Business Management - Sustainability

For in-plants eager to show their commitment to their organizations' sustainability policies, earning chain-of-custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has been worth its weight in gold. Sustainability has become a critical strategic initiative, particularly at universities, and becoming FSC certified has helped many in-plants show their support of this goal.

For Alvin Griffin, director of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools' Graphic Production Center, numbers don't lie. So when the opportunity arose for Griffin and a group of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools staff members to get trained by North Carolina State University professors on how to implement a Lean Six Sigma philosophy, he jumped at the chance to improve his in-plant's efficiency and save money for the district.

Here we go again. Obviously, Google didn't hear about all the negative reaction to Toshiba America's ill-conceived "National No-Print Day" campaign that encouraged people and companies not to print or copy anything last Oct. 23. Fortunately, in response to outrage from the printing, paper, forestry and publishing industries, Toshiba pulled the plug.

Webcrafters Inc. is one of a select group of companies to earn the designation of “Green Master,” the highest tier in the Green Masters Program established by the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council. As a Green Master, the printer has performed actions in each of the nine sustainability areas tracked in the program and has scored in the top 20 percent of all participating companies.

The Paper Trail website offers personalized reports that measure Domtar products across five categories: water usage, the distance its fiber travels to a paper mill, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, waste send to landfills and renewable energy usage.

Eleven in-plants have just achieved Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certification through the new InGreen group certification program for in-plants. 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 about half the cost of doing so independently. At the same time, InGreen handles many key administrative and compliance requirements, such as documented procedures and training.

University of Arkansas Little Rock Printing Services recently attained Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certification, becoming the first state printing agency in Arkansas to get certified. Director Chuck Werninger felt it was important to demonstrate responsible stewardship, both to prospective students and to the community.

Hasbro Inc.'s 44-employee in-plant boasts one of the most impressive game and puzzle printing operations south of Santa's Workshop. A web and sheetfed operation, the shop produces packaging, box and board labels, puzzle board, internal game components and various general printing in support of its parent company.

A brand new organization has been formed, dedicated to helping in-plants obtain economically affordable and administratively feasible FSC certification. Print Resources, LLC, was created to provide FSC certification at a lower cost to in-plant print operations through the InGreen group certification program.

The big green bus has arrived (there really is a big green bus, but I’m speaking metaphorically). The development of sustainable initiatives and programs in business are not only driving that big green bus, they are becoming a driver of business decisions on all levels.