Clean Production Technologies
Production
- CEI minimizes environmental impact by:
Using highly efficient production equipment and methodologies - Reusing packaging materials, from internal and outbound shipments
- Single site production, increasing work-in-progress transportation efficiencies
- Automated inspection systems, reducing out of specification wastes
- Robotic material handling systems, to reduce material damage
- Custom designed equipment with ongoing upgrades
- CEI's full, onsite, pre-printing service provides start-to-finish manufacturing of flexography and offset lithography press printing plates
- 100% aqueous-based chemicals and developing solutions are utilized in printing plate operations.
- Control chemicals and plate components through "closed loop" quality auditing and production reporting systems that reduce manufacturing errors and premature plate failures.
- Onsite plate manufacturing conserves press, plate, ink, and chemical wastes by producing higher quality printing plates and replacing plates before print quality diminishes.
- CEI's flexography inks are 100% water-based
- Lower volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, compared to traditional solvent-based flexography inks
- Independent third party tests confirm substrates printed with water-based inks have pet palatability preference over solvent-based ink printed substrates.
- Standard operating press procedures are strictly followed to monitor inks for proper consistency and performance. Procedures prevent over-application of wastes from out-of-spec ink, and eliminate excess inks at job completion.
- At job completion, all inks are returned to the ink mixing area to be used in the next blending of like colors. This procedure ensures low ink waste levels and the "freshest" inks at the press.
- Water-based flexography inks provide a safer employee work environment, due to lower exposure to the potentially harmful chemicals found in solvent-based ink. Water-based inks also provide a reduced risk of fire and property damage.
- CEI captures 100% of all press ink and wash-up wastes for treatment and disposal exceeding the Environmental Protection Association's certifiable disposal methods.
- All ink waste and emptied ink shipping containers are returned to suppliers for reuse, eliminating the possibility of contaminates entering the solid waste stream and reducing landfill waste.
- CEI laminates and/or coats structures with solvent-less adhesives.
- FDA approved for food packaging applications
- Solvent-less process reduces on-site solvents and chemicals that have harmful effects on employees, end users, equipment, and the environment.
- CEI promotes using "right sized" transportation pallets. "Right-sized" pallets meet customers' "forward" shipping needs for outbound finished consumer products.
- "Right-sized" pallets reduce pallets entering the waste stream, lower emissions from transportation of new/ discarded pallets, and lower operating costs for CEI customers.
- CEI's domestic production capabilities decrease environmental impact from transportation on "less than truckload" (LTL) orders.
- CEI partners with outside national logistics companies to combine shipments with other freight destined for locations near customer's sites. This provides customers with rapid cost efficient materials transportation, which is not possible from overseas providers.
- 95% of CEI's packaging products are recyclable.
- CEI's poly woven bags are 100% recyclable in single category waste streams, conserving space in landfills.
- Inbound packaging materials (plastic, pallets/wood, steel, office/kraft paper) not reused for outbound shipments, are recycled at local facilities.
- CEI offers customers the ability to return all unused, pre-consumer packaging materials to CEI, where CEI then recycles the materials into the correct waste stream.