Proposals for Reducing the Environmental Burden in the Printing Industry

Fujifilm is responsible for developing, manufacturing, and selling computer-to-plate (CTP) materials, equipment, and systems to the printing industry. Fujifilm has also begun to develop pressroom chemicals used in printing processes and is promoting environmental policies in the printing workplace.

Along with the transition to digital processes in the printing industry, demand is growing rapidly for CTP systems that transfer printing data directly to printing plates and eliminate the film processing stage. In addition, interest in environmental issues is increasing year by year, and the market is anticipating the next-generation, environment-friendly CTP systems. The ECO&FREE SYSTEM (ET-S), developed by Fujifilm, does not require printing plate processing; instead, the digital information needed to make printing plates is transferred from PCs to a plate setter, a device that outputs information processed by computer directly onto printing plates. This makes it possible to create printing plates directly based on the digital information from the computer, and it is therefore called “computer-to-plate” processing. CTP systems make the conventional alkaline plate processing stage unnecessary and make use of a new non-processing plate. The plate is set directly on the printing press with the digital information and develops without processing, thus making it possible to proceed directly to the printing stage.
Fujifilm created this non-processing CTP system by combining its original technologies based on its many years of experience in developing printing plate materials.

According to Akio Oda, who participated in the development of this system, “It was difficult to maintain productivity and quality, as we worked to completely eliminate the processing stage, because these objectives worked at cross purposes. Systems developed by others have sacrificed productivity, but, as technology specialists, we insisted on not making any compromises.”
Tatsuya Kusunoki, who was in charge of making the system suited to commercial use, points especially to the ease of operation of the system.
“Customers are very demanding. We showed them samples over and over, and received many requests, not just for productivity and quality but also for making the system easy to operate. To meet these requests effectively, we worked closely with our R&D people.” Since the system does not require development through an automatic processor, no effluents are discharged, and it is possible to reduce electric power usage. Therefore, compared to existing thermal CTP systems, CO₂ emissions, which are the indicator for the environmental burden of the printing plate process, have been reduced about 40%, which represents a major decline in the load on the environment.
Moreover, almost all previous thermal plate setters (using 830nm LD light sources) can use our CTP materials, and the system meets the requirements for suitability for FM screen printing and high-precision printing. Therefore, our system attains the same high level of resolution and printing performance as existing thermal CTPs. Our system attains the multiple objectives of high quality, high efficiency, and environmentfriendly performance.

Within the printing industry, progress has been made in responding to environmental issues in the pre-press stage, but in certain types of pressroom chemicals higher priority is given to the use of chemicals that are easy to use, lower cost, and effective rather than to environmental considerations. Especially in the offset printing area, there is a need to take measures to reduce atmospheric emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Reasons given for not adopting more environment-friendly chemicals include “difficult to use,” “higher cost,” and “less effective.”
According to Masao Nakamura, who is in charge of introducing new products, “Pressrooms have an extremely complex combination of smells because they use a wide variety of chemicals. We would really like to make improvements in this area and have addressed a range of related themes.” On the other hand, Hideyuki Hattori, who participated in the development of the ECOLI-CHEMICAL SERIES, states confidently about Fujifilm's environmental response, “We have conducted research to differentiate our products by eliminating the use of solvents.”

In 2005, as the first products in a series that will address these issues, the Fujifilm Group announced its “non-VOC-ECOLITY,” a non-VOC fountain solution*, and “ECOLI-CHEMICAL SERIES,” a group of products for use on pressroom chemicals. These products are intended to make more effective use of the Group's worldwide development systems and improve the quality of the workplace, while reducing the environmental burden.
Masataka Ueda, who is in charge of commercialization of the fountain solution, comments, “These new products combine the system for the reuse of the containers that we have already established and are environment-friendly themselves. We believe their introduction will represent a step forward in improvement in the workplace environment in the printing industry.

To operate a printing press, the relatively large number of chemicals shown below is used.

The “environmental level” of products in the ECOLI-CHEMICAL SERIES (as determined by FUJIFILM Graphic Systems Co., Ltd.) is shown through photographs on the labels and enable users to see the environmental level at a glance. This labeling system makes it possible to determine the level immediately and also helps to raise awareness among workplace personnel.