Green printing product certification

Core Content of the Certification

The Green Printing Product Certification focuses on the environmental performance throughout the entire lifecycle of printing products, with core assessments covering the following dimensions:

• Environmental Requirements for Raw and Auxiliary Materials: Raw and auxiliary materials used in the printing process must comply with strict environmental standards, including inks, adhesives, fountain solutions, cleaning agents, etc. The limit for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in inks should meet the requirements of standard GB 38507; VOC limits for adhesives should comply with GB 33372; and VOC limits for cleaning agents should meet GB 38508. Priority should be given to environmentally friendly inks such as vegetable oil-based offset inks, water-based gravure inks, and water-based flexographic inks. Benzene-based solvent inks are prohibited. Inks, varnishes, blankets, and adhesives must not contain phthalates. Paper brightness should comply with GB/T 24999, and paper used for primary and secondary school textbooks must meet GB 18359 requirements.
• Environmental Control in Production Processes: Printing enterprises should establish a comprehensive environmental management system, including installing effective exhaust gas collection and treatment systems with a VOC treatment efficiency of no less than 90%; wastewater recycling systems with a wastewater recycling rate of no less than 90%; and a solid waste classification and disposal mechanism, with hazardous waste handed over to qualified units for treatment. The prepress platemaking stage encourages the use of computer-to-plate (CTP) technology to reduce film usage and developer waste generation. Environmental requirements for the production process are assessed based on three stages—prepress, printing, and post-press—focusing on three aspects: resource conservation, energy saving, and recycling.
• Product Quality Requirements: The environmental performance of the printed product itself is the core of the certification. Key testing indicators include limits for eight migratable heavy metal elements (antimony, arsenic, barium, lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury, selenium) and sixteen volatile organic compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, ethanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, acetone, 4-methyl-2-pentanone, butanone, cyclohexanone, ethyl acetate, n-propyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, propylene glycol methyl ether). Testing methods refer to GB 6675 "National Safety Technical Code for Toys" and YC/T 207 "Determination of Volatile Organic Compounds in Cigarette Carton and Box Packaging Paper—Headspace-Gas Chromatography."
• Enterprise Environmental Management: Production enterprises should establish and operate an environmental management system in accordance with GB/T 24001, pass environmental impact assessments and the "Three Simultaneities" acceptance, and have no major environmental pollution incidents in the past three years. A valid environmental monitoring report within one year covering wastewater, exhaust gas, and factory boundary noise must be provided. For factories built before March 2003 lacking environmental impact assessment and "Three Simultaneities" acceptance reports, a compliance certificate from the local environmental protection department is required.

Certification Reference Standards

The Green Printing Product Certification primarily refers to the following standards and specifications:

• HJ 2503-2011 "Technical Requirement for Environmental Labeling Products—Printing Part 1: Lithographic Printing": Applicable to the environmental labeling certification of lithographic printing products, covering paper-based reading materials such as books, periodicals, notebooks, newspapers, and children's读物.
• HJ 2530-2012 "Technical Requirement for Environmental Labeling Products—Printing Part 2: Commercial Form Printing": Applicable to the environmental labeling certification of commercial form printing products.
• HJ 371-2018 "Technical Requirement for Environmental Labeling Products—Gravure Inks and Flexographic Inks": Applicable to the environmental labeling certification of gravure and flexographic inks.
• HJ 2542-2016 "Technical Requirement for Environmental Labeling Products—Offset Printing Inks": Applicable to the environmental labeling certification of offset printing inks.
• GB 38507-2020 "Limit of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Inks": Specifies VOC limit requirements for inks.
• GB 33372-2020 "Limit of Volatile Organic Compounds in Adhesives": Specifies VOC limit requirements for adhesives.
• GB 38508-2020 "Limit of Volatile Organic Compounds Content in Cleaning Agents": Specifies VOC limit requirements for cleaning agents.
• "Guidelines for Environmental Labeling Product Assurance Measures": Specifies management requirements for enterprises establishing environmental labeling product assurance measures, including management requirements and product environmental performance requirements.

Certification Value

• Enhance Product Market Competitiveness: The Green Printing Product Certification is an authoritative green product certification in China, enhancing the market competitiveness of products and brands. Certified products can use the green product logo on packaging and promotional materials, creating a differentiated advantage in homogeneous competition, with brand溢价 potential increasing by 5% to 15%.
• Meet Tender/Bid Qualification Thresholds: Once an enterprise obtains Environmental Labeling Product Certification, it is included in the government green procurement list and gains extra points in market bidding processes. Government procurement policies supporting green building materials and green products have been implemented in many cities, making green printing certification an important condition for participating in government printing service procurement.
• Increase Consumer Trust: The certification mark can serve as a strong selling point for products, enhancing consumer trust and boosting sales. In the post-pandemic era, consumer attention to the environmental safety of printed materials, especially children's读物 and food packaging, has significantly increased.
• Facilitate International Trade: The Green Printing Product Certification result enjoys high international recognition, serving as a globally accepted "green passport" for products entering international markets. It helps overcome foreign technical trade barriers and enhances export competitiveness.
• Shape Corporate Brand Image: Green printing certification can enhance corporate visibility and reputation, making consumers more trustful of the brand. It also strengthens corporate cohesion and infuses corporate culture with green and environmental connotations.
• Standardize Production and Improve Quality: The certification process encourages enterprises to optimize production processes, establish comprehensive environmental management and quality control systems, ensuring the持久稳定 environmental performance of products. Through integrated management, the environmental labeling product assurance system is fully integrated with the quality management system and environmental management system, achieving a management model of one set of system documents, one integrated management system, and one operational maintenance mechanism.

Applicable Product Scope

The Green Printing Product Certification is applicable to various printed products, classified by printing method and technical requirements:

• Lithographic Printed Products: Paper-based reading materials printed using lithography, such as books, periodicals, notebooks, newspapers, and children's读物; paper-based票据 products are参照执行. Lithographic printing certification is based on HJ 2503.
• Commercial Form Printed Products: Paper-based票据 products printed using commercial form printing processes, including book-style forms, roll-style forms, folded forms, etc. Commercial form printing certification is based on HJ 2530.
• Gravure/Flexographic Printed Products: Products printed using gravure or flexographic methods, including decorative prints like packaging boxes, labels, and plastic flexible packaging prints, etc. Gravure/flexographic printing certification is based on HJ 371 and related standards.
• Food Packaging Printed Products: Paper-based food packaging prints follow CY/T 256-2022; plastic flexible food packaging prints follow CY/T 274-2024.