Local Printer Shines Green Light Across the UK

Gloucester-based printer Severnprint has been highlighted as a shining green example in the UK’s printing industry.  David Pealing, sales director at Severnprint, was invited to speak at a series of national environmental events due to Severnprint’s status as one of the greenest printers in the country. 

David comments: “Environmental issues have been at the heart of our business for over 20 years now and we’re proud of the environmental achievements we’ve accomplished.  To be asked to speak at this event made us realise just how ahead of the game we are with regards to environmental issues and it was a great opportunity for us to share our environmental best practice with others in the industry. 

“The printing industry often has the reputation of being quite environmentally unfriendly but by implementing initiatives such as work bicycle schemes, efficient waste disposal and recycling, and using technologies that are less harmful to the environment, companies such as ours are working very hard to change this.” 

Severnprint prides itself on being one of the leaders in environmentally conscious printing.  It has been using recycled papers since they were first introduced in the 1980s and is now able to source not only the main recycled papers, but also some of the more unusual ones. 

Severnprint was among the first five companies in the UK to achieve ISO14001 accreditation and one of the first to become FSC Chain of Custody certified.  Being aware of the environmental impact of the business is at the forefront of everything Severnprint does, from printing using vegetable oil based inks to deliveries in LPG fuelled vans. 

Some of Severnprint’s environmental statistics from 2003 – December 2007 are as follows:

Water usage – 28.95% reduction

Gas usage – 26.63% reduction (CO2 emissions reduced by 2.25 tonnes)

Heating oil usage – 28% reduction (CO2 emissions reduced by 19.8 tonnes)

Vehicle fuel usage - road vehicle CO2 emissions reduced by 3.5tonnes. 

Graham Leeson, marketing manager at Fujifilm, comments: “We were delighted that Severnprint agreed to speak at our environmental roadshow.  The events brought together all the expert advice concerning the different aspects of becoming greener. David’s presence at the events showed the audience that these initiatives do work in practice as well as in theory and highlighted the fact that greener printing doesn’t necessarily have to cost the earth.” 

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