It is not enough that we print on recycled paper; each printed piece should be recyclable in turn. At drupa 2008, de-inking of digitally printed paper became a hot potato. On Print CEO Andy Tribute clarified the issue by presenting comments from INGEDE - the International Association of the Deinking Industry. Founded in 1989 and made up of leading European paper manufacturers, INGEDE's goals are to ensure that it is possible to recover and recycle used paper to produce cardboard, packaging paper, office paper, newsprint, and other papers of the highest quality. Xeikon, part of Punch Graphix, has a proactive attitude to de-inking and recylability of paper. In fact, Xeikon's dry toner received very high scores for "de-inking" from INGEDE, and scored as good or better than offset printing processes. Based in Belgium - in the heart of Europe - Xeikon’s "green" efforts are not limited to consumables. Since January 1, 2010, Xeikon's toner manufacturing operation has been using 100% green power from renewable energy to manufacture its dry toner.
"Our toner manufacturing plant is located in Heultje, Belgium. We distribute our toners to the North American customer base from our facility near Chicago, IL. Our customers here can take pride in the fact that our toners are eco-friendly with no hazardous emissions and are fully recyclable," said  Michael V. Ring, President, Punch Graphix Americas, Inc. "In addition, our toner manufacturing operations now utilize 100% renewable energy. This should go a long way in further reducing our carbon footprint."
Other major sustainability initiatives include:
  • Compliance with the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive which puts the responsibility for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment on the manufacturer.
  • Separate systems to handle wastewater and rainwater to route only water needing treatment to the proper facility.
  • Recovering heat from the toner manufacturing process to heat the building and incorporating new production technology to reduce energy consumption while increasing production volume.
  • Recovering and reusing toner waste generated during the manufacturing process. Toner that cannot be recovered is compressed with wood pulp for fuel in the cement industry.
  • Shipping toner in recyclable HPDE bottles and recycling toner packaging.
  • Equipping presses with a closed loop circulation cooling system that uses no water and releases no VOCs.
  • Shipping presses in packaging that includes wood containers which can be disassembled and returned to the plant to be reused.
By approaching the manufacture, use, and end-of-life of its products holistically, Xeikon - and Punch Graphix - is ensuring that they have as little environmental impact as possible throughout the printing supply chain. As part of its "triple bottom line" commitment, Xeikon has put programs in place like the partnership between Xeikon and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute / The Jimmy Fund. At Print 09, equipment in the Xeikon booth produced thousands of greeting cards that were donated to the Institute’s 2009 Holiday Greetings program while demonstrating both variable printing and inline cutting capabilities. Rather than having to recycle thousands of pounds of paper, it was all put to good use.