Eight In-plants Earn FSC Certification

Eight more in-plants recently earned Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certification through the InGreen group certification program for in-plants. They are:
• Bayer Corp. Printing Department
• Colgate University Document & Mail Services
• St. Joseph’s University Print Services
• University of Pennsylvania/Wharton Printing
• Villanova University Graphic Services
• Yale Printing and Publishing Services
• University of Delaware Printing and Mailing
• Washington State University/University Publishing
“Having an FSC certificate allows us to make a positive statement that we are a sustainable organization and that we care for the environment,” remarks Steven Rigby, director of printing at Washington State University, in Pullman, Wash., whose in-plant was recertified through InGreen. “It also gives us some excellent talking points with our clients related to FSC and other sustainable initiatives we are involved with at University Publishing.”
Managed by Printers Green Resource LLC, the InGreen (In-plant Graphic Reproduction for the Environment, Ecology and Nature) program allows U.S. in-plants with annual print sales of less than $5 million to get certified for less than half the cost of doing so independently. (For instance, Rodney Brown, of the University of Delaware, says his in-plant’s first FSC certification cost $4,800; recertification through InGreen cost $1,895.) At the same time, InGreen handles many key administrative and compliance requirements, such as documented procedures and training.
“InGreen was excellent to work with,” praises Jeffrey Gworek, director of Yale Printing & Publishing Services, in New Haven, Conn. “They use standard formats, templates and basic guidelines to make an easy-to-follow approach to the certification process.”
Yale’s in-plant pursued FSC certification due to customer demand and the university’s strong “green” focus. Yale’s president actively supports sustainability, he says.
“We have had customers requesting this for the five years I’ve been here. However the investment in time and money was previously way too costly,” remarks Gworek. InGreen’s program made it more feasible. “With the low cost and relatively small investment in staff resources, it now made sense to become certified. With customers looking for it, and Yale wanting to be a leader in sustainability, it was the right thing to do.
“We are getting jobs from customers who hadn’t been doing business with us, but with the FSC certification, now want to,” he continues. “We are also seeing customers upgrading some of their print jobs, making them more sophisticated because of the FSC certification, rather than it being a bare bones piece.”
“The environment is very important to our university, and we in Document & Mail Services have been on the leading edge of conservation efforts over many years,” explains Bob Keats, director of Document & Mail Services at Colgate University, in Hamilton N.Y. “We are working with our Office of Sustainability to help educate the general university community about the ecological advantages of FSC papers.”
Both Keats and Gworek say they were encouraged to pursue FSC certification by Lisa Hoover, director of Bucknell University’s Office of Publications, Print and Mail, which earned its certification as part of InGreen’s first graduating class last spring.
“It was very helpful to know that it is not a necessity to have a large staff to make these types of advances,” says Keats, “nor to have vast amounts of storage space to accomplish the certification.”
The InGreen program offers full FSC chain-of-custody certification for an all-inclusive price of $1,895, while providing extensive assistance to members as they work towards certification. This makes the process faster and much easier. Professional marketing support is also provided to assist members with the promotion of their FSC status and services.
For more information about InGreen, contact Rick Huntoon at (214) 228-1448, rickh@ingreenprinter.com or visit www.ingreenprinter.com.
Related story: 11 In-plants Earn FSC Certification

Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.