People also did not understand the harm mankind was doing to its environment, and whatever concerns were raised were brushed under the carpet by armies of well paid public relations (PR) officers, lobbyists and lawyers. Large corporates also easily held off the protests from the disorganised idealists of the green movement.

Then, something changed, the environmentalists got organised, started hiring the same top PR executives, the best lawyers, and from the late 1970s onwards the tide has been turning. Words such as corporate social responsibility and sustainability are now commonplace in investor documents.  Today, there is an expectation that a business takes into account its impact on the environment.

Research shows that sustainability is being quoted in around 30 percent of tenders, and that if the price is the same, 95 percent of buyers would choose the sustainable option.

Get on board

Greenhouse Graphics managed to save 40 percent on its
energy bill with changes to its lighting policy

Hampshire-based Greenhouse Graphics started life as a conventional litho firm around 20 years ago, making the leap into large-format signage a couple of years ago. As the name suggests, the firm has always placed an emphasis on green practices, winning numerous awards along the way. While obviously a believer in the green message, managing director, Ian Crossley, has a stark warning for the wider industry.

“I don’t think there’s any future in the short- or medium-term for anyone who doesn’t make efforts in a sustainable way. I’m not sure what the pace will be, but it’s an inevitable direction that everyone will have to travel, no matter what you do,” warns Crossley.

He continues: “You might be born into it like us, or you may be dragged along kicking and screaming, but it is a road that is unchangeable. My attitude is that if we are all going that direction, let’s get on board and be the best at it. I would encourage everyone to do the same.

“The ethos of the directors was always to create a more sustainable way. We’ve achieved that through use of technology and choice of substrate.”

Reduce wastage

Frazer Chesterman says that with so much low margin
work out there, reducing wastage has never been
more important

One misconception that remains in the minds of many, is that being ‘green’ costs money. In actual fact, it can save money by reducing waste, energy consumption, and introducing best business practice.

“Green practices have without doubt saved us money. We designed segmented lighting areas for our old warehouse, used T5 energy efficient bulbs, and saw our energy bills come down by 40 percent,” adds Crossley.

Implementing such a change requires engagement on many levels of the business, as Crossley explains: “Part of it is practice, part of it is buying the technologies, part of it is management, and the final part is instilling values into the people who work with you. Light is a massive saving you can make.

“The industry is a massive energy user. Adding PV solar panels to the roof isn’t going to make a massive difference, but when added to the lighting, staff training and design of the building it starts to make a difference.”

Frazer Chesterman, co-director of the world’s first sustainable printing exhibition, EcoPrint, and new industrial inkjet printing conference, InPrint Live, says it is ‘obvious’ that at time when margins are being eroded, reducing waste is a way to increase your profits.

He explains: “It’s managing energy and managing your waste. The most obvious approach for printing is materials; if you can manage the amount (of materials) you waste in production, that is a cost saving. If you can reduce that cost down, you’re going to have a direct impact on your profits , it’s not rocket science.

“I’ve always said the problem with our industry by its nature, is that it is commoditised and price orientated. It’s all about small margins, they’re so close to the mark that being more efficient in terms of your costs will allow you to increase your profits than by trying to capture low margin work.

If you have the same volume of work but have decreased your costs by 5 to 10 percent, then you have increased your profit by the same amounts. How easy is it to do it the other way by increasing your customers?”

“If you have the same volume of work but have decreased your costs by 5 to 10 percent, then you have increased your profit by the same amounts. How easy is it to do it the other way by increasing your customers? That’s tough in the current climate.

“Companies are using software from the likes of EFI and Esko, to measure and reduce down wastage. Digital technology by its nature is an efficient and more sustainable way to print things.”

He points to a display firm based in the north of England that has achieved ISO accreditations, the most widely respected external standards for the environment and the benefits they have seen.

He says: “This is not just about using the logo. They have found they can be more efficient in terms of energy usage, storage and waste. It’s less on credibility, and more that it made the business run more efficiently.”

