The Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner
Disposing of waste water effectively can be difficult for flexo printers. This print process produces much of the packaging used for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs), so anything that can be done to improve waste handling has to be good news. Miraclon customer Nägele Digital Repro GmbH of Kempten, Germany has worked with a local engineering firm to develop an inhouse waste water recycling system, so that waste can be dealt with efficiently for recycling and without the associated transportation emissions.
To comply with environmental regulations specialist firms are often used to collect and recycle the waste water resulting from flexo plate production. This involves transport emissions as well as additional expense. But with its new unit Nägele can now recyle waste water on site to recover the water for reuse. Its local partner specialises in liquids recycling and has developed an the method for handling waste water following plate production. The unit is designed to treat 300 litres of used processing agent. It takes up 6m x 3m of space in the warehouse where it is fully integrated into production and works semi-automatically.
The waste water is processed in several steps: chemical precipitation in an agitator; filtration through four connected filter bags; and distillation of the water in a solar powered evaporator. The cleansed water is then returned to the Flexcel NX Ultra’ processor’s washing unit. The remaining solid residue has to be disposed of along with the filtration bags once they need replacing. This waste can be treated as household waste. For 1000 litres the process treats all but 30 litres, so what’s left has to be treated offsite. The project obviously cost time, effort and money but the system has been operational since April and Nägele is seeing returns..
Nägele has used Kodak Flexcel NX technology from Miraclon since 2010, expanding capacity in 2021. Adding Kodak Flexcel NX Ultra to the line-up added water-based processing which eliminated solvents and VOCs. Kodak Flexcel NX Ultra is used to image about half of the 98% of the plates Nägele produces using Flexcel NX. The 2% not produced with Flexcel NX are varnish plates for offset printing. Nägele customers include flexible packaging printers in Germany and various neighboring European countries and the company can deliver a press ready plate mostly within an hour. Customers can keep their presses running even if there are last minute plate changes. Nägele says these converters are very pleased with the consistency of the plates and ink transfer which helps their presses come up to colour more quickly during start-up. This obviously has a positive environmental impact.
Nägele is one of many printing companies actively improving resource management and environmental sustainability. The company worries about its own environmental impact as well as that of its customers. The new water treatment system is a big step in Nägele move towards greater sustainability and that of its clients.
– Laurel Brunner
This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. This weekly commentary helps printing companies keep up to date with environmental standards, and how environmentally friendly business management can help improve their bottom lines. Verdigris is supported by the following companies: Agfa Graphics, EFI, Fespa, Fujifilm, HP, Kodak, Miraclon, RicohSplash PR, Unity Publishing and Xeikon.