environment
We have always considered ourselves a ‘quality’ printer and now consider ourselves as being the most environmentally responsible.
Since gaining ISO 14001 accreditation in June 2003, we have seen significant improvements in our drive to care for the environment and our pockets. Our last audit prompted this response from our auditor:
We have always considered ourselves a ‘quality’ printer and now consider being environmentally responsible is vital to our quality offering. We are constantly examining ways of reducing the environmental impact of what we do. Since gaining ISO 14001 accreditation in June 2003, we have adopted a very proactive approach and have a long term commitment to the environmental Management of our operations.
There have been many environmental improvements since June 2003, amongst which are the following:
• By focusing on our waste segregation and recycling system we achieved a 90% decrease in waste to landfill.
• We reduced energy consumption by 15% and water consumption by 10% by introducing energy conservation procedures and investing in efficient plant and machinery.
• We have reduced our VOC emissions to the air by reducing our IPA average percentage levels from 10% to 4%
• We analysed our material use and increased our use of recycled, recyclable and eco friendly products throughout the business.
• Helped initiate a culture change among our employees, customers and suppliers.
use of energy
Our energy use is closely monitored by the use of sub metering and we are a member of the Climate Change Levy scheme and are meeting the targets set by DEFRA.
Through investment in machinery and equipment such as decommisioning our compressed air humidifiers and replacing them with a completely non-compressed air system and installing high speed roller doors, the introduction of energy saving procedures and training for employees throughout the factory and offices, we have reduced our electricity consumption by 15%.
suppliers & customers
Our choice of supplier is influenced by their environmental practices. We provide our environmental policy and applicable environmental procedures to them and request the same of our suppliers and customers. This includes ‘life cycles’ so we know what happens to our waste once it leaves our site. We offer support and advice to all our suppliers in helping them understand our requirements.
We invite our paper suppliers to visit us regularly to keep us informed on environmental developments at their mills and discuss new FSC and recycled papers that come onto the market and actively encourage dialogue on papers between ourselves, suppliers and customers.
We encourage customers to think about the environment when here on press and support the recycling systems evident in the customer areas. We have a bulletin board on environmental matters in the customer kitchen displaying matters not just relevant to St Ives Westerham Press but to the global community as well.
waste minimisation
Our rigorous segregation and recycling procedures forms a major part of our environmental programme. We introduced strict segregation, purchasing and procedural policies consequently reducing our waste to landfill by 80% since our accreditation to ISO14001 in June 2003.
We segregate for specialist disposal and or recycling the following:
• Used litho plates
• Developer, blanket wash and fount
• Waste ink and empty ink packaging
• Waste blankets
• Waste plastic and steel drums
• Cardboard
• Paper
• Batteries
• Fluorescent tubes/lamps
• Used IT/office equipment
• Broken wooden pallets
• Aluminium/steel cans
Environmental Credentials
ISO14001 Accreditation
This is an internationally recognised standard for environmental management which demonstrates our environmental credentials. As a customer you are:
• Assured of our compliance with current legislation
• Confident that we fulfil our policy commitments and strive for continual improvement against specific targets to meet objectives
• Convinced of a credible performance as we are assessed by a third party
• Guaranteed that our image is good with customers, neighbours, local authorities, suppliers and are own shareholders
• Assured that we have a planned strategy for the management of environmental activities and risks on the site
• Have no doubt that we are a proactive and innovative team
FSC chain of custody certification
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international, non-profit and non-government organisation promoting good forest management. Displaying their label on your printed product indicates that the paper you have chosen comes from a well managed forest that has been independently inspected and evaluated to comply with a strict set of environmental, social and economic standards.
Holding FSC Chain of Custody Certification enables St Ives Westerham Press to use the FSC logo on your printed product, guaranteeing you that our operations have been inspected and certified in the audit trail of tree to printed product. The benefit to you is that the logo verifies the social and environmental choice of material and demonstrates that the company takes the environmental concerns of their customers seriously.
choice of materials & equipment
We actively seek recycled and sustainable sourced or manufactured materials; our office paper is FSC certified and many of our stationery such as pens and pencils are made from recycled materials. We substituted all aerosol products for containers that could be recycled. We promote the use of FSC and recycled papers to our customers and our standard ink set is vegetable based.
