Park Lane Press is a relatively small but majorly progressive green printer based in Wiltshire that is using its environmental credentials to bring in business. As far back as 1999 it took up the challenge to become more environmentally responsible by eliminating the use of water and IPA in the printing process. Since then it has cut down significantly on its water usage (down from 1339 cubic metres in 2001 to 499 in 2007), has switched to soya based inks for four-colour process work (in 2002), reduced the amount of waste going to landfill (by 65% between 2005 and 2007), switched to Good Energy (supplier of natural renewal energy) and increased the quantity of recycled/FSC paper used to 60 percent of total paper purchased. It also holds the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) chain of custody certificate and is Emas (Eco Management Audit Scheme) registered. On top of all this, Park Lane Press is now offsetting all its carbon emissions through the Defra recommended charity, Pure.

All this has been achieved by 18 employees and without the expense of consultancies. The hard work is now paying off for Park Lane, which has re-branded with a maple leaf logo to highlight its ‘natural’ focus, and filled its website with information about its green initiatives. What’s more, sales from ‘green’ jobs now account for over £581,000 of its total £2.2million revenue. The reasoning behind these moves is simple: to build business in a changing market. Just before the end of the last millennium Park Lane, which then had a turnover of around £1.8m, began to struggle to maintain the required quality it had built its reputation on, with the very hard Wiltshire water hampering production. This was the driving force that saw it move to waterless printing, enabling the company to print at higher screen rulings and cut out the water usage and IPA, therefore enhancing the quality, as well as reducing environmental impact.

Sales from 'green' jobs now account for over £581,000 of a total £2.2million revenue.

The reasoning behind these moves is simple: to build business in a changing market. Just before the end of the last millennium Park Lane, which then had a turnover of around £1.8m, began to struggle to maintain the required quality it had built its reputation on, with the very hard Wiltshire water hampering production. This was the driving force that saw it move to waterless printing, enabling the company to print at higher screen rulings and cut out the water usage and IPA, therefore enhancing the quality, as well as reducing environmental impact.

The following years saw more customers attracted to the waterless process and quality. Park Lane marketed heavily the quality print that could now be achieved with 300lpi brochures, creating a real stir in the creative industry. But it found quantities and budgets dwindling, prompting Park Lane to look for a new angle to boost business. The next step seemed obvious. With growing interest in environmental issues it built on what it had already achieved with waterless and implemented an environmental management system that was accredited by the ISO14001 standard in 2002. This was integrated into a quality management system ISO9001 in 2003 and the company began to change its marketing materials from glossy brochures to uncoated information lead materials on how to produce greener print, highlighting the advantages of waterless.

Having set-off on the environmental path there was no stopping Park Lane whose most recent mission is to limit and offset its carbon footprint. Requiring guidance on how to measure the company’s carbon footprint and the need for a third party to buy the carbon credits to offset its emissions, Park Lane approached established private companies in the marketplace, such as the Carbon Neutral Company and Climate Care.

After investigating various companies, their methods of calculating the emissions and offsetting, there appeared to be no standard to follow, nor one directing authority to verify carbon credit projects. So in December last year Park Lane approached The Carbon Trust (whose carbon offset schemes are independently verified and whose administration costs absorb only 14 percent of donations) which undertook a thorough examination of the print plant’s operations and issued a carbon footprint report, a method of monitoring the footprint, as well as a plan to reduce it - all free of charge.

The result is that throughout 2008 Park Lane will work to reduce its carbon footprint by following the plans set out in the auditor’s report. In addition it will be offsetting all its emissions with the charity Pure.

While Pure does not own a recognised brand for carbon offsetting (like Carbon Neutral or Climate Care for instance) it uses verified Government approved offsetting schemes and operates to the Code of Best Practice for carbon offsetting.

Pure financially supports Kyoto Protocol emissions reduction projects around the world. Emission reductions are audited and verified by the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism - or for UK projects by the National Energy. These emissions reductions are witnessed by carbon credits, which might then be used by polluters within Kyoto emissions trading schemes for compliance purposes. However, the trustees then cancel these credits from the international register which limits the amount of greenhouse gases that polluting companies are allowed to release into the atmosphere. This method both meets the proposed UK Government Code of Best Practice for carbon offsetting and offers a dual environmental benefit.

Park Lane is now striving towards set future environmental targets. For instance, it is aiming to cut electricity usage by 10 percent (relative to production) by 2011. Currently, its relative usage has gone up by 8.5 percent due to the installation of a digital press and finishing equipment to complete more work in-house. With the installation of Powerperfector in March the company hopes to show improvements before the year ends.

Having already achieved a nine percent reduction in the amount waste going to landfill Park Lane hopes to cut that further, to 10 percent, by 2011. In the same period it hopes to reduce the amount of diesel used in its vans by 10 percent too. Likewise, it has set a target of a 10 percent reduction in its hazardous waste by 2011.

Park Lane’s own local community has also benefited from the printer’s refocusing. For example, the company provides educational school visits and has printed postcards for Mead School’s ‘design an environmental postcard’ competition and donated pallets to a local allotment to build compost heaps, to name but a few.

To run a successful environmental management system (EMS) Park Lane has found it is necessary to involve everyone, so that is exactly what it’s doing.

- Employees - the directors cover environmental responsibilities as part of the staff reviews and training is provided on ISO14001, 9001, EMAS and FSC. The staff manual also holds data referencing all the standards Park Lane operates to, and procedures implemented to comply to the standards and improvement programmes.

- Suppliers - are vetted for environmental and quality procedures, and are made aware that Park Lane will always be searching for greener methods of operating.

- Customers - can obtain from the Park Lane website (www.parklanepress.co.uk) its environmental performance figures and read about its initiatives. They are offered greener alternatives on request with regards to paper and finishing processes.

- Community - the general public also has free access to all Park Lane’s green information. The printer has started an educational programme for local sixth-form students on working with an EMS which is expected to be rolled out to the wider business community.

The road Park Lane is taking is not an easy route to success, but with the dedication of all involved the company is convinced that there will be gold at the end.

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