Sustainable Green Printing Partnership Announces Two New Certifications

The Sayville, New York-based Sustainable Green Printing Partnership, a nonprofit organization that provides sustainability certification in the graphics communication industry, announces two new companies that have achieved SGP certification.

The first is Portland, Oregon’s Rose City Label Co., which has been a family owned and operated business since its opening in 1928.

“In Oregon, being a green company with water-washed printing plates and wind power is a tremendous advantage,” says Scott Pillsbury, company president. “This certification didn’t require any changes in our operations, it was just a more formal recognition of the hard work we have been doing for over 10 years.

“Being a sustainability-focused company is baked into our culture. We have been sharing our results with our full team each quarter for over 5 years now and people are excited to see that we have cut our water usage by 47 percent since 2013. These results help us attract and retain both customers and team members. This is a big competitive advantage for us, and we are proud of this success.”

The company is currently upgrading its lighting to improve efficiency and save costs, Pillsbury adds, and will continue to seek out ways to become more sustainable and reduce costs.

The second recent company achieving SGP certification is Danvers, Massachusetts-based Shawmut Communications Group, which was founded in 1951.

“When my grandfather started Shawmut in 1951 the term ‘sustainability’ was not known, but the concept has always been part of our DNA,” says Kristin Spanier, Shawmut’s sustainability program manager. “Pursuing SGP certification was a natural step in our company’s evolution. It’s a fantastic way to officially recognize the work we’ve done to minimize our impact and document our ongoing commitment to reduce, reuse and conserve.”

Shawmut says it is committed to using SGP certification to work collaboratively with suppliers, print buyers and other supporting organizations to create a more sustainable printing supply chain. Upon becoming a newly certified facility, Shawmut has identified and targeted their first continuous improvement project. The facility is on a mission to recycle plastics labeled 1-7, allowing Shawmut to reduce their trash volume by 5 percent.

“To be the first SGP Certified printer in the state of Massachusetts is a major milestone,” adds Spanier. “As amazing as this is, we understand that sustainability is a continuous journey, not a goal to be checked off and onto the next. It’s a way of life. That’s why SGP represents more than just a logo to place on our website. To us, it’s a purposeful partnership that will drive positive change.”