GREEN Scene
‘Green Printer’ Criteria Determined
INDIANAPOLIS—The Sustainable Green Printing (SGP) Partnership revealed at the recent National Environmental Health and Safety (NEHS) conference the criteria on how to become a sustainable, green printer. Printers that meet these requirements and are verified will be listed on the SGP Partnership Registry Website.
There are two categories of SGP registration. The first is Candidate Pending Verification (CPV), which will give a facility a 12-month timeframe in which to meet all criteria for becoming an SGP Printer. Facilities that already meet the crieria can bypass the CPV category and apply for recognition under the SGP Printer 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.
The SGP Partnership is a collaboration between PIA/GATF, FTA and SGIA that was formed in 2007 to define sustainable green printing and identify steps for establishing sustainable manufacturing and business practices. To find out more about the SGP Partnership registration program or to view the Green Printer criteria, visit www.sgppartnership.org .
Connecticut’s Clean Energy Leaders Are Honored
NEWTOWN, CT—The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund honored Curtis Packaging as a 2008 recipient of the Connecticut Clean Energy Communities Award.
The award recognized Curtis Packaging’s commitment to clean, renewable energy and how its green energy purchase is leading the success of the Clean Energy Community campaign here. Because of printer’s participation in the CTCleanEnergyOptionsP2 Program, the City of Newtown has qualified for a free solar energy system from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund.
Curtis Packaging has purchased enough clean, renewable energy to account for 100 percent of its electricity needs. The estimated environmental benefits of its renewable energy purchase are equivalent to saving 400,000 gallons of gasoline or offsetting the electricity use of 466 homes for one year.
Curtis Packaging is reportedly the first printing and packaging company in North America to be 100 percent carbon neutral, to use 100 percent renewable energy and to be FSC certified. Curtis has also joined the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, which advocates the use of materials and systems that promote economic and environmental health.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Printers can take advantage of two of the industry’s hottest trends—lean manufacturing and green printing—by attending the PIA/GATF’s national seminar tour, which is being held in various locations across the country.
The one-day “Lean and Green Seminar” will focus on the concepts and drivers of the sustainability and lean manufacturing trends; why print buyers are requesting (even demanding) green products; how lean tools can be used to search for and eliminate numerous types of production and environmental waste; how lean manufacturing can decrease costs and create a culture that allows sustainability to flourish; and criteria for SGP Partnership registration.
The Lean and Green Seminar will take place in these cities:
Phoenix—May 15
Miami—June 24
Nashville—June 26
Boston—August 26
Baltimore—August 28.
Co-presenters of the program are Ken Rizzo, PIA/GATF’s director of consulting and head of its Center for Lean Practices, and Gary Jones, PIA/GATF’s director of environmental, health and safety. Adobe Systems, Hostmann-Steinberg, Kodak and Komori are the principal sponsors, and PRINTING IMPRESSIONS is the publishing partner.
PRINTER NEWS
Fort Worth, TX-based Branch Smith Printing is “green and getting greener,” and is sending out promotional material to clients that explains how so. The colorful, outdoorsy pamphlet poses the question: “What does green mean to you?” Then it reveals what green means to Branch Smith and how the printer is maintaining green practices in a multitude of ways.
Vertis Communications, Baltimore, announced that four of its direct mail facilities are now FSC Chain-of-Custody certified: North Brunswick, NJ; Monroe Township, NJ; Chalfont, PA; and Bristol, PA.
Litho-Art, which has been located in the same Lower Manhattan site since 1951, has received FSC Chain-of-Custody certification.
Quad/Graphics, Sussex, WI, has registered all 10 of its core U.S. printing plants for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, which is a voluntary green building rating system that provides measurable benchmarks for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.
Quad/Graphics will achieve LEED certification for each facility by meeting certain criteria in five areas: sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials and resource selection, and indoor environmental quality. The company intends to have its Sussex headquarters certified by mid-2008 and all remaining plants certified thereafter.
Louisville, KY-based Coral Graphic Services, an Arvato Print USA company, has earned FSC Chain-of-Custody certification. Other Arvato Print companies—including Berry-ville Graphics, Dynamic Graphic Finishing and Offset Paperback Manufacturers—plan to submit applications for certification in the second half of 2008.
SUPPLIER NEWS
A new “Green Peace of Mind” logo has been unveiled by Videojet Technologies, which will be used on product labeling with its environmentally friendly, continuous and drop-on-demand ink-jet printing, thermal-transfer overprinting, and laser marking systems and supplies.
Triple Chain-of-Custody certification by FSC, SFI and PEFC has been awarded to Glatfelter at its North American production facilities in Spring Grove, PA, and Chillicothe, OH. The recently certified Natures Book grade contains 30 percent post- consumer waste fiber.
Braden Sutphin Ink has launched the EcoSmart certification program for its environmentally friendly ink products. For more information, visit Braden Sutphin’s Website at www.bsink.com/ecosmart.html . PI
