Kodak’s Sonora Process Free Plate technology could save up to 265 million liters of water in a year, the company says.
The forecast is based on new adoption data for the process-free plates, which remove the need for a plate processor in the prepress stage of a print operation.
Rich Rindo, general manager of Kodak’s worldwide graphics marketing organization, says allowing commercial printers to take water out of the process “introduces a new era of sustainability in platemaking.”
With traditional processed plates, water is used to run the plate processor and clean it after production, as well as to run a rinse/gum unit if baking plates. In addition, water is mixed with concentrated processing chemistry. With Sonora Plates, this water can be removed from the platemaking process entirely, conserving a natural resource and reducing the load on water treatment facilities.
Sonora Plates also hold promise for print operations in emerging industrial centers with limited or no water treatment infrastructure, Kodak says.
Kodak manufacturing facilities around the world monitor water consumption and have achieved a nearly 25 percent reduction in usage since 2009, the company says.
An October CDP report says water stewardship — not just reducing water use — is the key to achieving water security.