Environment

The Wide Format Company has unveiled a new website focused exclusively on recyclable and biodegradable sign solutions: www.BuyGreenSigns.com

At www.BuyGreenSigns.com, anyone with basic internet skills can create and customise signs, banners and posters using state-of-the-art web tools. Design simple or complex graphics without installing any software. Easily upload images, add text, insert Facebook photos and pick from a large selection of ClipArt. Create a graphic and then order the sign printed on a variety of Eco-Friendly printing material.

For many years the large format printing industry had very few options for those looking to be “Green”. The few options offered by the local sign shop were very high in price. This is what makes BuyGreenSigns.com so different.  There is a huge selection of printing materials for banners, posters, plastic signs, cardboard signs, backlits and even biodegradable foam boards. Virtually anything you want can now be done in an eco-friendly way. The website will not allow someone to create a sign that is non-Recyclable or non-Biodegradable. Example: Lamination is not allowed on an HP Tyvek Banner because the special biodegradable laminate will disrupt the Tyvek recycling process. However, the BioLam is perfectly compatible with other biodegradable paper poster materials. The site is designed to lead the customer down a "green" path and help them avoid eco-harmful options.

As one of the leading HP Graphics Elite Partners in the Northwest region of the USA, it is only natural that BuyGreenSigns.com (operated by The Wide Format Company) would offer a variety of HP material options. HP has always provided premium printing materials. Now they are going one step further to help the end user keep things “Green”. HP is making huge efforts to help the environment via their “HP Large Format Media Take-Back Program”. Using this program anyone can send their banners and posters back to HP free of charge. HP will then properly recycle them for you. Simply go to the HP website, fill out the online form and print out the UPS label.

“This is an exciting new concept from HP and we plan to support it fully. There are still a lot of places that don’t allow these large printing materials in standard recycling bins. Now a customer can feel good about their purchase knowing that HP will take care of the recycling process when they’re done,” comments Neil Johnston, Special Projects Coordinator at The Wide Format Company.

Epson today announced that it has posted on its website its 2011 Sustainability Report, a publication that summarizes the Epson Group's global CSR (corporate social responsibility) programs during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011.
http://global.epson.com/sr/report/

Epson's mission is to realize its Management Philosophy of becoming "a company trusted throughout the world" by conducting its business in a socially responsible manner. Epson aims to be an open, progressive company, one that proactively uses a variety of communication tools to provide stakeholders with information on its business and philanthropic activities. One such communication tool is the annual Sustainability Report. The primary aim of the Sustainability Report is to explain how Epson is fulfilling its corporate social responsibility and building trust.

The editorial features and content of "Sustainability Report 2011" are summarized below.

Sustainability Report 2011 editorial features

1. The report is structured in sections corresponding to phrases in Epson's Management Philosophy.

2. This year's report was for an audience consisting primarily of Epson customers, and care was taken to select content from a customer perspective.

3. Feature articles present examples of actions being taken in line with the initiatives below that are designed to achieve the goals of the SE15 Long-Range Corporate Vision established in 2009.
Environmental accountingInitiative to crystallize Epson's technological and collective strength: Commercialization of the SurePress L-4033A digital inkjet label press for industry
Initiative to embody customer value in emerging markets: The launch in the Indonesian market of the L100 and L200 printers equipped with high-capacity ink tank systems

4. The report covers our global social and environmental programs.

Content
Commitment to customer satisfaction. The commercialization of the EB-1775W mobile projector and actions taken to enhance sensory quality are presented as examples of actions that have created customer value.
Commitment to environmental conservation. Actions taken in the area of products, services, and manufacturing are reported in line with the SE15 Mid-Term Environmental Policy, which sets forth milestones on the road to achieving the goals of "Environmental Vision 2050."
Individuality and teamwork. This section covers topics such as a new personnel system that is to be introduced in 2012 for members of management and Epson's approach to human resource development.
Trusted throughout the world. Initiatives for the third year since the implementation of J-SOX and initiatives to strengthen the trade control system are among the topics covered.
Prospering with the community. The section presents examples of strategic changes in community engagement and efforts to aid survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

The Japanese and English versions of the Sustainability Report will be posted simultaneously on Epson's website. A Chinese version will be made available at the end of August.

