Why Inkjet is a More Sustainable Print Technology

It may sound basic, but inkjet’s ability to accommodate a wider range of media compared to offset presses makes it easier and more feasible to incorporate recycled substrates, or those that feature some percentage of post-consumer material. What’s more, the ability to print on a wide variety of media also makes it possible for designers and printers to incorporate more eco-friendly inks that may not be compatible with the media required for offset print. 

In the case of paper, the ability to print on sheets manufactured using post-consumer fibers as opposed to virgin fibers helps reduce the unnecessary harvesting of forests, and choosing recycled paper helps create a more closed-loop system that lessens your overall environmental impact.  

Inkjet’s ability to conserve both water and colorant starts with the ink transfer process. Digital inkjet uses small print heads to transfer ink to the sheet in a single pass via a fixed number of printheads that span the width of the substrate. The ink is laid onto the substrate as it is fed through the press, and, as a result, this produces more consistent coverage.

This application process is much more precise than offset printing — offset requires the use of large plates to transfer ink to the sheet — which means inkjet requires less water and colorant to achieve a superior level of print and color quality. 

The need for less water and colorant optimizes the shipping of inkjet ink by allowing for more orders per shipment, reducing the amount of resources necessary to move ink from place to place. In addition, digital inkjet can accommodate new and specialty inks that use water-based pigments, removing the need for chemical additives that can negatively impact the environment. 

One of the biggest benefits of digital inkjet is the efficiency and speed of production. Digital inkjet can print more sheets continuously much faster than offset, and the ability to process larger jobs at an accelerated rate means better controlling a printer’s overall energy consumption. Digital inkjet also uses less energy than toner presses. Toner-based printing requires a high level of heat to transfer ink to the substrate, a process that requires much more energy than production inkjet. 

With traditional offset presses, the large plates used in production for ink transfer need to be properly cleaned after use. This process often requires solvents or solutions that use volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to ensure the plates are appropriate for subsequent jobs. Similarly, toner-based presses use large cartridges for ink transfer, and these cartridges can be difficult to recycle and reuse following production. 

Digital inkjet’s method of ink transfer does not require regular cleaning with harsh chemicals. Plus, eliminating the need for toner cartridges reduces waste, thus making production inkjet a more sustainable print technology for a wide range of applications — this includes everything from book publishing to customer communication to direct mail.