A company that believes in sustainability, after moving into sustainable printing for the long haul, gained kudos for New Zealand, and its printing industry, when it made the shortlist of an the Heidelberg’s international eco-competition. Like most true success stories, it didn’t happened overnight for red_i printing
LAST year’s Heidelberg Hei-Eco competition attracted entries worldwide and, when it came time to shortlist a group of 10 companies to choose a winner, red_i printing from Auckland made the cut. This came as no surprise to Danny Beskalo, sales manager Heidelberg New Zealand, who originally suggested that red_i enter the competition. He says, “I know this company well. They have been walking the sustainability walk for some time now. The culture at red_i is: let’s not pay lip service to caring for the environment.’ Therefore I had every confidence that their entry would do very well in this global competition.”Richard Davy, director red_i printing, was initially reluctant to enter the competition. He continues the story, “Danny said, ‘Come on you’ve a great story to tell’ but our approach has always been to fly below the radar. You know we don’t believe in pulling others down to make our success; we just get on with our job. So when Danny approached, I said, ‘We don’t really want to. We think we’re doing a good job but we don’t want to show off.
“When we sat down and looked at what was required, we thought we would give it a go but take a different approach. We like to be different so, instead of saying, ‘Last year, our carbon emissions were...’ we took a different angle and presented it differently. We went through the criteria and talked about the booklet we produce that shows how we educate and encourage clients to use sustainable paper. We also talked about some joint venture projects with others who wanted to get sustainability into their business. From that, we wrote a paper, which told our story and we submitted it to the competition.”
First company to dual certification
THE company began in 1985 but didn’t move into printing until in 2002. Davy says, “Back then, we were buying print but the service and quality wasn’t up to the standard we required. In terms of customer service, it was the dark ages. Now, that old style has changed.”
Even before that time, they felt the technological winds of change blowing through the larger business environment. He continues, “Around that same time there was a change in technology, which meant big changes in the industry. For instance, digital workflows were coming in. So there was a lot of technological innovation flooding in along with a shift in the direction that the industry was headed. Our involvement in the industry was also changing and we thought, “What can we move into?” With printing being the logical answer, the company subsequently purchased an SM 74 from Heidelberg in 2002.
Davy believes strongly in environmental responsibility, and shared his view with the company. He understood the significance of certification after the company had become New Zealand’s first in the industry to attain ISO 9000 standard in 1994. He says, “We educated ourselves in sustainability. We then became the first New Zealand company with dual certification in FSC and PEFC in 2007.”
While some companies reluctantly slither toward certification at glacial velocity, Davy argues that a commitment to good environmental citizenship should require little thought. He says, “We looked into sustainability because it is a no brainer. It’s simple. If you’re going to pull something like a tree out of the ground, don’t you think you should plant another one? If the paper market is still growing as it is, maybe 8-19 per cent per annum, then we’ve got to keep planting rather than carrying on with the old rape and pillage mentality.”
He notes that many New Zealanders look enviously at Australia’s mineral wealth and mining operations, but contends that this country’s renewable resources hold more appeal. He says, “Some Kiwis feel threatened by our cousins across the ditch because they’re the big mineral boys. While it’s easy to think of New Zealand as under resourced, we actually have two big assets: water and renewable forestry. If you expand that concept out to all the wood based products you can produce, you begin to realise that there’s tons of things you can do with wood.”
A simple equation sums up this philosophy. Davy says, “Just plant more than you take. Globally, we haven’t done that at all, but it’s a natural step. When the last bucket of mineral is being extracted from the ground elsewhere, a seedling will be planted in a New Zealand forest.”
Educating the people
ACHIEVING sustainability means starting with knowledge and reason. Davy says, “Often, a small amount of education is all that is required. When we sit down and educate our clients, it empowers them to look at what really works. They have to consider, what does sustainability really mean? Many clients want to use recycled paper because they’ve been told that is the green thing to do, but recycling doesn’t guarantee you are planting more trees or not chopping down native forests and, for many, they have never considered what the environmental impact is to recycle paper back to a usable grade.“
Davy likes to educate clients about FSC and PEFC. He says, “FSC and PEFC is like the meat industry with its gate to plate auditing, where you can trace a cut of meat came from the farm it came from to your dinner plate. The auditing processes of FSC and PEFC means we can say that we are part of a chain of custody and that’s powerful statement, more powerful than the recycle message. Look at what’s happening now: The rate of demand for sustainable paper is rising faster than the ability to supply. A paper manufacturer who is not producing sustainable paper has to come online and get accredited, otherwise he can’t sell into that global demand.”
Another issue with recycled paper is at it can have print all looking the same. Davy says, “We did a presentation where we talked about not wanting to all end up looking the same. The use of sustainable paper offers variety without compromise.”
While clients may express an interest, or even a strong desire, in sustainable printing, one factor requires careful thought. Davy says, “Knowledge of sustainability and a desire to do the right thing is important, but the other driver is cost. If it’s not cost effective, a barrier is created; the use of sustainable paper is cost effective.”
Go green but don’t be mean
DAVY does not identify with the hard-core green movement that says, ‘All business is bad, only recycled product is good.’ He says, “I’m not a deep shade of green; I’m a pale shade of green. The green issue should not override the human issue but, at least, ask the question, ‘Is there any other way to do this?”
Some of this stuff we shouldn’t need to be told, we just need to respond to what we’ve been taught as kids. Tidy up after you have finished and put things back where you found them.”
