Print and the environment

We take our impact on the environment seriously. We are proud of the steps we have made to reduce the amount of waste and energy we use. Over the last 20 years the printing industry has reduced its carbon footprint by 97%[1] - a huge achievement that is matched by very few other industries.

Specifically, in the last 20 years the print industry has:

• reduced the use of mineral inks by using vegetable inks
• developed Computer To Plate (CTP) technology which in most cases removes the need for film thus eliminating chemicals used as developers
• reduced the usage of solvents by using water based systems
• reduced waste by allowing remote digital proofing
• reduced the usage of chlorine bleaching by using non dioxin bleaching

Many people like to think that in the digital age CO₂ emissions are lower, yet it takes five times as much CO₂ to make a CD or DVD as it takes to make an entire newspaper[2].

Paper

In New Zealand, newspapers are printed on fully recyclable newsprint made at the Tasman mill at Kawerau. The wood fibre comes from sustainably managed pine forests in the central North Island, the wood pulp is made from trimmings left over from the timber industry.

Currently, 70% of all paper used in New Zealand is recovered to be reused[3]. Most waste paper is used to make paperboard. Small quantities are also used in making printing and writing paper, tissues and toilet paper. Corrugated card, paper bags, envelopes and building paper also have recycled paper content. Moulded pulp packaging such as egg cartons, produce trays and hospital equipment are also manufactured from recycled paper[4].

Much of the high-end paper used in printing is sourced from sustainable forests here and around the world. Europe’s forests are actually increasing by an area equivalent to 1.5 million rugby fields every year, all thanks to sustainable forest management[5].

Industrial forestry around the world absorbs over one billion tonnes of CO₂ every year[6]

Use it again and again (and again and again)

Paper can be recycled up to seven times[7] and 70% of paper in New Zealand is recycled, one of the leading recycling rates for paper in the world. With new technologies and a firm resolve to respect the environment, we expect this figure to increase even more.

1. Phillip W. Lawrence - Thesis: Barriers and Incentives to Ecological Modernization
2. Phillip W. Lawrence - Thesis: Barriers and Incentives to Ecological Modernization
3. The New Zealand Paper Forum Mass Balance Statistics 2009
   
4. Auckland Regional Council Paper Recycling factsheet
5. www.sustainableprint.net.au
6. www.sustainableprint.net.au
7. TAPPI - The Leading Technical Association for the Worldwide Pulp, Paper and Converting Industry