Representatives
heard that with the Green Marketing Act being introduced in February, it was up
to individual organisations to check their advertisements and accreditations
were correct or risk an ACCC crack down.

Cottam says
"When the (Green) Marketing Act comes in fully, I think a lot of companies are
going to find themselves in trouble with their logos and accreditations."

"(Companies)
have to familiarise themselves with the act so that when they are out there
they have a rough idea and can prevent themselves as well as clients getting
into trouble. I think the ACCC is really going to clamp down on this," he says.

Accreditation
schemes can reduce a company's environmental footprint, but with the word
'sustainability' on the tip of many corporate tongues they are also becoming
necessary for retaining and wining business.

Cottam says
the printing and paper industries have always been a target for negative public
opinion even though it is a renewable industry unlike gas, coal and oil.

"When
people turn on their TV and see trees on the back of a truck they think 'that's
the paper industry' but our (industry) is only a small part, he says.

"We plant
our trees, so as long as we continue to plant and harvest the process goes on
and on. Not using paper in order to save trees is like not eating salad to save
vegetables."

On the
manufacturing level says Cottam, the environmental management standard IS01
4001 is becoming a must for printers while Eco-Management and Audit Scheme
(EMAS) tends to concerns mills.

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