Melbourne printer wins Premier Steve Brack's green award

The general commercial printer in Blackburn, employing 33 people, won the small business award for implementing a programme to reduce its environmental impact by;

cutting its energy consumption by 40 per cent

replacing 80 per cent of ink tins with recyclable cartons, and

cutting the use of air pollutants (volatile organic compounds) from 12 per cent to five per cent.

"What makes Print Bound really stand out is that it has gone the next level by educating its customers and staff members about environmental considerations, to the point where staff have even changed their behaviour at home," said Bracks. (pictured 2nd from left with Mauro Mattarucco, Print Bound managing director, Mark Tomasini, director and Mark Randles, general manager.

Print Bound has initiated a website www.cleangreenprint.com to encourage its customers to adopt environmentally sound print strategies. The 'greening' of the company involved considerable changes to work practices and had as one of its goals to improve the reputation in [sic] the print industry for poor environmental practices by educating and supporting all consumers of paper and print.

Some of the projects undertaken by the company in its quest to be a green printing company required a major shift in its operating procedures. Among others they included

collecting the chemical wastes from the press, separating the sludge for removal and purifying the remaining liquid into a solvent ready liquid and send it back to the printing press for use. Over a year, this innovative system reduces the use of chemicals by approximately 90 per cent.

Replacing ink tins that go to landfill with recyclable cartons. This is a revolutionary product from DIC Colortron and was recently awarded a gold medal for sustainable packaging. Print Bound claims to be the only printer in Australia that has 100% supported this product. The ink is completely vegetable-based.

The company bought a new Heidelberg 102 CD 6-colour with water cooled unit, which helps eliminate the heat generated from the machine, reducing the use of air conditioners.

According to a company statement the major challenges in making the transition proved to be the time and resource of senior managers, which it recognises could have had a major impact on the profitability and general running of the business. It also involved significant cost including considerable downtime on machines to trial an IPA replacement, which was ultimately successful reducing from 100 alcohol to five per cent. The new recyclable cartons created a six per cent loss in ink due to the transition.

But it was not all bad news and according to the directors the results have been worthwhile.
It has provided the business with a clear direction to ensure the business is 'Built to Last' and after three years in the making we are reaping the rewards.
The Clean Green Print process has created numerous opportunities enabling us to network with many large corporates i.e. Yarra Valley Water, Australian Pensioners Agency; universities i.e. Latrobe, Melbourne and Swinburne and city councils. Most importantly we have been able to network with eco friendly businesses to learn and improve our own processes.

It has created a unique culture, improving morale and communication within the business. Several staff have indicated they have changed the way they save water and how they distribute their rubbish at home.

Upcoming projects for the Print Bound team include sourcing a new bio-degradable laminate, installing fluorescent lights that use 30 per cent less energy and in February 2006 becoming forest stewardship council (FSC) certified.