Any new process or equipment is subject to an assessment to measure its impact on the environment with regards to energy consumption, waste generation and emissions.
carbon neutral & future forests
Carbon Neutral is the registered trade mark of Future Forests. It is the point at which the amount of CO2 produced by a manufacturing process is equal to the amount being removed.
The Future Forest Carbon Neutral programme measures the amount of CO2 produced by the process, recommends ways of reducing it (ie buying green energy) and what can’t be reduced will be ‘offset’ for you in the equivalent CO2 savings achieved through forestry schemes that reabsorb CO2, and technology projects developing renewable energy sources that cut down CO2 emissions.
In a nutshell any CO2 emissions that can’t be reduced are converted into cash which is then used to plant trees which reabsorb your carbon or goes to developing technology that produces energy with low or no emissions.
environmental policy statement
St Ives Westerham Press is a market leader in high quality prestigious print, producing annual reports, corporate literature, marketing material, fine art and photography books, prints and a variety of specialist, bespoke projects.
As part of St Ives plc we understand our responsibilities with regards to environmental protection which rank equally in importance with other key business objectives and we recognised that the printing process inevitably has an impact on the environment. Compliance with rlevant environmental legislation and regulations to prevent pollution is an essential part of all St Ives businesses.
As St Ives Westerham Press we make specific commitments to prevent pollution and to continually improve the environmental performance of our operations through the setting and attaining of objectives and targets.
Every manager in the business is committed to ensuring that our environmental policy is understood and implemented at every level of the company and communicated to all employees.
We monitor our environmental performance, focusing on the following issues:
• Continued monitoring of our use of materials and evaluation of the environmental impacts of our choice of materials
• Maintaining our enrolment in the Climate Change Levy scheme and meeting specific energy efficiency targets
• Maintaining our Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody accreditation
• Maintaining our status as a Carbon Neutral company
• Including energy consumption, water use, waste generation and emissions in the purchasing criteria of all new equipment
• Working with suppliers, contractors and customers to increase their awareness of our environmental initiatives and minimise the impacts of their products and services on the environment
• Continuing to look at ways of minimising waste across our operations
• Our people are our strength and we encourage our staff in environmental initiatives and support them with training and awareness programmes on environmental issues
• We actively support open discussions with interested parties in relation to environmental matters
This policy is reviewed on an annual basis and is available to the public on request.
St Ives and the environment
The board has established an environmental policy which is implemented through the Group’s existing management structure. The policy concentrates on achieving a deliverable improvement in performance in consultation with suppliers, customers and employees.
Specific areas targeted for continuous attention include the adoption, where practicable, of processes which reduce the Group’s emissions of volatile organic compounds, noise and dust, minimising and recycling of waste products, recycling of water and securing reductions in energy consumption.
The Group continues to make progress towards improving its performance in the areas identified for attention and, during the year, completed Group-wide ISO14001 accreditation.
The targets set for the year to contain the net financial impact on the Group of the Climate Change Levy have been met and new targets set for next year in order to recoup as much of the Levy as possible.
The key performance indicators used to measure environmental performance are:
Waste sent to landfill;
Water consumption; and
Gas and electricity usage per square metre of substrate (usually, but not always, paper or board).
In absolute terms, however, the Group recorded an improvement in all three key performance indicators: total gas consumption at all sites fell, year on year, by 10.4% (2008 – 3.3 per cent fall compared with 2007), total electricity consumption fell by 8.0% (2008 – 0.4% fall compared with 2007) and total water consumption fell by 4.6% (2008 – 1.9% increase compared with 2007). Total waste sent to landfill was reduced by 53.1% (2008 – 13.3 per cent reduction compared with 2007).
Individual targets are set on a site by site basis to improve the Group’s overall environmental performance and these are set out in the Group’s latest Environmental Report which is available, on request, from the Company Secretary or by clicking here.
waste sent to landfill
Waste sent to landfill per metre squared of substrate consumed was reduced by 45%;
water consumption
Water consumption per square metre increased by 10% (in 2008 a 5.8% reduction was achieved)
energy efficiency
Energy efficiency (energy used per square metre) increased by 6% (in 2008 a 3.7% decrease was achieved) compared to the previous year’s figures.
To illustrate the range of our services, of necessity, we have reproduced customers' registered and unregistered trade marks and representations of their brands. The rights that our customers have in their respective trade marks and brands are fully acknowledged.