Jack Kenny10.08.08
Task force members knew from experience that converters' customers were asking questions and making demands of them about the green qualities of their labels and the components of which they are composed. And not only that: Some customers want assurances that the vendors they engage have taken steps to reduce their impact on the environment. These, then, were the questions facing the task force: What are the steps we must take to reduce our environmental footprint? What are the standards toward which we should strive? Should TLMI grant its imprimatur to the creation of standards?
After months of discussion and debate – and after watching several other industry organizations form the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership, another certification process – the task force retained Five Winds International, an environmental management consulting firm, to help with the footwork required for such a project. The result, approved now by the TLMI board of directors, is Project LIFE, which stands for Label Initiative For the Environment.
From my position as an observer in the group, I can say that the effort and the energy donated by the task force members has been monumental. The work by Five Winds has been equally noteworthy, resulting in a clearly understandable program of guidelines toward environmental best practices for the label converter.
Below is a condensed look at the tools that TLMI converter members will have at their disposal to pursue environmental improvements under Project LIFE. If implemented successfully, the converter can receive certification from the Tag & Label Manufacturers Institute that it has met the standards. Such certification can be displayed by the company and promoted to its customers.
The following are members of the task force: Chairman John McDermott, Label World; Calvin Frost, Channeled Resources Group (Environmental Committee Chairman); Nick Van Alstine, Macaran Printed Products; Doug Kopp, Kopco Graphics; Terie Syme, Prestige Label; Will Muir, Grand Rapids Label; Thomas Dahbura, Hub Labels; Jeff Salisbury, Label Impressions; Tim Goodwin, Resource Label Group; Mark Miles, G3 Enterprises; John Kassal; Continental Datalabel; Tom Spina, Luminer Converting Group; Jack Kenny, L&NW. TLMI President Frank Sablone was an active participant, as was Cecily Randall of Channeled Resources. Five Winds' Laura Flanigan was the prime mover on the project, under the direction of John Heckman.
Reducing the footprint
The introduction to Project LIFE, which is available only to TLMI members, reads as follows: "Project LIFE was developed to enable TLMI members to find cost effective ways to help reduce their environmental footprint. As such, the emphasis is on identifying priorities that suit your business and your level of commitment to environmental protection, and encouraging continuous improvement. At this time, there are no explicit targets for performance a member must achieve in order to participate. Participants are encouraged to set their own goals that are ambitious but feasible, and to demonstrate continuous improvement on priorities based on regional, market, or business issues."
The basic tool of the project is the scorecard, an Excel document that enables a participant to score his or her company's status or progress on many levels. These include clean production techniques, treatment of energy and greenhouse gases, material use and waste, and management practices. The scorecard is accompanied by a reference manual that explains the range of actions and activities that a company will undertake in its pursuit of a greener business. A company will rank its efforts in each area; for example, it is "investigating the development of a project or program at this facility," or it is formally engaged in an activity, or that it is publicly reporting its performance, program and targets (public reporting includes printed materials or a website).
The big step in Project LIFE is certification. A company must meet certain criteria specified in the scorecard to begin this part of the process. It must be "engaged" in all of the management requirements, it must be "investigating" all of the requirements, it must "demonstrate a process for how priorities will be or were determined for creating formal programs", and it "must demonstrate that the facility has incurred no significant environmental violations."
If the scorecard meets with TLMI approval, the final step is audit from a qualified third-party auditing firm approved by TLMI. "The auditor then conducts a site visit to evaluate programs and activities, and submits a report to TLMI and the member," according to the LIFE instructions. "If the audit verifies activities, you will receive a certification letter with the complete verified scorecard and an aggregated score summary. You are then authorized to use the program label with the scorecard on your website or marketing materials." Scorecards must be updated every year for TLMI review, and audits are required every other year to maintain certification.
What's in the scorecard?
The first section of the scorecard addresses Clean Production Techniques, and asks for scoring on programs to (a) decrease a facility's VOCs, HAPs and UV releases to air; (b) use best management practices to avoid other releases to air; (c) decrease quantity of facility releases of water and releases into waste water; (d) minimize solid waste sent to landfill from production, and from the office and the rest of the plant; and (e) to ensure proper disposal of hazardous waste.
The Clean Production Techniques section addresses more than just the print production area. It focuses on the establishment of policies "to give purchasing preference to environmentally preferable materials such as office supplies, paper, equipment, etc.," and to the use of "environmentally preferable packaging materials or practices for shipping." In addition, it asks whether a company uses environmentally preferable cleaning practices throughout the facility.
The section on Energy and Greenhouse Gases asks for scoring on energy efficiency of production, offices and facilities, as well as energy efficiency of the distribution fleet. The scorecard calls for comment on programs governing greenhouse gas management, renewable energy and the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions.
Product Design asks companies to score themselves on design output and processes that minimize waste, on their work with customers to minimize processing and material and energy use, and on their use of environmentally preferable facestocks, adhesives and liners.
Finally, the scorecard addresses Management. For certification, a company must be "engaged" in all of the requirements. These include having a policy that outlines environmental commitment, creation of annual continual improvement objectives and targets, and programs to monitor performance, proper maintenance of equipment, environmental best practices awareness, and more.