PFFC - January 2009 - (Page 14)

PROCESS MANAGEMENT How To Become a Green Printer W By David Argent Contributing Editor hat is sustainability? According to the World Commission on Environment & Development, it is “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines sustainable development as a marriage of two important themes: that environmental protection does not preclude economic development and that economic development must be ecologically viable now and in the long run. The EPA website has very useful information on the subject. It is a good resource for ideas that can improve sustainability efforts. Consumer product companies now are beginning to manage a triple bottom line: social, economic, and environmental. To do this successfully, their suppliers must do the same and show objective evidence of this. The current movement was initiated by Wal-Mart with simple and straightforward environmental goals: be supplied 100% by renewable energy; create zero waste; sell products that sustain our resources and environment. by consumer companies. The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) has been established to define sustainable green printing and identify steps that help converters establish manufacturing practices and products that are more environmentally sustainable. To make the endeavor manageable and relevant, boundaries have been established around the converting process as follows: u Product | Design aspects and input material management to create the product; u Process | All manufacturing steps (prepress, press, and postpress) involved with converting raw materials into a finished product, including process byproducts that have an environmental, health, and safety impact; u Envelope | All the manufacturing support activities, including the building, grounds, utilities, employees, and other functions at an individual site. Green printers are expected to comply with an extensive list of best practices. To show environmental improvement, at least one relevant project must be achieved each year. u To u To u To Output Prepress Products Input u Converters are faced with a new challenge u Press Performance Materials of proving to their customers they are, in fact, Postpress Measures “green” and have programs in place to become greener. The term “carbon footprint” has been Best Practices suggested as an absolute indicator of greenness. Defined in the broadest terms, this is said to be a measure of the global amount of carbon Audit Scope dioxide (CO2 ) emitted by a human activity or accumulated over the full life cycle of a product Status of a SGP printer is granted upon an audit of or service. Testing some carbon footprint calcula- all areas of compliance by a trained SGP auditor. Those tors available online reveals huge variation (three converters with ISO structure in place will be welltimes—low to high), so more practical approaches positioned for this program. Performance measures are required with accepted performance metrics, must be in place for showing objective evidence of compreferably those already in place. pliance and improvement. Each facility will be It seems to me that a process-based apresponsible for establishing its own metrics, proach designed specifically around our and these will be held confidential since converting industry would be the best they are competitive property. way to put a program in place. The For more information about the amount of information available is SGP Partnership, visit the website overwhelming for the converter just www.sgppartnership.org. GREEN getting started. In next month’s column I will PRINTING Fortunately, a group of industry describe some easily implemented Part 2 experts has put together a very good green projects for the converter, along framework that should be validated with performance metrics. Process COMING NEXT MONTH Process improvement expert David Argent has 30+ years of experience in process analysis with particular emphasis on ink and coating design and performance. Contact him at 636-391-8180; djvargent@sbcglobal.net. 14 | JANUARY 2009 WWW.PFFC-ONLINE.COM http://www.sgppartnership.org http://WWW.PFFC-ONLINE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of PFFC - January 2009

PFFC - January 2009 Contents First Glance Calendar of Events From the Editor Web Lines Process Management News Clips Narrow Web & Label Reporter Narrow Web & Label What’s New Products In-Mold Labels Cover: Ink Trends Economic Outlook Brand Security Show Preview What’s New Products Services Directory Classified Marketplace Equipment Buyers & Sellers Advertisers Index Experience Speaks

PFFC - January 2009

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