Message from Katowice and the Conference of the Parties

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner It’s not easy to get worked up about the Conference of the Parties (COP) talkfest that took place recently in Katowice, Poland. But as slow moving and ponderous this annual meeting appears to be, progress to address climate change mitigation is gradually being made. Sadly the graphics industry … Read more

Paper made from grass

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Scheufelen Paper, a leading European maker of coated premium paper products for the graphics business, is developing a new paper based on grass. Scheufelen’s new development has interesting potential as an exciting alternative for packaging, as well as being suitable for graphic papers. In common with most of … Read more

Blowing in the digital wind

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Electronic media have a heavy carbon footprint because of the energy they require to exist. Unlike physical media digital media only work if there is energy to deliver them. They also need energy to survive, so the emissions associated with electronic media are substantial. This much we know … Read more

ISO 20294 for calculating the carbon footprint of electronic media

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner It probably doesn’t occur to many people that electronic media may have a much larger environmental footprint than print media. How can that be when print is so visibly polluting? Well, it’s a simple calculation because print has a one-off carbon footprint and printed paper can be recycled … Read more

Deinking glass

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner It takes a million years for glass to biodegrade, so it’s good that we’ve worked out sensible recycling processes for it. However as the packaging industry gets slicker, we need to look more carefully at how we can keep recycling glass, particularly containers, effectively. Digital printing technology is … Read more

ISO 21632 for calculating the energy usage of digital printing devices

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner It’s got a long and clumsy title, but what ISO 21632 (Graphic technology — Determination of the energy consumption of digital printing devices including transitional and related modes) can do for the graphics industry has nothing to do with clumsiness. Far from it. This document will help make … Read more

Invest in the right printing plate

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner It’s amazing how long it took for computer-to-plate (CtP) technology to become widespread. CtP in prepress has made a huge contribution to improving print’s environmental impact. Going direct to plate and bypassing the film imaging and contacting stages removes processes in printing plate production. CtP had been around … Read more

Sustainability messaging part 4

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner We’ve not forgotten about our effort to provide a ten point plan for companies and associations who want to be proactive with their sustainability messaging. In the previous blogs we have suggested improving waste management throughout the supply chain. This is a key contributor to reducing environmental impact, … Read more

Unilever and Veolia cooperate to improve recycling infrastructures

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner After so many years of environmental dithering, things are starting to move and change is coming. Unilever, one of the world’s largest corporations has signed an important deal with Veolia. This company provides services to local governments specifically in water, waste, transport and energy management. Unilever, a huge … Read more

Growing momentum for recycling commitments

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Kraft Heinz is the world’s fifth-largest food and beverage company, so it buys an awful lot of print. Recently Kraft Heinz has been paying more attention to its environmental impact, specifically its recycling objectives.  Under its new CEO Bernardo Hees, CEO, the company has renewed its sustainability commitments. … Read more