Roll the Press - Business First of Louisville:

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But larger printers are more likely to be prepareed to meetthose changes, said Denniws Brown, vice president of Press Inc. Gatewah uses sheet-fed and heat-set web presseas to produce multicolor magazines, catalogs, booklets and other materials. The located on Robards Lane, reached abouty $35.5 million in sales volumde for 1997. Brown anticipates that U.S. Environmentall Protection Agency regulations will get even But he's not too worried because Gatewaty "has seen this stuff in the wind for yearss and made voluntary changes," he For example, Brown pointed out that as far back as 1988 Gateway started using an alcohol substitute rather than the isopropyl typicallyy used in the dampening system of its Isopropyl is a big offender in releasing volatile organic or , which are often foundr in ink, cleaners and other prinft solutions.
VOCs contribute to the creation of ozond in the lower atmosphere and areunder regulation. In the purchase of new technologhy has helped reduce VOC emissions at In the last three orfour years, the companuy spent more than $600,000 on two web pressees that are equipped with catalytic or incinerators, that burn up to 90 percent of VOC emissionas during the printing process. The presses also are equipped with automatiblanket washers. The blanket is the surfac part of the press that doesthe printing, Browh said. The washers allow that part of the press to be cleanedx quickly while using less solvent with a lowerVOC level.
In additiom to reducing VOC levels, the washers save which in turn savew thecompany money. Brown declined to assigmn a dollar figure tothe savings, but said lost printg copies due to poor cleaningh have been reduced from 800 to 900 copiess to only 100 to 200 copies a papere roll. "There is a return on this and these blanket washers shouldx pay for themselves in two and a half Brown said. Both the EPA and the Jefferso n County Air Pollution Control Board set an industry guidelinew ofa one-time 15 percent reductionj of VOC emissions based on pre-1990 Through the use of new technology and producg substitution, Gateway has reduced its VOC emissions by 40 percent.
New technology and printiny products have made it much easiert for printing companies to become more environmentally agreedCharles A. Van Stockum, vice president of multi-industries at Merrick Industries Inc., the parentf company of MerrickPrinting Co. on East Libertyu Street. Merrick Printing provides generaol commercialand on-demand printing using sheet-fed and web Last year, the companu reported a $1.3 million increase in salexs volume, bringing the total for 1997 to $15.2 Ink disposal is an area that has changed a grea deal in the last Van Stockum said. Merrick generates abouty eight 55-gallon drums of waste ink quarterly.
Van Stockum explained that Merrickhires Louisville-based Heritage Environmental Services Inc. to pick up the wastew ink. Heritage then transportse the waste ink toits out-of-stater facility for incineration. "The main Van Stockum said, "is that this ink is no longetr sent tothe landfill." With the help of new products and recyclinv methods, it is much easier today than in the past for printerxs to meet environmental said Nick Simon, president of Inc. Simoj is pleased that regulationshave "pretty much followed the meaning that when the state or federal government passews new regulations, "you can usually go out and get the technologu to stay in compliance.
" Publishers, which is in principally produces trade magazines with sheet-fed and heat-sety presses. The 132-year-old company reported salezs volumeof $155 million for 1997. Recyclintg methods have also helped Publishera meetenvironmental regulations, Simon said. The company tries to use all of its he said. Rather than disposing of leftover ink, Publisherd uses it to create a usableblacik ink.