Moving from solvent to water-based cleaning
Fujifilm's old pot cleaning process involved solvents being sprayed on the walls of the mixing vessels at pressures in excess of 70 bars, thereby removing traces of the ink and decontaminating the surfaces of the pots. This method used around 72,000 litres of chemical-based solvent and generated around 22,000 litres of waste per year.
After the cleaning process, the used solvent, saturated with ink, was pumped into a 24,000 litre storage tank at the Broadstairs site. When full, the tank was drained by a specialist contractor and the solvent waste was removed from the site, via road tanker, to a chemical re-processor. At the re-processor, the waste was separated through distillation, enabling 75% of the solvent to be returned to Fujifilm and used again. A limitation of this method was its inefficiency, with 25% of the material being lost in the recycling process.
In stark contrast, the new Proteus machine and water-based fluids, generate minimal chemical waste and VOCs. With Ambimization , Fujifilm has managed to reduce solvent waste output at its Broadstairs site. This is not only better for the environment, but safer and more pleasant for the on-site Fujifilm team who handle the ink pots before and after cleaning. Fujifilm has reduced its VOC emissions by 91% since switching to the Proteus and Ambimization process.
Reduced fire risks & energy consumption
An additional safety benefit of Ambimization is that it eliminates fire risk - and this is further facilitated by the Proteus machine. With the traditional cleaning method, the solvent formed fine aerosol particles during each cleaning event, because of the high pressure deployed. This created an explosive (ATEX) atmosphere. Although ATEX equipment was installed and steps were taken by staff to reduce this fire risk, the risk still posed a threat.
Moving forward with the Proteus machine, Fujifilm will be able to remove all ATEX rated equipment and save on time that would otherwise have been spent on ATEX health and safety measures within the pot wash area. The Proteus machine is also expected to reduce energy usage by 110,000 kWh per year, making it a hugely worthwhile investment.
Key takeaways
Fujifilm's ink R&D and manufacturing facility in Broadstairs, Kent, has regularly made the news as a four-time winner of the UK's Best Process Plant in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, but it is for its sustainability initiatives that it is now rapidly creating waves.
Fujifilm has paved the way for more ink and coating manufacturers to implement Ambimization by being the first company in the world to pioneer the technology. Since Fujifilm onboarded Ambimization - and the Proteus pot wash machine - Terrafend has introduced the technology to seven additional international major coating and composite manufacturers.
Switching to Ambimization has delivered the following objectives:
Provided a green / sustainable pot cleaning process
Reduced VOC emissions at the Broadstairs site
Reduced energy consumption by approximately 110,000 kWh per year during the pot cleaning process
Future-proofed the Broadstairs site's pot cleaning capability
Eliminated the Broadstairs site's DSEAR risk
Gary Burgess, Manufacturing and CI Manager at FUJIFILM Speciality Ink Systems, comments:
We're thrilled to be the first company in the world to have trialled an Ambimization Proteus machine, installed at our Broadstairs ink manufacturing site. Although the digital ink market continues to grow, screen and flexo inks are still used for a number of printing applications. We've taken a step to reduce waste and energy when it comes to cleaning our ink pots. During the process, we've also reduced VOC emissions and eliminated the site's largest risk. Emily Cassius, Head of Business Development at Terrafend, adds:
This cleaning technology has huge potential to help leading brands - like Fujifilm - to operate more efficiently while reducing risk, waste and carbon footprints. We are pleased to have helped them boost their sustainability credentials and look forward to a continued partnership.
Daniel PorterAD | Communications
E: dporter@adcomms.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1372 464470
Back to List
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Moving from solvent to water-based cleaning 
