Here you will find blogs from Digital Dots and Verdigris covering technology and sustainability advances in the graphics industry over the last 25 years.
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Within our ISO working group we are looking at a document Fogra has drafted to provide guidance for quantifying how much energy a digital printing device consumes. You would think that this is pretty straightforward, but it’s not just a matter of counting how many units of electricity … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner For many years the graphics industry has been doing its bit to minimise carbon footprints, mostly because cutting waste saves money and time. But whatever the motivation, together with other industries we may be helping to make a difference. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reckons that global efforts … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a quantification of something’s environmental impact. EPDs can be created for anything from home furnishings to newspapers. They provide all sorts of environmental data, from raw material impact through to emissions to water and waste generation. They are wonderful tools, but they … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Environmental management is something all businesses should bother with, but it’s such a wooly term. In a way it has to be vague because it means running your business to have the least negative environmental impact possible, and how do you define that? If you’re in the mining … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner The idea of using rubbish to create energy goes back to the first bonfire, but only a handful of companies in the graphic arts industries seem to be paying much heed to using biomass. Toppan Printing has developed a laminated packaging material that contains around 10% of biomass … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner The 13th April is an important deadline. It’s the day when a key exemption in the European Union (EU)’s Regulation on Hazardous Substance II (RoHS II) no longer applies. The ramifications for the graphic arts industry worldwide could be serious, eventually. RoHS II “lays down rules on the … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Packaging is necessary for pretty much all supply chains. It protects and preserves goods, makes them easier to handle and is a way of tempting buyers to make a purchase. Packaging’s also an effective vehicle for content and ingredient information, as well as regulatory compliance data. This includes … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner A year or so ago the Carlsberg Circular Community (CCC) announced a project to develop next generation packaging materials optimised for recycling and reuse. The CCC is Carlsberg plus a collection of its global suppliers and they have now announced that they are working on a biodegradable and … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Is it time to shake the hand of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and forgive its past sins? The Rainforest Alliance recently published an audit report confirming that APP is largely living up to the Forest Conservation Policy (FCP) it published in February 2013. At least as far … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner 2014 was a watershed year for computer-to-plate (CtP) production: processless platesetting shifted up a gear, with all three major manufacturers making substantial headway in the market. Processless plates make economic and environmental sense, because you simply image the plate and mount it on press. Simple. There are no … Read more