Everyone wants to help the environment. Many of us do that by recycling our old ink cartridges, to be responsible, make a profit or help an organisation raise funds. A recent report shows that recycling our inks may not be enough. Although progress has been made in this area, inkjet prints cannot be recycled because they are not “deinkable”.
What does this mean, exactly? Well, even if you’re doing the right thing with your inks, papers printed with inkjets cannot be recycled. The paper simply absorbs too much ink and it cannot be removed through the recycling process. This doesn’t affect the average joe all that much since recycling facilities can usually handle small amounts of paper soaked with inkjet inks. It’s the large amount of direct mail or newsprint that poses the problem.
Of the companies that have made attempts to solve the problem, it is the International Association of the Deinking Industry (INGEDE) that has made the most progress. However, little has been done about it. In fact, because the printing market demands fast and economical goods, many companies are looking to switch to large machines that will use inkjet technology to produce printed media. This is not a good sign. In an attempt to combat this possible trend, INGEDE set up an information booth at drupa, the world’s largest printing exhibition held in Düsseldorf, Germany. Drupa is attended by printers and publishers worldwide, so if there was a place to make a point, drupa is it.
“We have to inform publishers and mailing designers”, says INGEDE’s Press Officer Axel Fischer. “Even a single publisher investing in this kind of equipment could severely harm paper recycling all over Europe”.
For more information, visit ingede.com.
Inkjet, drupa, Ingede, paper recycling, ink recycling
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