Severnprint Ltd saves 400,000 litres of water and 2000 litres of chemicals due to new processless plate technology at its printing plant in Gloucester

Severnprint Ltd, the award-winning environmental printers, has been seeing the benefits of installing new processless plate technology, especially during the recent storms that hit Gloucestershire this year. Faced with at least 10 days with no water, Severnprint was able to turn to new plate technology which requires no water in production.

“Our decision to use processless plates was driven by our environmental policy and we had installed the new system to start putting it fully into production this Autumn,” says Lyndon Murray, Pre-Press Manager. “However, with floods and no useable water, we had no option but to start using the plates immediately. The prospect of 10 days without water and having to shutdown or outsource would have been a nightmare.”

The company decided to implement Fuji PRO-T plates because it is estimated they will reduce water usage by 400,000 litres per year and chemical usage by 2000 litres. Previously, Severnprint had the issue of how to dispose of waste chemicals and any improvements which reduce water consumption by the company are good not only for the environment but also commercially.

In 1991, Severnprint became one of the first printers in the UK to develop an environmental policy. Since then, concern for the environment has been at the heart of Severnprint’s business plans and investment decisions. The company was the UK’s first commercial user of renewable electricity in 1995 and, today, buys 100 per cent of its electricity from Ecotricity.

Over 60 per cent of all paper used by the company is recycled and it was one of the first five printers in the UK to become FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified and one of the first UK printers to gain the environmental management system ( EMS) ISO14001. There is a full-time Environment Manager and a dedicated member of staff who looks after recycling in order to maximise recycling on-site.

The work with Fuji over 2007 has meant that the multinational has decided to use Severnprint as an example of how their technology can benefit companies. “It would have been a complete disaster having to shut down our operation during the floods,” says Lyndon Murray, “so, yes, we are extremely glad that we made the investment – financially, obviously, as well as for the environmental benefits in saving on water and chemicals.”

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