High-volume printing is the lifeblood of the corrugated and specialized paper industry, but the cleanup process is a messy, expensive bottleneck. Like many manufacturing processes for everyday consumer goods, the production of paper packaging results in industrial equipment that must be regularly and thoroughly cleaned.
Cleaning flexographic inks and coatings creates thousands of gallons of wastewater laden with heavy metals and organic compounds. Hauling industrial wastewater for disposal is not just a cost of doing business; it leaves the manufacturer with long-term environmental liability for the waste even after it leaves the facility. On-site treatment from Sabo Industrial provides cost-effective, EPA-compliant cleaning technologies for the ink and coating industries.
Why Encapsulation is More Effective Than Separation
Most paper mill wastewater management solutions rely on polymers that are only effective at separating contaminants, resulting in a sludge that can still leach those contaminants. Corrugated box manufacturers and paper manufacturing facilities using these separating agents are still left with hazardous waste and high disposal costs.
Using Sabo Industrial’s ClearTreat® solution, contaminants are sealed into the solids using an encapsulation process. The resulting sludge passes TCLP (Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure) tests, making it safe for standard landfill disposal, while the remaining water is a legally dischargeable effluent.
Case Study: Sabo for a Paper Production Machine
In the video, you can see how our EC2025 Wastewater treatment unit along with an industrial sludge dewatering table benefit corrugated manufacturers and specialized paper goods factories. In this example, Sabo-built equipment (a 20-25 gallon per minute treatment unit and self-indexing dewatering table) and our ClearTreat® separating agent combine to create an environmentally friendly, cost-effective solution:
- The wastewater is collected from the washdown of the flexographic printing press.
- ClearTreat is added and mixed, triggering encapsulation of contaminants like heavy metals and suspended solids.
- The mixture passes over a self-indexing de-watering table, separating the treated effluent from the sludge.
- The fully encapsulated sludge and legally dischargeable effluent can be disposed of quickly and easily on site.
Environmental Stewardship Meets ROI
Sabo Industrial prides itself on providing high-quality, automated wastewater treatment systems that ensure your facility is meeting or exceeding environmental standards while also reducing your overhead.
- Drastic Cost Reduction: Using ClearTreat wastewater chemicals for on-site treatment saves money compared to the skyrocketing fees of vacuum truck services and hazardous waste disposal.
- Sustainability: In addition to ensuring harmful contaminants from ink don’t leach from sludge, your facility’s carbon footprint is reduced by eliminating heavy truck transport.
- Operational Simplicity: Automated systems mean your floor team can focus on production, not waste management.
Put Your Wastewater to the Test
You shouldn’t have to choose between an environmentally compliant facility and a healthy bottom line. Sabo Industrial provides the technology to handle both.
We encourage you to send two 1-gallon samples of representative ink wastewater for analysis. Our team will determine the best ClearTreat product for your facility’s needs. Download the submittal form or give us a call today at 845-562-5751.
