The company will plant 17 trees for every new Cretaprint printer purchase, a new initiative in EFI’s ongoing commitment to reducing carbon footprint
As part of its ongoing commitment to revolutionise the ceramic print industry with greener, more sustainable technologies, Electronics For Imaging, Inc. has announced a new reforestation initiative in coordination with new EFI™ Cretaprint® ceramic printer sales.
Under this new initiative, EFI will plant 17 trees for every new Cretaprint printer sold: a symbolic number that is equivalent to approximately three tons of CO2 emissions, according to 2019 greenhouse gas reporting. These trees will help customers to offset their CO2 emissions, and upon install of each new Cretaprint, the EFI customer will receive a certificate confirming the planting of the trees.
EFI developed this initiative in collaboration with Bosques Sostenibles in Spain, a company specialising in reforestation efforts that mitigate the effects of global warming. Bosques Sostenibles is endorsed by Spain’s Ministry of Ecological Transition and has planted 550,000 trees to date in the country’s Iruelas Valley in efforts aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the United Nations within its Development Programme.
Leading the green revolution
Cretaprint aims to prevent excessive use of resources with more efficient technology. EFI’s newest hybrid Cretaprint model is a sustainable ceramic inkjet decoration technology that affects the ceramic manufacturing process as a whole, and positively impacts the resources used as well as the emissions and waste generated.
The EFI Cretaprint Hybrid printer features improved ink and cleaning systems and renewed electronics to keep humidity and prevent ink sedimentation in the printheads. Because of this design, the printer operates with water-based and eco-solvent inks and glazes. The water-based inks reduce carbon and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions to atmosphere by an impressive 90%, with an average reduction of overall carbon emissions of 73%. EFI Cretaprint eco-solvent inks are formulated with solvents of vegetable origin, without hydrocarbons and esters. They are a robust option that provide high-quality performance and stability and prevent printheads from drying out.
Another product in EFI’s ceramics portfolio, EFI Cretaprint Shield, is an auxiliary printer that complements existing ceramics manufacturing equipment. With up to two printing bars, customers can use Cretaprint Shield for digital glazing for digital applications such as glues and effects. The environmental impact of the ceramic decoration process using the Shield product is more limited when compared to other techniques, such as spraying.
With EFI Cretaprint digital inkjet ceramic decorating, the amount of water that evaporates is much lower compared to analogue processes and results in less energy consumption. Plus, the decreased water in the composition of the glaze reduces vapor emissions into the atmosphere. The lower volume of total material applied also results in a reduction equivalent to 10 times the impact of the associated shipping costs, as well as the consumption of containers, labels and other conditioning elements.
EFI’s single-pass inkjet technology used in Cretaprint printers and other digital inkjet products manufactured at EFI’s Almassora, Spain, facility reduces resources and waste emissions, eliminates the need for plates and tooling (and transport and logistics related to that), reduces inventory, reduces waste of over-production, eliminates wasted water to clean presses and inks, and eliminates ink waste.
The reforestation initiative extends EFI’s commitment to developing green technology, leading the charge in digital, sustainable solutions. It will also continue to improve the overall carbon footprint of Cretaprint solutions.
EFI is also extending its tree planting initiative to the Almassora facility’s other single-pass industrial print technologies, EFI Cubik building material printers and EFI Nozomi corrugated packaging printers.
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