FESPA 2013 offers expert guidance on sustainable business

FESPA visitors can find expert guidance on developing a more sustainable business throughout the show. The organisers of the event say that the first port of call should be FESPA’s stand (D50N), where FESPA’s Planet Friendly team is sharing a series of five specially created environmental fact sheets, one for each day of FESPA 2013.  These include:

1. Responsibilities under REACH
2. Why become a green printer?
3. How to become a green printer
4. Ultimate guide for green printers
5. Green printing â€" did you know?

FESPA consultant Paul Machin will also be on hand at the FESPA stand on Thursday 27th and Friday 28th June to answer questions in person on any environmental issues. Paul is a leading industry expert on health, safety and the environment. He works with FESPA within the scope of the Planet Friendly programme and participates on FESPA’s behalf in Intergraf’s Environmental Working Party and in the Intergraf CheMI group, which deals with the impact of REACH, the European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use. He is a member of the UK Health and Safety Executive’s Printing Industry Advisory Group and an advisor to the European Union (EU) Environmental Agency on best environmental practices to the printing industry.

Throughout the show, FESPA TV will screen excerpts from interviews with UK ‘planet friendly’ printers Ian Greenaway of MTM Products and Paul Noble of Banner Box, who explain how they are adopting environmental best practice in their businesses.

Sustainability stream at FESPA Jet Set Conference

Paul Noble is one of three printers to present their environmental case studies as part of the Sustainability seminar stream, which runs from 14.00h to 17.30h on Tuesday 25th June as part of the Jet Set conference (Stand B75N).

Richard Owers of PurePrint will explain how his company’s environmental efforts earned a Queen’s Award, while Ian Crossley of Greenhouse Graphics will show how going green and improving profitability go hand in hand.

The Sustainability seminar sessions will be chaired by Laurel Brunner of Verdigris with contributions from independent environmental consultant Clare Taylor under the heading ‘Sustainability: what does it mean to you?’. The Sustainability programme also includes independent technical advisor Rachel Butler looking at the supply chain; with Laurel Brunner presenting on print’s carbon footprint; and Peter Kiddell of the FESPA UK Association who will explore the connection between efficiency and sustainability. At the end there will be an expert panel chaired by Peter Kiddell comprising Clare Taylor, Laurel Brunner and Paul Noble discussing and answering questions on sustainability issues.

FESPA’s Head of Membership Services Chris Smith spearheads FESPA’s Planet Friendly initiatives, which are funded through the Profit for Purpose reinvestment programme. He comments: “FESPA is committed to helping printers pursue environmental best practice, both to ensure that they are compliant with legislation, but also to help them reap the efficiency and profit benefits that follow from more sustainable processes. Environmental performance can still be an important competitive differentiator too.

“On the FESPA stand in London and through the Jet Set conference, we’re offering visitors free access to some leading lights in the field of sustainable print. Printers can combine this intelligence with expert insights from the hundreds of equipment and consumables suppliers exhibiting at FESPA. They’ll leave the event equipped with all the information they need to formulate a clear strategy for achieving commercial success by running a more sustainable business.”

For more information, please visit http://www.fespa.com/planet-friendly.html