The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP Partnership), Pittsburgh, was established by three founding organizations—Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF), Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) and Flexographic Technical Association (FTA)—as an independent third-party verification organization. Its website, www.sgppartnership.org, serves as a central location for information on recognized “green” printers and sustainable printing activities.
On March 12, the organization revealed the much anticipated criteria on how to become a sustainable, green printer at the National Environmental Health and Safety Conference (NEHS) in Indianapolis. The criteria will be beta tested during the upcoming months, and necessary modifications will be made prior to the registry launch this summer. SGP Partnership has set up a comment section on the website, and is encouraging the printing community and other interested parties to provide feedback on the criteria.
As new techniques and technologies emerge, the criteria will expand and evolve, and new program requirements will be developed and implemented every two years. As for the current criteria, the pertinent issues are summarized here, but complete information is available in a 13-page document posted on the website.
The SGP Partnership describes the role of sustainability in the printing industry by use of the following three terms:
• Product—The design aspects, as well as input material management, required to create a product
• Process—All manufacturing steps—such as prepress, press and postpress—involved with converting raw materials into a finished product, as well as process by-products, including sold wastes, air pollution and wastewater, having an environmental, health and safety impact
• Envelope—All manufacturing support activities, including the employees, grounds, utilities and other functions at an individual site
Eligibility
Any printer, whether or not a member of an association, is eligible to apply for registration with SGP Partnership. Companies with multiple locations must seek recognition for each site separately.
There are two categories of recognition within the SGP:
1. Candidate Pending Verification (CPV)-A provisional status pending full conformity with the requirements for an SGP printer. A 12-month time frame is allowed to meet all criteria for a SGP Printer. CPV applicants must commit to being in compliance with the full range of applicable local, state and federal environmental, health and safety regulations. They must also develop and make available a written environmental, health and safety (EHS) policy, which must be signed by a responsible party and made publicly available.
2. SGP Printer-Printers may bypass the CPV category and apply for full recognition as an SGP Printer. In addition to compliance with all applicable local, state and federal environmental, health and safety regulations and establishing an EHS policy, they must create and maintain a formal management system capable of advancing their commitment to sustainable printing. The system needs to address aspects from within the product, process and envelope categories. SGP printers must also comply with all relevant local, state, provincial and federal employment laws, and use the SGP Sustainability Metric System to measure and report on progress. Submission of an annual progress report will be required, using an official template.
Aspects of the SGP Partnership report template consist of facility identification; the printer’s EHS policy; a narrative statement of sustainability efforts to date, including establishment of a cross-functional team; identification of priorities; progress toward key goals and targets; elements chosen to address the product, process and envelope categories; and efforts to engage clients, the community and other external stakeholders.
The scope of the SGP Partnership is intended to go beyond environmental considerations to include “corporate social responsibility (CSR)” and “corporate citizenship.” Since printers don’t manufacture their own input materials, the SGP Partnership will be working with the supplier network and others to identify appropriate characteristics for substrates, chemicals and various input materials used by printers, addressing issues such as recyclability, biodegradability, compostability, recycled content and VOC/HAP content.
In general, participants in the SGP Partnership program agree to support principles of sustainable business practices to ensure continued viability and growth, including:
• Using materials, where feasible, derived from renewable resources or with low environmental impact, while maximizing recycling and recovery efforts, with efficient utilization of renewable energy
• Encouraging the adoption of changes within the supply chain by recommending the use of raw materials that do not threaten or harm future generations
• Identifying and establishing a suitable means of communication with interested parties, such as customers, consumers and community groups, to educate and inform them about sustainability
• Observing the principles of sustainability which have social, environmental and economic aspects. Sustainability entails the fullest possible regard for the present and future welfare of the planet, its inhabitants and for the stewardship of wealth and natural resources.
Management Systems
SGP Printers’ green initiatives will require developing a new management system that includes the company’s own unique environmental policy. The policy should be embraced by ownership, management and all associates, and publicly celebrated with clients, the community and the industry. A generic management system can be constructed through a basic “plan, do, check, act” approach, sometimes referred to as the Deming Cycle. Printers can implement management systems based on commonly available EMS models, ISO 9000/14001 and other quality management systems. Other required elements involve:
• Establishing a formal sustainability committee, featuring environmental, health and safety segments.
• Identifying goals and defining procedures to achieve and maintain compliance and meet performance objectives
• Communicating relevant information about the management system to appropriate stakeholders
• Documenting key management system elements, including an EHS policy, sustainability metrics, objectives and targets and verification processes
• Working on one project in each of the product, process and envelope sectors to continue sustainability efforts in the coming year
• Implementing a program designed to assess performance, prevent and detect nonconformance with legal and other requirements of the management system, as well as developing processes for prompt corrective actions for any areas of non-conformance
• Obtaining ownership’s commitment, participation and review of a sustainability-oriented management system. This requires periodic documentation and an objective review of the organization’s performance in achieving stated objectives and targets, including how well the management system assists the organization in achieving those objectives and targets.
“This is a voluntary program,” emphasized Gary Jones, manager of environmental health and safety for PIA/GATF, Sewickley, Pa. “We wanted to set the bar high enough for the initiative to be credible, but not unattainable. Already, some are saying the criteria doesn’t do enough to address the issues, while others—particularly the smaller printing companies—are telling us it is too much. That’s why the feedback is so important right now, so we can do the fine tuning.”
For more information, call PIA/GATF at (412) 259-1794; SGIA at (703) 359-1313; and FTA at (631) 737-6020.
- Companies:
- Printing Industries of America, Inc.