Beyond Green: Exploring the Multifaceted Realm of Sustainability in Printing

It is a good idea to use a different language.t’s a topic that has been hashed out, examined, and discussed almost endlessly in the printing industry over the last several years. It’s been dissected, defined, redefined, implemented, and strategized by manufacturers, suppliers, and printers. 

Sustainability isn’t a new term to the printing industry. In fact, it’s become part of the daily vocabulary. Yet for all the talks and efforts, there’s still a lot of work to be done. And there’s still a lot of unknowns when it comes to what sustainability truly means and what its role in printing is. It is important for the printing industry to understand what sustainability means, what examples other companies have done, and what goals they should strive towards. 

Determining sustainability 

Let’s start with the basics: what is sustainability? While it’s loosely defined across multiple industries — and can be tweaked and formatted to fit individual goals — there are a few basic principles that the term encompasses.

Garry Bell of Chasing Better Consultants Inc. says that it is difficult to define a definition. Bell’s current role is to assist the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol in the completion of the program development and launch. 

“Sustainability in all industries means the adoption of practices and processes that reduce the environmental impact, improve social outcomes, and have no effect or improve economic outcomes for the parties adopting the practice,” he says. “[That’s a] very vague response, but if these three elements are not achieved, then the practice may not be retained when overall market conditions deteriorate.” Often sustainability is tied to environmental impact, but Bell lists two other key factors in his definition: social and economic outcomes. 

“Sustainability goes outside just the environmental section,” says Paige Goff, vice president, sustainability at Domtar, a provider of a variety of fiber-based products. “What we have seen in the past several years is that the social part of sustainability is very important. It goes into your personal life with your relationships, with your family.”

This may seem to be outside of the scope of our print industry. But the fact is, these global trends have a profound impact on what sustainability means for us. “Global standards unite us under a shared objective,” Steven Reid, compliance and sustainability manager at Showdown Displays, states. “These standards have not only prompted customer inquiries about our products and manufacturing practices, but they’ve also spurred evaluation based on their alignment with worldwide initiatives.”

Gary Jones, vice-president, Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS), affairs at PRINTING united Alliance notes that many people define sustainability as a lifestyle. “Sustainability for me is not a set of discrete actions, but a lifestyle that involves making choices that support reducing my personal impact on the environment, and purchasing products and services that don’t exploit vulnerable populations,” he says. 

Jones’ personal opinion often applies to the entire printing industry, regardless of whether Jones, or other print shop owners, employees and customers, hold it. “Sustainability for a printing operation is like my personal view in that it should be a framework for operating a business,” Jones believes. “The framework needs to include the three key aspects of sustainability: people, planet, and profit. All three are equally important, as they impact how viable a company will be in today’s economic environment.”

Showdown Displays’ team members participated in beach clean-up events to show the benefits of adopting sustainability into company culture. | Credit: Showdown displays

Sustainable Solutions in the Printing Industry

Although the concept of sustainability may seem abstract, the fact is that there are programs in place already within the industry. Several manufacturers, print companies, and suppliers already offer programs. Others are following.

Bell starts with the materials. “Sustainable solutions include more environmentally friendly materials (inks, solvents, etc.),” he says, “as well as more sustainable substrates.” His list includes: 

• Recycling or recyclable packaging is also a good way to recycle clothing made from sustainable fibers. 
• Reduce environmental impact by reducing waste and using less energy. 
• New technologies, such as infrared-dryers that use less energy. 
• Virtual sampling in place of physical samples can have a positive impact on the outcome.Samples can be made using direct-toscreen software or by printing directly on garments.).

Reid offers a couple of simple suggestions. He says that asking questions is helpful, as well as evaluating what you buy, such paper, fabrics, and ink. “Does the supplier offer a sustainable option and what do they claim are the benefits and can the claims be validated?” he poses. “Our company has looked at its production processes to identify waste streams from each and have connected with other companies that can use that waste for their processes, which reduces our landfill impact.”

