Nanovis, the Swiss-based industrial cleaning specialists, showed at Labelexpo its cleaning solution which is not only good for the environment but also promises to save printers money.
The company offers a solution to reduce the number of harmful volatile organic compounds coming from the printing industry by eliminating the use of solvent altogether in the cleaning process of flexographic printing equipment.
The system includes a cleaning agent, which never has to be replaced and absorbing powder. The cleaning agent removes the ink from the parts and the powder absorbs it. Both the cleaning agent and the absorbent powder are solvent and chemical free.
With this cleaning solution, printing parts can be cleaned in 8-12 minutes, with the only waste being a dry solid ink cake, which can disposed of with other industrial waste.
Christoph Schonenberger, sales manager, said, ‘Awareness of the harmful effects of VOCs is growing. With our solution, environmentally friendly and effective cleaning is not just a nice ideal, but one which can work and save your company money.’
A study by Environment Canada shows that in 2011, the second largest contributor to VOC emissions was paint and solvents. The printing industry is one of the biggest users of paints and solvents, with flexographic printing proving to be one of the worst offenders.
The system does not only provide an environmentally friendly way to clean equipment, but it also cut costs. As the cleaning agent is not hazardous, it does not have expensive transportation fees. It also never needs to be replaced, only replenished which is another area printers can save money on.
There is also the issue of employee safety, which is increased with this cleaning method, again due to the absence of hazardous chemicals and solvents.
