From Background to Mandatory Clauses: Key Takeaways from China’s National Green Printing Standard

Speech by Cao Lei, Deputy Director of the R&D Department of the Environmental Certification Center, Ministry of Environmental Protection, at the Green Printing (Northern Region) briefing.

1. Background to the standard

Printing has affected the environment since its earliest days; early plates were carved from wood, and paper came from wood and plants.

Modern printing processes place considerable pressure on the environment.

Prepress uses film imaging; imposition and plate exposure consume large volumes of chemicals, while used film and plates are largely non-recyclable.

Inks, wash solutions, and equipment noise cause substantial environmental harm, and daily waste paper volumes are significant.

Post-press adhesives and laminating materials also create environmental impacts.

1. Determining the standard’s scope

Printing covers a wide field, making it difficult at this stage to set environmental labeling requirements for all categories; the drafting order therefore follows these principles:

Priority goes to areas where environmental labeling can be promoted and deliver stronger environmental improvement.

Most domestic enterprises can meet the requirements through technology upgrades and new materials.

The standard should have significant influence on government green procurement and green consumption.

1. Drafting principles

Environmental characteristics: control indicators and requirements are built around a product’s main environmental traits.

Advancement: limits should be set at a level attainable by 20-30% of advanced products.

Internationalization: adopt international standards and advanced foreign standards.

Applicability: the standard should suit the advanced production level of Chinese products and the testing capability of Chinese laboratories.

Government support: it should meet national laws and regulations, align with national industrial policies, and be consistent with related standards.

Technological progress: actively adopt advanced technologies and processes that advance resource conservation, comprehensive utilization, and pollution reduction.

Compatibility: when drafting scope, definitions, classification, testing methods, and similar content for the environmental labeling standard, existing standards should be used where appropriate.

1. Sources of the standard task

Task document: Notice on Issuing the 2009 Project Plan for the Development and Revision of National Environmental Protection Standards (Huanbanhan [2009] No. 221).

Project name: Development of the National Environmental Protection Standard / Technical Requirement for Environmental Labeling Products – Printing.

Lead organization: Environmental Development Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection (Sino-Japan Friendship Centre for Environmental Protection).

Participating organizations: China Printing Technology Association, Beijing Green Cause Culture Development Center, Heshan Astros Printing Co., Ltd., C&C Joint Printing (Guangdong) Co., Ltd., Dongguan Junsi Printing Co., Ltd., Aipai Group (China) Co., Ltd., Tianjin Toyo Ink Co., Ltd., Beijing Kangdexin Composite Material Co., Ltd., Jindong Paper (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., and Fujifilm (China) Investment Co., Ltd.

1. Standard development process

Project proposal review meeting (April 2009)

Drafting working group formed (June-July 2009)

Field research, discussion, and draft standard preparation (July 2009-March 2010)

Preliminary consultation draft issued for broad comments (August 2010)

Two ministries signed the Strategic Cooperation Agreement on Implementing Green Printing (September 2010)

Standard verification (May-November 2010)

Discussion meeting on the standard draft for review (November 2010)

Draft for review and drafting explanation submitted (November 28, 2010)

Standard review meeting held (December 28, 2010)

1. Main content of the standard

The standard has two main parts:

Part one contains mandatory requirements, covering environmental requirements for raw and auxiliary materials such as inks, paper brightness (whiteness), varnishes, adhesives, and spray powder, plus environmental requirements for printed products. These product requirements mainly cover eight elements—Sb, As, Ba, Pb, Cd, Cr, Hg, and Se—and 16 volatile organic compounds.

Part two covers environmental optional requirements, mainly for raw and auxiliary materials and production processes. Material requirements address seven items: substrates, printing plates, blankets, fountain solutions, plate and blanket cleaning fluids, hot-melt adhesives, and post-press surface treatment. Production process requirements assess resource conservation, energy saving, and recycling across prepress, press, and post-press stages.

