Sustainable Materials
Sustainable materials are an essential first step in creating an eco-friendly carton. It’s obvious why using sustainable material is necessary. Utilizing green materials reduces the quantity of gases and electricity consumed by the earth-leeching method of creating new materials, and typically a recycling-based sustainable material requires less energy to manufacture, saving resources and pollution. Currently, the largest segment of sustainable materials used are post-consumer. Post-consumer material is any material that has already been used by a consumer, collected and sent through a recycling process. Typically, the higher the percent post-consumer in the material, the less attractive and less strength the board has. Sustainable materials are generally at our disposal and in the market; however, pricing and availability can fluctuate significantly. Maintaining a consistent product is key for any manufacturer to keep their customers, so testing new materials often will not yield the best results. Without a no risk to switching materials or higher cost for an eco-friendly alternative, it would be easier for more manufacturers to adapt eco-friendly standards.
Efficient Energy Usage
The Carbon Trust provides a number of guides to various sectors of industry on cost and carbon-saving measures. An example of Smurfit Kappa’s industry of paper and board manufacturing identifies how the industry can save up to 20% energy (in the production of the product) and 30% carbon simply by installing the best available technology in energy management and process control. The guide identifies that energy cost is around 16% of production cost; therefore, potential savings can make the industry more competitive in cost terms of manufacturing with more eco-friendly foreign plants.
Guidance on efficient energy usage in SMEs 2.1 The Carbon Trust is a government-backed body whose function is to provide advice and information on how companies can develop while reducing their impact on the environment. The Carbon Trust identifies that SMEs often use more energy than required from their production activities and can therefore make significant cost and carbon savings through the installation of energy-efficient measures. An assessment of areas of high energy usage will determine which measures are most cost-effective, focusing on measures with a payback time of 3 years or less. The most effective measures will typically be ensuring insulation is effective, maintaining heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and the fitting of energy-efficient lighting. The Carbon Trust also recommends that companies monitor their energy usage through submetering and energy bills to track improvements and identify any areas of excess usage. These measures can be taken towards the ultimate aim of developing an energy-efficient approach to future production methods.
Introduction 1.1 The function of this section is to explain the importance of saving energy and how it can reduce costs. The section also acts as a guide to the best practices in energy efficiency.
Waste Reduction and Recycling
Recycling is an important aspect of production that we give credit to in the manufacturing industry, no matter what kinds of products are being produced. Effective recycling starts with production control. With good production planning, there will be less oversupply and inventory of green packaging. Recycling can convert waste into valued resources. Our waste paper and cardboard are such valuable resources. Paper and cardboard are made from cellulose fibers. Cellulose fibers can be recycled to make new paper and cardboard without loss of quality. Because paper fiber becomes shorter and weaker when it is reprocessed, there is a limit to the number of times it can be recycled into high-quality paper. The paper and cardboard that we produce will go through subsequent processes of printing, cutting, and folding to convert them into carton boxes. These collected waste carton boxes are used to produce recycled paper through the processes of repulping, screening, cleaning, and refining before it can be made back into paper or cardboard. This recycled paper can then be used to make recycled carton boxes. With technological advancements, the quality of recycled paper has become comparable to virgin paper. At Jimtex, we are dedicated to producing high-quality recycled carton boxes. So we produce recycled paper from waste carton boxes to very high grammage uncoated paper, which is our material of choice for carton box production.
Water Conservation
Water is used widely in the manufacturing process, from inks and solvents to clean machineries. Although the amount of water used is insignificant compared to other industrial processes, it is necessary to use water as efficiently as possible. Inside the factory, our printing machines are designed for fast job setups and minimal waste of stock and inks. Waste in the printing process is often measured in make-ready sheets and these waste sheets are reduced with efficient machinery. Our UV Flexographic printer uses less energy and produces less heat than conventional flexographic or lithographic printing presses and therefore less water is used to cool the printer. However, by far the most effective way of reducing the impact of water wastage in the printing process is through the use and development of water-based inks. Flexo-Graphics has been using water-based inks for the past 20 years but even now most carton printing is done using solvent-based inks. Water-based inks are still not perfect as cleaning machines and color changes are still not as efficient compared to solvent machines. Nevertheless, impressive advances have been made in the last 5 years with soy and vegetable inks and we hope that flexographic printing will be entirely solvent-free in the future. Step changes like these are the most effective ways to develop sustainability in our processes.
Carbon Footprint Reduction
Custom carton box manufacturing has a tremendous potential to reduce the carbon footprint. The process of recycling and reusing carton boxes can prolong the boxes’ useful life with minimized carbon emissions. Recycled paper and board is the main raw material behind the carton packaging industry, with around 80-90% recycled carton board being used in packaging. There is a high demand for reusable packaging, and a lot of companies are preferring to use cartons rather than other alternatives. This creates a closed-loop supply chain, with carton box manufacturers taking back used boxes from customers to resupply to other customers. Used carton boxes are also favored by recycling companies. There are also technological advancements in energy efficiency in manufacturing processes. Dryers used in water-based printing will use less energy, and more efficient use of combustion techniques in kiln drying can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The UK government has schemes to encourage the use of renewable energy sources. Custom carton manufacturers will simply have to switch to a supplier using a green tariff or energy produced from renewable sources.