Go Green! Publish Your Next Book with Sustainable Printing

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Sustainable Book Printing Process

As a follow up to my post Going Green - Can Print Marketing Really be Green? here is some information on going green in the book publishing industry.

The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group and Amerikal Products Corp are touting their new THINKTech process. They claim this THINKTech process will allow books to be printed on a heat-set web press without any curing and will revolutionize how books are printed and manufactured.

This sustainable process was developed using Amerikal’s Genesis line of sustainable chemistry. This process turns off off gas-fired ovens, chill drums, chill water compressors, electrical pumps, silicone applicators and electrically powered blowers and replaces traditional press cleaners and wash-up chemicals with Genesis BRIGL Wash and building inks to run with THINKTech Think Ink Film Technology.

Everyone has their version of being ‘green,’” says Steve Brooks, prep/press superintendent at Maple-Vail, “but this goes completely beyond the typical ways to be more eco-conscious. This process will forever change how books are printed. It will allow printers to reduce their energy costs and [volatile organic compounds (VOC)] while increasing quality.”

According to Maple-Vail, this new process will achieve:

complete elimination of natural gas usage for the ovens
dramatic reduction in electricity since the chillers are no longer necessary
VOC ink levels slashed from 31 percent to 42 percent to just under 3 percent due to the fact that the process is bio-based
VOC emissions from the special fountain solution and blanket wash result in a reduction to a fraction of the prior levels
increased production efficiency because of the quick-drying nature of the THINKTech process
elimination of all federal and state regulated toxins such as silicone, federal 313 chemicals and hazardous air pollutants

We are constantly striving for new ways to improve the printing and manufacturing process,” says Amerikal President Bob Danielson. “What we’ve created with Maple-Vail is a prime example of how we’re committed to helping our customers achieve great results. We not only helped them reduce their carbon footprint; we also reduced their overall costs and improved productivity, and that is imperative in today’s economy.”

The first book printed using the new process was by Stephen Marglin’s “The Dismal Science: How Thinking Like an Economist Undermines Community“. The Publisher is Harvard University Press.

Green Press Logo Go green - sustainability is our future and every step will help reduce the foot prints we leave behind. I haven’t had a chance to hold one of these books in my hand yet but as long as it is a quality product and can compete in the market place this process gets my vote.