Business Management - Sustainability

Going “green” is becoming big business these days. For all the news in recent years about fiscal responsibility, today’s corporate world is marshalling itself for a new mandate: environmental responsibility. Brand owners are increasingly heeding the public call to action – and much of their attention is turning toward packaging. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. generated 236 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2003. Just over 30 percent was recovered through recycling or composting. The rest was combusted or land filled. The good news is that recycling recovery rates been climbing steadily in recent years. In 2003, paper and paperboard

Pollution abatement systems are designed with heat recovery systems that can reduce overall energy costs. VOCS IS A four-letter "word." So is cost. Package printers working with solvent-based inks must deal with these profanities on a continual basis—eliminating the emission of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and other air pollutants, while minimizing costs. It's a dual-edge sword that has gotten sharper over the past couple of years due to significantly higher energy costs. VOCs, along with nitrous oxide (NOx), are detrimental to air quality because of the ozone that is produced when sunlight acts on these pollutants. Ozone is the primary component of smog,