Abstract
The global trends, the causes and consequences of social-environmental problems, and the need to respond the environmental regulations revive interest in organizations to consider environmental criteria as a part of business management and the search for sustainable development. The company in this study is a medium-sized company in the graphic arts sector, attached to the District Environmental Excellence program, and it has an environmental management system Therefore, it is in continuous search of strategies that allow it to promote the reduction of its environmental impacts. The primary purpose of this contribution was to evaluate the environmental impacts of the company, using cleaner production tools. The research was developed in two phases: an initial diagnostic phase, by collecting the most relevant information on production and environmental matters; at this stage, essential tools for cleaner production were applied, such as flow diagrams of the printing processes and product, as well as an eco-map analysis for the identification of critical points, development of eco balances and a MED matrix for the quantification of inputs and outputs during the flexographic process, such as the identification of the flows that are part of the production chain of the self-adhesive label and finally consolidate the matrix of environmental aspects and impacts, following the requirements of the environmental authority and the ISO 14001 norm. It was identified that the flexographic process is the company's primary method that contributes to the greatest generation of environmental impacts.
This work seeks to contribute to improving the environmental performance of productive activities through the corresponding analysis of products and processes .The applicability of said evaluation is a support methodology to the company in decision-making during the design, optimization of its production systems, and the operation of its processes; also, with it, it improves competitiveness in the market through the adoption of policies and practices that improve or increase sustainability.
