We’ve seen processless plates, and plates with low chemistry requirements, but what about a CtP plate with no coating or chemistry whatsoever?
Computer to plate production has improved printing’s carbon footprint no end because it does away with film and the associated chemistry. But the recently announced Miracle technology, developed in the UK by JPI, does away with coatings and processing entirely. JPI has patented a method of switching uncoated, grained and anodised aluminium from hydrophilic to hydrophobic states, so they don’t need any coatings at all.
Can it really be true, as so many tree huggers believe, that pulp and paper production are major contributors to global warming? 
What’s the hottest topic in print these days? Judging by the spate of recent announcements, it’s carbon calculators. They’re everywhere, from Google’s calculator and those of NGOs such as the Carbon Trust and Envirowise in the UK, through to energy companies the world round. Even book publishers are getting into the act. For instance, Finnish book printer WS Bookwell’s ecocalculator calculates CO2 emissions and environmental impacts based on materials alternatives, production data and print run specifications.
Protecting the environment has to be a top priority for all of us in the printing industry. This much we know, but taking steps to improve how we do business isn’t that simple and is made harder by the ridiculous myth that going green is an expensive proposition. Fortunately a growing number of printing companies around the world are using their brains and have recognised that green habits are good for business as well as the planet.
Paper is arguably one of the most useful commodities every invented, one that most of us make use of every day, and yet few people know exactly how paper is manufactured.
De-inking used paper is a major step towards making recycled paper, but can established de-inking processes keep up with advances in printing technology?
