy Consumption: The total quantity of energy consumed within the life cycle of the product.

• Water Consumption: The total quantity of water consumed within the life cycle of the product

• Acidification of Water: The process by which the pH of a body of water is decreased due to the entry of acidifying compounds, particularly nitric acid (HNO3) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4).

• Eutrophication of Water: The process of nutrient enrichment [namely phosphorous (P) and nitrogen (N)]. The increased food supply results in extensive growth of algae, in turn causing highly turbid water.

• Global Warming: An increase in the planet’s average tropospheric temperature. To some extent, this occurs naturally on earth, but is exacerbated by the excess of heat trapping compunds – known as greenhouse gases – in the earth’s atmosphere.

• Ozone Depletion: Refers to the destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer which filters out the most intense ultraviolet light from the sun’s radiant energy.

• Smog Generation: The formation of photochemical smog in the troposphere. Smog forms from the reaction of nitric oxide (NO), oxygen (O2), and volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) in

the presence of sunlight.

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Environmental Footprint Calculator (EFC)

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Energy Grids

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Canad

a

Fran

ce

United

King

dom

United

Sta

tes (

aver

age)

*

U.S E

ast N

orth

Cen

tral

U.S. E

ast S

outh

Cen

tral

U.S. M

iddle

Atlantic

U.S. M

ount

ain

U.S. N

ew E

ngla

nd

U.S. P

acific

cont

iguou

s

U.S. P

acific

non

cont

iguou

s

U.S. S

outh

Atla

ntic

U.S. W

est Nor

th C

entra

l

U.S. W

est Sou

th C

entra

l

Nation or Region of United States

Po

rtio

n o

f G

rid

(%

)

Others

Wind

Solar

Hydro

Geothermal

Waste

Peat

Solid biomass

GaseousbiomassNuclear

Natural gas

Heavy fuel oil

Hard coal

Brown coal

Blast furnace gas

Figure 1. Composition of energy grids used for the MacDermid Environmental Footprint Calculator.

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The LCA Process




• Interpretation


Goal Definition &

Scope

Inventory Analysis

Impact Assessment

Interpretation


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Interpretation: Key Findings

• In terms of environmental impacts, generally speaking: . .

Solvent > Thermal > Liquid

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Interpretation

• Compared to Solvent Processing– Liquid processing results in higher water consumption and smog generation,

but has significantly lower impacts in all other categories. – Thermal processing has a slightly higher impact on eutrophication of water but

has significantly lower impacts in all other categories.

• Compared to Thermal Processing– Both liquid and solvent processing use much more water

– Liquid processing consumes less energy and contributes fewer CO2 emissions to the atmosphere (Global Warming Impact).

• Compared to Liquid Processing– Both solvent and thermal processing use much more energy than liquid

processing– Thermal processing produces fewer kgs of CFC equivalents (ozone depletion)

than liquid platemaking.

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Reasons Why

Liquid Platemaking generally has a smaller environmental footprint than solvent and thermal processing because:

• No solvents are used

• Un-imaged photopolymer can be reclaimed

Thermal Processing generally has a smaller environmental footprint than solvent because:

• Energy usage required by the still

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Reasons Why: Energy Use

x x xxx xx x

Solvent Processing Workflow Thermal Processing Workflow

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Looking Forward

• First Iteration of the EFC

• Will continue to refine data as we move forward

• Collection of raw material LCA input data growing more complete

• EFC creates areas for improvement (i.e., water usage in Liquid)

• Recycling photopolymer materials at end-of-life

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Thank You!

Heather P. Barrett

MacDermid Printing Solutions

[email protected]

404.699.3338

mailto:[email protected]

1 Environmental Footprint Calculator (EFC). 2 Solvent Processing? Thermal Processing? Liquid...

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