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NPEP Success Story
3M Graphics Market Center Enhances Environmental Performance
3M is a $24.5 billion company that provides thousands of innovative products, and the 3M Graphics Market Center serves the graphics market with high quality films and inks. Used by customers to create product and company identification, these products are applied to a variety of substrates including trailers, vehicles, buildings, signs, windows and floors to communicate brand owners’ messages.
The 3M Graphics Market Center plant in Nevada, Mo, is one of 20 3M sites registered with the EPA’s National Environmental Performance Track (NEPT). The 3M Nevada plant is an environmental leader and an ISO 14001 certified facility.
3M’s
NPEP Goal
For 35 years the 3M Nevada plant has formulated and produced colored films for the large format graphics market. Colored pigments are used in this formulation process. The Nevada plant chose to reduce lead in colored film formulations as an NEPT commitment. In addition, this was an EPA Region VII challenge commitment.
The Nevada plant is committed to significantly reducing the number of colored films containing lead pigment, with the ultimate goal of being the first company in the graphics industry to become 100 percent lead-free.
Project Implementation
3M Nevada plant personnel chose to focus on lead because of the environmental issues that lead-containing waste streams cause for incinerators, as well as for market reasons. Customers are beginning to ask for lead free films. In the near future, legislation is expected to ban or severely limit the use of lead chromate in graphics films.
The Graphics Market Center’s goal is to use lead-free pigments to match the performance of our current colored films made with lead chromate pigments.
Each color must be individually reformulated to match or improve the original color, metamerism (how a color looks under different light sources), opacity and weathering/durability of the original lead-containing color.
Laboratory testing is necessary to ensure that the reformulated product meets the product specifications, including long-term durability and customer approval and acceptance in the marketplace. Several reformulated products have been introduced and accepted by customers, resulting in a significant lead reduction.
3M laboratory and plant personnel also have reformulated 750 colors of film without lead chromate for custom-made colors; work continues on reformulating additional colors.
Waste Minimization Results
In a two-year period, we went from a usage of 58,000 lbs to 51,500 lbs or 6,500 lb reduction– despite a significant sales increase that drove demand for existing lead-based products. This represents an 11% reduction.
3M plant and laboratory personnel continue their efforts to remove lead from all products as the Graphics Market Center strives to become the first lead-free supplier to the graphics market.
Lessons Learned
Reformulating hundreds of different colors requires a dedicated team effort by the entire organization. Without top to bottom support, this effort would not be successful. Because lead chromate pigments have become the gold standard for product performance, persistence and data are necessary to prove that the lead-free formulations will perform as well, if not better than the lead formulations they replace.
Throughout this project, 3M laboratory and plant employees have learned and understand more about our products. And while this was not a primary goal of the project, this knowledge will ultimately help 3M design better products for our future and the health of our world.