In 1993, the Council
of Great Lakes Governors, the Environmental Defense Fund
and the Printing Industries of America formed a
team representing Great Lakes regulatory agency, state and federal technical assistance
providers, printers, supplier and customer, and members of labor and environmental groups.
This team reviewed regulations, permit and reporting requirements for all environmental
media, to identify barriers and possible incentives to pollution prevention and general
environmental protection. They have recommended technical, financial and regulatory
assistance needed, and how best to provide it.
The team released a July 1994 report
titled, "The Great Printers Project Recommendations to Make Pollution Prevention a
Standard Practice in the Printing Industry." The report encourages commitment to the
Great Printers Principles, suggests restructured regulatory requirements, improves
printers' access to information and technology, and provides information to print buyers
on ways to make pollution prevention and environmental protection a natural part of doing
business in the printing industry. Each State Pilot is using
the Great Printers Project report as the basis of action.
Pollution prevention projects such as the Great Printers Project can help realize the
opportunities for source reduction by focusing beyond treatment and disposal, and
considering multi-media management of pollution. Businesses need information and technical
assistance to overcome institutional barriers and adopt source reduction practices. With
the continued collaboration of the State Pilots, the demand
for continuous innovative pollution prevention technologies in the printing industry will
be inherent for everyone working with or in the industry.
Objectives
The Great Printers Project is the first in the nation to seek to create a business
environment conducive to pollution prevention for an entire industry sector. The project
intends:
- to make pollution prevention the primary choice of the Great Lakes states printing
industry in meeting and exceeding its environmental and human health protection
responsibilities.
- to recast our approach to environmental policy by bringing together representatives from
government, industry, labor, and environmental groups to focus on the common goals of
environmental protection and economic strength.
The Role of Printers Continuous Effort in Great Printing
The Great Printers Project recommends that printer's voluntarily adopt the Great
Printers Principals, which can be achieved by:
- seeking out information on their shop's environmental performance, and communicating its
environmental impacts to buyers;
- performing compliance and pollution prevention assessments, and correcting any
compliance problems; and
- measuring their own progress in preventing pollution.
Printers can use the principles as a pathway to environmentally sound printing, while
producing a quality product. Adherence to these principles also can be used by printers as
a marketing tool, to attract consumers who want "Great Printing".
The Role of Print Buyers: Building Markets for Great Printing
The Great Printers Project recommends that printers work with their customers to
develop job specifications that protect the environment, while meeting their customers'
requirements for a quality product.
Great Printing Principals
A Great Printer is one who minimizes impact on human health and the environment, while
producing a quality printed product for the customer.
Toward that end, the goals of a Great Printer are to:
- Comply with applicable environmental and worker health and safety laws;
- Go beyond compliance by employing the most environmentally sound practices, consistent
with the following management principles:
- Maximizing pollution prevention as the first course of action;
- Reusing or recycling waste that cannot be prevented; and
- Maximizing energy efficiency within the print shop.
- Seek continuous environmental improvement through periodic assessments of operations,
materials and products, and by drawing on information and ideas from employees, print
buyers, suppliers, and neighbors.
The Role of Printers' Suppliers and Distributors: Empowering the Printer as Customer
The Great Printers Project recommends that printers, suppliers, and distributors work
together to seek out environmentally superior materials, chemicals, and equipment to
produce high-quality print jobs. Inadequate information makes it difficult for printers to
choose environmentally preferable alternatives.
The Role of Government Regulators: Creating a Pollution Prevention-Friendly
Regulatory Framework
The Great Printers Project recommends that USEPA and its state regulatory partners
should:
- present printers with reporting and permitting requirements stated in a way that
minimizes redundancy and confusion, is conducive to preventing pollution, and can be
understood by an intelligent businessperson who is not expert in environmental matters;
- clarify how findings from voluntarily-performed and state-performed compliance and
pollution prevention assessments will or will not be used; and
- create a level playing field through more efficient enforcement, as an incentive to
printers to go beyond compliance.
The Role of Government and Private Assistance Programs: Providing Printers with Easy
Access to Coordinated, Industry-Specific Finance and Technical Assistance
Making technical and financial assistance and regulatory information more accessible to
small businesses is a critical step toward integrating pollution prevention into the
printing industry. The goal should be to seamlessly deliver a comprehensive array of
services that fully integrates pollution prevention, financing, and technical assistance.
Toward that end, the Great Printers Project recommends that
- a national resource center be established to provide reliable, up-to-date information
specifically for the printing industry;
- delivery of services to small printers be better coordinated and packaged to minimize
the number of calls and time spent by printers to obtain financing and technical
assistance; and
- the printing industry associations should aggressively market these upgraded services.
Printing, like most industrial activities; uses a variety of materials and potentially
hazardous chemicals, requires energy, and aggregate impact on the environment of all them
together is substantial. Many opportunities exist to lesson the impact of printing on the
environment, while increasing the competitiveness of the individual printer through
pollution prevention.
The Great Printers Project seeks to influence factors, usually beyond the control of
the average printing business, which can constrain the business' environmental decisions.
It focuses on changing those factors that lead the business away from preventing pollution
at the source. The project focuses especially on customer demands, regulatory
requirements, and access to technology and financial resources.
Efforts are under way in each partner state to designate printing companies as
"Great Printers". For more information about becoming a designated Great Printer
and the added benefits contact Debra Jacobson at 630.472.5019 or the state
partners.
