The Verdigris Blog by Laurel Brunner

This article was produced by the Verdigris project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. This weekly commentary helps printing companies keep up to date with environmental standards, and how environmentally friendly business management can help improve their bottom lines. Verdigris is supported by the following companies: Agfa Graphics, EFI, Fespa, Fujifilm, HP, Kodak, Miraclon, Ricoh, Spindrift, Splash PR, Unity Publishing and Xeikon.

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Sustainability through automation

Mon, 13/06/2022 - 11:32

medium_laurel2015.jpgThe Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner

Kodak recently announced installation of the world’s biggest computer-to-plate system. It’s at WKS Group’s web offset printing site in Essen, Germany and counts as the world’s biggest, because the Magnus Q4800 imagesetter is nearly 19 meters long. Four pallet loading systems each with plates of a different format complete the set up. So big, very, very big.

Asian Pulp & Paper still trashing the planet

Mon, 30/05/2022 - 08:14

medium_2015_Laurel B.jpgThe Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner

It’s been some time since we took a look at Asian Pulp & Paper (APP) and its progress towards improving its enviromental impact. This company is a division of Sina Mas, one of China’s massive conglomerates, and it has been destroying Indonesian ecosystems for many years. In 2020 APP produced 17 million tonnes of paper 53% of which came from plantations, 40% from recyclates and 7% from imported fibre. It’s sustainability report presents an apparently sincere and progressive picture. And yet APP continues to come under fire.

Technology drives progress

Mon, 16/05/2022 - 15:17

Laurel-2018.jpgThe Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner

Heading into the twilight zone of my career in the graphics industry has lead me to some curious ponderings. Some of them, like the early days working with Apple and Adobe, have been shamelessly nostalgic. But others have been laced with deep frustration. The frustration comes from the fact that we haven’t made faster progress to advance the industry, as it lumbers into the digital age. The stand out annoyances are automated colour management and recycling, both of which have a profound impact on the environmental impact of print.

Improving print’s environmental aspects communications

Mon, 02/05/2022 - 08:06

medium_laurel2015.jpgThe Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner

Voting is now underway to turn ISO 22067-1 (Requirements for communication of environmental aspects of printed products — Part 1: General printing) into a fully fledged ISO standard. The document is at the Draft International Standard stage and despite none too few rocky moments it has the support of several ISO technical committees and the people they represent. This includes Technical Committee 6 which is responsible for standards in the pulp and paper industries and generally disinclined to support work that its members might find distasteful.

Emissions reductions too often fudged

Mon, 18/04/2022 - 09:39

medium_2015_Laurel B.jpgThe Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner

The New Climate Institute recently published its Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2022. The report assesses “the transparence and integrity of companies’ emission reduction and net-zero targets”. It’s pretty dry reading. It’s findings mostly they remind us of two important facts. First of all there can be no room for complacency or ambiguity when it comes to our climate emergency. Secondly making environmental impact accountable and using standard reporting is vital.

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