Eco-design in the printing industry Life cycle thinking: Implementation of Eco-design concepts and tools into the routine procedures of companies

Abstract

For some years, the printing industry has been faced with environmental problems like emissions of waste volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other hazardous substances. A lot has been done to eliminate these end-of-pipe problems. One project, focused on opportunities to optimise the environmental features of prepress and printing machines at an early stage of the life cycle e.g. the design phase, is discussed in this text. Under the heading of the ‘Implementation of Eco-design Concepts in Companies of the Machine Engineering Industry’ the project was carried out by econcept and Europe’s largest printing machine manufacturer Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. with the support of the German Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, DBU) was planned as a test case for implementing eco-design in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and the main activities were concentrated on the business unit Prepress in Kiel, Germany. It aimed at developing innovative and effective tools, which were easy to implement into the usual and daily procedures of the company. During the project typical products of the business unit were analysed, an environmental handbook for product development was developed, and education programmes and information was generated for the employees, customers and waste managers. Finally, the systematic integration of knowledge and tools into the existing formalised product development process of the company lead to environmentally optimised products and financial advantages.