A Long Green View

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Taking the long view can be difficult in business, but it’s especially hard when it comes to sustainability. It’s tempting to look only at one’s own interests, especially for the small and medium sized businesses that make up the bulk of the graphics industry. Most of us are … Read more

The Snap, Crackle and Pop of Flexible Packaging

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner It is one of the most useful and yet annoying forms of packaging we have. Its useful because it works with all sorts of content types, from clothing to soup. But it’s annoying because most people are confused as to whether a particular piece of flexible plastic packaging … Read more

Case Getting Louder for ISO 21331

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner We’ve recently been working a lot on ISO 21331, the international standard for assessing the potential deinkability of print. This document is one of several standards under development within ISO to improve the environmental impact and accountability of graphics technology and print.  The idea behind ISO 21331 is … Read more

Digital Printing for Packaging

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner The job of a package is manifold and yet very simple. A package must protect contents from damage, and provide a barrier between what’s inside and what’s not inside. The contents must stay in the package at all costs and must not become corrupted or otherwise spoiled within … Read more

Thai Forest Certification Scheme

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner At the recent Fespa Asia show in Bangkok, Thailand we learnt more about the Thai Forest Certification Scheme (TFCS). Rungnapa Wattanavichian, manager of the Thailand Forest Certification Council (TFCC) told us that their scheme’s main objective is to protect the forests because “forests give us everything – home, … Read more

Next generation labeling

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Conventional label printers and sellers of label printing equipment and consumables face yet another existential threat. A new printing technology is being used in various European countries to replace stickers on fruits and vegetables. The technology is a sort of direct to object technique, however this is not … Read more

PaperLab Arrives!

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Next month CeBit opens its doors in Hannover to an international audience of tech nerds and their followers. Japan will have a big presence at CeBit, showcasing itself as a driving force in the digital transformation. The star attraction for the graphics industry will be PaperLab, Epson’s paper … Read more

Prizes for best behaviour

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Green prizes are an excellent way to encourage improved environmental habits, but in the graphics business we aren’t exactly awash with them. That may be because sponsors find it hard to specify award winning criteria. Or it may be because not enough companies can be bothered to submit … Read more

Good enough to eat?

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner According to the European Union over fifty percent of all goods in Europe are packaged with plastic. This amounts to 39% of the 57 million tonnes of plastics produced in Europe every year and works out at around 30 kg per person per year. Worldwide the numbers are … Read more

Trumping the Paris Agreement

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner There is much anticipation surrounding the new American president and the extent to which his actions match his rhetoric. One especially worrying set of decisions relate to the 45th president’s views on climate change in general and the Paris Climate Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on … Read more