EFI has joined the Verdigris environmental initiative as an associate member.  This not-for-profit research collaboration aims to help printers and their customers develop a better understanding about the environmental impact of print media. The goal is to raise awareness of the sustainability of the printing industry through cooperative content development shared with an international network of trade publishers.

"As the leading pioneer in ink-jet technologies, software, inks and machines, EFI continues to drive the solvent to UV-curable transition to bring greener practices to all related manufacturing and production processes.” says Marc Verbiest of EFI. “Our mission is straightforward in that it intends to educate and fulfil the needs of every print service provider, encouraging more sustainable working methods and practices for businesses of all sizes."

EFI achieves this by designing and developing print engines inks and software platforms that lead to greater efficiencies throughout workflow, production and MIS. These innovative principles, in turn, assist companies wanting to achieve a reduced carbon footprint, minimize levels of product and energy waste, and generate greater eco-awareness and responsibility.

Laurel Brunner, managing director of Digital Dots, says: “We are really pleased to have EFI on board with the Verdigris Project. EFI integrates environmental considerations into all of its projects and we are looking forward to working with them to continue raising the awareness of print’s sustainability”.

Verdigris, launched at drupa 2008, is a unique project that works closely with the print industry’s key players to provide free research and content to trade publishers, printers, print service providers and end users around the globe. Participants in the Verdigris Project can use Verdigris content to educate their printing communities about print’s environmental impact, and to help raise print’s positive profile. Verdigris content development is independently managed by people who know and understand print technology.

Verdigris’ articles analyse the current issues facing publishers and printers to provide them with relevant information to help them manage a variety of concerns from recycling to carbon footprints, and most importantly highlights how to achieve this whilst maintaining a profitable business. The Verdigris site also features a growing list of the printers around the world who are compliant to ISO 14001, the environmental management standard.

A new environmental tool from Domtar Corporation offers customers the ability to view the environmental impacts of specific paper grades, providing unmatched transparency among today's industry calculators.

The online tool - named the "Paper Trail" - discloses what it takes to manufacture Domtar paper and assists businesses and consumers to measure their impact on the environment while also providing guidance in their choice of product.

The Paper Trail (www.domtarpapertrail.com) develops personalised reports that measure Domtar products across five categories: water usage, the distance fibre travels to a paper mill, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, waste sent to landfills and renewable energy usage. The data is displayed in real-world equivalents, with comparisons to issues such as the amount of water the average household uses or the amount of waste it generates. The Paper Trail will also illustrate how Domtar compares to the rest of the industry in these particular categories.

"We know consumers are increasingly aware of their effect on the environment and want to know where their paper comes from. We think we have a good story to tell, and part of that story is being transparent," said Lewis Fix, Domtar Vice President of Sustainable Business and Brand Management.

"Other paper calculators often give only part of the story," Fix said. "They usually compare recycled and non-recycled grades and the differences in resources used, and they estimate savings based only on industry averages. The Paper Trail will show Domtar mill-specific data, and since no company is environmentally perfect, it indicates what we are doing well and what needs to be improved. We think it's crucial to share all the information, and then let the customers make their own decisions."

The Paper Trail is Domtar's most recent project indicating its leadership as a sustainable paper company and highlighting its environmentally preferable paper products, which have earned the support of well-known environmental organisations such the Rainforest Alliance.

Initially, the Paper Trail will measure the impact of two Domtar products: EarthChoice Office Paper and Cougar, both of which have been certified to the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which is recognised by the Rainforest Alliance as the world's most comprehensive certification for responsible forest management. As part of the EarthChoice product line, they help form the broadest and most flexible collection of environmentally responsible papers available in the marketplace. More products and mills will likely be added to this new and exciting online tool in the future.

The Paper Trail will also provide users with a look at Domtar's mills - all of which are in North America - with additional information about each facility's environmental impact and the social and economic benefits the mills have in their communities. In areas where the environmental impact can be improved, Domtar will voluntarily disclose the information, as well as provide efforts for improvement.

"Transparency means sharing everything, not just the highlights, and just as we are committed to developing responsible products, we are committed to transparency," Fix said. "Realising our paper comes from sustainable sources and is easily recycled, Domtar customers can see the differences and use our products with greater confidence."

 

Océ, a Canon Group Company and an international leader in digital document management, today announced that Océ continues to enhance its environmental track record. One of the most recent achievements is the planting of thousands of trees on behalf of its customer, Jeppesen, to help offset carbon emissions.

