PSSIWePrint uses Soy Ink and Recycled paper products.
What is Soy Ink?
Soy ink (soy tinta) is a form of non-food soy. It is an environmentally friendly, healthy, and a safe approach to printing that takes only a small amount of energy to make. In fact, soybeans only use about 0.5 percent of the total energy that is needed to create the ink.
History
In the late 1970s, the Newspaper Association of America was looking for different ways to make ink, rather than using the standard petroleum-based ink. Rising prices for petroleum and quarrels with OPEC countries were reasons they wanted to find a more reliable and cost efficient method of printing.
After testing over 2,000 different vegetable oil formulations, researchers came up with a solution. In 1987, soybeans were chosen to make ink because of their abundance and low cost. With soy bean ink, those who tested it found no threat to the air or to the environment. In addition, approximately half of the soybeans that are grown in the United States do not even need watering, which is why using soybeans for ink can actually benefit the environment. Another benefit to soy ink is its low level of VOCs, (volatile organic compounds) which can help with air pollution by minimizing emissions.
Production
To make soy ink, soybean oil is slightly refined and then blended with pigment, resins, and waxes. Even though soybean oil is also known as vegetable oil which can be eaten, soy ink is not edible because the pigments that are mixed in with the oil are the same ones that are used in petroleum-based inks. The pigments and other additional chemicals added to create soy ink explain why it is not 100% biodegradable or edible.
Soy ink is made from soybean oil which has an innate clearness to it. Petroleum-based ink is not clear, and other vegetable oils are not as clear as soybean oil making it harder to obtain bright colored ink. For this reason, newspapers use soy ink regularly, especially for color because it creates a sharper and brighter image.
Benefits
Soy ink is also a helpful component in paper recycling. It helps in this process because the soy ink can be removed more easily than regular ink can be taken out of paper during the de-inking process of recycling. This allows the recycled paper to have less damage to its paper fibers and have a brighter appearance. The waste that is left from the soy ink during the de-inking process is not hazardous and it can be treated easily through the development on modern processes.
Recycled Paper Products
We cannot deny that paper products are important in our life. However, we should not forget that paper is made from one of the most valuable resources on this planet - trees. For every sheet of virgin paper used, trees must be cut. Paper products generally have a short life cycle and are thrown away after being used. Trees, on the other hand, take many years to grow. In North America many forests are cut and later turned into tree farms. Tree farms are not biologically diverse and the result is a worldwide loss of wildlife habitat and soil erosion.
Using recycled paper reduces the pressure on the world's forests because recycled paper is made from paper, not from trees. The process of recycling is specialized and not every type of paper can be mixed together. For example newspapers and cardboard boxes; must be separated before they can be used to produce different recycled paper products.
Recycled paper is made after waste paper is de-inked and all fillers, clays and fiber fragments are removed. Then it is remanufactured back into usable pulp.
Recycled papers benefit our environment
Paper mills require lots of energy to make paper from wood fiber. Paper fiber called cellulous must be separated from a tree's natural glue called lignin. Several energy intensive steps must be performed to produce a sheet of paper. Hazardous chlorine is also often used to bleach the pulp. Paper mills fulfill some of their energy needs by burning coal, oil, wood scraps and sometimes purchase additional energy from the local power companies. An abundance of water is also required to manufacture paper.
Manufacturing recycled papers is advantageous because it:
- Saves more than 40% of the energy resources.
- Requires less water.
- Saves on landfill space.
- Requires fewer chemicals and bleaching materials as compared to virgin paper production.
- Significantly decreases air and water pollution.
Chemicals used in paper manufacturing produce various types of by-products and gases. Solid waste material is usually dumped somewhere on land, liquid waste is generally flushed into streams or the sea and gases are left in the open air contributing to global warming. Recycled paper companies are comparatively earth friendly. They not only produce less waste but are also reducing the need to landfill or incinerate our paper trash.
Paper recycling helps conserve our forests.
If we use recycled paper products it will not only save more trees but ultimately could help save our planet from global warming. It is said that most of the paper mills plant a new tree to replace the harvested one, but cutting a tree down takes one hour and growing a tree can take 10 years; this is an unsustainable system and very damaging to the planet.
