Fespa to expand reach of Planet Friendly Printing
Fespa is making an abridged version of its Planet Friendly Printing Guide available to all printers ahead of Fespa Digital 2012, which will incorporate a Planet Friendly Printing programme. In addition, presentations on sustainability from global experts, certified sustainable printers, suppliers to the PSP community, and customers (such as Ogilvy, Unilever and Nike) are now available to all without charge on www.fespa.com
Up to now only members of Fespa’s 37 member associations have been able to access the Planet Friendly Printing Guide, first published in 2007 and subsequently updated several times each year. The latest full version of the guide - which interprets and distils the myriad regulations and certification schemes pertaining to environmental best practice and offers advice on environmental management - will remain exclusive to Fespa members. But Fespa said the decision to introduce an abridged version for the wider print community is in recognition that sustainability is a pressing issue for all printers and its wish to promote understanding of the key drivers for adopting sustainable practices, and the routes to ensuring businesses become more planet-friendly.
The Planet Friendly Printing programme at Fespa Digital 2012 will include presentations from environmental experts such as Paul Machin; case studies from printers who are enjoying improved business results due to adopting sustainable practices such as Simon Pless of Erler and Pless; workshops on pursuing certification under schemes such as ISO 14001 and EMAS, led by accredited assessors; and consultation in the Fespa Planet Friendly Printing Clinic.
The resources outlined above will be complimented via webinars and other online resources.
Planet Friendly Printing is another facet of Fespa’s reinvestment programme, which has already seen more than three million Euros reinvested in various initiatives to support printers over the last seven years, explained Fespa head of events and new media Duncan MacOwan, who is steering the Planet Friendly Printing programme development.
“The development of fresh initiatives under the Planet Friendly Printing banner recognises the ongoing significance of sustainability to our global print community, and its reprioritisation by PSPs and their customers as we gradually emerge from global recession.”
He continued: “Sustainability is far from being a topic for dark green ‘eco-champions’. Sustainable print capabilities are a decisive factor for many print buyers when selecting a PSP, and as the corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda matures, so demand for environmentally responsible print will increase. What’s more, environmental best practice is often economical best practice, particularly when it comes to energy saving and prudent materials and waste management, so there are immediate commercial gains to be made from ‘going green’.”
Fespa managing director Neil Felton added: “Navigating the route to sustainability can be challenging as printers looking to avoid greenwash and empty claims by commercial entities seek impartial advice on how to become more planet friendly in their business activities.
“The issue of sustainability in printing has long been recognised by Fespa as pressing, as evinced by our efforts to raise awareness of the issue, encourage printers to adopt more planet friendly printing practices, and offer practical advice and expert insight to printers – wherever they are on the journey to sustainability. We believe that to be truly planet-friendly it is important to address sustainability globally. Fespa’s global footprint within and beyond our 37 member associations, coupled with the profit-for-purpose basis on which Fespa is organised, means we are well placed to offer continuous independent, unbiased support to the worldwide print community as we collectively move towards a more sustainable future, and we are excited to be further extending the reach of our activities in this area.”