Print Bound was one of two printers recently certified with the Forest Stewardship Council.

Kristina Holdorf, who heads up environmental print consultancy Urban Fresh, audited both firms for SCS (Scientific Certification Systems). “Overseas, there’s been a trend with corporate accounts to use FSC-certified printers — it’s part of their corporate and social responsibility to track a material’s source,” said Holdorf.

“Naturally, interest is starting to catch on in Australia.” FSC certification is more common in the USA than Europe, where EMAS is more popular.

“While EMAS comes from a manufacturing viewpoint, not the printer’s, FSC certification is a means by which pulp source is tracked right through to printed product, hence is a complete life cycle.”

Holdorf is passionate about the environment, but she doesn’t advocate every Australian printer become FSC certified tomorrow.

“If your clients include top-end corporates and companies with a stated interest in the environment, then the more you offer in regard to environmental certification, the better stead in which you place yourself.” Having said that, the process is neither arduous nor costly for printers. “A printer needs to demonstrate they have the capacity to track back certified paper received from an FSC-certified merchant. Basically, it’s setting up a documented procedure to ensure stock isn’t substituted. The printer is audited on that, and they must have secure labelling to avoid product contamination.” Auditing is then done annually.

Print Bound Mark Randles, general manager of Print Bound (in Melbourne’s south-east) confirms the FSC auditing and certification process is not arduous, but says it does require dedication of personnel and resources. He then pointed to Print Bound’s EMS [Environmental Management Systems] ISO 14001 certification and Waste Wise certification — “now that took a tremendous amount of time and ongoing maintenance!”

Randles said through networking with major supplier Spicers Paper, plus overseas contacts, Print Bound saw FSC chain of custody (CoC) certification was fast becoming a major requirement from corporates.

“It provides us with an additional offering for our existing clientele, and keeps us ahead of our competitors. For example, clients who decide to use the FSC logo can only use a printer with CoC certification.”

Print Bound, which was established in 1991 and employs 35 staff, is a previous winner of the (Victorian) Premier’s Business Sustainability Awards, in the small business sector. Through a dedicated program to reduce its environmental impact, Print Bound cut its energy consumption by 40 per cent, replaced 80 per cent of ink tins with recyclable cartons, and cut VOC use from 12 per cent to four per cent.

Randles said director Mark Tomasini and MD Mauro Mattarucco have strongly held personal beliefs in environmental sustainability (indeed, Tomasini’s house won top design awards for energy efficiency).

Three motivating issues in reshaping their printing business were a wish to create a culture of environmental awareness among employees, clients and suppliers, a drive to improve the print industry’s reputation for poor environmental practices by educating and supporting all consumers of paper and print, and an aim to be an industry leader by ensuring all staff adopt a wholehearted commitment to the project. Print Bound — one of 50 Victorian businesses participating in a pilot with Swinburne University to improve environmental sustainability — has approached this from several angles. In the press room, only vegetable or soy-based inks are used.

Print Bound was one of the first printers to use DIC Colortron’s special cardboard packaging for ink; at the time, they were the only printer in Australia who fully supported the product. All chemicals are EPA accredited, including the IPA replacement solution.

Print Bound also installed an Eco Clean system that collects chemical waste from the press, separates sludge for removal and purifies the rest, ready for re-use. “In a year, this innovative system reduces chemical use by about 90 per cent,” said Randles.

“One of our most capital-intensive changes was investing in a new state-of-the-art Heidelberg 102 CD six-colour, with a new, low-energy water-cooled unit. This eliminates heat generated from the machine, therefore reducing air-conditioner use.” In the same vein of reducing greenhouse emissions, Print Bound had professional energy-lighting audits conducted. From there, they introduced energy-efficient lighting, plus motion and light sensitivity sensors and reflectors.

While internally all waste is segregated (paper, rags, chemicals), externally, Print Bound has taken complete ownership of its printed waste. “Our waste management system ensures all products are recycled or reused,” Randles told ProPrint. “We consulted with our paper suppliers, chemical-recovery company, metal recycler and paper and plastic recycler to ensure product is recycled and reused.”

Along with recommending and using paper made from sustainable forests, that’s chlorine free, recycled or produced with the highest environmental credentials and management systems (ISO 14001 and EMAS), Print Bound has set up an education room. “We invited all paper merchants within Australia to showcase their environmentally friendly paper products in our education room. This has proven to be a valuable resource for staff and clients, in offering environmentally friendly papers as an alternative.”

Randles said that while Print Bound has incurred significant costs in implementing the environmental sustainability changes, it’s given the business a clear direction to ensure they’re “built to last”. “And, after four years in the making, we are reaping the rewards. The ‘clean green print process’ has created numerous opportunities, enabling us to network with many large corporates, but most importantly, we have been able to network with eco-friendly businesses to learn and improve our own processes.

“It has created a unique culture, improving morale and communication within the business. A nice spin-off is several staff have changed the way they save water and distribute their rubbish at home.”

by Samantha Schelling.