There are a number of voluntary schemes available to printers who want to monitor and improve their environmental performance. The options vary according to company size and, therefore, resources.
Because all companies are so different, the emphasis is on environmental awareness and continual improvement. Companies are audited annually and targets for individual companies are set.
As these schemes are not standards as such, it is important to remember that two companies holding the same accreditation may well be at different levels of environmental performance. The longer a company has been accredited the more progress it will have made.
The main scheme undertaken by UK printers is ISO 14001, but for small companies the cost of gaining and maintaining this accreditation can be prohibitive. For small companies, there are schemes such as Green Mark and the British Printing Industry Federation (BPIF); these schemes can also be used as stepping stones towards ISO 14001.
The Green Mark award was developed by the London Environment Centre (LEC), part of London Metropolitan University.
The scheme acts as is cost-effective and straightforward tool to assist businesses in making improvements in environmental performance. Once these improvements have been made businesses are independently assessed before being given the award certificate and logo to use as evidence of good practice. Green Mark can be used as a stepping stone to ISO 14001.
Click on the website image above to go to the Green Mark website and learn more
This is an internationally recognised scheme. It provides a framework for environmental awareness, monitoring and continual improvement, but doesn’t tell the full story, because different companies can be performing at different levels.The three key
areas to be managed are:
- Compliance with environmental regulation
- Prevention of pollution
- Improvement in environmental performance
Important note
ISO 14001 has become the main environmental accreditation scheme for the printing industry.
ISO 14001 is not an end point and when done properly it acts as a framework for environmental improvement and changes the working culture. It should be remembered that ISO 14001 has limitations:
- It is possible to gain in '30 days' via unregulated auditors
- Measures taken are chosen so difficult issues can be avoided
- It is not a standard so holding ISO 14001 does not tell the full story
www.britishprint.com/business/eas.asp
A scheme for smaller companies in its own right, or for medium-sized companies – with greater resources – as a stepping
stone towards ISO 14001. It is aimed at assessing, monitoring and reducing environmental impact and consists of eight levels.
EMAS - the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, is a voluntary initiative designed to improve companies’ environmental performance. It was initially established by European Regulation 1836/93, although this has been replaced by Council Regulation 761/01.
Its aim is to recognise and reward those organisations that go beyond minimum legal compliance and continuously improve their environmental performance. In addition, it is a requirement of the scheme that participating organisations regularly produce a public environmental statement that reports on their environmental performance. It is this voluntary publication
of environmental information, whose accuracy and reliability has been independently checked by an environmental verifier,
that gives EMAS and those organisations that participate enhanced credibility and recognition.
www.fsc-uk.org
If a printer holds the FSC Chain of Custody and the paper being used in a project is FSC certified the end product can be labelled as FSC certified. This certificate is about the fibre tracking process only and ensures that any fibre from uncertified sources complies with the FSC's Controlled Wood standards. led Wood standards.
It is important to emphasise that this scheme is material-focused and nothing to do with the environmental performance of the company in question.
United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS)
www.ukas.org
Look for this logo when evaluating ISO status (this applies to quality and environmental standards). The United Kingdom Accreditation Service is the sole national accreditation body recognised by government to assess, against internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services.
UKAS regulates the auditors.
