Is Green Print Sustainable?

Oil prices are dropping but printers show no sign of dropping out of the movement toward greener print practices, including efforts to trim back reliance on transport fuel. Wisconsin-based catalog giant Arandell Corp., for example, early this month became a partner in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay program. The voluntary alliance was established four years ago between the EPA and shippers to improve the efficiency of freight transport. The one other major printer that has been involved in the program for several years is Quad/Graphics, which has twice been awarded for its participation.

SmartWay partners agree to use freight carriers who are improving their fleet fuel efficiency while optimizing logistics around shipping and receiving operations (e.g., no idling engines while waiting to unload, combining loads to reduce trucks on the road, etc.). Quad/Graphics installed auxiliary power units on its trucks to reduce idling engines by drivers waiting in cabs to unload. In aligning with the program, details of which are listed at www.epa.gov/smartway, Arandell agreed to several commitments:

• Increase the percent of freight shipped by SmartWay Transport Partnership carriers;
• Measure greenhouse gas emissions of its operations using the FLEET Performance Model;
• Identify goals and a plan to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from freight facility operations;
• Report progress toward these goals to the EPA annually.

The privately held Menomonee Falls-based Arandell also was accepted last year into the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources Green Tier program, which provides regulatory and publicity incentives for voluntary superior environmental performance.

“We are constantly striving to find new ways of performing everyday tasks to improve the environmental impact of our business,” notes Don Treis, Arandell CEO.

Most sustainable print initiatives center around use of “chain-of-custody” certified papers. Printers undergo an audit and establish an inventory system to verify that they are not using papers derived from old-growth forests or from trees that, if harvested, would harm wildlife. A barrage of news announcements in recent weeks signalled the growing ranks of printers attaining certification under FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification).

FSC certification serves as an inventory control system that verifies the source of printing papers tracking them through inventory and distribution. To become certified, companies work with accredited, independent certification agents who evaluate both forest management activities and chain-of-custody tracking of materials passing through mills, manufacturers and distributors.

The SFI standard includes fiber sourcing requirements that promote responsible forest management; chain-of-custody certification tells buyers how much certified fiber is in a specific product. It's based on principles that protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk and forests with exceptional conservation value.

The third body, the PEFC Council, is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization that promotes sustainably managed forests, also through independent, third-party certification. Once certified, logos from these groups can be printed on materials using qualifying papers.

A growing number of printers seek certification for papers under multiple agencies. Book manufacturer Edwards Brothers, for example, announced August 8 that it has received FSC certification for both its Ann Arbor, MI and Lillington, NC manufacturing facilities. The firm also expects to secure SFI certification within two months.

“This new certification is part of a larger, ongoing effort,” says CEO John Edwards. Sustainability programs balance cost-effective manufacturing processes “to better serve our customers, who are increasingly looking for environmentally sound alternatives,” he says. “Accountability is sustainability.”

Carrollton, GA folding carton printer Printed Specialties said earlier this month that it has already been awarded both FSC and SFI certifications, a move which “allows our customers to make their commitment to the environment clear in their retail packaging,” says Gregory Smith, president.

Niles, IL-based The Garvey Group this month earned both SFI and FSC certifications. “Carrying the FSC and SFI certification logos on your print products tells the world that you support the highest social and environmental standards in the market place,” says Ed Garvey, CEO. “We will be able to service the increasing market demand for environmentally friendly products.”

The Garvey Group used Bureau Veritas Certification North America to audit its commercial-focused plants and to certify the firm—a process that must be repeated annually. “Bureau Veritas visited three of our facilities to verify our process and procedures,” says Jan Kahle, Garvey's process analyst. The auditor also checked the firm's audit trail and confirmed that the entire staff is trained to understand the commitment to sustainable forestry.

With its two certifications in hand, Garvey says it will begin to set goals for the next few years. “We'll be gathering data and challenging ourselves to go above and beyond,” says Mark Heimerl, the firm's national strategic sales manager. “We currently test and gather data on products used in the print process. Inks and coatings are available that are VOC-free. Manufacturers are continuing to develop solvents, washes and a variety of pressroom chemicals that are safe or safer for the environment. We test these new products in our controlled environment. If they produce the results our clients are looking for, we move that product into our process.” Heimerl says that since 2005, “This persistent effort has reduced our press room VOC's by 50%.”

The Garvey Group says it is a continuous-learning organization and will also be investigating other environmental certifications, to determine what improves their value proposition to clients and their responsibility to a green world.

RR Donnelley announced at the end of July that an additional 15 of its printing facilities across the U.S. achieved SFI chain-of-custody certifications and PEFC recognition. The newly certified facilities include book, retail inserts, shorter run commercial printing, magazine, financial printing, catalog, directory and digital printing operations.

“They offer our customers another option that complements the more than 120 Forest Stewardship Council certifications that we have already achieved,” says John Paloian, RR Donnelley COO. Like many other printers adopting sustainable print practices, the firm is combining “twin goals of operating more efficiently and achieving more sustainable practices.”

