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PARAGON LABEL CARES
Waste Paper and Water
Recycling
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When we print
labels, we have to use a lot of material for set up. In extreme cases this can add up to 20% to the
run which could mean thousands of feet of paper. Along with the setup waste, there is also the
matrix which is the excess material that is removed from the outside of the actual printed label.
These two factors lead to a lot of unavoidable waste. In the past, the only alternative was to
throw it in a landfill since the paper had adhesive |
on it
and could not be used in basic paper recycling mills.
The waste is recycled and used in such
goods as egg cartons, cardboard, cereal boxes, and paper towel rolls. Many of these recycled
products are labeled with certain percentages of pre-consumer and/or post-consumer recycled
materials. The higher the percentage of these recycled materials that is listed, the less impact on
our landfills and our environment.
To print labels we use water based inks. These inks are free of
solvents and thus much friendlier to both the air and water. Present environmental regulations
allow printers using water based inks to wash their inks down the drain. The waste water from this
process usually meets government standards and causes no ill effect on the environment since the
sewer plants clean the water. As Petaluma's sewer system has been taxed by rapid growth, it was
decided by Paragon to install a treatment plant within the building to help reduce the strain on
the sewer system. In 2001 we installed a system that completely cleanses our press cleanup water of
solids and heavy metals. When this process is complete, the water flushed from our facility is
cleaner than the water coming in. |
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Our waste treatment
system works by first storing about 3,000 gallons of waste water. Once full the storage tank drains
into a mixing tank. In the mixing tank the "dirty" water is combined with a group of chemicals
called |
polymers. The polymers naturally attach to all solids in the water and encapsulate
them. After mixing for about an hour, the newly encapsulated solids fall to the bottom of the tank
while the clean water is drained out. he solids are then filtered to a press where the last of the
water is squeezed out and solid material is dropped into a tray where it is then discarded. Since
the solids are encapsulated they will not break down in the landfill and cause any adverse
environmental effects.
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