Technotrans will install a solvent recovery unit, a reverse osmosis system and a glycol cooling system in the Croydon factory of Fulmar Colour.

The equipment will service two 12-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster perfectors, the first of which will be installed in July.

"Two years ago we became aware of legislation that limited VOC discharges to 25,000 litres per site. When we checked the Croydon output, we found it was bang on the limit," said Taylor. "Because we are replacing a six- and a four-colour with two 12-colours, we were concerned that this would knock it over the limit. If we went over, we were facing registration, which would have been a gigantic hassle."

Fulmar has also committed to accreditation to the ISO 14001 environmental standard: "We get significant numbers of clients asking whether were registered," Taylor said.

The Fulmar package will centre around the eco.clean solvent recovery system, which is specified with enough capacity to take waste from over 50 B1 printing units at Fulmars Croydon site and next-door Royle Corporate Print: together, the two sites spend about 25,000 each year on wash solution, in addition to paying for waste to be removed.

Using a filtration system, eco.clean can recover around 90% of the solvent in wash water, removing impurities and separating off the water, which is then treated to allow disposal down a normal sewage drain. The solvent is then recycled for re-use.

Fulmar will also install a reverse osmosis water treatment plant to serve all its presses. Combined with the Technotrans-designed alco.smart dosing system on the new 12-colour Speedmasters, the RO unit will allow Fulmar to reduce its alcohol use by 50%.

The whole package will "put us the right side of the law, make our press room a nicer place for the operators, and pay for itself in about three years. It is possible to be a good guy and make money," said Taylor.