There is certainly no shortage of attention to the subject. With the growing roster of green printing events, it's understandable if printers are a bit confused about which to attend. January saw the first annual Business of Green Media Conference at CalPoly State U. in San Luis Obispo. Then came the Sustainability in Packaging Conference (March 6-8, Orlando), which focussed largely on the demand generated by large suppliers in consumer products (e.g., Kraft, Heinz, Wal-mart) supply chains.

Next up was the more traditional, compliance-oriented National Environmental Health and Safety Conference (Indianapolis, March 8-10). That gathering broke new ground as commercial offset, flexo and screen printing trade groups presented a beta standard for green printing, the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership.

IntertechPira's first ever conference on Sustainability in Printing, June 18-20 in Philadelphia, addressed the green printing movement from a unique angle: a daunting task as analysts, consultants and businesses everywhere seek to identify with environmental advocacy.

The Philadelphia event was co-chaired by Lewis Fix, business director, Domtar's EarthChoice products for the U.S., as well as this author. The event served as a stepping stone between conferences centered on the more mature and established players in the sustainability movement—paper companies, packagers and the environmental advocates that have been tracking their progress for years—and printing firms, whose profile is now rising in the field.

Leading off the conference was keynoter Don Carli, a senior research fellow at New York-based Institute for Sustainable Communication (and Graphic Arts Monthly Sustainability Editor). In a follow-up interview with local media, Carli noted the consumer “misconception we have is that somehow print is environmentally destructive while digital media is somehow environmentally benign.” He told a local reporter, “Neither is perfect,” indicating that online media has a measureable carbon footprint.

Two printers presenting at the event were Gary Palaczyk, senior VP sales and marketing for Carlstadt, NJ-based Pictorial Offset, and Joel Zelepsky, senior VP sales and marketing for Mosaic, Cheverly, MD. The two detailed their years of advancing environmental concerns long before the current popularity. Pictorial, which operates a 197,000-sq.ft. plant, lays claim to being the first commercial printer in the world to achieve dual ISO 9001:2000 (quality) and ISO 14001:2004 (environmental) registrations.

Palaczyk said that in addition to its ISO status, his firm carries both SFI and FSC certifications and moved to a “carbon neutral” operation by offsetting the carbon footprint of its large operation. It is the first U.S. printer to achieve carbon-neutral status by reforestation. It planted 5,000 trees in New Jersey to “zero-out” 6,319 tons of CO2 per year. The planting was audited by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Despite its efforts, Pictorial is frequently targeted by various environmental certification organizations to carry additional verification schemes, says Palaczyk.

Mosaic, with 139 employees and $36 million in sales, stepped into green printing in 1993 through the door of waterless offset, which eliminates dampening chemistry. The firm is one of just five printers to have joined EPA's Climate Leaders Program.

Early adopters of waterless emphasized quality and waste-reduction advantages, Zelepsky explained. Only later, with the arrival of CTP, did the exposure of waterless printing plates make the premedia part of waterless more stable.

Operating a 29´´ KBA 74 Karat direct imaging press and a 40´´ Komori Lithrone adapted for waterless, Mosaic is able to reduce VOCs in the pressroom. Zelepsky showed a chart that quantified the distribution of VOCs in a typical plant using waterless contrasted with a conventional print operation.

Waterless, he said, generates 75% less VOCs than conventional offset printing, in the pressroom. It has added impact if it eliminates dampening in a plant that routinely adds alcohol. In curtailing water usage, a Swiss printer calculated it saved 66,000 gallons annually consumed for one heatset web press.

A panel discussion, “Green Print-buyer Dynamics,” moderated by this author, included four individuals deeply involved in the commercial print supply chain: Eric Braun, CEO co-founder, InkTree Inc.; Jeff Morrow, VP sales and sustainability for Label Impressions & Natural Source Printing; Peter Cook, CEO/co-owner of Concord Litho; and Don Seitz, executive VP of HubCast, an international networker of printing firms. The high-energy conversation engaged the audience and panelists in examining the key drivers in the delivery of sustainable printing services. Bottom line: In most cases, it is customer demand that moves printers to green offerings.

Next January, Cal Poly plans a second installment of its Business of Green Media Conference. NEHS will again holds its annual conference in March in Indianapolis, and InterTechPira plans to repeat its sustainable packaging conference that month as well.

With the increasing pressure from government regulatory agencies—local, statewide and federal—to exercise sustainable practices, companies are being held accountable, notes Harvey Levenson, head of Cal Poly's Graphic Communication Dept. in San Luis Obispo, CA.

“Today's clients of the graphic arts industry want to only deal with companies addressing sustainability in the areas of recycling, carbon footprints, global warming, and related concerns,” he says. “Sustainability has become a bottom-line issue demanded by industrial customers and ultimate consumers. Our industry is expected to meet government regulations and customer expectations, but to do it profitably.”