Page 54 - Print21 May-June 2020

Sustainability
Print turning green
Print environmentalist Laurel Brunner says the large growth in the Kodak Sonora Green Leaf Award
is indicative of an industry that is taking its environmental responsibilities seriously.
Advance Press based in Perth was one of the winners of the Kodak Sonora Green Leaf, joining a record number of printers around the world in what is a growing recognition of green printing.
For the 2019 Sonora Plate Green Leaf awards Kodak has recognised 52 printers, an astonishing increase in the number of recipients over
the last few years. The programme started in 2013 and in 2016 there were just eight winners. This year’s crop of 52 represents a more than 600 per cent increase. That says a lot for the technology, but also for the commitment of printers to improve their sustainability.
Awards for sustainability in the graphics sector are not particularly common, and few have lasted more than a couple of years, despite
the industry’s need for positive environmental messaging.
But since the inception of the Sonora Plate Green Leaf in 2013 awards Kodak has continued to acknowledge customers for their commitment to improving the environmental impact of their businesses.
This year's winners hail from around the world and address many different print sectors. Kodak now recognises more than one winner for each geographic region, with entries evaluated
54 Print21 MAY/JUNE 2020
Huge growth shows printers taking environmental concerns seriously: Kodak green leaf award
by members of Kodak’s Health & Safety executive, using a range of criteria.
This award is not just about using the Sonora process free plate, but about overall efforts to improve sustainability for the business.
There are 4000 printers worldwide working with Sonora plates of which there are three versions, tailored
for the application. The Sonora X
can be used in 80 per cent of offset applications and is rated for run lengths of up to 400,000 unbaked on a web press. Sonora X is good for 200,000 impressions on sheet fed presses, and for 75,000 for UV ink applications including low energy UV curing. The Sonora X-N is a version optimised
for newspaper and some publication printing (coldset) and Sonora XP supports FM screening, so it is suitable for printers producing high quality sheetfed work in short to medium runs.
three versions of the Sonora process free plate, Kodak covers most print sectors across the globe. This includes long and short run offset, labels and packaging printing, as well as heat set web and newspaper production. Sonora X can be used in UV printing and VLF applications.
Kodak now sells one process
free plate for every three plates sold and expects to see sales continuing to rise.
The company’s competitors in processless platesetting are Agfa and Fujifilm and these organisations are also seeing rising sales of processless plates. Cutting out the chemistry, energy and waste associated with print processing is an easy step for printing companies to take. Let’s hope we see more of them doing it.
– Laurel Brunner
This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. This commentary helps printing companies keep up to date with environmental standards, and how environmentally friendly business management can help improve their bottom lines. Verdigris is supported by the following companies: Agfa Graphics, EFI, Fespa, Fujifilm, HP, Kodak, Miraclon, Ricoh, Spindrift, Splash PR, Unity Publishing and Xeikon. 21
“Kodak has continued to acknowledge customers for their commitment to improving the environmental impact of their businesses.”
Run lengths are obviously subjective since how long a plate lasts on press depends on the press and its chemistry, image resolution and of course the characteristics of the ink and substrate. However, with these