The apparel and textile industry is one of the most wasteful in the world.
Threadfast Apparel and other companies are beginning to produce garments using recycled materials. | Threadfast Apparel

“[It] starts with small actions that build and support each other with the ultimate goal of integrating sustainability into all aspects of an operation,” Jones believes. “In my experience, there are many companies that are on the continuum by implementing programs to capture and recycle certain process materials, make changes to inks and substrates, and use newer, less polluting technology.” 

Some take a completely different approach. “[Other companies] undertake more aggressive actions and set ambitious goals such as becoming a zero-landfill operation or to replace all their electricity consumption from nonrenewable sources to renewable ones,” Jones explains.

For Goff, this is where the “why” comes in. While many in the printing industry have a good grasp on the subject, there are some that don’t. “We’ve been very vocal from primarily where Domtar is because a lot of folks don’t understand the fundamentals,” Goff says. Goff says that education is key to promoting sustainability. “We also focus on why this is important — to link manufacturers to the end users. That’s when customers understand and make the connection because of products we use every day, like toilet paper.”

Goff states that this knowledge can act as a catalyst for implementing one’s own programs. Take paper, for example, since it’s one of the biggest players in the industry. “There’s a lot of misconceptions around paper: People think of cutting trees down but don’t understand that keeping forest [a] forest is extremely important,” Goff says. It’s not that harvesting trees for paper in and of itself is bad, which is why it’s crucial to understand the process to debunk those myths. 

“Make sure you educate [so] that people understand that we harvest in different areas,” Goff offers. “It’s rotational. It’s not completely taking out the entire forest. You may harvest once, maybe twice in people’s lifetime. It doesn’t happen every day, it does rotate.”

Laws and Regulations

The apparel and textile industry is a significant part of it. It’s here that sustainability efforts are growing at lighting speed. In its monitoring of municipal solid waste, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), collects data about textile production and disposal methods, including recycling, composting with energy recovery and landfilling. In 2018, the textile MSW was estimated to be 17 millions tons.

“The overall apparel and textile industry is facing significant scrutiny on both the environmental impact front and the social compliance front,” says Bell. These scrutiny efforts have led to a major overhaul. “On the environmental side, government regulatory frameworks are increasingly requiring all consumer and customer advertising to avoid any semblance of greenwashing, effectively forcing the advertisers to be able to prove any claims they make externally,” he adds.

Inks, papers, and other materials have all been targeted for improvement in sustainability. | Credit: NUtec Digital Ink

It is happening also on the social front. “On the social compliance side, the recent changes such as the U.S. Government’s UFLPA (Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act), places the responsibility on all importers of products into the U.S.A. to be able to document and prove the origin of the raw materials and the locations of each supply chain participant connected to the overall value chain of any imported product,” explains Bell. One of the largest items imported from the region — Cotton.

Jones has worked extensively in the field of legislation which affects every type of printer, including large format and direct mail as well apparel. “A pattern that we have been seeing emerging over the past several years has been that governments are now getting involved and passing legislation mandating that companies wishing to conduct business in their country now meet certain requirements,” he notes. Most of the current progress can be seen in the European Union.

What is the importance of this for Americans, and especially printers? “Even though these regulations were adopted in the EU, they apply to any U.S. company that either provides covered products or does business in the EU, and meets the threshold for compliance,” Jones explains. “In addition, these new requirements will require EU-based companies to request information and assurances from anyone in their supply chain, so they are very impactful.”

Conclusions

It’s difficult to touch on every aspect of sustainability in just one conversation. Manufacturers, suppliers, as well as print shops, can make a difference by understanding how global factors and impacts affect the industry. “Inspire your colleagues by showcasing the value that embracing sustainability can bring,” finishes Reid. “Elevate your understanding and actively engage your team, fostering a collective effort to drive meaningful change.”