Abstract
The life cycle of products, from the procurement of raw materials to the disposal method, varies depending on product attributes. Life-cycle assessment is thus used to quantitatively evaluate the total environmental impact of a product over its lifetime considering its raw materials, production processes, and all other relevant factors contributing to its environmental impact. The Japan Waterless Printing Association and Toray Industries, Inc. compared conventional and waterless printing with the "T-E2A: Toray Eco-Efficiency Analysis" tool to evaluate the environmental and economic characteristics of each product and printing process. The results showed that waterless printing is both environmentally and economically superior to conventional printing, as it minimizes material waste during startup and reduces electrical bills with faster startup.
