New LS 450 Pressure Sensitive Labeler:

Application Specifications:

Maximum Width Label Carrier: 120 mm or 4.7 inches
Maximum Length: Seems to be unlimited!  Call to discuss with PBS.
Minimum Width: 3/4”
Minimum Length: 1”  (less than 1” would need to be tested.
Absolute minimum that we would test is 10 mm square)

Accuracy: 1/32” to 3/16” depending on label, size & application

Label Requirements:

• Precision die-cut
• Pressure sensitive
• 1/8” space between each label
• Silicone treated paper liner
• 3” inside diameter (ID) core, extended to outer edges of web (i.e. core is flush with web)
• Maximum outside diameter (OD) of label roll is 11”
• Approximately 7 feet of waste per roll: quantity of supplied labels needs to include this requirement PLUS running waste – call to discuss with PBS.

For more information, please contact
Pacific Bindery Services Estimating
or Production Coordinating at
604 873-4291 or 1-888-873-4291

We use a significant amount of compressed air to operate the bindery machines and vacuum baling system. This requires compressors, which in turn use filters and lubricating oil. We recycle the filters and also separate the waste oil-water mix condensate. The recovered oil is sent to recyclers and the filtered water is used to water the lawn and for other uses.

Continuous Environmental Improvement

We have established and maintained a program of continuous environmental improvement and a target of zero spills of pollutants. By reducing the volume of its discharge of air, liquid and solid waste, we not only reduce the pressure on landfills and reduce costs, but also help to protect the air we breathe and the life in our waterways.

The CleanPrint BC Process

We’ve completed the CleanPrint BC Environmental Management Plan (EMP) program and have earned the right to proudly display the CleanPrint BC logo. This is a process that begins very much as an awareness and educational journey in to the processes and products used in the shop. The program helped us to complete a comprehensive study of all regulations and to implement best environmental practices.

You may not know but bindery has many unique recycling challenges; think of all the paper, plastic and metal strapping, plastic skid wrapping and containers that are used. For example, because Pacific Bindery Services is at the end of the printing production chain, it ends up with printers’ well-used wooden skids.

At Pacific Bindery Services, we have a commitment to reduce the environmental impacts of our business activities. We believe we have a responsibility for effectively handling and disposing of the resources we’re using; in a sustainable way. This responsibility is often more significant for businesses, since business’ impact on the environment is large.

The protection of our environment is important to us because we are firmly committed to sustainable practices that

• enable us to be environmental leaders;
• minimize waste and reduce impact on landfill;
• recycle all possible materials;
• source environmentally friendly products to use in our process (for example, biodegradable shrink wrap film).

Paper – We employ an elaborate system of vacuums to take away paper trimmings from the perfect binders and stitchers. A sophisticated automated baling system compresses the paper waste into bales which are then loaded into waiting trailers. Trim waste from the cutter and folders are collected in metal containers and picked up by a recycler.

Over the course of a year, more than 1000 tons of paper are recycled; reducing waste sent to landfills. This has a significant positive environmental impact.

Plastic Containers – We use a number of glues: remoistenable glue, traditional hot melt, polyurethane reactive, permanent cold glue, and other types of adhesives that come in containers. We have coordinated recycling of these containers with the glue suppliers. We’re also currently working with an aggregator to remove plastic containers that once contained chemistries, such as solvent.

Solvent and Rag Use – You wouldn’t think a bindery would need to use solvent however it is regularly used to clean rollers on the folders and other machines due to the build up of ink and other chemicals that are offset from the printed sheet. To reduce the amount of solvent and shop towels used, we’ve applied a multi-step approach.

Strap and Wrap – We also recycle a large volume of plastic and metal strapping, shrink-wrap plastic and wooden skids. This amounts to 1000 cubic yards of materials that does not head to the landfills.

Pacific Bindery is the only bindery and finishing organization in British Columbia to be CleanPrint BC-certified.  We were committed to this program some years ago and were pleased to achieve our certification.  Today, the CleanPrint BC program has been halted by lack of funding however the print industry organizations that were certified through the process were pioneers of what is now known as the sustainability movement.

