Green Sustained

Gauging public concern about the environment is easy. Just turn on the TV, browse the Internet or read the paper. Now convinced planet Earth is warming (77% said so in a Pew Foundation poll in January), 47% of Americans believe it stems from human activity, like burning fossil fuels, which generate carbon dioxide (CO²). Heightening the urgency, the Supreme Court ruled in March that CO² is a pollutant subject to regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency.

So what's the connection to print? Energy used to produce paper, print and packaging—cooking paper fibers, drying and generating electricity for factory operations—demands lots of fossil fuels. The combined paper and print industry ranks fourth among manufacturers for energy use, after chemicals, petroleum/coal and primary metals. By tracking total energy usage in operations and materials, printers can measure the so-called “carbon footprint,” from which an organization's environmental impact can be tallied. (Most CO², 40% of it, comes from power plants, followed by motor vehicles at 20%.) How this may affect print buying is on the minds of many printers. This month, at PIA/GATF's Toronto conference, Offset & Beyond, keynotes by two big-printer CEOs—Luc Desjardins, Transcontinental, and Tony Gagliano, St. Joseph Communications—addressed the impact of moves to “sustainable” print.

Noting “the rise of new values, with the primary one being concern for the environment,” Desjardins told the gathering of 650 registrants, “It is difficult to measure its precise impact. But we are very aware that it is a major and irreversible trend.” Desjardins thinks it could hasten the adoption of electronic print substitutes.

“Will this new awareness lead to the disappearance of paper and its replacement by computer screens and accessories like MP3?” he asked. “I don't think so.” Acting proactively, Transcontinental announced a partnership last month with Cascades paper to offer 100% post-consumer fiber recycled paper to his firm's book publisher clients. For 2,000-employee St. Joseph Communications, which spent $50 million on MAN Roland presses and plant expansion last year, reducing its carbon footprint is an extension of the firm's core mission.

“As printers, we are users of natural resources,” said Gagliano. “We have made it a priority to improve the environment upon which our business and quality of life depend.”

The firm began in 1990 to offset its carbon footprint with a reforestation effort—so far planting 2 million trees not intended for harvesting. St. Joseph lays claim to several North American environmental firsts: FSC-certification of a heatset web plant; EcoLogo certification in Ottawa; and adoption of an Ancient Forest Friendly stewardship policy. The firm also limits VOCs, using state-of-the art RTO (regenerative thermal oxidizer) technology to destroy VOCs (ozone-depleting volatile organic compounds) from the heatset web process.

Businesses, including print firms, traditionally follow compliance requirements, obeying enforced rules against dumping chemicals, or releasing VOCs into the atmosphere. Here, pollution control devices and chemistry recycling systems are right at home. Each March, the National Environmental Health & Safety Conference, jointly sponsored by print trade groups representing inkmakers, newspapers, gravure, flexo, screen and litho printers, convenes for an update on compliance rules and technologies. (We've posted some presentations at this issue's online extras area at www.graphicartsmonthly.com.)

Compliance influenced the decision by Rapid Impressions, Broadview, IL, to add a solvent recycler—but environmental concerns and economics were also factors. The commercial print operation just added a system from MAN Roland printservices and looks forward to savings.

“Solvent is one of the major VOC constituents in our facility,” says Jim Kosowski, the firm's president. The recycler reclaims solvent-based press cleaning solutions so they can be reused. “We currently utilize two barrels of press solvent per week,“ he says. “At a cost of $350 to $400 per barrel, there is a tremendous cost savings to be realized.”

Printers have sent GAM a steady stream of reports on their initiatives toward sustainable print and reduced CO² output since we reported on it in March. Efforts include sourcing electricity through wind power, gaining FSC certification and changing chemistries.

Burlington, VT-based Light-Works, Inc., a wide-format digital printer, says it added a Durst Rho 600 Pictor UV inkjet printer last month to help it establish a “green” working model to appeal to the growing ranks of environmentally responsible clients. President Marty Feldman said Durst assures him that its inks are VOC-free, according to the stringent European Council Directive 1999/13/EC.

Oliver Printing, a full-service printshop in Twinsburg, OH, received Chain of Custody Certification in March from SmartWood, a program of the Rainforest Alliance, which audits companies according to standards set by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Oliver has been using papers bearing the FSC logo, a guarantee to customers that, from the forest to the printer, these products come from verified sources.

“This is important to us, and it's important to our customers who are becoming more and more environmentally conscious,” says George Oliver, president. The company gets its papers from RIS, Millcraft and xpedx.

Printers are also being encouraged by customers to step beyond the world of mere compliance and engage sustainable print processes. Wal-Mart, which seeks a 5% reduction in packaging by 2013, reports 2,268 vendors used its packaging scorecard in the first four weeks after it launched Feb. 1.

Stora Enso says Nordstrom in April began using its Arbor papers, containing 30% post-consumer waste and FSC-certified, for all catalogs and its annual report. Strategic Paper Group is the merchant. FSC certification of this product line ensures, through independent third-party audits, that the paper comes from well-managed forests that adhere to strict environmental and socioeconomic standards. Nordstrom says virtually all of the company's printing partners will be FSC-certified.

Curtis Packaging, Sandy Hook, CT, says it joined the Sustainable Packaging Coalition to expand its commitment to eco-friendly packaging production and to encourage other companies to be more environmentally active. Donald Droppo, Jr., VP sales at Curtis Packaging, says the SPC's goals are in line with his company's. “We use renewable energy exclusively, 85% of which is wind power. We are one of the few packaging companies in North America to be certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council and have been commended by the EPA for our strong commitment to using replenishable resources.” Curtis Packaging joins companies like Kraft Foods, Starbucks and Microsoft as a member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition.

Recent paper supplier sustainability news includes Sappi Fine Paper North America's announcement that its entire brand line-up is certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (2005-2009), resulting in dual FSC and SFI certification of many of Sappi's most specified brands, including McCoy, Opus and Lustro.

Avery Dennison launched its RIS Environmental Stock, consisting of 45 coated and uncoated eco-friendly samples in different textures and finishes. Samples indicate whether the stocks are Recycled, Green Seal Certified, Chlorine-Free Certified and/or Green-E Certified.

More products are listed under this issue's online exclusives at www.graphicartsmonthly.com. Other sites: nehsconference.org, averydennison.com, sustaincom.org, fscus.org/faqs/fsc_products.php