Chris Raney

Did you hear the one about the diecutting press that was built entirely from sustainable materials? It had a wooden feeder, a wooden platen and a wooden delivery. The only problem was that it "wooden" work.

OK, so I'm no Jon Stewart, but my point is that when it comes to the equipment that drives the packaging industry, there is no mileage in truly green machines. However, there are a number of things that we equipment manufacturers can do to help customers meet their green objectives, while we work toward some of our own.

Today, waste reduction is inextricably linked to the green debate, but it was not so long ago that it was all about controlling cost. Equipment designers worked hard to help packaging manufacturers minimize their use of materials, in particular the more expensive ones like board and foil.

For example, on printing presses, intelligent register and QA controls were developed to automatically adjust and maintain print register to help reduce waste. On foiling presses, foil rewind systems were developed that use sophisticated computer algorithms to minimize the amount of foil needed for a job. On folder-gluers, innovations such as glue line and code detection were designed to identify incorrect gluing and reduce scrap.

Now, there is a real demand for environmentally friendly processes — and manufacturers across the industry are responding. Alcohol-free printing and solventless lamination come immediately to mind, but the challenge is also to reduce the usage of the things we can't eliminate entirely. For example, the new generation of corrugated flexo presses use water-based inks, which reduce ink loss by as much as 80 percent and cuts water usage by 60 percent. Furthermore, new high-efficiency dryers and drives diminish the amount of power needed to operate them, and in turn reduce their carbon footprint.

Green by Design

Typically in this column we speak in generalities. However, here I beg your indulgence as I address how Bobst, as a manufacturer, not a machinery supplier, is addressing the sustainability of our environment.

As a manufacturer, we have production facilities all over the world. This creates ample opportunity to generate carbon dioxide. Like many other manufacturers, Bobst has committed to reducing its carbon footprint. We have teams on virtually every continent implementing projects, which range from the replacement of heat-inefficient windows in one of our Swiss facilities, to installing a wastewater treatment plant at our reconditioning facility in India.

As a business, we are no different to many others. We employ people, and those people have to get to work somehow. They have to use lights, computers, copiers and natural resources. As well as encouraging the responsible use of power, paper and water reserves, we have started a number of initiatives to help our staff reduce their personal carbon footprint.

For example, our largest two factories in Lausanne, Switzerland, have a "work bus" that gets city dwelling staff to and from work. We have established a car sharing system for those not near the bus route. Using the company intranet, staff can match their route to work with that of others and reduce the number of cars the road. An additional benefit: In a country where gas is about $7 a gallon, they save money, too.

Trying to respond as a business to our environmental responsibilities isn't always easy. It takes some effort and investment, but it does work. We estimate that through a range of initiatives, we have reduced the energy use in our main Swiss factories alone by 2 million kilowatt hours a year. That's roughly equal to 500 tons of CO₂.

The aim is to double this savings next year. If we do it in all our facilities, and other manufacturers around the world do likewise, together we might have a chance of keeping Alaska free of palm trees.

Chris Raney is vice president, Folding Carton products for Bobst Group USA, Roseland, N.J. He is responsible for the Folding Carton Business Area for the North American market. He can be reached atchristopher.raney@bobstgroup.com
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