77_79_Grid 18/01/2018 08:11 Page 77
Environmental Matters
From greeting cards being printed on card made out of upcycled coffee cups to trials underway on biodegradable flitter; campaigns to use board produced in the UK to recycled cellobags being made into garden hoses and confirmation that foiling on cards does not harm the planet, the UK greeting card industry is taking its environmental credentials very seriously. PG presses the ‘green button’ to share some of the issues that are being confronted and debunks some of the myths. Blue Planet II was the most watched TV programme of 2017, with 17 million people tuning in to watch the BBC series. It ended with Sir David Attenborough delivering a poignant message: “For years we thought the oceans were so vast and the inhabitants so infinitely numerous that nothing we could do could have an effect upon them. But now we know that was wrong. It is now clear our actions are having a significant impact on the world’s oceans. They are under threat now as never before in human history. Many people believe the oceans have reached a crisis point. Surely we have a responsibility to care for our blue planet. The future of humanity, and indeed all life on Earth, now depends on us.” While caring for the environment has long been a concern for individuals, business, industries and politicians, the Blue Planet’s beautiful oceanic footage, coupled with the thought provoking words from the highly respected naturalist presenter, has pushed caring for our planet very much to front of mind.
Top right: Windles’ md Bruce Podmore at the Iggesund papermaking facility in Workington. Above middle: Environmental issues have always been top of the agenda for Glebe Cottage (this is one of the images from a calendar it published), but other publishers are giving it more careful consideration too. Above and right: The ‘War on Waste’ stretches to all industries.
‘May wages war on waste’, ‘Turn the tide on plastics’, ‘Gove takes his coffee green as he plots cup cull’ were just a few of the many newspaper headlines sparked by the government’s 25 year plan to eliminate avoidable plastic waste by 2042, as well as improve on other environmental scores. As major retailers share their current environmental policies and intended improvements, so suppliers too are being put
Get on board
Greeting card printer Windles sent out a loud rally cry to publishers at the end of last year, one that covered both environmental and cost concerns. ‘A board that helps save the world, by not travelling around it’, is the tagline for Windles’ new campaign that urges publishers and fellow printers to support a push to use UK-produced one-sided coated board from Workington-based Iggesund Papermill in order to help save the planet while being price neutral. The turbulence in the paper and board market recently, with costs escalating (by 7%) due to the currency fluctuations, had resulted in card publishers looking further and further afield for their one-sided coated board, which is a ‘staple product’ for the industry, with an escalating carbon footprint. Windles’ md Bruce Podmore’s explorations to come up with a solution - on the environmental, price and quality fronts - was not the other side of the world, but only a few hundred miles up the road. Iggesund Papermill has not only invested heavily in a state of the art Biomass plant (generated by locally grown willow trees, which provide funds to the Borders’ hill farmers), but has also been working diligently to adapt the recipe for its Incada Silk brand to make it ideally suited for greeting cards. Noel Tatt was the first greeting card publisher to start using the 240gm Incada Silk board, which only officially launched this month, but many others are considering it. Of the Come on Board campaign, Bruce stresses that this is not something Windles wants to ‘own’ and hopes other printers will also get involved. As he stresses: “It is not just important for the greeting card industry, but the whole country and the health of the universe that we seriously consider this solution that is so close to home.”
through their paces on ways and means of minimising their environmental damage. There are some ‘quick wins’, but other changes will take time. As Matt Genower, md of Five Dollar Shake summed up: “Yep, I think it’s fair to say the plastic packaging industries’ R&D departments are going to be flat out for a bit on this!” And the ‘green button’ has been pressed even more firmly in the greeting card industry PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
77