Implementation goal: by using compliant raw and auxiliary materials and certified printing processes, finished printed products should meet the standard’s environmental requirements; the final judgment is based on testing the environmental behavior of the finished printed product.

Mandatory requirements for raw and auxiliary materials

1. Limits for phthalates

Indicator: inks, varnishes, blankets, adhesives, and other raw and auxiliary materials must not contain the six phthalates listed in the table.

Rationale: phthalates are fat-soluble synthetic organic compounds. DEHP, DBP, and BBP are low-molecular-weight phthalates with eight or fewer carbons and pose varying health risks; they are environmental pollutants and widely used as important additives in plastics, rubber, coatings, and other chemical products. They are regulated under EU directives and standards and US consumer product rules, including BS EN 14372:2004, 2005/84/EC, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act H.R.4040, and California AB1108.

1. Paper brightness (whiteness) requirements

Indicator: paper brightness (whiteness) should meet GB/T 24999; paper for primary and secondary school textbooks should meet GB/T 18359.

Rationale: lowering paper brightness (whiteness) can reduce pulp bleaching agents and bleaching cycles, cut the use of brightening chemicals, and therefore lower pollutant emissions; overly white paper also has adverse health effects.

1. Ink requirements

Indicator: inks used must comply with HJ/T 370.

Rationale: offset lithographic inks are a major environmental pollution source in printing and printed products. They pollute during printing and harm human health; organic residues on printed products continue to pollute the environment, and these residues and harmful substances such as lead, mercury, arsenic, and chromium can continue to harm users’ health.

1. Varnish requirements

Indicator: varnishes used should be water-based or UV-curable.

Rationale: solvent-based varnishes are hazardous, heavily restricted in production and use, and their large solvent emissions cause serious environmental harm; some solvents, such as toluene and ethylbenzene, are benzene-based and moderately toxic. The standard therefore prohibits solvent-based varnishes in environmental labeling printed products.

1. Spray powder requirements

Indicator: spray powder used should be plant-based.

Rationale: spray powder is essential in modern high-speed multicolor offset printing; it prevents back-side set-off and improves print quality and efficiency. Made from mineral or plant powders through modern refining, the particles are spherical, transparent, and smooth (10-25 μm) and help ensure smooth post-press processing. To support sustainable spray powder use, the standard requires plant-based powder only.

1. Fountain solution requirements

Indicator: fountain solutions used must not contain methanol.

Rationale: methanol is widely known for its toxicity. Industrial alcohol contains about 4% methanol; criminals use it as drinking alcohol to make fake liquor, causing methanol poisoning after consumption. In methanol plants, Chinese authorities set the allowable airborne methanol concentration at 50 mg/m³; workers in methanol vapor areas must wear gas masks, and wastewater must be treated before discharge, with an allowable content below 200 mg/L.

1. Laminating adhesive requirements

Indicator: laminating adhesives used should be water-based laminating adhesives.

Rationale: laminating adhesive is needed for paper-plastic lamination of printed products. Lamination can extend product preservation time. Domestically, two main adhesive types are used: solvent-based and water-based. Solvent-based adhesives mainly use benzene-based solvents, which are highly toxic and hazardous, so the standard prohibits solvent-based laminating adhesives.

1. Printed product requirements

Indicator: control requirements are set for eight heavy metals and 16 volatile substances in printed products.

Basis for the indicators:

1. With reference to toy standards such as GB 6675-2003, EN 71-3, ASTM F963, and ISO 8124-3, limits are set for eight elements in printed products: Sb, As, Ba, Pb, Cd, Cr, Hg, and Se.
2. The Limits of Volatile Organic Compounds in Cigarette Carton and Packet Packaging Paper (YC 263-2008) sets limits for 16 volatile substances in printed products.

Environmental behavior evaluation requirements for printing raw and auxiliary materials:

1. Sustainable forest certification requirements

Chain of Custody (CoC) certification is... (original text is lengthy; excerpted here)