Feb 21 2009
The Printing Plate Predicament
I came across a paper the other day entitled “The Environmental Impact of a Printing Plate”. This is a 2009 publication by J Zarwin Partners, which looks at the different types of printing plates used in offset presses and the areas of resources used in the making of each type. It was a very informative read, and I encourage any of you who want to delve into the deeper details to download it from the link above.
In all my experience in the printing industry, I actually have very little experience with offset presses and the processes that are involved with this form of production. I will give you a brief synopsis of what the paper researched and my conclusion on the findings.
The paper compared 4 different types of press plates: conventional chemically processed, reduced chemistry, “chemistry-free” and processless. In each category, the resources needed to create the plate were broken into these areas: chemistry, water, energy and waste. There were a total of 11 different plate models (5 conventional chemically processed & 2 in each of the remaining three categories) that were part of the study from 3 different manufacturers.
In the area of chemistry, it’s no surprise that the conventional chemically processed plates were the highest users. This category of plate was the highest user of all the resources in fact. In water usage, there was one model of reduced chemistry plate that was tied with the other 5 conventional plates. In the energy category, the 2 highest users were one model of a conventional plate and one model of a “chemistry-free” plate, with the remaining 4 conventional plates in a tie with the 2 reduced chemistry plates for second place. And in the waste category, again, conventional plates had the highest amount.
The processless plates have little impact due to the fact that (as I’m sure you have guessed by now) they do not need to be processed. Most of the resources needed in plate-making is in the processing stage after the initial plate is created. Since processless plates bypass this step and go straight to the press, the impact here is minimal compared to the other plate categories.
The conventional chemically processed plates are the most common in today’s industry. However, as more options for environmentally-safe plates become available for printers, the choices also broaden for the consumers. If you have to use an offset press for your high-volume print project, I encourage you to research your options. The type of plate your printer uses can have a great impact on our world as a whole.
