Spotlight on Sustainability

A decade ago, “sustainability” was a term that was thrown around more as a catchphrase or rallying call than with any real meaning behind it. Accusations of “greenwashing” ran rampant, and while brands — and consumers — might pay lip service to the idea of being more environmentally friendly, they weren’t willing to pay a premium for the cost of sustainable raw materials.

That has changed. Dramatically.

Today, consumers are vocal about their desire to see a cleaner, healthier future for this planet, and they are willing to pay more for goods and services that help further that goal. And brands are paying more attention, creating corporate sustainability goals, revamping their supply chains, and even making more sustainable choices when it comes to their print and graphics. Those choices in many ways have come down to choosing substrates or ink technologies that are more environmentally friendly. But the reality is that the systematic overhauling of manufacturing and sales that has been slowly taking place is absolutely trickling into the realm of commercial printing — and print providers will have to do more than just offer a recycled paper option if they want to continue to do business with the biggest brands and buyers out there.

And that’s not just a gut feeling. According to a NAPCO Research study released earlier this year, 91% of print buyers have said they believe printed materials produced via sustainable methods, and using sustainable materials, will be more important to their organization as time goes on. In addition, 80% of those same buyers say sustainability is already one of the factors they consider when making major print purchasing decisions.

On the flip side, the survey found that just 69% of printers are actually taking an active approach to improving their sustainability profiles. A major disconnect results that will only see the gulf between successful and struggling print providers widen if organizations don’t start taking steps to fix the situation.

Sustainability is multifaceted and it has evolved at a more rapid pace over the past several years, according to Gary Jones, vice president of environmental, health, and safety affairs at PRINTING United Alliance. “We are also seeing a transition from sustainability being a ‘nice thing to do’ to a ‘must thing to do,’ with new regulations and legislation being passed.”

Taking a Hard Look

With that in mind, it’s important for printing companies of all sizes — no matter what verticals are served, what types of applications are offered, or even what geographical areas are serviced — to be thinking long and hard about sustainability and what changes can be made, both now and in the long-term, to make print more sustainable. That said, it is easier said than done, and can sometimes feel overwhelming.

That’s one of the reasons the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) was created, offering print providers an on-ramp to systematically evaluate where more environmentally sound practices can be implemented in their internal operations. The Partnership enables them to take that next step from awareness into action.

“We are committed to promoting sustainability within the printing industry,” Theresa Vanna, SGP board chair, says. “Too many printers feel like sustainability is product only, but it’s the entire envelope — what they’re doing internally not only for employees, but also for their communities. What are they contributing, and are they being environmental stewards in their entire organization?” She adds that the organization seeks to to encourage and recognize companies that have adopted sustainable practices throughout their entire operation, as well as those that have prioritized the social and economic aspects of sustainability, and not just the environmental considerations alone.

Further, Vanna notes, the SGP stresses that sustainability isn’t a one-time action — it’s not a checklist you can go through once and then consider the matter done. Rather, sustainability is a lifetime commitment for everyone in the chain — consumers, communities, brands, and, yes, suppliers. Vanna points out that being sustainable is a journey, not a destination, and no one is ever going to reach an end point. Instead, each finished goal just means it’s time to re-evaluate and start finding the harder, longer-term goals to focus on next.

But what does that mean in actual practice? What can your business be doing today, next week, next month, or next year to be more environmentally friendly — and more attractive to brand managers, marketers, and consumers looking for true progress on this front?

“There are many different actions a printing operation can undertake to become sustainable, such as reducing waste, preventing pollution, adopting clean energy, conserving water, using sustainable materials, making their products sustainable, etc.,” Jone says.

He continues, “At this point, the one important step a company can take to become sustainable would be to determine their carbon footprint. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on the supply chain for companies to not only understand their carbon footprint, but to then take steps to reduce it. Carbon accounting helps organizations understand their carbon footprint, identify emission reduction opportunities, set targets, and track progress over time.”

Birdley James, SGP/EHS coordinator and compliance manager at Miller Zell in Atlanta, Georgia — as well as the current vice chair of the Board of Directors for SGP — notes that taking advantage of resources like SGP or PRINTING United Alliance, which offer tools to printers, is a great first start. He points out there are some good programs in place to help companies improve sustainability, with SGP in particular, offering not only tools to help identify areas in the organization that can be more sustainable, but also resources to help talk about these initiatives with both employees and customers to help build support for the coming changes.

