One of the printing companies that recently was taken over by De Toekomst in Hilversum was Ecodrukkers. "This accelerated the plans to print alcohol-free," says director Jan Roos.
"Alcohol makes it easy for printers. A halftone screen that threatens to close, some extra alcohol in the dampening systemand the problems are solved. The question is whether you want this or not. It's a fast-evaporating substance that operators breathe at the press. It ends up in the environment. Our conclusion was that we would switch to alcohol-free, but had to find the time to test."
Producing
The customers that ware brought by Ecodrukkers place a high value on sustainability. De Toekomst was already ISO 14001-certified and uses the FSC quality mark.
Jan: "Just before my holiday I called Wifac and said that we wanted to test. According to the specialists of Wifac that was no problem with Tower Millennium 1000. Rinse the system well and clean the dampening system. That sounded positive and familiar, but you have to wait and see. Our chef Pieter Makrakis started to work with the new fount on our Heidelberg Speedmaster 74 press. After I returned from vacation and asked how it went there was one reaction: super good. He didn't have to call Wifac once. Tower Millennium 1000 in the press and produce."
No childhood diseases
"The fact that we now print alcohol-free is good for the health of our employees and for the environment, but it also brings commercial benefits. Customers ask for it and you score higher in tenders. We're not the first to join, but wait until the childhood diseases have been solved. As far as I'm concerned, that time has come for alcohol-free printing. I am pleased that we have made such a smooth transition."
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