Environment-Friendly Trends in Offset Printing

Abstract

The SDGs mandate an integrated sustainable development of the global economy, society, and environment. It is high time for the printing industry, being closely related to global climate change, to promote protection of environment at a global level, regardless of the scale of individual businesses. Until now, the reduction of environmental burden, improvement in working environment and productivity, and realization of IoT has been achieved through remarkable technological innovation in the field of offset printing, a leading segment of the industry in terms of market size. Waterless printing technology has made a major contribution in reducing environmental burden from waste and VOC emissions. Citing this technology, “Japan WPA” has been stressing on the need for printing companies to work towards environmental protection. It also supports printing companies in their efforts to realize and reduce environmental burden. In this review, we summarize the status of progress of the eco-friendly offset printing system and describe its future prospects.