Press statement – for immediate release

Natural balance - environmental protection and sustainability at WEILBURGER Graphics

Gerhardshofen, June 22nd 2009 – The bigger you get, the more responsibility you have to take on! Currently consisting of 11 companies both at home and abroad, the GREBE Group is among the leading providers of special varnishes worldwide. With a total of over 750 employees and an overall production volume of 34,000 tonnes of lacquers and coatings per year, the Group as a whole takes environmental protection very seriously.

Since the very beginning, environmentally sound production and the ongoing conservation of resources have been matters of great importance to WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH. In view of the growing shortage of raw materials resources and the increases in the prices of raw materials and energy connected with that shortage, varnish systems based on raw materials which are independent of mineral oil are becoming more and more important.

Now, with the help of its own in-house research and development department and in a direct dialogue with the suppliers, WEILBURGER Graphics has succeeded in developing water-based overprint varnish systems and making them ready for the market. The varnishes meet WEILBURGER's well-known quality demands while being based on natural, renewable raw materials, i.e. the system of resins that occurs in nature and the raw materials that can be obtained from them. In the new SENOLITH^® WB NR product class, which pays tribute to the market's increasing environmental awareness, ranges of gloss and matt varnishes are already available.

Another special development is the SENOLITH^® FP product class of water-based and UV-curing varnish systems, which were developed for the packaging of food and have already been introduced on to the market. Especially the SENOLITH^® FP UV products have been kept free of benzophenone and 4-methylbenzophenone since the very beginning.
Here, WEILBURGER Graphics made a conscious choice to use high-quality photoinitiators for the lasting protection of the consumer.
 
All the raw materials components used in the SENOLITH^® WB and SENOLITH^® UV varnish recipes meet the requirements of the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances (EINECS), the European Printing Ink Association (EuPIA), the Rohstoffausschlussliste für Druckfarben und zugehörige Produkte  and the REACH Regulation 1907/2006. All the varnish systems provided by WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH are free of heavy metals, toxic components and substances of very high concern (SVHC) in accordance with Regulation 1907/2006 EC.

Not only that. At WEILBURGER Graphics, long-term environmental protection also means the lowest possible emission levels for hazardous substances along the entire production and supply chain, and the resolute implementation of a functional cleaning and recycling concept.

For years, WEILBURGER Graphics has been employing large re-usable containers in the context of environmentally friendly cleaning and recycling. The water required for mechanical cleaning processes and the washing water incurred in the use of SENOLITH^® WB products on customers' premises (approx. 800 m³ / year) is reprocessed at reasonable cost in WEILBURGER Graphics' own ultra-filtration plant and duly recycled.

WEILBURGER Graphics' emissions record is one to be proud of. With an average electricity consumption of 400,000 kWh for the entire year not only have CO₂-emissions been able to be reduced to 0 g via the shrewd purchase of 'green' electricity, generated 100 % hydroelectrically in the region; the move has also ensured that WEILBURGER Graphics does not make any contribution to the contamination with radioactive waste which would be incurred by the generation of that energy by nuclear methods.

In addition to that, preliminary studies are being carried out into the possibility of using solar energy at the works via photovoltaic installations and the options for the use of a comprehensive rainwater system.

So here, once again, WEILBURGER Graphics is proving that entrepreneurial success can only be ensured in the long term with the aid of holistic concepts and their resolute implementation.

For further information go to www.weilburger-graphics.de

Contact:   
WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH
Am Rosenbühl 5
D - 91466 Gerhardshofen
Germany
Tel.: +49 9163 9992-0
Fax: +49 9163 654
info@weilburger-graphics.de







Caption:     Natural balance at WEILBURGER Graphics


Caption:     WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH headquarters in Gerhardshofen


 


Caption:     The WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH logo


 


Caption:     PrintCity | Alliance Member



 

Caption:     Günter Korbacher – executive director of WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH


About WEILBURGER Graphics

WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH is one of the leaders in the field of print finishing for packaging, labels and job printing.

The company mainly produces for sheet-fed offset, heat-set web offset and off-line coating, and for the screen-printing, flexo, gravure, narrow web and digital print sectors. Its tailor-made products are available for the market segments involving packaging, labels and job printing. It also offers seminars and consultancy services.

WEILBURGER Graphics is one of eleven companies of the GREBE Group, a medium-sized manufacturer of industrial coatings.

www.weilburger-graphics.de


Press kit incl. picture material as Download