Justifying Paper Certification
Another point, if you have multiple sites "owned" by one legal entity such as a university system, a multi-site certificate can be employed to share costs under an internal central office coordinating function.
If your annual printing revenue is less than $5 million, then consider joining a group. PIA formed an FSC group that offers FSC certification to members of select PIA affiliates; initial membership was quoted at $1,695 per year when PIA announced this. There is no reason that IPMA, ACUP or other in-plant organizations couldn't do the same on a regional or national basis. For more information about this concept, see my Digital Nirvana blog. By the way, this concept also extends to SFI certification.
Vic Nathan Barkin has more than 35 years of experience in the printing, paper and wood products industries and currently owns a consulting practice specializing in business development, workflow, and technology implementation, focusing on “Green Procurement and Production” practices. Vic is a QMS Lead Auditor certified to ISO 9001:2008 standards, is a consultant for the Rainforest Alliance as an FSC Chain of Custody and Controlled Wood senior auditor, is an FSC, SFI and PEFC lead auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers and SGS North America, and has engaged in more than 700 site assessments and audits.
