Characterizing VOCs emissions of five packaging and printing enterprises in China and the emission reduction potential of this industry

The packaging and printing industry has become an important source of industrial volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions in China, due to the abundant consumption of organic materials. Effective control measures must be developed which rely on a comprehensive understanding of both current emission characteristics and future emission projections. However, representative VOCs source profiles and updated EFs of packaging and printing industry in China are still lacking. In order to fully explore the VOCs emissions characteristics of packaging and printing industry, field measurements including 17 processes in five packaging and printing factories were conducted in this study. The emission factors (EFs), VOCs source profiles, ozone formation potential (OFP) and secondary organic aerosols potential (SOAP) of 110 VOCs species were acquired. Speciated VOCs emission inventory of packaging and printing industry was compiled based on the activity data in 2020. The future reduction perspectives of packaging and printing industry in China were projected. The VOCs EFs of different materials were estimated, including solvent-based ink (287 g/kg), water-based ink (117 g/kg), soybean oil ink (44 g/kg), UV curing ink (22 g/kg), solvent-based adhesive (420 g/kg), and water-based adhesive (139 g/kg). The VOCs EFs of products were 35.58 kg/t for plastic wrapper, 7.28 g/m2 for soft package plastic, 0.083 g/piece for carton, 0.54 g/piece for tin case, and 0.14 g/piece for aluminum can. The total VOCs emissions in Chinese packaging and printing industry was estimated to 634.32 Gg in 2020. Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Shandong, and Sichuan contributed 73% to total VOCs emissions. Printing workshop was the main contributor to both primary emission and secondary pollutant generation. OVOCs was the most abundant specie in three sub-industries. The key VOCs species in PF were ethylacetate, ethanol, 2-pentanone, methyl ethyl ketone, and i-propanol. I-propanol, ethanol, m-tolualdehyde, and dichloromethane were dominated in PP. Ethanol, m/p-xylene, i-propanol, o-xylene, and acetaldehyde were the key species in MC. The key VOCs species to OFP and SOAP were ethanol, methyl ethyl ketone, 2-pentanone, ethyl methacrylate, acetaldehyde, toluene, and xylene, which should be prioritized. The VOCs emissions would be reduced by 46.5% in 2025 and 66.4% in 2030 with stringent control measures. Increasing the usage proportion of low-VOCs-contained raw material and improving treatment efficiency are the key technologies to reduce the VOCs emissions in the packaging and printing industry.