Over three years in the making, the initiative allows printers to select their level of environmental compliance to suit their particular business needs.
“From the outset, our goal was to develop a system to engage the maximum number of companies able to participate and therefore provide industry-wide environmental credentialing for companies of all sizes,” said Printing Industries CEO Philip Andersen (pictured).
“While ISO 14001 remains the international standard, not everyone can achieve this in, say, 12 to 18 months, and many smaller companies servicing geographically-limited markets would not be able to afford the resource commitment and financial cost.
“Our multi level SGP printing industry-specific program recognises this and provides a choice of four audited and certified levels, beginning from entry level (Level 1) and progressing through to Level 3 which prepares a company for its ISO 14001 audit. Level 4, industry-leading practice, goes beyond ISO standard for those companies wanting maximum accreditation.”
The initiative was spear-headed by Printing Industries’ WA general manager, Paul Nieuwhof, with the SGP tracing its roots to the Western Australian Green Stamp program which has been running for several years.
“The print industry specialist nature of SGP is such that it actually reduces the cost of achieving ISO 14001 compliance by giving you what you need to know rather than requiring you to spend time and money trying to figure it out yourself,” said Nieuwhof.
“For example, you need to know which environment laws you need to comply with as each state has different requirements. You must know the environmental risks associated with the printing industry and the control measures needed to prevent non-compliance with pollution and other laws and also how to document actions, undertake internal audits and manage the system.”
“Sustainable Green Print provides all that at your fingertips and provides the necessary training and support to make the process as straightforward as possible.”
Nieuwhof said state-based training programs had been completed and would begin around the country during February and March 2009.
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