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summary |
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Anagram Saves Over $68,600 through
Waste Reduction
Reducing Solvent and Ink Purchases
and Waste in the Flexographic Printing Industry
| Company |
Anagram International,
Inc.
Eden Prairie, Minnesota |
| Project |
Reduce solvent and
ink waste |
| Results |
Waste reduced by
30% |
|
Process Background
Anagram International, Inc. manufactures products made of
synthetically-based films. Their products include Mylar®
balloons, self-sealing valves, consumer gift packaging and
industrial packaging. Anagram employs approximately 400 people
and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Anagram uses three six-color and one eight-color
flexographic printing presses. Flexographic printing uses
flexible raised-image printing plates and rapid-drying fluid
inks to carry out direct rotary printing.
Solvent is used to thin inks, clean the
presses and wipe up ink spills. Used solvent is sent out for
recycling then purchased back at less than virgin-solvent
costs. The recycled solvent is used primarily to clean the
printing decks.
Incentives for Change
The printing manager established a goal to reduce hazardous
waste 25 percent by the end of 1996 as a cost cutting effort.
Anagram’s printing operation generated
most of their hazardous waste. At the start of the intern
project, they generated 34 drums of hazardous waste a month.
Waste from cleaning the printing decks made up about 75 percent
(1,400 gallons) of the total.
Options Implemented
Multiple Stage Cleaning
Every printing press had five to
six buckets of pump-wash solvent nearby to clean each press'
six to eight printing decks. One of these buckets would be
randomly selected to flush the ink from the decks.
Press cleaning was modified to an organized
three-stage cleaning process.
Stage 1: Majority of the ink is removed
using dirty solvent.
Stage 2: Ink, left after the first stage,
is removed using partially dirty solvent.
Stage 3: Any remaining ink is removed
by the cleanest solvent.
Using all three stages takes an extra four
to six minutes per deck, but often using only the first two
stages cleans sufficiently.
When the solvent in the stage-1 bucket becomes
too thick, it is emptied. Solvent is replenished by the subsequent
stage (i.e., the solvent used as stage 2 becomes stage 1)
and stage 3 is filled with fresh solvent. Solvent use decreases
because the solvent is used longer before it is discarded.
To make the system easy, each printing press
has a cart with three buckets that are clearly labeled so
employees know when each bucket should be used. Employee training
on using the system and on its benefits, along with making
the system easy to use were essential to the success of multiple-stage
cleaning.
Savings: $28,200 per year in solvent
purchases and disposal costs. Reduces solvent waste by almost
120 drums per year.
Shutdown Procedure
During press shutdown, the ink pumps are placed in individual
buckets of pump-wash solvent to prevent any solvent or ink
from drying inside them. Fresh solvent was usually obtained
to soak the pumps. Now, solvent buckets are dedicated for
press shutdown and are not used for cleaning. The solvent
remains fairly clean and is used indefinitely. Buckets of
pump wash, designated by the signs that say "Pump wash
used only to soak pumps," are placed by each printing
press and the press workers are trained on their proper use.
Savings: Included in multiple-stage cleaning
savings.
Deck Draining
Before a printing deck is cleaned, the ink from the ink
chamber and hoses is drained into a bucket. Because of the
layout of the pump and hoses, about two pounds of ink remains
in the hoses of the bottom printing decks. When solvent is
flushed through the system, more solvent is needed to clean
out this wasted ink.
Before cleaning, the ink is recovered by
elevating the entrances to the hoses for ten seconds.
Savings: $15,400 per year in ink purchases.
Printing Deck
Hose Length and Size
Hoses between the ink pumps and the printing decks varied
in length and often were longer than necessary, causing slack
in the lines. During a color change, ink was lost when it
did not drain completely. The intern determined the optimal
hose length for each level of the printing decks. Now, a sign
that lists the correct lengths and a ruler are located by
the extra hose so employees can easily cut the correct lengths.
Savings: Not determined.
Recycled Solvent
for Thinning Ink
Anagram sends out their used solvent for recycling and
purchases back the recycled solvent for use as press wash.
Recycled solvent is now combined with virgin solvent (1:4)
to thin the inks and it has no affect on printing quality.
Savings: $16,800 a year in virgin solvent
purchases.
Recycled Ink
Experiments determined that contaminated ink, which does
not contain any white ink, can be reworked into the black
ink. Contaminated ink is now added at ten percent to the black
ink without affecting quality.
Savings: $8,200 a year in ink purchases
and disposal costs.
Additional Options
Floor Washings
Anagram combines their waste from
washing the floor with ink and solvent waste. Separating out
the floor washings (2-3 drums per month) may permit them to
be sewered. Anagram is reviewing this with their wastewater
treatment authority.
Potential savings: Not determined.
On-site Solvent
Distillation
An on-site solvent recovery system was investigated. The
system must use a vacuum in order to distill nitrocellulose,
an ink component, which can be explosive when dry. The use
of a solvent recovery system would eliminate the purchase
of recycled solvent and would reduce the amount of waste being
shipped out by over 75 percent.
Potential savings: $29,100 annually in
recycled solvent purchases and disposal costs. Would reduce
hazardous waste by 240 drums per year.
Results
Implementing the options identified above has reduced Anagram’s
hazardous waste by 30 percent. This will save them over $68,600
a year. Greater savings are possible if additional options
are implemented. Anagram has completed other hazardous waste
reduction projects as well. In eight months, they exceeded
their goal—ahead of schedule—and reduced hazardous
waste by 50 percent.
More Information
MnTAP has a variety of technical assistance services available
to help Minnesota companies to manage and reduce their industrial
waste. If you would like assistance or more information about
MnTAP's Intern Program, call 612.624.1300 or 800.247.0015
from greater Minnesota.
This project was conducted in 1996
by MnTAP intern Qui Hong, a chemical engineering senior at
the University of Minnesota.
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