August 2022
Newsletter

Sustainability Summit 2022
A Huge Fan Favorite!

SGP’s 2022 Sustainability Summit, held July 20 at Fenway Park in Boston, MA, was declared a huge success and “fan favorite” by all who attended. The first in-person event since Jan. 2020 featured presentations and lively discussions on procurement, circular economy and sustainability practices from leading companies. The event, chaired by Julie Brannen, from gold SGP Patron Monadnock Paper, brought together print professionals, brands and sustainability champions for conversations on growing strategic programs and partnerships.

The program offered highlights and opportunities for conversations on key sustainability trends and issues facing the print supply chain. Jeff Zellmer, Vice President Global Sales & Strategy, from platinum SGP Patron Kodak, presented 7 Ways to Reduce the Environmental Impact of Your Job. He focused on adaptation of the circular economy to the print industry. “Sustainability isn’t new to the print industry,” Zellmer stated. “We have been concerned about paper consumption, energy use and recycling for years. But now, sustainability issues have taken on a focus and urgency with brands and that requires the industry to move beyond the traditional ‘take, make, waste’ production model. It is time to embrace circular economy principles.”

Next, Marci Kinter, from SGP Resource Partner PRINTING United Alliance and Chair SGP Technical Committee, stepped in for Katrina Saucier, Green2Sustainable, and offered her presentation on Carbon Footprinting and the Printing Industry. This topic continues to gain visibility and importance within the print supply chain. After an overview of the subject, Kinter announced that SGP would be offering a series of webinar programs to present further details and guidance to the print industry on all facets of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and calculation of Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon footprints.

Dora Gaither, from certified SGP Facility Smyth Corporation, offered the SGP case study at the Summit, Smyth’s Journey to SGP Certification. “Smyth’s commitment starts with the individual, our employees, as they are our greatest assets.” Gaither said. “As individuals come together, we form a stronger bond to bring our green goals to the forefront and improve upon our core practices daily.”  At this time, four of Smyth’s companies are certified with the next one, Green Bay, slated to gain certification by end of 2022.

The Summit concluded with a series of roundtable discussions led by speakers and other members of the SGP Community. A longstanding tradition at SGP Summits, these roundtables provide attendees opportunities to discuss and explore new ideas.

Plans are underway to hold quarterly events in 2023. Interested in hosting an event? Please contact the SGP Program office at sgprogram@sgppartnership.org.
Deep Dive Webinar Archives
If you missed any of the Deep Dive webinars about SGP Criteria 4.0, they're all archived!

  • Tips & Tricks for the SGP Impact Tracker
  • Solid Waste Audit
  • Management of Change
Sharing the sustainable advantage at Smyth
Smyth’s commitment to earth friendly initiatives starts with the individual. As individuals, we come together to form a stronger bond, a partnership, to bring our ‘green’ goals to the forefront, and improve upon our core practices daily.

Smyth has earned SGP Certification, the most comprehensive sustainability certification which fully encompasses operation's production and office practices along with proven methodology specifically developed for the printing industry. We demonstrate a variety of best practices for making socially responsible decisions which positively impact our environment, provide our customers with sustainable supply options, and safeguard the health and safety of our employees.

Through our Sustainability Dashboard below, we are proud to share our CIPs (continuous improvement plans), best practices and ongoing results. Read more
Kodak presents:
"7 Ways to Reduce Environmental Impacts"
Kodak's Jeff Zellmer of Kodak offeried “7 Ways to Reduce the Environmental Impact of Your Print Jobs" at the Sustainability Summit. He began by stressing one of the major themes of the summit—and of the modern print sustainability movement: customer demand. “Just recycling paper or aluminum is not enough for some of the brands out there,” said Zellmer.

“There is a lot more we can do.” And a lot of that comes down to reducing waste, which is why Zellmer’s #1 recommendation is to start even before a job gets anywhere near the production floor and “design with the press in mind.” That is, optimize a job at the layout and imposition stage to reduce the amount of paper that is used and thus reduce the amount of waste that is generated. And it’s not just paper: another tip was to “select colors that can be printed using CMYK,” which helps reduce ink, plates, and proofs. Also, using color management software—be it Kodak’s ColorFlow or other software on the market—can also help reduce ink usage by up to 30%, said Zellmer. And using process-free plates can help eliminate the need to use environmentally unfriendly chemicals.” Read more on WhatTheyThink.com
Treating the symptom, but not the cause: Why the war on single use plastic packaging is destined to fail

by Cal Lakhan, Ph.D.
With the Canadian federal government moving towards banning certain single use plastics over the next 18 months, I have seen countless news stories and editorials praising the decision. “A critical step in minimizing plastic waste ending up in our environment” said one article, “An important win in the fight against climate change”, said another. Over the past several years, a significant emphasis has been placed on the impacts of single use packaging waste, and plastics in particular, with local governments, producers and even consumers calling for restrictions on single use packaging.

Despite the obvious importance of the issue, I also can’t help but feel that we are focusing on the wrong problem. Packaging waste is not the cause of our environmental problems, it is symptomatic of what we consume, how we consume and the broader systems that underpin the way we live.

As consumer knowledge increases, there is a growing backlash against “greenwashing” (i.e., making misleading statements or claims about the sustainability of a product or service) and a call for brand transparency. This is leading to brands looking for reliable third-party certifications that capture and explain their sustainability claims.

These certifications tend not to be cheap, and the best certifications take a lot of time, money and technical requirements to fulfill. As the market shifts toward more rigorous testing requirements, there is some concern that an over-proliferation of certifying bodies will lead to consumer confusion and decision fatigue. The certification groups will eventually need to consolidate or lead with one voice or risk being ignored by groups that provide clarity.
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Call for Presentations
Have a topic to share with the SGP Community? The Sustainability Academy hosts educational webinars on topics that can elevate your sustainability programs and inspire or help others on their sustainability journey. We are looking for topics and speakers. If you have an idea or presentation, please let us know.
Nominate a
Sustainability Champion

The SGP Sustainability Champion award recognizes SGP Community Members for efforts in making the world a better place to work and live in. SGP Sustainability Champions lead by example & show passion through leadership, activities, environmental stewardship & activism.

Create awareness of the award program by sharing the SGP Sustainability Champions video with your company. Submit nominations via Sustainability Champions Nomination Form.
Donate to SGP Foundation
SGP Foundation Inc. is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to providing education on sustainable practices for the printing industry and sister organization to SGP. Include SGP Foundation in your corporate giving programs. Make tax-deductible donations.

Join the #SustainableFuture Campaign
Be part of the SGP campaign where members of our community share their thoughts sustainability. SGP will post the quotes on Twitter and LinkedIn as part of our social media content for 2021-2022.
Use our online form to share your thoughts & a photo. Campaign Form