With eight million tonnes of plastic ending up in the sea every year, European developers have come up with new forms of packaging based on sugar cane.

The Lithographic Institute of Australia (LIA) is hosting plant tours later this month to the Visy can facility in Sydney and the new Platypus Graphics factory in Brisbane.

Scott Print of WA has seen a dramatic reduction in water, chemical and power use since it introduced Fujifilm Superia plates, processing and chemistry. “The savings go all the way to the pressroom where less paper is wasted and jobs come up to colour faster, with far fewer re-makes.”

Xerox has sold its FreeFlow Print Server (FFPS) digital front end software to EFI as Fuji Xerox Australia reabsorbs its enterprise IT and software division after only a year in operation. Xerox and EFI announced their new strategic partnership yesterday, which will include the sale of FFPS to EFI.

A crowd-funding campaign to reinstate an Australia Day billboard featuring two young girls in hijabs has raised almost $170,000 and bought 17 billboards and seven full page newspaper ads around the country. Industry group OMA advised members not to run the ad because of online threats.

Sydney digital printer Global Printmart Australia has collapsed into liquidation and a creditors meeting has been called for next week. “We used to get a lot of small jobs but now Officeworks takes all of the small jobs," says owner/director Matthew Ho.

Registrations are open for Xeikon Café, a four-day event to be held in Belgium in March. The exhibition and conference, which will run from March 28 to 31 at the company's Lier facility in Antwerp, has been extended from three days to four this year due to increased interest.

Worldwide Printing Solutions has moved to help offset its carbon emissions by investing in renewable energy projects in Mauritius. A statement released by Worldwide said the printer was looking to reduce its climate footprint and promote sustainability by investing in carbon offset programs.

Ricoh Australia managing director John Hall has left the company and a search for his successor is underway. The move comes days after a management shakeup at the Tokyo headquarters of the Japanese multinational, with CEO Zenji Miura leaving after four years.

Global franchise chain MBE plans to open another ten stores in Australia this year and more in 2018, with a focus on WA, SA and NSW. The company recently secured about $2m in investment funding, some of which will be used to support new franchisees.

Canon Australia has appointed Sara Marshall as its new director of human resources, communications and facilities. "The Canon company philosophy of Kyosei, which means living and working together for the common good, is something I am passionate about," says the registered psychologist.

Sydney’s Graphitype Printing Services is auctioning off excess plant and equipment following its recent acquisition by Dominion Print Group. “As Graphitype will be moving into Dominion’s premises, an opportunity also exists for parties who may be looking to relocate into a purpose-built printing facility."

Printing Industries has thrown its support behind the proposed merger of PMP and IPMG that has been delayed as the ACCC takes a closer look at the potential impacts of the deal. “The time for the merger is now,” PIAA CEO Andrew Macaulay (pictured) told the corporate regulator.

European digital printing leader Xeikon is establishing a local division that will be fully operational later this month. "We have decided the time is right to establish a direct sales and service organization in Australia and New Zealand,” says Bent Serritslev, MD Asia Pacific (pictured).

Starleaton CEO Ben Eaton used Neschen Easy Dot vinyl to solve a point-of-sale signage problem facing 2,600 butcher shops around Australia. “We tried several products but some would just not remove from the glass for cleaning while others left a sticky mess behind."