The Océ Eco Start program is designed as a first step to help companies like Jeppesen achieve a reduction in the amount of carbon attributable to its production printing operations. When a company purchases an Océ production system, Océ will purchase and have trees planted to help offset CO2 emissions attributable to the energy used in operating the production printer. This is based on the expected use of the equipment over the first year of operation of the printeri.

"Jeppesen strongly supports sustainable business practices, and we applaud Océ for helping us achieve carbon-neutral production with our Océ production printer. All our employees are excited about the part we play in planting so many trees to benefit the environment," said Jeppesen President and Chief Executive Officer , Mark Van Tine.

Partnership for Growth Plants Trees Around the World

To plant the trees, Océ partnered with Trees for the Future, a highly rated charitable organization. Trees for the Future has helped thousands of communities across the world improve their livelihoods and environment by planting nearly 50 million trees, removing approximately one million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.

"We are extremely proud to work with Jeppesen and Trees for the Future to make this important initiative happen. Océ has a long, progressive record in sustainable business practices, and the Eco-Start program brings together the commitment of our customers and our company," said Mal Baboyian, President, Océ North America, Production Printing Systems.

Océ Production Printer Inkjet Inks and Toner Test Well Below Government Established Minimum Levels for Lead and Phthalates

"Océ continues to drive sustainable business practices across all parts of our business and our customers' as well. Our accomplishments range from the latest tree plantings for the Eco-Start program, to the testing of our ink-jet and toner in accordance with the changes to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)," said Francis McMahon, Océ Vice President, Marketing, Océ North America, Production Printing Systems.

The CPSIA requires domestic manufacturers and importers to certify that children's products made after February 10, 2009 meet certain requirement for lead and phthalate content and sets forth maximum allowable levels of these substances. Océ's inks and toners fall well below the maximum levels as tested over a year ago (well ahead of most other production printing inkjet printer vendors) by Applied Technical Services, Incorporated, a Consumer Product Safety Commission approved testing facility.

Early, Proactive Steps to Ensure Environmental Safety

"Océ took action very early to test the inkjet inks and toner used in our Océ production systems through independent testing. The book printing market is one of our largest segments, and we took proactive steps when this act was announced, because we knew it would be important to our customers. Our book printing customers can feel comfortable knowing that the Océ inks and toners they use in producing books are well within federal requirements for levels of lead and phthalates," said McMahon.

Océ production printing toner and inkjet inks were tested at a CPSC-approved lab for lead and phthalate. In February, 2010, Océ received independent test results which showed that these substances were either not detected at all or fell well below minimum standards for use in children's books. At that time, Océ was the only production printer manufacturer that had conducted this independent test.

Caldera will launch the first carbon footprint calculator dedicated to the wide format printing industry. The fully redesigned and upgraded version of its cost visualisation software for wide format printers, CostView 3.0 has been improved with new features, a brand new design and an industry premier module for carbon footprint monitoring.
 
Calculate your printing's carbon footprint

Positioned as a dashboard for a manager sensitive to production costs, CostView now has an eco-sensitive dimension. Its newest and most important feature is the addition of a carbon footprint analysis tool. Users can now indicate the CO2 rejected by each of the elements of the job: ink, media, electricity, additional costs.
 
According to Joseph Mergui, Caldera CEO "By introducing eco-responsible data into out RIP solutions, Caldera ambitions to keep its leadership in innovating the wide format printing industry"
 
CostView 3.0 : cost visualisation to improve business profitability

The new 3.0 version is above all a tool intended for printers to monitor all costs pertaining to printing. It is a fully integrated production management tool which extracts information about jobs directly from the RIP spooler, thus enabling a production manager to control, modify, study and export all costs pertaining to a job.
 
With CostView 3.0, any production manager can view all jobs in the spooler, monitor ink and media costs add optional or automatic costs to each job and export the job listing with all relevant costs as a spreadsheet ready for further analysis. Its web driven interface can be accessed by any user in your company network using a simple web browser.
 
"As Green Printing is becoming increasingly important, it was evident for us to start to imagine new tools that would not only calculate a carbon impact (CO2 footprint) on the environment but enable Eco-Sensitive Printers to show with data their implication on printing with concern of the environment." says Sebastien Hanssens (VP Marketing of Caldera).
 
Discover the new product at ISA Las Vegas and FESPA Hambourg.