Technology choice

Sepiax believe that with the AQ160 it has invented a
device that combines the best of solvent and latex printing

What machine, inks and process you choose is key to the carbon footprint your factory floor will produce. There is a real balancing act to be found between solvent printers, and more environmentally-friendly devices, such as HP’s latex machines.

The conundrum lies between the low energy consumption of a solvent printer, which emits harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs), compared to the high-energy consumption needed for the curing of latex devices and their environmentally-friendly water-based inks.

Indeed, Crossley says there is a lack of research on the actual carbon footprints that the previous scenarios describe. Greenhouse eventually plumped for a Roland VS-640 printer/cutter, that uses solvent inks because, ‘the energy issue was more important than the VOC one’.

Ink manufacturer, Sepiax, believes it has invented a machine that combines the best of the two. The AQ160 device is a purpose-built roll-to-roll printer for its water-based resin surface-bonding ink technology, widely recognised as being one of the ‘greenest’ in the marketplace. Peter Barton, business development manager EMEA, for Sepiax’s Reprographic International Technologies, says it uses less energy than a traditional latex device.

“Clearly, if you move away from solvent technology you need more power to drive off the water-based inks than solvent. It’s as simple as that,” comments Barton.

The green arguments fall down when machines, like the latex devices, use a lot more energy and cost more to run”

He adds: “The green arguments fall down when machines, like the latex devices, use a lot more energy and cost more to run. With the Sepiax machines, there have been some clever installations, such as banks of infra-red heaters that switch on and off as it scans across from left to right.

“You only need to get a particular spot to curing temperature, you don’t need to get the whole thing heated at once. In terms of power consumption, it is between solvent and latex.”

Barton also claims that the quality of the Sepiax inks mean that material consumption is far less than using OEM solvents: “The actual ink consumption using Sepiax inks is 30 percent down. The density of Sepiax is way higher, so you have to lay down a lot less ink to get the required colour. To get it curing correctly, your actually winding back the amount of ink you use.”

Green: A premium product?

Peter Barton, European business development
manager of Sepiax’s UK distributor, Reprographic
Technologies International, believes ink that does
not impact the environment will be a future staple

The days where being green was a unique selling point (USP) are over. But, is there still a market out there that will pay a premium for signage that is ‘green’? Barton shrugs off the prospect almost all together, exclaiming: “Everyone talks about being eco, but once it becomes an extra 50 pence per square metre, they back out again.”

However, he points out how a major brands, such as L’Oreal, have specified to their suppliers that they will not accept solvent inks any more.

Barton claims: “It’s not giving any additional profit, but it is saving the business.”

Chesterman says his ‘gut feeling’ is no, stating: “Not in the current climate, and business environment we’re in at the minute.”

Crossley’s view from the coalface is similar: “Obviously, there is a recession going on so price is a big factor, but if you’d said this to me five years ago, I’d have said yes, you could charge a premium. Five years ago, it was something that people were very interested in; that’s changed because of the recession. It’s not that it doesn’t matter, it’s that people expect you to have a certain level of sustainability, most printers are making an environmental statement on their websites. They’re very conscious they need to do that because their customers are looking for that, and it needs to be satisfied.”

What the customer wants

The EcoPrint exhibition was the first attempt to bring
sustainability into the mainstream

It is clear that in many parts of our industry there has been a misconception, which has remained unchecked, that being green costs money. While this may be true in the initial stages, the cost savings that can be found through reducing wastage could be the difference between profit and loss. That tide is turning though.

In the main, it is simply about implementing best practice and improving the efficiency of your business as a whole. Although important, the issue is less about the printing process and more about the wider picture. Are you making the energy savings you could? Are you using sustainable products?

SignLink would hate to put itself on a soapbox, but do we have a moral obligation to help our planet and preserve it for future generations? In the end, I guess whether you believe we do or not, does not really matter any more. The chances are your customers hold that view, and they expect you to be on the same page.