For Quad, It's Easy Being Green

AS THE largest privately held printer of magazines, catalogs and other commercial products in the Western Hemisphere—and the third-largest printer, public or private, in the nation—Quad/Graphics employs more than 12,000 people worldwide in 10 core domestic printing plants, as well as operations in Poland, Argentina and Brazil. Providing services ranging from front-end design and photography through digital imaging, printing, finishing, mailing/distribution, and data-driven marketing solutions (data optimization and analytics), the company’s annual sales surpass $2 billion. With a resumé like that, it’s no wonder that being “green” is extremely important to this mega printer.

“Why wouldn’t you be green?” questions Joe Muehlbach, director of Facilities and Environmental Policy. “At Quad/Graphics, our focus on green not only helps protect the environment, it makes good business sense. Everyone is paying attention to green practices these days, but it’s really not anything new for us.”

Quad has strived to be green since its founding in 1971, always being proactive in finding ways to maximize output, while minimizing use of resources and emissions. “Starting up a business on a shoestring budget,” Muehlbach explains, “we reused and recycled anything we could. As we grew, our commitment to recycling, reusing and minimizing waste became ingrained in our culture. Being environmentally conscious is not an option; it’s a way of life.”

Harry Quadracci, the company’s founder, promoted “practical environmentalism,” balancing what’s good for the environment with what’s good for business. Which, according to Muehlbach, means that any environmental initiative Quad/Graphics undertakes must be rooted in good business practice or it won’t be sustainable.

Here is a sampling of Quad’s green initiatives:

Air Emissions. Quad/Graphics’ web offset presses have integrated thermal oxidizers (ITOs) that use the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ink as a supplementary fuel source. Just like a catalytic converter on a car, the thermal oxidizers collect the VOCs, so they can be reabsorbed at the point of ignition. The printer’s 10 newest presses, installed primarily in Quad’s Wisconsin network of plants between 2004 and 2006, are all equipped with thermal oxidizers.

Muehlbach points out that the ITOs dramatically minimize the need for natural gas on-press. The company uses 45 percent less natural gas per page, he says, while achieving a 99 percent cleanup efficiency. Since 1992, Quad/Graphics’ web offset pressrooms have reduced air emissions by 62 percent, relative to output.

According to 2006 EPA reporting data (the most recent year for which comparative data is available), Quad’s three gravure printing facilities—located in Lomira, WI; Martinsburg, WV; and Oklahoma City—make up three of the top four best performing facilities in the industry, as far as percentage rate of solvent recovery and pounds recovered vs. released. Quad’s gravure pressrooms are engineered to be permanent total enclosures, so 100 percent of solvent-laden air is captured and recovered.

In 2006, the solvent recovery systems in the company’s gravure pressrooms averaged 99.53 percent efficiency, which is considerably above the standard of 92 percent required by the EPA and the 96.76 percent industry average.

Waste Minimization. In 1992, Quad began challenging its press operators to come up with alternative strategies to reduce waste ink, Muehlbach explains, noting that the implemented ideas included better ink estimating, using ink from one press to another press running similar jobs, and segregating ink by color in order to blend it into new ink. Over the past 16 years, waste ink declined 74 percent (relative to output), and Quad’s hazardous waste has decreased 65 percent relative to output.

Energy. Since 2000, Quad/Graphics’ energy consumption is down 21 percent per printed page.

Water. At the printer’s single largest plant (the two-million-square-foot Lomira facility), water consumption is down 34 percent relative to output since 2000. Corporate-wide, water conservation efforts—including reusing purified but non-potable water for manufacturing and irrigation, and using low-flow water fixtures—preserves 100 million gallons of water annually.

Recycling. Quad/Graphics achieves a corporate average recycling rate of solid waste of 98.5 percent. Materials collected for the recycling marketplace include paper and fiber, fluorescent lamps, co-mingled containers, metal, plastic, wood and concrete.

Green Building Certification. Quad announced earlier this year that it intends to be the first printer of its kind to have all 10 of its core manufacturing sites designated as green buildings by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program.

Ink. Quad formulates its own inks, reports Muehlbach, pointing out that the company manufactures 120 million pounds annually, making it one of the four largest ink manufacturers in the United States.

“In general, embracing green practices helps avoid costs,” he says. “That’s money we can reinvest in equipment and services that will help us generate additional revenue. Clients recognize and appreciate our efforts to be environmentally conscious, which builds our reputation and our business. In fact, they laud our accomplishments in the pages of their printed products.”

Partnering with its clients in the greening of print, Quad provides them with ideas, strategies and solutions that are not only good for the environment, but will also positively affect their bottom line—and, hence, Quad/Graphics’ bottom line, as well.

With data services and production seamlessly integrated under one roof, Quad/Graphics can perform NCOALink on mailing lists just days before addresses are applied, Muehlbach says, noting that many marketers still adhere to the standard of performing NCOALink every 90 days in advance. With about 17 percent of the U.S. population (39 million people) changing addresses each year, even quarterly mailing list updates can translate into hundreds of thousands of wasted individual mailings—truly junk mail because it will never reach the intended recipient.

Quad also works with clients to identify environmentally preferable solutions from the design of a magazine, catalog or direct mail piece through production and distribution. For example, it helped an adventure tour company combine a personalized travel credit statement into its catalog, eliminating a separate mailing. The printer is working with magazine publishers to bind-in or polybag (in 100 percent recyclable plastic) renewal statements and/or invoices.

In 2006, Quad debuted the QBMN (Quad Building Management Network), an enterprise-wide computerized system for monitoring, recording and, in some cases, controlling in real time: heating, ventilating and air conditioning; electrical and natural gas consumption and demand; process boilers, chillers, air compressors and vacuum systems; indoor air quality; and life safety systems (fire pumps).

In 2007, QBMN’s effectiveness could be seen across the printer’s operational platform. The Facilities Department at Quad’s’ Hartford, WI, plant realized that it had excess air compressor capacity and, therefore, didn’t need to buy an additional 400-hp air compressor, saving $210,000 in equipment costs and $155,000 in annual electrical costs, as well as preventing the consumption of 3.1 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually.

Its Lomira plant is able to see when it is nearing peak electrical demand, and then load shed by shutting down equipment that can run at a later time during utility off-peak periods. The lowering of demand eliminates the need for additional generation to meet peak requirements, saving the company $50,000 annually through load shedding.

Whenever possible, Quad/Graphics facilities use natural cooling—through evaporative cooling towers mounted on the roofs of its plants—instead of mechanical cooling for processes that require chilled water, thereby saving millions of kilowatt hours of electricity each year. It is also in the process of outfitting 4,500 PCs with power management software that automatically puts them into “sleep” mode when not in use to save power. When the project is complete, the printer will use 1.26 million fewer kilowatt hours of electricity annually and save a projected $70,000.

“In 2003, we completed a retrofit of all of our lighting fixtures used in production areas,” adds Muehlbach. “The new high-efficiency fluorescent lights burn 50 percent brighter, but consume 50 percent less energy. As a result of this project alone, we realize a cost avoidance of $2 million per year.

“Overall, our energy-saving initiatives saved us $19.5 million in 2007,” he concludes. PI