Stationers Company Hears Environment Effects

The Freemen's Association and The Trade and Industry Forum of The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers hosted the 2006 autumn event at Stationers' Hall.

The Freemen's Association and The Trade and Industry Forum of The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers hosted the 2006 autumn event at Stationers' Hall, which was sponsored by Cambridge University Press.

Entitled, 'The Environment: Affecting your Business?' the forum was chaired by Jonathan Tame of WRAP (Waste and Resource Action Programme).

The subject followed the recent publication of the Stern Report and the growing interest in environmental issues by government, commerce and the general public.

According to The Stationers Company, the paper, publishing, printing and packaging industries are at the forefront of change and will inevitably encounter more and more pressure and legislation to meet new environmental standards.

It was for this reason that the panel included representatives from each of those areas, who were well advanced in tackling the challenges.

They included Tim Barker, environment manager of the Robert Horne Group, Andy Harris, european paper product manager for Xerox Document Supplies Europe, Martin Bloomfield, operations director at Reed Business Information, Nick Alexander, managing director of Garnett Dickinson and Simon Abrams, client services manager at Ernst and Young.

The key message from paper merchant Robert Horne Group and paper supplier, Xerox Document Supplies, was the role of the environmental group, WWF, in being able to trace the origin of the fibre and being able to prove that it came from a recycled source, or well-managed forest.

Nearly 60 printers have FSC chain of custody certification.

The issues for the paper industry are the increased cost of sustainable products and limited availability of FSC/PEFC pulp in the market to meet demand.

FSC forests are less than two per cent of the world's forests.

Xerox said that recycled papers were one of the few growth areas in the cut sheet paper business due to increased public commitment to recycling, more responsible corporate citizens and initiatives like WRAP and the Mayor's Procurement Code (2001), which stimulated demand in all 33 London boroughs and 400 key London businesses.

There is also demand for broader ranges of products containing recycled waste.

The environment is becoming the key battleground for the commodity paper market share in the coming years but customers do not want to pay more for an environmentally friendly product, added the company.

Garnett Dickinson, the first web offset printer to have ISO 14001, is passionate about sustainability and the reduction of waste.

The company said it is currently working on a joint initiative with the World Land Trust and plans to become carbon neutral in the future.

Garnett Dickinson stressed the importance of involving its staff in the projects and avoiding the pitfalls.

Reed Business Information also focussed on the importance of engaging employees on environmental awareness projects with the introduction of 'green teams' and 'champion networks', a 'war on waste' campaign and environment-oriented volunteering.

Last year 51 Reed facilities set environmental targets including a 1.2 million kWh energy reduction.

Having been named and shamed in 2001 for not being included in the FTSE4Good, the organisation is now considered to be a corporate responsibility leader in its peer group, said the company.

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