CleanPrint BC is a non-profit partnership comprised of members of the printing industry, including printers and suppliers, as well as representatives from municipal, provincial, and federal governments. The ultimate goal of CleanPrint BC is to support improved environmental management practices in BC’s flexography, screen and offset printing operations. The result is improved protection of the environment and human health while maintaining economic competitiveness. The CleanPrint BC strategy is to develop and provide printers with the tools they need to prepare and support site-specific environmental management plans. Printers, which complete the Environmental Management Plan (EMP), also follow the Best Management Practices (BMP) developed by CleanPrint BC.

Here at Pacific Bindery, we pledge to protect the environment by supporting CleanPrint BC initiatives, following best management practices and promoting an environmental management system as a tool to better control waste and pollution.

A number of plastic spiral binding filament and coil  suppliers produce materials that comply with CPSIA legislation.   Make sure that your suppliers also can confirm through an independent, accredited U.S. lab that all of its products are lead-free and phthalate-free.  Ask them to provide you with CPSIA Certificates of Conformity on the products you use to bind your books.

Use consumer safe products in all your bindery and finishing work.

And make sure that you communicate your use of safe products to your customers!

In our ongoing search for environmentally friendly products, we have found a new biodegradable shrink film.  It is a polyolefin heat shrink film that degrades over a 3 to 5 year period (as compared to a regular shrink film product that can take hundreds of years in the landfill to decompose).

Sourcing this product in North America was a significant challenge.  We had to go global!  The product is used in the U.K. and that’s where we first found it; but it is manufactured in France. We tracked it to the U.S. and found a sales office in Eastern U.S. who was handling it.  We’re from the West Coast of Canada so we needed to locate a distributor closer to us.  We found one in Edmonton, Alberta.

After running some trials (and making some equipment changes), we are extremely pleased with how well the product runs and performs.  It has good sealing and shrinkage properties at low temperatures and can run on both manual and automatic equipment.

The film degrades at the end of its useful life: it fragments and oxidizes through the long term effect of light and heat. It then becomes assimilated by the soil and eventually disappears in the landfill, leaving only water, carbon dioxide and biomass.

Do the right thing: use environmentally friendly packaging materials!

A company in the U.S., MyBinding.com, is now carrying a new Eco-line recycled plastic coils. The coils are 100% recycled from scrap coils and are remanufactured in different pitches and sizes. The coils are still made from PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) and only comes in black. Speaking with Jeff McRitchie from mybinding.com, Jeff told me that the coils are made at a plant by collecting odds and loose ends of coils currently, melted, refabricated and sold to dealers for commercial use.

Historically, it was difficult to recycle coils. But a company in Brussels, Solvay SA’s R&D Center, has come up with a process called Vinyloop ® to recycle or upcycle coils. The process is done in 6 steps:

1. Composite waste is collected and brought to their plant in either Ferrara, Italy or Chiba, Japan. The material goes through cleaning (washing), increasing of surface area by cutting, grinding, and milling, and a homogenization step.
2. In a dissolution chamber, a solvent called methyl ethyl ketone dissolves the PVC and its additives. Anything that cannot be dissolved will be removed later.
3. The separation of the insoluble materials are filtered in the next tank.
4. In order to yield pure PVC material, the composite product is stripped of the solvent in a precipitation stage. Precipitation of the dissolved PVC at this stage allows the manufacturer to integrate more additives for other characteristics such as flexibility and strength.
5. The solvent that is evaporated condenses in its original chamber and is ready for another batch of material. This allows the solvent to be re-used 99.9% of the time.
6. The drying stage comes last. The aqueous solution of PVC is dried and the water is filtered to remove impurities. The new PVC is called R-PVC (remanufactured PVC) formed in pellets for ease of use. In the case of plastic coil binding, the pellets are melted and formed into coils.

Unfortunately, these coils are only available from MyBinding.com right now. You can contact Jeff McRitchie at jeff@mybinding.com with any questions or order information.

