There’s far more to environmentally friendly printing than just the paper your job is printed on!
Everything from the equipment used during production, the energy which the factory consumes and the method in which your job is transported will have a large impact on your jobs environmental impact.
In 2008 we had an environmental management system implemented by independent organisation Abricon. Details of this can be found here.
Energy
Printing is traditionally an energy intensive operation, however our modern equipment and factory mean our consumption is reduced to an absolute minimum. Furthermore the energy we do use is provided by Ecotricity, the worlds first green electricity company (and located just a couple of the miles down the road from PrintVend!)
Process
Printing can be produced in two main ways, lithographic (using plates & ink) or digital (using a solid/dry ink and without the need for plates). Both have there place, with litho still being the firm favourite for long-run work (5,000+), however with 90% of all print runs now under 5,000 copies digital is becoming a major contender.
There are many reasons digital print is suited to the short-run print market; no plates mean no set-up cost and no wastage to get the job “up to colour” (i.e ready to sell), all of this has to be paid for by the client and makes it cost prohibitive for short-runs. The main environmental impact here is the “wastage”… in order to get the job ready a large number of sheets have to be run through the machine first, this uses time, energy and of course materials (ink & paper).
Digital doesn’t have this “wastage” and the pricing model (no physical set-up cost) means you can choose the exact quantity required.
Paper
OK, we said it isn’t the only consideration, however it is still a large one. The majority (90%+) of PrintVend’s papers are supplied by Howard Smith Paper Group, and the majority of that paper is Regency Gloss or Satin. Regency is produced by Garda Cartiere, and is an FSC approved paper stock, this ensures the forests where the pulp is sourced from are properly mananged.
We use Regency for our Flyers, Leaflets, Posters, Brochures, Calendars and Business Cards.
Stationery is produced usines OnBusiness and Greeting Cards & Postcards are produced using TruCard.
Transport
With the exception of local (GL postcode) deliveries all orders are sent out using UKMail, one of the UK’s premier courier companies.
Using a courier, rather than our own vans, means your order is transported with a vast number of other parcels, cutting down the environmental impact of each individual parcel.
More details on UKMail’s environmental credentials can be found on there website.