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Companies Adopting “Green” Printing and Paper Production Processes

“Green” printing is an option today for print buyers. Green printers and green paper companies are out there, doing business and making money. As more organizations help to standardize the industry, good environmental choices become easier and products become more available.

Each month, we see corporate “green announcements” from a variety of companies. PrintSoft, a software company, is working to reduce the carbon footprint of printed mail through improved efficiency. In October, retailer Staples announced its plan to join Dell's "Plant a Forest for Me" initiative, which enables organizations worldwide to share best practices and, as partners, facilitate the planting of trees in sustainably managed reforestation projects. In September, Domtar announced its Prince Albert Canadian facility will produce 100% FSC certified softwood pulp for North American and offshore markets.

The catalog industry in particular is showing real progress. More and more companies are using certified papers and displaying the FSC logo on their printed books. On its back cover, the Pottery Barn catalog states: “We are proud to print our catalogs entirely on Forest Stewardship Council certified paper.” After a ForestEthics campaign entitled, “Victoria’s Dirty Little Secret,” the Victoria’s Secret catalog now uses FSC Mixed Sources paper. Norm Thompson uses FSC papers in their catalogs, and starting in 2008, L.L. Bean is moving their business to Quad Graphics, an FSC certified printer. It’s not just catalog companies that are using FSC certified fibers. HarperCollins announced that 100% of its trade paperbacks will be published with FSC stock, and two-thirds of Hewlett-Packard branded papers are FSC certified.

Paper companies are also getting on board with green initiatives. Cascades only uses recycled paper, and there are no virgin fibers in its products. To accomplish this, the company operates integrated mills. The term integrated mill used to mean that the cut logs came straight to the mill, but now it can also mean that recycled paper comes directly into the mill. Recovered paper comes directly into the Cascades plants; the company does not use a middleman to collect the paper. It also has its own de-inking facilities, which enable the remarketing of ink sludge (which is eventually used in fertilizer). Cascades has developed a system that uses less water in de-inking than traditional systems.

Going green is about reducing negative impacts on the environment, and it’s becoming big business in printing. Each printed page has an environmental impact, from the fiber content of the paper to the carbon emissions of the printing press. Each step in production affects our planet, and in light of the increased awareness of global warming, more and more customers are demanding green printing.

The preceding is an excerpt from an InfoTrends report entitled, “Sustainability in Print: Boston Print Buyers.” To learn more about the report or to make a purchase, please contact Scott Phinney at +1 ext. 123 or.

To learn more about “going green,” join InfoTrends at the ON DEMAND Conference & Expo March 3-6, 2008 at the BostonConvention & ExhibitionCenter. InfoTrends will host a conference session “Green Thinking: Promoting Ecologically Sound and Sustainable Printed Communications” on Tuesday, March 4, 2008.