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PERFORMANCE DEMONSTRATIONS OF ALTERNATIVE SCREEN RECLAMATION PRODUCTS FOR SCREEN PRINTING
Citation:
Abt Associates, Inc. PERFORMANCE DEMONSTRATIONS OF ALTERNATIVE SCREEN RECLAMATION PRODUCTS FOR SCREEN PRINTING. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/R-95/081 (NTIS 95-230983), 1995.
Impact/Purpose:
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Description:
This project evaluated environmentally-preferable products for the screen reclamation process In screen printing during month-long demonstrations at 23 printing facilities nationwide. hrough the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Design for the Environment Printing Project, printers, the EPA, reclamation product manufacturers, and the screen printing trade association worked together to evaluate alternatives to the hazardous chemicals commonly used during screen reclamation. otal of ten "product systems" (which include an ink remover, a stencil or emulsion remover, and a haze remover) were voluntarily submitted by manufacturers for evaluation. dditionally, one individual ink remover, and two substitute technologies were demonstrated. erformance was evaluated in two phases: (1) laboratory testing to ensure the products were generally effective, and (2) in-field demonstrations to evaluate product effectiveness In a production situation. n general, most emulsion removers worked very well, but the success with the ink and haze removers was mixed. osts of switching from a baseline reclamation system to an alternative system were estimated based on the cost of: chemicals, the labor time to reclaim the screen, rag use, and waste disposal. ourteen facilities would realize reduced costs for screen reclamation by switching to an alternative product. he other nine facilities would experience increased costs. wo alternative technologies were also evaluated. sing the first technology, high pressure (3000 psi) water blaster, the quantity of chemicals needed and the time required for reclamation were reduced. ased on limited, preliminary demonstrations, the second technology evaluated, a sodium bicarbonate spray, may have potential for reclaiming screens used for printing with solvent or water-based inks.