Sparks Fly at Green Conference - Print Spotting

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Bill Esler

Sparks Fly at Green Conference
June 20, 2008

Green groups get a going-over as printers, paper firms and sustainability advocates gather in Philadelphia. The Pira-Intertech Sustainability in Printing Conference, a first time meet-up that shows promise and spunk, found delegates from the Rainforest Alliance, Co-op America and other green-movement advocates meeting up with real live printers and the paper and print systems companies who supply them.
Sponsored by Domtar, the gathering ventured into some controversial discussions, with some sustainability organizations seemingly surprised to find that there is more to executing a sustainable print strategy than making adopting recycled paper. PIA/GATF evnironmental expert Gary Jones laid out the printing industry's rapidly advancing Sustainable Green Printing Partnership initiative to create and verify what makes a printer green.
Discussion points delivered from audience members were civil but energetic on a range of issues, to wit:
--Challenges have arisen with recycling papers printed by inkjet (they turn pulp mushy gray)
--Printing on recycled paper (slowdowns, weight gains create a net gain in project carbon footprint)
--Can tree-free paper made from rocks really be called sustainable?
Environmental advcoates also learned of an emerging green trend: green sticker shock, as print buyers demand sustainability certification logos and windpower to drive their projects but don't want to pay the upcharges.
Just before the preconference opened Wednesday, book printer Maple-Vail in nearby York, PA turned off its dryers on a heatset web book run, the culmination of a one-year development project involving Amerikal chemistry and Braden Sutphin inks. It eliminates use of dryers and silicon, and delivers the web run (the first a monochrome book project for Harvard on Glatfelter uncoated text) dry enough to flow right into the inline folders. We'll deliver a fuller report on that and the conclusion of the Sustainability in Printing conference next week.

Posted by Bill Esler on June 20, 2008 | Comments (1)

Industries: Digital Printing, New Products, Paper, Printing Inks, Sustainability

July 3, 2008
In response to: Sparks Fly at Green Conference
Pat Mercer commented:

You are so right.I have been involved with the green community for years and there is a tremendous amount of education needed. The PIA/GATF is a double sided sword they preach green on one side and combat the EPA about rules and regulations on the other. A recent meeting held at a major US paper distributor concentrated on paper mills green certifications. The program was presented by a major advocate for the paper mills and their certification programs. One question from the audience was, What has the paper industry done differently to get the certifications? The program presenter said nothing has changed. A comment from the audience asked about the labels on the cartons. A bigger label is now required to get all the certifications on the boxes of paper. The more this industry becomes involved with the certification processes the more it loses its meaning. Almost all the paper merchants are certified. It is becoming increasingly difficult to buy from a non-certified source. When over 95% of the paper merchants are certified it becomes a non issue. The Soybean council no longer promotes printed with soy. It has become a standard that no longer needs promotion. In the green scheme of print manufacturing paper is headed in the same direction. Carbon neutrality definition: "Carbon neutrality describes an entity that releases the same amount of CO2 that it absorbs, hence producing a carbon footprint of zero." (Time, April 9, 2007) According to this definiton if you are buying carbon offsets for neutrality it is meaningless. Pat Berger www.mercercolor.com Environmental Print Specialist All of Mercer Color lithoed products are manufactured using the Ecolith(r) process the most environmentally friendly litho process available.