Organic Printing Ink

Here at Lanes Printers, we understand the impact printing has on the environment, which is why we offer organic printing ink.

These inks include no chemical developers or chemicals and are completely etched through plates instead of chemically. Our inks (even though organic) offer true pantone ink colours which are unmatchable by any digital methods of print as well as full colour CMYK. Our offset printing allows far more diversity in terms of finishing and specialist coatings, the possibilities are endless!

Additionally, as our inks are organic, all of our processes are green and efficient meaning you do not have to worry about damaging the environment when printing with us!

The main problem with chemical inks is that they release volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are compounds of carbon (excluding carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, metallic carbides, or carbonates and ammonium carbonate). These participate in ‘atmospheric photochemical reactions’ but more simply put, they can evaporate at normal indoor air temperatures and their greenhouse effect contributes to global warming.

The European Commission reports that offset printing consumes around three million tons of hydrocarbon-based inks and chemicals every year. These inks and chemicals could also be harmful to the health of print workers if not properly managed as well as be harmful to the environment.

Here at Lanes, we don't use any chemical developers or chemicals within our ink. This is because we want to do our part in helping the world become more renewable. The science behind it means that as chemical ink, such as petroleum-based inks dry, they release VOCs. And, more ‘VOCs’ can be released when presses are washed between print runs. Chemical inks require harsher solvents to clean meaning VOCs are released. Vegetable-based inks like ours can be cleaned from machinery with less water and solvent meaning less VOC’s are released.

Using these bad chemical inks adds to the global problem, because petroleum is a non-renewable resource, while the plants used for vegetable-based ink are fast growing and renewable. Additionally, VOC-free inks like vegetable ink eliminate the release of greenhouse gases.

ISO Environmental Standard

At Lanes Printers, we comply with the ISO 14000 which is a family of standards related to environmental management. It exists to help organizations minimize how their operations or processes negatively affect the environment and how they comply with applicable laws, regulations, and other environmentally oriented requirements.

Want to know more about our organic ink and our printing services? Get in touch with us for more information.