Studies on Mitigation of Printing Cost, Volatile Organic Compounds Emission and Sustainability in Printing Industries by Using Water-based Inks

Abstract Organic solvents have been frequently and excessively used in the printing process for a long time. The use of organic solvents in solvent-based ink is responsible for fire hazards, volatile organic compounds emission, and high manufacturing cost during printing. The present study aimed at replacing solvent based ink with water-based ink for reducing the volatile organic compounds emissions and carbon footprints in gravure printing without affecting overall printing quality. The PET film was printed with a water-based ink laser engraved cylinder having reduced cell depth and it resulted in the transfer of a low volume of inks on printing substrate. The cost of printing one kg of polyester film with water-based ink was reduced by US$ 1.95 compared to solvent-based ink. The volatile organic compounds emissions for water-based ink were measured at 2478 ppm against 3373 ppm for solvent-based ink. The water-based ink reduced the carbon footprint by 3.04 kg, which was equivalent to CO2 during printing of one kg polyester film used for making flexible pouches compared to solvent-based ink. The outcome of this study may be the benchmark to authorities for green manufacturing systems in gravure printing applications for the betterment of the environment and humanity.