VOC control measures and demonstration projects in the printing industry - 2006

VOC control measures and demonstration projects in the printing industry - 2006

In the mid-2000s, Japan was at a turning point in further strengthening environmental regulations. The Kyoto Protocol came into effect in 2005, and with the reduction of greenhouse gases and air pollutants becoming an international responsibility, there was an urgent need to control emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Japan. VOCs are the cause of photochemical smog.

Revisions to the Air Pollution Control Law enacted in 2006 imposed strict targets on businesses to reduce VOC emissions by 30%. In response, the Ministry of the Environment established the "VOC Emission Inventory Study Group" to ascertain actual emissions by industry and to study technical solutions. The gravure printing industry, in particular, was conspicuously slow to respond due to its structural situation of heavy solvent use, and anxiety over the tightening of regulations and the management burden on small and medium-sized companies became a social problem.

In response, the Environmental Technology Demonstration Model Project was introduced to conduct demonstration tests of advanced reduction technologies, such as low-VOC inks and recovery and reuse equipment. To promote understanding and participation by businesses, test procedures were made public, and measures to promote the use of these technologies were sought in the form of collaboration among government, industry, and researchers. These efforts were not limited to mere regulatory compliance, but provided an opportunity for the Japanese printing industry as a whole to shift to an environmentally responsive industrial structure, and were positioned as a step toward the later expansion of "environmental business.