Comments on: The Future of Newspapers and Digital Printing http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2008/06/the-future-of-newspapers-and-digital-printing/ Transpromo, Short-Run Book Publishing, Inkjet and other Printing Industry Issues Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:01:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Axel Fischer http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2008/06/the-future-of-newspapers-and-digital-printing/comment-page-1/#comment-18 Axel Fischer Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:01:52 +0000 http://thedigitalnirvana.com/?p=22#comment-18 Pat & Andy, as already said elsewhere: Flexo inks in Europe are currently a major problem -- especially in the UK and in Italy. We are in constant discussions with the printers to use better deinkable inks. For recycling paper into graphic paper there are several specifications for the recovered paper, one of them says "no flexographic printing allowed". It is also not acceptred in deinking grades. Downcycling paper into board is also an option, but there is a strong political demand in Europe to use recovered paper even for higher grades than newspaper. We learned that these problems also exist in the US, e. g. at wasteage.com/mag/waste_profiles_garbage_newspaper/ you can read about US mills: "Many newsprint mills reject newspaper published with flexographic inks because those inks are hard to remove from paper fibers." There is no qualitative difference in terms of deinkability between flexo inks and inkjet inks -- the problems are currently about the same. And the story about enzymes has been arouind for a long time but I do not know of any mill where this works in a commercial scale. We see some possibly interesting development coming up with HP's bonding agent for inkjet which might lead to better deinking behaviour. Until then I doubt that messing up an existing recycling system leaves a smaller carbon footprint ... If you ever come to Europe, you are very welcome to visit a state-of-the-art paper recycling mill here with me and learn "hands on" what is facts and what is speculation. Pat & Andy,

as already said elsewhere: Flexo inks in Europe are currently a major problem — especially in the UK and in Italy. We are in constant discussions with the printers to use better deinkable inks. For recycling paper into graphic paper there are several specifications for the recovered paper, one of them says “no flexographic printing allowed”. It is also not acceptred in deinking grades. Downcycling paper into board is also an option, but there is a strong political demand in Europe to use recovered paper even for higher grades than newspaper.

We learned that these problems also exist in the US, e. g. at wasteage.com/mag/waste_profiles_garbage_newspaper/ you can read about US mills: “Many newsprint mills reject newspaper published with flexographic inks because those inks are hard to remove from paper fibers.” There is no qualitative difference in terms of deinkability between flexo inks and inkjet inks — the problems are currently about the same. And the story about enzymes has been arouind for a long time but I do not know of any mill where this works in a commercial scale.

We see some possibly interesting development coming up with HP’s bonding agent for inkjet which might lead to better deinking behaviour. Until then I doubt that messing up an existing recycling system leaves a smaller carbon footprint …

If you ever come to Europe, you are very welcome to visit a state-of-the-art paper recycling mill here with me and learn “hands on” what is facts and what is speculation.

]]> By: Andy McCourt http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2008/06/the-future-of-newspapers-and-digital-printing/comment-page-1/#comment-16 Andy McCourt Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:15:34 +0000 http://thedigitalnirvana.com/?p=22#comment-16 Edmund and Kayecee - it's not a great video and was released in Feb but here it is: http://www.graphicartsonline.com/flashVideo/element_id/2140164688/taxid/31777.html Maybe check back with the Oce website to see if they post a proper working video up ther sometime. Regards Edmund and Kayecee – it’s not a great video and was released in Feb but here it is:
http://www.graphicartsonline.com/flashVideo/element_id/2140164688/taxid/31777.html

Maybe check back with the Oce website to see if they post a proper working video up ther sometime.
Regards

]]> By: Kayecee http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2008/06/the-future-of-newspapers-and-digital-printing/comment-page-1/#comment-15 Kayecee Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:17:31 +0000 http://thedigitalnirvana.com/?p=22#comment-15 Yes, I'd really like to see a video of the process too. Do you know if there is one available somewhere? Thanks. Yes, I’d really like to see a video of the process too. Do you know if there is one available somewhere? Thanks.

]]> By: Edmund Dante Hamilton http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2008/06/the-future-of-newspapers-and-digital-printing/comment-page-1/#comment-14 Edmund Dante Hamilton Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:56:17 +0000 http://thedigitalnirvana.com/?p=22#comment-14 Is there a video of this anywhere? Is there a video of this anywhere?

]]> By: Andy McCourt http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2008/06/the-future-of-newspapers-and-digital-printing/comment-page-1/#comment-12 Andy McCourt Sun, 29 Jun 2008 01:49:32 +0000 http://thedigitalnirvana.com/?p=22#comment-12 Pat, Good question and one I am currently researching avidly to sort the facts from speculation. It seems true that Inkjet-printed newsprint, like Flexo, is harder to de-ink. The 1-3 micron, maybe sub-micron dye particles coupled with hydrophillic nature of the carrier challenge current oil-based and toner-based de-inking installations. There is no question that inkjet newsprint can be recycled - it can. It can also derive from originally high recycled feedstock anyway. The issue is de-inking and therefore whether it can be recycled into white graphic paper again. I checked with Australia's largest recycler and they treat inkjet printed paper the same as toner printed, and produce testliner and cartonboard (Visy Smithfield mill, Sydney). On the de-inking issue, enzyme de-colouring has been proven to work. A marine bacteria 'eats' dyes. So this seems to be de-colouring rather than de-inking. One think for sure, HP, Kodak and of course Oce are working very hard to address the de-inking issue. You might want to check with the UK's Daily Mail newspaper - largest Flexo plant in the world. They must be addressing recyclability of their products and the issue will be the same or similar for Flexo. My guess is the overall carbon footprint of Inkjetted newsprint will be much smaller than that for conventional offset; and that's what counts. Pat,
Good question and one I am currently researching avidly to sort the facts from speculation. It seems true that Inkjet-printed newsprint, like Flexo, is harder to de-ink. The 1-3 micron, maybe sub-micron dye particles coupled with hydrophillic nature of the carrier challenge current oil-based and toner-based de-inking installations. There is no question that inkjet newsprint can be recycled – it can. It can also derive from originally high recycled feedstock anyway. The issue is de-inking and therefore whether it can be recycled into white graphic paper again. I checked with Australia’s largest recycler and they treat inkjet printed paper the same as toner printed, and produce testliner and cartonboard (Visy Smithfield mill, Sydney). On the de-inking issue, enzyme de-colouring has been proven to work. A marine bacteria ‘eats’ dyes. So this seems to be de-colouring rather than de-inking. One think for sure, HP, Kodak and of course Oce are working very hard to address the de-inking issue. You might want to check with the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper – largest Flexo plant in the world. They must be addressing recyclability of their products and the issue will be the same or similar for Flexo. My guess is the overall carbon footprint of Inkjetted newsprint will be much smaller than that for conventional offset; and that’s what counts.

]]> By: Pat Berger http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2008/06/the-future-of-newspapers-and-digital-printing/comment-page-1/#comment-11 Pat Berger Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:35:54 +0000 http://thedigitalnirvana.com/?p=22#comment-11 What are the recyclability options for this type of newspaper production? What are the recyclability options for this type of newspaper production?

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