Stephenson said: "UV ink can be printed on almost all substrates, and the cost of this product is higher than solvent inks, but it has been recognized by more and more printers. Many large format printing companies All said that their next purchase goal is UV printing equipment."
However, UV inks are not perfect. It is very fragile and easy to crack, while the solvent-based ink has a strong ability to stretch, and is very suitable for printing body stickers and other products. Of course, there is another choice for people, that is, Latex water-based inks.
Hewlett-Packard's Goddard believes the company's Designjet L25500 Latex water-based ink printer is a truly environmentally friendly device. He said: "Ink and printing consumables can all become major problems affecting the environment. UV-curing inks may have certain environmental advantages, but it also has its own shortcomings. The most prominent feature of Latex water-based inks is that they are not flammable."
The new HP Latex water-based ink printing technology not only expands HP's ink technology range, but also provides a good alternative for print service providers for a variety of indoor and outdoor applications. The new HP Water-based Latex inks produce odorless prints that are durable and deliver vivid images. These inks also have broad versatility and can provide large-volume business printing services with the support of HP's large-format scanning and printing technology. Printing companies can not only expand their printing capabilities and businesses, but also reduce the environmental pollution caused by printing. HP Latex inks provide long-lasting, high-quality printing results for a variety of HP-produced or non-HP-produced substrates. Even uncoated products can exhibit outdoor durability for up to three years. From this point of view, the Designjet L25500 Latex water-based ink printer has the strength to compete with Epson, Migo, and Roland.
For Goddard's environmental remarks, Stephenson also gave his own opinion, he believes that the slow drying of environmental solvents, and the need to install heating equipment to the printing press, which will not only consume more power, but also will increase invisible The energy consumption of the equipment.
In order to refute Stephenson's statement, Hewlett-Packard's Goddard said that their Designjet printer has passed the European Energy Star certification, and only two printers worldwide have passed this energy program certification.
Reducing energy consumption is a goal that all equipment manufacturers are pursuing, but the realization of this goal depends mainly on the entire production process used by the printing company. As Machin pointed out: "Waste is the number one enemy of printing companies - only a few printing companies know how waste is created."
Long-term return on investment
Green printing looks expensive, but it can bring long-term benefits to printing companies. Machin said: "We can find some very simple ways to reduce energy consumption and reduce costs. Companies can also save a lot of wealth through green production."
For a long time, the types of substrates were the most troublesome for large-scale printing companies. The recovery of non-paper materials is very difficult and impossible to achieve in some cases. Hewlett-Packard Company has launched the world's first free substrate recycling program for its customers. All participants will receive a recycling bin. When this bin is filled, third-party processing companies from Italy will recycle and reprocess the material inside. At present, this plan has begun to spread in the United States.
It is understood that HP is not the only company that provides such services for large-format printing customers. The Robert Horn Signage Display Company also relaunched the scrap recycling program early this year. According to this plan, all of the company’s customers can recycle their waste, rather than sending it to Robert Horn’s UK processing plant.
Goddard believes that such plans can simplify the path of large-scale printing companies to achieve green production. Although this road is full of hardships, printing companies can achieve many benefits while achieving green production. First, printing companies can increase operating revenue through sustainable printing. Second, they can reduce costs, especially waste and energy use. Third, printing companies can create a more comfortable working environment for their employees through energy conservation and emission reduction. Finally, they can also protect themselves from environmental regulations.
Whether you are an environmentalist or not, you should integrate your company's environmental protection philosophy. Many corporate customers are eager to cooperate with green printing service providers - if you miss this opportunity, I am afraid it will never be possible to keep up with the trend of the market.
As Goddard puts it: “If companies cannot prove that they have adopted sustainable production methods, then customers will not buy products from you.†So, printing companies are actually facing a very simple choice: either To achieve green production, you must lose valuable customers.