TLMI has announced that the association’s LIFE (Label Initiative for the Environment) Certification program will merge with the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) certification program. Since 2007, LIFE has helped guide the labels and packaging industry’s environmental leadership by assisting converters and industry suppliers in prioritizing best sustainability practices and environmental stewardship.

SGP is a non-profit organization that certifies printing facilities' sustainability best practices, advocating innovation among print community stakeholders and aligning the printing industry in the pursuit of a more accountable sustainable supply chain. SGP is supported by the Printing Industries of America (PIA), Flexographic Technical Association (FTA), Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA), and the National Association of Print Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM).

In addition, the SGP Brand Leaders program engages with printer buyers and retail brands. “TLMI is the only association that single-handedly creates a credible sustainability program for the print community with the LIFE certification. There has long been a mutual collaboration and support of SGP and LIFE certification,” says Marci Kinter, chair of the SGP Technical Committee. “Now with TLMI merging LIFE with SGP certification and joining the other industry leading associations as a SGP Resource Partner, we anticipate a stronger, more sustainable future with integration of LIFE certification in SGP.”

Over the last several months, TLMI collaborated with SGP to conduct side-by-side comparisons of both programs, and it became clear that the organizations have much to gain from each other. The TLMI Board of Directors believes that expanding TLMI’s environmental management system through a merger will result in a larger, combined organization that enables a wider array of services. A critical component of the merger is the creation of broader market awareness regarding the environmental leadership activities of TLMI membership. Going forward, the combined environmental management system certification will operate as SGP and the merger is anticipated to be finalized before TLMI’s Annual Meeting in October.

Dan Muenzer, TLMI President, comments, “I am so excited TLMI has elected to broaden our environmental accreditation by merging our LIFE program into SGP. Our members have done a tremendous job developing the LIFE program and because of their efforts, broadening its scope to SGP will be seamless. Many thanks to our LIFE leaders for positioning TLMI to take this step.”

Sustainability is one of the key pillars of TLMI’s Strategic Plan and the association is committed to providing the most current and beneficial options for the success of its members. A series of training webinars is planned for the coming months to help TLMI members move forward with SGP certification.        

TLMI Board of Directors member Bill Muir, president of Grand Rapids Label, says, “The LIFE program, since its start over 10 years ago, has helped guide us in our sustainability efforts, which ultimately has reduced our costs. As the first LIFE certified organization, I am excited about what integrating with SGP will bring. Environmental stewardship is an integral part of TLMI’s strategic direction moving forward and working with other print organizations, who helped create SGP, can help position us as a leader in these efforts by creating a strong program to help guide our members in their own environmental efforts.”