Why pick on print? Phil Lawrence at the LIA

Taking pot shots at printing is a no brainer for so-called ecologists but in fact few industries can match our environmental record.

Industry notable, Phil Lawrence, gave a stirring defence of the printing industry’s environmental record at the first LIA meeting of the year in Sydney. Before an enthusiastic audience of industry professionals, he pointed out that printing has improved its pollution record by 97% since the Kyoto benchmark year of 1990.

He nominated the application of such technologies as CTP as opposed to UV plate exposure, vegetable-based ink as opposed to mineral, up to 90% less paper waste and the eradication of dioxin from paper products as areas of significant improvement. Quoting Prof. Ross Garnaut, he said the introduction of these new technologies means print is now one of the most sustainable and competitive manufacturing industries.

Yet printing is still considered to be one of the most environmentally damaging industries by green activists, who disregard the greater energy demands of electronic media when making their comparisons. In his presentation Lawrence nominated some of the major environmental concerns that rank ahead of printing yet receive far less attention, such as non-biological particles in the atmosphere and DNA disruption due to the degradability of plastics

He quoted from his new book; Think Act – The Ecological Modernisation of Print (Southern Colour). His presentation is in line with the current campaign, Paper – part of everyday, which endeavours to give industry members the information and confidence to “win the afternoon barbeque argument.”
LIA convenor, Bob Lamont encourages all members of the industry to engage in the debate and to attend the upcoming calendar of events at the LIA.