In-plants Getting Greener

THE EMPHASIS on increased sustainability in the business world has motivated many in-plants to reduce waste and become more environmentally friendly. It both improves their image and aligns them with their parent organization's goals. Yet as the recession lingers, some find their attention diverted by economic considerations.

For example, when IPG asked Jason Seto, reprographics specialist for the Hawaii State Department of Education, what his in-plant in Honolulu was doing to be more "green," he noted, "Actually, we are not doing as much as we could be doing due to budget cuts, furloughs, reorganizations, etc. We are being hit almost daily with memos urging us to find ways to trim our budget, so going greener has been put on the back burner for now."

Still, on a recent IPG industry survey, 26 percent of in-plants said they had made numerous changes to their in-plants in the past year to make them more environmentally friendly. Another 2 percent indicated that those changes were major, including becoming FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified.

To let you know what your fellow in-plants have been doing, and perhaps give you a few ideas to pursue in your shop, we have gathered a sampling of comments from in-plants around the country.

Mesa Public Schools

Bill KingSupervisor
Printing & Publishing
Mesa, Ariz.

Mesa Schools Printing & Publishing is "green"...but not with envy. These are some of our "green" initiatives:

• Use of recycled paper, soy-based inks and water-soluble solvents.

• Use of chemicals that emit lower volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

• Collaboration with the City of Mesa's recycling program.

• Waste from parent sheets are made into pads for distribution district wide.

• Parent sheet cartons' tops and bottoms are used as pallet covers.

• Deliveries are grouped to save fuel.

• Delivery vehicles are serviced regularly.

• Green stickers are at every light switch saying: "If not in use please turn off."

• We recycle our metal plates.

• Paper left on butt web rolls is used for packing material.

University of California-Berkeley

Haron Abrahimi
Director, Printing Services
Emeryville, Calif.

University of California-Berkeley Printing Services is proactive in its mission to embrace new ways to reuse, recycle and reduce. We are constantly looking for ways to diminish our impact on the environment. UC Printing limits its generation of VOCs in the following ways:

• We use only soy-based inks.

• All digital printing jobs are run on recycled paper.

• Recycled alternatives and FSC-certified papers are recommended for offset printing.

• All paper trimmings left over from the binding process are recycled and vacuum processed into bales.

We are committed to reducing our use of paper wherever possible, particularly through the use of technology to streamline the proofing process and exchange of information (i.e. PDF soft proofing). In addition to all this, UC Printing earned chain-of-custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council, a non-profit environmental group dedicated to preserving the world's natural forests.

Houston Independent School District

Charlotte Holden
Senior Manager, Administrative Services
Houston

Houston Independent School District has changed the majority of its paper to "green" paper that has been certified by any one of the certification groups (SFI, FSC or PEFC). HISD Printing Services has worked closely with the procurement office to spec and buy "green" certified paper for the whole school district. The district buys more than 85,000 skids of bond paper annually, so this initiative has a huge positive impact on the environment.

In the printing facility, we use mostly "green" certified paper to print. In addition, the department has a chemistry-free computer-to-plate system for plates and recycles all paper waste. The offices have energy-saving lights that turn off when no one is in the room.

Hawaii State Department of Education

Jason Seto
Reprographics Specialist
Honolulu

We try to use and/or specify recycled paper stock as much as possible. We went to computer-to-plate three years ago when we installed a Kodak Magnus 400 platesetter, so we don't have to deal with film, silver and chemistry. We recycle our aluminum plates and waste paper trimmings/makeready sheets.

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina

John Fabian
Manager
Printing Services
Columbia, S.C.

We buy our most-used papers unwrapped. Not dealing with wrappers saves paper, and waste is not recyclable due to glues and vapor barrier. We also recycle cardboard cartons and reuse the cartons for shipping out. We saved $600 a month by not buying shipping cartons. We also recycle paper cutter scraps.

University of Oregon

Mark Dixon
Interim Director
Printing and Mailing Services
Eugene, Ore.

In our digital arena we default to 100 percent post-consumer waste paper. We've moved the university's stationery program (letterhead, envelopes, business cards) to Via Smooth, which is an FSC-certified sheet, 100 percent post-consumer, manufactured with wind-generated electricity. We also use processless metal plates.

University of California-San Diego

Larry Fox
Director
Imprints Print and Document Services

We're committed to doing our part to support UCSD sustainability initiatives. In this effort we emphasize a "Sustainability Matters" theme, continually finding new ways to reduce waste, encourage recycling and offer environmentally friendly alternatives.

Our print centers use recycled paper, ranging from 10 percent to 100 percent post-consumer waste (PCW). For our departmental copiers, Imprints provides 30 percent PCW recycled paper as a standard stock, with higher content stock available by request for a small differential cost.

As digital printers, we print without using harmful solvents, use environmentally friendly inks, recycle waste paper and reduce paper use through paperless ordering. As a new service we provide document imaging for paper-to-digital conversion.

Lakehead University

Stan Nemec
Manager
Printing Services
Thunder Bay, Ontario

We are switching to environmentally friendly solvents and inks, and using 100 percent post-consumer paper for all examinations and course packs. We have a policy prohibiting idling for delivery vehicles, and also requiring lights and computers to be shut off when not in use. Cutter paper and printing waste are being used for free scratch pads for students. We will bind used one-sided paper into workbooks or notebooks for free for students as a sustainability initiative.

We also joined our university sustainability committee and assist with promoting sustainability to students and staff members. We package only parcels that are confidential, and save and reuse boxes or wrapping paper.

Nazarene Publishing House

Rick Barnes
Bindery Supervisor
Kansas City, Mo.

Here are some of our major efforts:

• We upgraded to energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs and low-energy fixtures.

• Preventative maintenance on production machines helps them run at optimal efficiency.

• Our computers, printers and copiers automatically go into power-saving mode after a period of inactivity.

• Smart use of computer technology allows three computer servers to do the work of 20 servers and five personal computers, reducing energy needs for those computers by at least 88 percent.

• 70 percent of the reports used internally to facilitate business operations are now produced electronically, eliminating thousands of pages of printed reports each month.

• Computer printers use re-usable toner cartridges.

• We recycle waste paper.

• We recycle the heat released in the pressroom during the production process.

• A thermal oxidizer safely incinerates chemicals before they are released into the atmosphere.

• We partner with Kansas City Power & Light. NPH reduces the use of equipment that draws large amounts of energy (e.g., elevators, air conditioners) during peak power periods. In return, KCP&L discounts our utility bill.

California State University, Long Beach

Mike Sternfeld
Manager
University Print Shop & Departmental Copier Program

When I joined the campus five years ago, one of my first goals was to have all of our house sheets recycled. We accomplished that some time ago. All of the campus stationery, all digital sheets and all cover and book stocks we carry are recycled. In addition, all of the paper we supply in our departmental copier program (200+ machines) is 30 percent recycled bond. We are now concentrating on printing and copying all of our products on sheets that are either recycled or have a sustainable designation (FSC, SFI, etc). Our printing inks are soy/vegetable based, and toners are claimed recyclable by the manufacturer. IPG