Remoistenable glue is a line of glue which is dry on the finished product and which activates when moisture is applied to seal the product. As it is an inline process on Pacific Bindery’s folding equipment, we have the ability to remoist glue, perforate, apply cold glue, slit and/or fold.

Specifications are subject to change without notice.

* Good adhesion of remoistenable glue on finished products will produce ‘fibre tear’ when the product is pulled open. Make sure important information on the printed piece (check off boxes, signatures, etc.) is positioned away from the glue strip.

There are two main types of remoistenable glue: 1) water soluble cold glue and 2) hot melt extruded glue. The type that Pacific Bindery Services uses is the hot melt extruded glue that offers benefits of running the equipment at faster speeds and does not allow additional moisture to be introduced to the sheet. As well, this glue allows the application of a thinner film of glue, causing less build-up. As the application of the strip is computer-controlled by solenoids, Pacific Bindery has the ability to start and stop the glue line with excellent precision and can also product a ‘stitched’ line of glue if required.

An important note: Hot Melt extruded glue is NOT laser printer compatible.

Remoistenable glue does not adhere properly to printed surfaces. Remoist glue areas need to be free of ink and must be free from varnishes, laminates and/or other coatings. The corresponding area that the strip will adhere to must also be free of ink and coatings.

Storage of finished products must be in a cool and dry environment. If stored in a hot or humid environment, the remoistenable glue may be activated.

We do not recommend offline cutting through a line of remoist glue for three primary reasons:

1. The build-up from the glue causes knife drag, creating different sized cut sheets;
2. Product would have to be cut in extremely small lifts to prevent stock tearing to either side of the glue line;
3. Greater wear on the cutting blade.

Please contact our production department at 604.873.4291 prior to producing the job for remoistenable gluing to determine overs requirement.

This project was a challenge from the perspective of providing a solution.  The customer had originally sent this job to another bindery.  But it was a very labor intensive project and the other bindery could not meet the delivery requirements.  The job was in-process (some of the work had been started) and had to be re-packed and shipped to Pacific Bindery Services (PBS).  The time invested in production coordination of this job was three times what would normally be required: as incoming product had to be re-sorted, inspected and then sent to the appropriate department for finishing and binding.  Our significant issue was to coordinate the job so that the pages pre-done by the other bindery were labeled and sequenced correctly and that we could integrate the pages into one cohesive book.

This job’s critical components were in achieving the cross-overs on the short and staggered sheets.  Line-ups and cross-overs were critical for the customer:  they were promoting multiple paper types with one image and carrying that image across a number of short, staggered sheets.

Cutting, collating and punching had to be done with precision to achieve the end customer’s design.  When the job arrived, parts of it were in various stages (some sheets had been cut, some folded, some punched) of in-process work.  But the majority (more than 80%) was incomplete.

Cut, fold, punch, trim, collate and semi-hidden wire-o® bind 21,000 books (our portion of the job). 6 x 9.  52 pp plus Wrap Cover.  Shrink wrap in 5s and pack 50 books per box.

5 sheets staggered, starting with 3 x 9 in ½” increments to 5 x 9.  7 sheets staggered starting with 2 ½ x 9 in ½” increments to 5 x 9.  1 short sheet 3 ½ x 9.  1 short sheet 2 7/8 x 9.  12 full sized sheets at 5 ½ x 9.  Inside text pages average 10 pt. (ranging from 9 pt to 12 pt).  Covers were manually punched; inside text pages were automatically punched.  Some of the short and staggered sheets were supplied pre-cut (not all) and were trimmed to size after punching.  18 sheets collated on the gatherer; remaining 8 short and staggered sheets hand collated in order, straight up and married together with cover.  Jogged carefully to spine and offset stacked for wire-o®.

Typically binderies do not want to do continuation-type of in-process work from other binderies.  If there is a problem, who holds the responsibility?  We agreed to take on this project to help our customer.  The time investment in the upfront material organization paid off and allowed us to complete the job on schedule and done right.  And they said it couldn’t be done!