Miller Zell goes out of its way to recycle or reclaim as much material as possible throughout the operation.

One of the tools SGP offers that was incredibly useful to Miller Zell was a tracker that lets James easily see all the programs currently active. “We started out with documents scattered everywhere,” he says, “and this offers a structure. Not only as a resource going through the process [to be certified through the SGP], but it also strengthens consistency across the board. Everyone is doing the same thing, and it is structured so you know what the outcome will be. That is a key part of the process.”

But what does that look like in practice? For every printing business, that answer will be a bit different. At Miller Zell, James notes there has been a particular focus on both recycling and upcycling at their facilities. “For example,” he says, “take our foam core products. In the past, we would condense them as far as we could, and then bind them and send them to the landfill. But we did some research, and now we have a program where that material is densified down, and then melted into a plastic block, which other companies then use to repurpose into other products.”

The goal is to minimize as much as possible, what Miller Zell sends to landfills, with the team constantly looking for new ways waste can be recycled or reused, even if the answer is something unconventional or out of the proverbial box. He notes that even for the waste they are still producing, the organization is actively working with waste management providers to find ways to densify — condense the leftover products into blocks of very dense materials — even further to reduce the amount of space it takes up in a landfill, as well as the number of trips needed to collect it, and the fuel needed to move it around. The idea is to look at sustainability from a more holistic view, always looking for new ways to improve the environment without sacrificing the quality of the end product.

Miller Zell compresses all of its used foam core into ingots, which are then shipped to a recycling facility.

That said, resist the urge to just make a few token changes and then declare that your company is sustainable. Even if you never choose to pursue certification through an organization like the SGP, or use more structured resources like PRINTING United Alliance offers, clients will figure out if you are attempting to greenwash — claiming to be sustainable on the surface, while not making meaningful changes to support it.

“Customers easily see through empty sustainability initiatives,” Jones cautions. “In addition, some of them are hiring sustainability professionals who will ask hard questions. Having a productive conversation with a customer that views sustainability as a key initiative is to be prepared with a genuine and transparent message.”

To create that message, he encourages printers to develop metrics that can be easily explained and, more importantly, tracked. So when a brand or print buyer asks for proof of sustainability practices, you have something tangible to offer beyond just “we recycle” or “we use water-based inks." You’ll want metrics that outline what your sustainability goals are, where you are in accomplishing them, how far you’ve come, and what your plans are for achieving them in the future.

According to Jones, “The metrics include — but are not limited to — carbon emissions, solid waste generation and recycling, water consumption, energy consumption, emissions of volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants, incorporation of recyclable substrates, using sustainable ink systems, employee injury and illness rates, community activities, and more.

Being able to explain what your company has done and plans to do, along with supporting metrics, provides a powerful message to customers, employees, and the community.”

All that being said, Vanna admits “It would be ignorant not to acknowledge that sometimes cost is more important.” She adds the economics of sustainability isn’t something anyone can ignore, especially for printers looking to start a new program from scratch. That said, “I really want to drive the point home that sustainability shouldn’t cost more — it should save money.” While there will be an initial investment involved that could include things like infrastructure or new equipment, it will pay off in the long-term.

“It’s like trading in a car that gets 15 miles per gallon for one that gets 30 miles per gallon — you’re going to pay a little more up front, but the overall, long-term savings are there,” she says.

Printers “can’t afford not to be more sustainable,” Vanna adds. The demand from brands and consumers alike for more environmentally friendly products and practices isn’t going to go away. And shops that resist making small, incremental changes now will find themselves facing a situation in the not-so-distant future as to whether to make large, expensive changes or close their doors. The middle ground is rapidly disappearing.

Sustainability is about more than just recycling — Miller Zell installed solar panels on the roof to help offset its energy usage as well.

To truly embrace sustainability on an organization-wide scale is no small or easy feat. But that doesn’t mean it can’t — or shouldn’t — be tackled. Start by taking a comprehensive look at your entire operation from top to bottom to identify the paths of least resistance. Start small, with one or two people empowered to be the champions for sustainability, and then let it build over time.

Always be re-evaluating and looking for new ways to make your printing operation more environmentally friendly, and you might be surprised at the amount of savings and new business you’ll realize over time as a result.