The Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner

The United Nations Publishers’ Compact was introduced a couple of years ago, since when it has attracted hundreds of signatories from all of the world. Publishers from industry associations, through to research institutes and trade publishing have committed to fulfil ten action points. The idea is to jumpstart progress within the publishing industry so that the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) are met by 2030. Organisations are being asked to champion the UNSDGs and to develop and promote their own sustainability initiatives.

The Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner

The seventeen UNSDGs range from eliminating poverty to preserving life below water and they probably seem completely irrelevant to the average printing company owner. But these goals should not be brushed off as someone else’s gig. The UNSDGs affect the lives of all of us and our intertwined supply chains because they are targets for improvement. All manner of bodies from brands to municipalities are striving somehow in the general direction of the UNSDGs. So however vague and remote they may seem to many businesses, we should all be getting behind them.

The Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner

We recently came across the Reifenhäuser group as part of a project looking into recyclable packaging materials and developments. Reifenhäuser was founded in 1911 and has for most of its life specialised in plastic extrusion products. Such things as weatherstripping and fencing, window frames, plastic films and sheeting are produced by melting plastic and shaping it into a particular product. Plastic films and sheeting produced in this way are used in packaging to provide food safe barriers and mechanical stability.