Printers Cut CO2 Emissions With GEW’s e-Brick

REDHILL, Surrey, U.K.—UV systems manufacturer GEW Ltd. has revealed figures on CO2 emissions with cost savings to date based on the supply of its e-Brick electronic UV curing systems. Malcolm Rae, managing director, said, “We are developing products to help printers use energy more efficiently with UV systems that not only reduce consumption and costs, but also reduce CO2 emissions.”

“These are now key issues in almost every aspect of industry including retail packaging where brand owners are favoring ‘green’ suppliers and demanding compliance with pre-set environmental criteria,” he continued. “Since the launch of the e-System range, we calculate that collectively, printers running with e-Brick have reduced CO2 emissions by 4,800 tons based on the UK average of CO2 produced per kW hour generated. In addition the related cost savings of curing with e-system products amount to a staggering £1,000,000 ($1,376,283) plus. We can only imagine the impact of this as a contribution in reducing the carbon footprint of the printing industry alone.”

The e-System was launched in mid-2005 and has been well received by both press manufacturers and printers wanting to upgrade existing machines and replace traditional ballast power supplies. The system uses high frequency electrical output that increases UV power efficiency by a minimum of 10 percent thereby reducing electrical costs and contributing to a cleaner environment.

“Further benefits are the significantly reduced size and weight of the new systems that reduce the impact of transporting the product,” added Rae. “Since many of our systems are shipped airfreight, this has a significant reduction on CO2 emissions. In terms of manufacturing we have also designed our own UV testing method that helps us to significantly reduce our in-house energy use, further contributing to a low carbon future.”