THE ROLE OF ASSESSING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT IN PRINTING INDUSTRY

CHAPTER 1

1.0   INTRODUCTION

The international Association for impact Assessment (IAIA) defines an environmental impact assessment as “the process identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made. Atmospheric composition affects air quality, weather, climate, and critical constituents such as ozone and aerosols which in turn have effect on printed product. Atmospheric composition is central to earth system dynamics, since the atmosphere integrates surface emissions globally on time scales form weeks to years an involves several environmental issues.

1.1   BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Outdoor printed product diminishes in ink content, degree value and contrast over time due to the several environmental and atmospherically conditions or effects on the ink.

The atmosphere of earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet earth that is retained by earth’s gravity. The atmosphere protects life on earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heart relention (greenhouse effect), and reducing temperature extremes between day and night (the diurnal temperature variation).

The common name given to the atmospheric gases used in breathing and photosynthesis is air. By volume, dry air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, (i) 0.93% argon, 0.039% carton dioxide, and small amounts of other gases, thus invariably the composite elements of air. Air also contains a variable amount of water vapour, on average around 1%.

1.2 Background of the problem

The printing process has been undergoing constant growth and innovation from inception.
The statistics of 2005 showed that an estimated 45 trillion pages were printed annually around
the world (cartridgesave.co.uk). The United States alone in 2006 had approximately 30,700
printing companies which accounted for about $112 billion in revenue that year. The printing

industry is also regarded as the 5th largest industry in the United Kingdom and the 6th most
environmentally damaging (oxfordgrenprint.com). In India, there are over 130000 of all types
of printing presses. India in 2004 to 2005 had an estimated print export (books, journals and
other printing jobs) estimated to a worth of $550 million transported to over 120 countries in
the world (drupe.de). Apart from increases in the size of output in the printing industry, there
has also been a considerable change and increase in the number of inputs used in the printing
process as well. There are dozens of chemicals used containing such things as dissolved
silver, phosphoric acid and iso-propyl alcohol with some of these compounds being
unfriendly to the environment (oxfordgreenprint.com) . A document from Ontario printing
and imaging association in 1995 listed 46 different environmental unfriendly compounds used in printing and the proper ways to handle them (oxfordgreenprint.com).

1.3 Problem statement

The printing process in noted to have moved form an unsophisticated to a very sophisticated
process involving the use of several inputs. By sophistication, I mean production in the
printing industry has involved the increase use of different chemical compounds in materials
such as ink which has degrading effects on the environment. Also, the industry has become
very attractive with huge financial gains and has developed new and innovative ways to print
pictures, designs and type onto a variety of different mediums (cartridgesave.co.uk). This
increase demand has led to an increase in the demand from paper companies who often resort
to illegal exploitation of the forest natural resource thus destroying the natural ecosystem.
This therefore indicates that the growth and development in the printing industry has however
come at the price of increased environmental hazards. From this, the specific questions to
guide the research project are:

What role does eco-printing play in contributing to environmental sustainability?
How can the environmental sustainability situation of UNT be enhanced?

1.4 Scope and delimitation
The concept of sustainability is usually perceived as a global issue. As a result, it could be
seen as very broad and complex since it focuses on the triple bottom line, which is economic,
social, and environmental sustainability of organizations. The main focus of the study in
question is on the perspective of environmental sustainability and this is done in relation to an
industry and not from a global perspective. According to Welford (1995), ‘‘the environment
must be valued as an integral part of the economic process and not treated as a free good’’.
This implies minimal use of non-renewable resources and minimal emission of pollutants, as
well as protection of ecosystems in order to avoid the loss of plant and animal species
(Welford, 1995). Finally, the study is done with a focus on the printing operations of a
newspaper company Uppsala Nya Tidning (UNT)4

1.5 Objective of Study

The study is focused on investigating the contributions of eco-printing to environmental
sustainability. To this effect, the attributes of eco-printing will be examined with a particular
case of Upsala Nya Tidninig AB. (UNT) a newspaper company. Also, they study seeks to
examine the necessary requirements for printing companies to be eco friendly and also the
potential environmental (contributions) benefits of eco-printing