Publishers and vendors in India are facing up to the challenge of greener production.
WAN-Ifra India research engineer Anand Srinivasan says it is an effort for which there is worldwide recognition: “India gave a voluntary commitment at the Copenhagen Accord that it will reduce carbon intensity from 20 to 25 per cent by the year 2020,” he says. “It is a huge commitment by a developing nation. The reduction in carbon intensity is going to be achieved by increasing the efficiency of operations of our industries - less use of raw materials, fuel and electricity. Soon we can expect more environmental regulations and stricter implementation that will affect our operations.”
India is currently the fifth largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world. However, since the country is home to a sixth of the world's population, emissions per capita are currently low.
Today, the print industry faces several green challenges. People associate print with deforestation and reading in electronic devices is considered greener than print reading.
“We can of course argue in favour of print,” Srinivasan says. “Many newsprint mills produce newsprint only from recycled fibres; a lot of virgin pulp comes from the trees of certified forests. One newspaper copy is read by several people and importantly, the used copy can be used for several purposes and recycling is easy compared to electronic devices.
“However, there are still several initiatives that printing plants can implement to be more environmentally friendly and win public support.”
He says publishing companies must adopt lean production methods, make responsible purchases and buy products that use recycled newsprint, use newsprint that originates from certified forests and use products that has labels like FSC and PEFC. Providing secure storage and waste management are also areas of importance in 'going green'.
Local manufacturers are also making a contribution, among them Maharashtra-based TechNova Imaging Systems, which makes low-impact inkjet-based CTP systems. General manager Deepak Chawla says India's rapid development is set to make it a very significant contributor to global carbon footprint.
Increased growth means increased manufacturing and related activities, which in turn means an increased level of carbon emissions.
In the past ten years, the use of incinerators in the graphic arts industry in India has also gained popularity, and trends indicate this will continue in the future. As people are becoming increasingly aware of their responsibility to the environment, a positive change in attitude is expected. A ban on plastic bags below a certain thickness is very likely, which will result in the rise of new industry segment for 'paper bags'. Similarly, the paper carton business is likely to see a huge boost and there is likely to be a migration of print jobs from offset to flexo. With its technology partners, TehNova is constantly monitoring industry trends globally, in order to be prepared for demands for lower environment-impact technologies in the Indian markets, Chawla says.
Among publishers, BCCL, Hindustan Times, Dainik Bhaskar, The Hindu, Dainik Jagran, Lokmat, RPL, Indian Express and Hind Samachar are just a few newspapers that have taken a lead in opting for green solutions in India, while many others have also shown an equal interest and are in process of 'going green'.
Earlier this year, BCCL technical director Sanat Hazra (pictured on our homepage) said one of the Times of India publisher's future projects would be production monitoring via iPad and urged usage of green technology, “think and act green and you will save money, and think how it is helping the customer”. The company prints the Times of India, dailies the Economic Times (640,000 copies), Mirror (one million), TIMS (1.65 million), Ei Samay & Onno Samay (560,000) and Maharastra Times (820,000) plus supplements and magazines at 12 of its own printing plants - mostly manroland equipped - and 24 contract sites, most of which have Manugraph CityLine and HiLine single-width presses.
And, there is a payoff. Times of India's reduction in water consumption is enough for 6.32 Indian villages; savings in energy is sufficient to light 1,923 homes.
Nirmalya Sen
Arnand Srinivasan lists several environmental impacts of newspaper printing:
Usage of raw materials: Newsprint, ink, aluminium and chemicals that leads to depletion of natural resources, deforestation and pollution from the chemicals used
Heavy use of water: Newsprint production requires a lot of water -- around 80,000 to 100,000 litres of water are used to produce a tonne of newsprint, which also depletes a natural resource, in India
Air pollution: Fuel burned in vehicles for transportation of raw materials and products to customers, diesel generator sets, heatset inks and VOCs used for cleaning
Water pollution: Leakages during storage and use, waste water discharge in newsprint plants and CTP effluents in printing plants
Use of electricity: One tonne of newsprint manufactured can consume about 1,500 kwh. A middle-class home in India could use that power for six months. Printing plants use a lot of electricity too.