Waterless plate printing uses a water-based developing system that generates no harmful effluent. Effluent from the developing process can therefore be discharged as regular wastewater. In conventional PS plate printing, strongly alkaline developing fluid of pH 12 or above is generated, which by Japanese law has to be recovered as industrial waste subject to special control.

The silicone rubber layer on the waterless plate surface corresponds to the dampening solution in conventional printing and serves to repel the ink. Thanks to this, waterless printing dispenses completely with the use of dampening solution, which contains etching fluid, IPA, and other harmful substances. Dampening solution effluent exceeds standard values for BOD, COD, and other items as stipulated in Japanese Water Pollution Prevention Law, and there have been instances where appropriate treatment has not been carried out.

As waterless printing does not require adjustment of the dampening solution, the time spent at the make-ready stage from plate setup (mounting of the printing plate on the printing press) to the press run (actual printing) is shorter than in wet printing. As a result, only a small amount of waste paper is generated in the preparation process. The table below shows actual values measured by Printing Company A using both waterless printing and wet printing. The table shows the amount of reduction in waste paper achieved by adopting waterless printing. Many printing companies use these figures as target values in the ISO 14001 certification process.