Gathering On Green Print Trends

The move to sustainable printing is accelerating across the industry as buyers set new procurement standards in both light packaging and commercial work. A variety of initiatives involving sustainable forestry, eco-labelling and paper projects have started to surface in response to this growing market demand.

To help printers get up to speed on the latest trends in green, Graphic Arts Monthly and IntertechPira are launching the Sustainability in Printing conference, June 18-20, at the Doubletree Inn in Philadelphia. The event will examine eco-trends across the printing supply chain: from material suppliers to publishing houses, and how each one is addressing the sustainability issue from its own perspective. Through revealing presentations from key industry leaders, attendees will learn the “bigger picture” of the green printing market. The conference, co-chaired by GAM editor-in-chief Bill Esler, will provide tools to evaluate and capitalize on printing in a sustainable environment.

Attendees will hear more than 20 industry leaders discuss market strategies and technical issues surrounding green printing. Presenters will include spokespersons from Domtar, TerraChoice, InfoTrends, Monadnock Paper Mills, Pictorial Offset, Co-op America, Mosaic, Riso, Hewlett-Packard, Metafore and others.

Don Carli, senior research fellow from the Institute for Sustainable Communication and Graphic Arts Monthly sustainability editor, will offer an overview on green trends in printing and publishing, highlighting financial opportunities and discussing sustainable strategies to maximize profits—and the consumer perception of these strategies. He will also host a panel discussion on sustainability as a new metric.

MeadWestvaco will discuss the sustainable procurement of wood and paper-based products, and what guides and resources are available to make the best choice of paper.

Mosaic will present on how sustainability can be empowered by waterless printing.

HP will share the advantages of digital printing. Riso will talk about the benefits of inkjet over electrophotographic print technologies.

Landmark research studies will be presented by InfoTrends and Graphic Arts Monthly. Reed Research director Mark DiVito will present the results of GAM's green study, co-sponsored by Day International/Flint Group and Xerox.

His initial research reveals 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. Print firms surveyed are still in the early stages of adopting green standards: 14% have a formal written policy on sustainability; 25% an informal, unwritten policy; 21% have one under development; but 40% have yet to put a policy in place.

Firms with a formal written policy tend 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.

Print industry brands most often associated with sustainability were (in order):

• Heidelberg
• Quad/Graphics
• Mohawk Paper
• Xerox Corp.
• Fujifilm Graphic Systems

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 use flexo and screen.

InfoTrends' Amy Machado, forecast manager, will present the results of research studying emerging strategies for green printing in the commercial and in-plant settings. Questions to be addressed:

• How many print providers are moving towards sustainability?
• What motivates 'going green?'
• What steps are printers taking to become more sustainable?
• What 'green' services are offered?

The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership, formed last fall by FTA, SGIA and PIA/GATF, will present its criteria for formally defining green printing.

Gary Jones, director of environmental health and safety at PIA/GATF, will make the presentation. SGP agreed in March 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

Want to learn how to implement a successful green strategy? This and the perceptions from the different players in green printing will be discussed by Jack Miller, a consultant with Pira International.

Frank Locantore, director of the Magazine PAPER project., will share with attendees the key environmental publishing principles, do's and don'ts and the next steps toward smart environmental printing.

A bonus question-and-answer session will feature book publisher Scholastic's Francine Colaneri, VP manufacturing and corporate purchasing, and Lisa Serra, director of corporate paper department, on how to implement environmentally friendly paper procurement policies.

Sheldon Zakreski, senior analyst, Metafore, will review different options for assessing environmental papers, including: resources available for paper buyers to understand the environmental footprint of paper products; product certifications, product declarations, impact calculators and scoring systems; different approaches to evaluate environmental paper; and the tools available to environmentally conscious paper buyers.

Keri Davis, marketing coordinator, Sustainable Forestry Division, Rainforest Alliance, will offer a presentation titled “Adding value with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Rainforest Alliance Certification.” The session seeks to answer:

• Who is Rainforest Alliance?
• Why does Rainforest Alliance certify companies to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)?
• What value do these certifications offer my company?
• How do I get FSC, chain-of-custody (CoC) and Rainforest Alliance certified?

Printer Gary Pawlaczyk, senior sales and marketing VP at Pictorial Offset Corp., Carlstadt, NJ, will speak on how doing the right thing can very good for business. He will discuss how his firm's holistic approach to being 'green' lead to benefits.

The company has long list of green accomplishments. It reports it was the first printing company in the world to become carbon neutral by counter-balancing its generation of CO2 emissions—tied to global warming—through the Conservation Fund's Go Zero Program. The fund proposes to 'zero-out' the specific CO2 emissions generated Pictorial Offset by planting trees. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service verified the planting of 5,000 native oak and pine trees and manages the lands to ensure that the trees will live 100 years and absorb 6,319 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Scot Case, VP, Terrachoice, will offer a session on “Going green without greenwashing: How to make money going green without confusing consumers.” Discussion points include:

• Understanding consumer desire for green print products
• Seeing examples of greenwashing, which is mistakenly providing false or misleading environmental information
• Avoiding the six sins of greenwashing
• Evaluating the value of environmental standards and certification programs

A preconference workshop on Wed., June 18, led by Anna Clark, president, EarthPeople, US, will focus on communications strategy for environmental policies. The session will offer an overview on the most effective ways to turn communications into profit and consumer loyalty.

A conference brochure is at: www.sustainability-in-printing.com