Environmental Benefits of Digital Printing using the HP Indigo 5000 press

September 30, 2005

In addition to the environmentally responsible line of house stocks that Hemlock is offering for its digital services, there are other benefits to Hemlock’s digital capabilities using the HP Indigo press:

Reduced Makeready
As the press is completely digital, virtually no makeready is necessary compared to a traditional offset process. Jobs can be prepared while another is still printing. Delicate adjustments due to ink and water balance in the traditional workflow are eliminated. Colour is up to density and in register on the first pull off the press as this is all digitally controlled. During the run, colour adjustments can be made in a single impression.

This technology results in a savings of the cost of press time.   There is also an environmental benefit in the reduction of energy consumed and paper used.

Variable Data
With the Indigo’s digital technology, each impression can have completely different content, images and illustrations.

By tailoring your marketing pieces to the individual recipient, there is a higher likelihood that your material will be noticed, processed and acted on. This results in greater return on your printing investment. In creating a customized piece, the necessity for mass print runs is eliminated. This saves you money on printing costs, but also results in a substantial decrease in consumption of paper that could potentially end up being recycled or put into landfill. Please see the Variable Data section for more information on variable data campaigns.

Recycling
Projects printed on the Indigo are readily recyclable in office waste paper and curbside paper recycling programs. The important first step in paper recycling is deinking. To the extent that the wood fibres in these products can be broken down, toner and ink can be successfully removed from the printed media to facilitate recycling.

Resource Consumption
Hemlock’s Indigo 5000 digital press uses a plateless and waterless workflow, thus eliminating the consumption of metal printing plates, chemicals for plate processing and water in the production process.