Compliance Meets Green at NEHS

An expanded green print agenda drew more than 220 registrants to the 13th annual National Environmental Health & Safety Conf., March 10-12 in Indianapolis. The three-day event, which saw a 50% rise in attendance over last year, traditionally centered on compliance with legislative rules governing OSHA, EPA and human resources matters. This year's NEHS gathering added a strong focus on sustainability. The gathering is sponsored by four print trade groups: NAA (newspapers), PIA/GATF (commercial printers), SGIA (screen printers) and FTA (flexo label and package printers).

Presentations on sustainable print practices included a report by Dow Jones' Paul Jakubski on the calculation of the carbon footprint and green house gas emissions by his company's flagship Wall St. Journal's 17 print operations; and a presentation on what constitutes “green” ink.

Two green-themed keynotes led off the event: a benchmark study by Reed Business Research on adoption rates of sustainable print practices among commercial printers, and a report by global food giant Heinz on its sustainability efforts. Heinz's Brian Shuttleworth, CSP, reported that for its food products, which include Weight Watchers and Smart One's, as well as its eponymous ketchup and beans, the company audits the carbon footprint of its products. Ketchup, for example, finds its carbon impact stemming from: 47% agriculture, 22% manufacturing, 24% packaging and 6% transport.

Reed research director Mark DiVito reported that printers are adopting sustainable print practices, most often driven by customer demands or efforts at reaching production efficiencies. Among more than 800 printers surveyed, 75% said they had detected an increase in attention to sustainable print among customers. Of firms surveyed, 14% have a formal written policy on sustainability; 25% an informal, unwritten policy; 21% a policy under development, and 40% have no policy.

Firms with a formal written policy tended to be larger: of those with 1,000 or more employees, 27% had a formal written policy, while fewer than 5% of firms with 20 or less employees did. Among other findings, the study examined the impact of sustainability issues among printers in selecting equipment and consumables, and provided a breakdown of principle business (publication, commercial, etc.) of printers with sustainability programs. Respondents were mostly offset printers, but also are using flexo and screen processes.

Top print industry names most often associated with sustainability were (in order):

1. Heidelberg
2. Quad/Graphics
3. Mohawk Paper
4. Xerox Corp.
5. Fujifilm Graphic Systems

The Reed study was co-sponsored by Day International/Flint Group and Xerox.

Also, the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership, formed last fall by FTA, SGIA and PIA/GATF, presented criteria for formally defining green printing. SGP agreed over the past few months in principle on the definitions for green printing and a verification process confirming printers adherence to it. A beta version of the criteria has been posted at the SGP Partnership Website. Printers who meet the requirements and are verified will be listed on a registry at www.SGPPartnership.org.

There will be two categories of registration—Candidate Pending Verification (CPV) and SGP Printer. The CPV category will give a facility a 12-month timeframe in which to meet all criteria for becoming an SGP Printer. Facilities that already meet the criteria for being an SGP Printer may bypass the CPV category and apply for recognition under that category. Among other requirements, SGP Printers will have to complete an annual progress report and will be subjected to periodic verification by an accredited third party.

SGP says it's important to understand that sustainability encompasses more than environmental issues. Corporate social responsibility is another major component. Criteria are based on three elements that SGP calls key to sustainability: people, planet and profits.

After the criteria has been beta tested and modifications are made, as needed, the registry will be launched this summer. Independent third parties will verify that individual printer sites meet the criteria.

SGP has set up a comments section on its Website and encourages the print community to provide feedback on the criteria during the beta-testing phase. Comments will be accepted through April 18.

Flexographic Technical Assn. environmental awards were given to Metro Label, Toronto; Plastic Packaging, Hickory, NC; and the C&H Packaging unit of Appleton Paper. The Printers' National Environmental Assistance Center awarded three magazines its Publication of the Year honors: national to Paper, Film & Foil Converter, regional to Georgia Printer and article to Labels & Labeling. Graphic Arts Monthly won two honorable mentions.

The PIA/GATF William D. Schaeffer Environmental Award was presented to Robert Birkland, president of Cirrus Consulting, Dallas, PA, whose career in print spans more than 25 years—most recently as GM of U.S. Label Corp., Greensboro, NC. Birkland started as a mechanical engineer for web offset presses. He became VP engineering for Arcata Graphics, Baltimore, where he participated in a committee that wrote industry regulations that were the basis for the Clean Air Act.

Recognizing the need to educate groups on the processes that the EPA was planning to regulate under the act, Birkland partnered with William Schaeffer, PhD, and Jerry Bender, former VP of environmental affairs at RR Donnelley (now retired) to write a chapter in the 1992 book, Air Pollution Engineering Manual. This manual continues to be a technical and educational reference guide for the industry.

ONLINE: go to graphicartsonline.com/sustainability