Gold status for greener Focus Press

Green printer, Focus Press, shines with Gold Partner status in the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water’s Sustainability Advantage program.

Sydney-based Focus Press embarked on the program in 2007 and last year made it to silver recognition. The company’s sustainability manager, Louise Pastro, (pictured) said that after receiving this it was just a matter of making changes to the company culture.

According to Pastro, sales staff received education away from the office environment. “We took all our sales staff off-site and taught them about sustainability, the new measures we had incorporated into our business and how to communicate these to clients, as well as how they have benefitted out business,” she said.

Pastro believes that there are a number of advantages that this status will bring to Focus Press. “Achieving sustainability has helped our business economically, by helping us to save on energy consumption and reduce our landfill,” she said.

“But it has also provided an important belief in the way the company culture and the way we present ourselves has changed. Our sustainability achievements have become a real point of different for us in the printing market.”

Pastro listed initiatives such as changing to vegetable-based inks and citrus-based solvents as part of Focus Press’ transformation.

CEO, David Fuller, said that the achievement was made all the more exciting for the company given that only two golds have been given out to date. "I never thought we would have been able to do it," he said. "It's not just about sustainability, but also what you have done within the community."