Overview of Printing Industries Environmental Initiatives

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Overview of Printing IndustriesEnvironmental
Initiatives

• Presentation by Hagop Tchamkertenian
• Manager, Industry Commercial Policy
• Printing Industries Association of Australia
• to LIAs
• Sustainable Future How we can be part of the
  solution?

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Typical Lithographic Printing Process and
Principal Releases to the Environment
Source Environmental Management in
Lithographic Printing Rochester Institute of
Technology
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Guiding Principles

• Encouraging the industry to adopt sustainable
  practices is a key element in ensuring the long
  term prosperity of the industry.
• Printing Industries has been working with its
  membership over a long period of time to build a
  culture within the industry that is based on
  sound environmental management.
• This is shown in two early publications From
  Paper to Print an industrys future (policy
  statement on the environment 1991) and The Green
  Printer (1994)

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Guiding Principles

• Printing Industries has engaged in the
• environmental area for a long period of time.
• The 1991 Policy Statement on the Environment
• focused on
• Sustainable development
• Environmental management
• Resource management
• Waste management
• Recycling

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Guiding Principles

• Industry activities have both positive and
  negative effects on the environment. The adverse
  effects need to be minimised if not eliminated.
• Continuous improvement in environmental
  performance
• Processes resulting in improvements in
  environmental performance viewed as a benefit and
  not as a cost

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Guiding Principles

• Being a Green Printer can help improve the
  bottom line through savings in waste disposal
  costs and raw materials, energy consumption,
  insurance (address worker safety concerns), and
  improved company image
• The essential raw material of the industry
  paper is a renewable/sustainable resource
• this gives an important incentive for the
  other parts of the value chain to also engage in
  sustainable activities

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Recent Initiatives

• The Environment Management Manual was first
  published in 1996
• The Manual has since been updated twice and soon
  work will commence on a fourth edition
• The Environmental Management Manual has been
  designed for the printing industry as a tool for
  printers to identify and manage environmental
  issues associated with their operations. The
  manual has been designed to raise awareness of
  key environmental issues within the printing
  industry.

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Recent Initiatives

• The Environmental Management Manual
• includes
• An environmental assessment protocol
• State/Territory and Commonwealth environmental
  legislation impacting on printing industry
• A series of guidelines to manage environmental
  issues ranging from solvents and chemicals to
  waste paper and noise
• Worksheets to implement improvements
• Inputs and outputs of various printing processes

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Recent Initiatives

• In 1999 Printing Industries released the landmark
  report Reducing VOC solvent use in the Printing
  Industry
• The report outlined the availability, suitability
  and use of products which reduce air emissions in
  the printing industry
• The alternative products comprised of VOC
  substitutes and the report listed suppliers of
  those products

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Recent Initiatives

• Lean Manufacturing
• The Victorian Region of Printing Industries has
  introduced a Lean Manufacturing program to
  members.
• There is a strong environmental focus as the
  program aims to reduce the volume of inputs used
  in the production process, whether they are
  water, energy or other material inputs. The
  program is currently being evaluated with a view
  to extending it to other states.

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Recent Initiatives

• The West Australian Region of Printing Industries
  recently prepared an Action Plan committing the
  Association to promotion of cleaner production
  and eco-efficiency to the members, and to the
  industry generally.
• Arising out of the Action Plan was the
  development and involvement in the Green Stamp
  program.

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Recent Initiatives

• Printing Industries is working with the New South
  Wales department of Environment and Conservation
  to explore the feasibility of establishing a
  Cleaner Production Cluster in the printing
  industry.

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Recent Initiatives

• Extended Producer Responsibility Office Papers
• The NSW Government placed the industry on notice
  in 2004 that is was concerned with the amounts of
  paper ending up in landfill and declared Office
  Paper a waste of concern.
• Printing Industries conducted a major research
  project during 2004-2005 into extended producer
  responsibility for Office Papers.
• A range of solutions were examined from which a
  preferred solution model emerged

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Recent Initiatives
Extended Producer Responsibility Office Papers

• A working group has been formed and it has been
  agreed to establish a Producer Responsibility
  Organisation for the next three years funded by
  voluntary industry contributions.
• Failure to come up with a comprehensive industry
  solution by October 2006 will force the NSW
  Government to introduce legislation
• NSW Government has indicated that it will work
  with the other states to introduce similar
  legislation covering Office Papers

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Recent Initiatives

• Printing Industries Environmental Principles
• Printing Industries formed a working party in
  early 2005 to develop an appropriate
  environmental labelling scheme for the industry.
• The scheme details have now been finalised and
  will involve a multi level system that builds on
  the Western Australian Green Stamp system and
  leads ultimately to certification under the ISO
  14001 series as well as beyond ISO 14001
  compliance eg triple bottom line accounting.
• The Environment Management Manual will be
  re-written and a new publication Printing
  Industries Environment Principles will be
  produced
• There will also be audit and certification
  streams

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Other Initiatives

• Printing Industries is also a signatory to the
  Greenhouse Challenge and the National
  Packaging Covenant
• As a signatory it promotes both environmental
  initiatives to members and the industry,
  encourages continuous improvements, helps members
  prepare and implement action plans and
  acknowledges and recognises member company
  achievements through environmental awards

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Other Initiatives
Greenhouse Challenge Scoping Study

• Printing Industries commissioned a study in 1998
  to describe the operational characteristics,
  energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions
  within the industry together with recommendations
  and action plans for improved energy management.
• The study demonstrated that effective and
  efficient energy management can assist printers
  to reduce their energy costs and the flow on
  benefit of such initiatives is reduced greenhouse
  gas emissions.

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Other Initiatives
Waste Reduction in the Printing Industry

• Project took place in 2002 and the objectives
  were to
• Identify what are effective waste minimisation
  printing practices
• Discover waste and environmental management
  practices currently in use
• Disseminate the findings
• Key findings included
• 56 of respondents to the survey component of the
  project reported they did not measure their
  wastes
• Variation across the industry in waste production
  and recycling is large

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Other Initiatives
Waste Reduction in the Printing Industry

• The reported average spoilage rate of 7.5 is
  considered as good as, if not better than the
  rates published by Printing Industries of America
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• Average recycling rate (amount recycled to total
  waste including recycled and disposed) all
  respondents was 59 .

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Conclusion

• As an industry our activities do impact on the
  environment
• We need to be socially responsible and help
  minimise or eliminate adverse impacts
• Being environmentally responsible can help
  deliver win-win outcomes for industry
  participants
• The environmental factor can give companies a
  competitive edge
• Printing Industries promotes sound environmental
  management practices via industry specific
  publications, programs and initiatives