Design for the Environment

2. Design for the Environment A voluntary partnership-based program that works directly with companies to integrate health and environmental considerations in business decisions.

3. Design for the Environment • Changing general business practices to incorporate environmental concerns. • Working with specific industries to evaluate the risks, performance, and costs of alternative chemicals, processes and technologies. • Helping individual businesses undertake environmental design efforts through the application of specific tools and methods.

4. DfE partners include: • Industry • Professional institutions • Academia • Environmental and Public Interest Groups • Other Government Agencies

5. DfE Approach • Encourages front-end innovations through redesign rather than relying on end-of-pipe controls to reducing potential risks to human health and the environment. • Uses Cleaner Technologies Substitutes Assessments (CTSAs) and life cycle tools to evaluate the performance, costs and environmental and human health impacts of competing technologies.

6. Printing projects Electronics projects Garment and textile care Laundry partnership Auto refinishing projects Supplier Initiative Wall Paints Adhesives in the Foam Furniture and Sleep Products Industries DfE-PETE Education DfE Approaches to Developing EMS DfE Programs

7. Govt regulations affecting printing industry • VOC’s affecting air, water and health regulations- CERCLA, RCRA, CAA, SARA • main chemicals • acetone • methanol • ethyl acetate • toluene • xylene

8. Design for the Environment Printing Projects • Lithography project • Flexography project • Screen Printing project

9. Design for the Environment Lithography Project • > 50% of industry - books, newspapers, magazines, etc. • offset printing process-transfers image from a plate to a blanket then to substrate • primary concern is solvent-based blanket washes

10. Design for the EnvironmentFlexography Project • 17% of industry - packaging, plastic bags, labels, etc. • printing from a raised image on a printing plate to substrate using quick-drying inks • primary concern is solvent-based inks

11. Design for the Environment Screen Printing Project • 3 % of industry - t-shirts, textiles, fine art, printing on electronic equipment • Rubber squeegee presses ink through stencil (image) on porous screen to substrate • main concern are solvents used in removing inks and emulsions (stencils) to reclaim screens

12. Design for the Environment Screen Printing Project • Technical Studies • Implementation Efforts • Outreach Activities (methodology applicable for each industry)

13. Technical Studies • Cleaner Substitutes Assessment (CTSA) • Factors Include: • Chemical composition • Performance • Cost • Occupational Risk and Exposure • Regulatory Concerns • Did NOT • rank a product as better or worse than another • recommend “green” products

17. Implementation Efforts • Training Video • Cost Assessment Software

18. Outreach Activities • Informational materials • Industry Conferences/workshops • Case Studies

19. Case Study: Action Graphics • Eliminated need for ink remover by • reclaiming screens immediately after a print run • using a high-water pressure system • switching emulsion and haze removers • Reduced amount of solvent used by finding more efficient products and reusing rags.

20. Comparison of Yearly Operating Costs* Yearly Operating Cost Savings: $9,400 * Data not available for change in labor costs