Significant sustainability advantages over traditional rotary screen printing

Digital textile printing offers a Green Future when compared to traditional rotary screen printing. By embracing digital textile printing, manufacturers can achieve a more sustainable and environmentally friendly production process, significantly reducing their ecological footprint.

In a recent comparison study by the Epson Textile Solution Centre, the carbon footprint of the conventional rotary printing system alone (without auxiliary gear) created 139.56 kg of CO2eq, whereas the digital system utilized 85.66 kg of CO2eq, representing an almost 40% savings.

Rotary screen printing requires a considerable amount of water and ink. Digital textile printing requires substantially less water and energy than traditional processes, making it an ecologically friendly solution. For example, according to the Federation of European Screen Printers Associations (FESPA), when rotary screen printing, the ink is forced through the screen mesh by a flexible squeegee and, depending on the mesh size and fabric weight, will use 35-60 cc of ink per printed meter. In contrast, digital textile printing, which employs Piezo electric printheads to spray minute droplets of ink onto the surface of the fabric, requires 6-9 cc per printed meter. This appeal to environmentally concerned consumers and businesses represents a tremendous development opportunity.

Digital textile printing produces no wastewater or effluent, and post-fabric finishing is a dry process. For example, pigment inks generate no wastewater. In contrast, rotary screens must be cleared of excess color at the end of each print run and cleaned before being stored. This allows polluted water to flow into the factory's effluent system, which in many cases is a simple river outflow, causing significant environmental damage if the textile manufacturing wastewater is not cleaned.

Furthermore, a typical rotary screen machine printing 12 colors at 3.6 meters wide, along with a steam or gas dryer, automated color kitchen, and screen cleaning zone, will require more than 5,000 square feet of production area. In contrast, an equivalent digital print machine with the same components will require less than 400 square feet. In comparison to a high-tech digital textile printing system, screen printing requires approximately twenty times more room.

Due to the substantial shift in print volumes, suppliers are trying to adapt to a new era of on-demand manufacturing. So, digital textile print technology uncovers an opportunity to significantly minimize the production footprint, paving the door for more effective use of the planet's resources.

Digital Textile Printing Inks Market Analysis: By Inks – Direct Dispersed Dye, Reactive Dye, Acid Dye and Others; By Application – Clothing, Households, Advertisements, Corporate Branding, Promotions, Technical Textiles and Others;  By Geography:  North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, MENA, Rest of the World.