Visual impact up - environmental impact down

Butler and Tanner firmly believes that printing should have an impact on your eye not on the environment. With more awards for quality than almost any other UK printer combined with outstanding success in achieving ISO 14001 and FSC Accreditation Butler and Tanner can also demonstrate that it means what it says.

By embracing widespread cultural and technical changes to its methods of production Butler and Tanner ensures that printing quality no longer has to decline in direct correlation to its environmental impact. The days of strange colours on poor quality paper being the only option for achieving ‘green production’ are long gone.

That is not to say that the entire printing industry has changed its habits and that everything produced today has only a minimal impact on the environment but it does mean that by working with a company that is prepared to invest time and energy in researching cleaner methods of production it is possible for you to produce an outstanding brochure, report or catalogue without it having a seriously detrimental effect on the environment.

Print quality

In fact print quality continues to improve year after year while new ways are found to cut waste, energy consumption, chemical and water useage.

Reducing your environmental impact and indeed achieving ISO 14001 is not a ‘one-off’ job but requires an ongoing commitment and continuous reassessment of the way in which you work.
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Large format presses use less consumables

Large format presses use less consumables

Areas of improvement

In order to achieve and maintain its ISO accreditation, Butler and Tanner has looked at its entire manufacturing process to see where improvements could be made. In addition, there are many aspects of its production process which inherently reduce its environmental impact in comparison to most other printers.
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Colour-coded bins have reduced landfill waste

Colour-coded bins have reduced landfill waste

Culture

The first step in any major change in any organisation is to get ‘buy-in’ from the staff. Butler and Tanner succeeded in this vital task through a massive educational programme carried out by ‘evangelists’ from across the organisation. Each department studied its own impact and then developed its own ideas on what could be done to make improvements. The combined ideas formed the basis of the initial plan.

The staff continued to be engaged in making further improvements and they are kept informed of successes such as the dramatic reduction in waste sent to landfill or the securing in printing contracts where environmental credentials have proved decisive.
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Waste to landfill

One of the most dramatic changes that Butler and Tanner has made is in the way that it handles its waste. By introducing colour coded bins for sorting all manner of recyclable waste it has been able to reduced the amount of rubbish that is sent to landfill by a remarkable 70%. Sorting waste in this way also has a positive economic impact in that waste becomes valuable - the company is now paid for its waste rather than paying for it to be taken away.
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Paper

The most environmentally contentious aspect of the printing process is the number of trees that are cut down. Despite the fact that the paper industry plants far more trees than it chops down it remains an emotive subject. Recycled papers have been available for a number of years and different papers contain different levels of recycled material. Butler and Tanner works with its clients to find exactly the right paper for each job. Over the years we have developed different techniques to get the best out of recycled materials and very often the results that can be achieved are indistinguishable.
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By printing and binding in the same factory, Butler and Tanner reduces the amount of transport required during the production process

By printing and binding in the same factory, Butler and Tanner reduces the amount of transport required during the production process

Consumables

In the printing industy consumables include chemicals used in various stages of production, alcohol, water, plates and ink. Handled incorrectly all of these can have a seriously detrimental effect on the environment. Butler and Tanner has implemented a comprehensive range of measures that reduces all of their use as well as improvements in the way that they are handled.

One of the latest measures adopted is the introduction of a pumped inking system across all of its presses. Ink has historically been used from small tins that generate waste in two ways: first the tin itself that gets sent to landfill and secondly the ink that inevitably gets left at the bottom of each tin. The new pumping system means that ink is now delivered in huge drums that feed all of the presses through a network of pipes. This means no more tins to landfill and a more effective method of ink handling. An added bonus is in the reduction in transport requirements as the ink is delivered in bulk rather than by a succession of smaller loads.
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Technology supports efforts

Butler and Tanner has supported its drive to reduce its environmental impact by introducing a number of important technological developments.

The benefits of Computer-to-plate (CTP) to quality and efficiency is well documented but it should be noted that it has also removed film from the printing process and with it an unpleasant cocktail of chemicals.
Digital proofing and digital printing are also important technologies.

Previous proofing methods such as Cromalin have relied heavily on chemicals as do machine proofs. Digital production removes the need for chemicals to be used.
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Unique characteristics

Butler and Tanner’s production process also has several unique characteristics that mean that its impact on the environment is greatly reduced compared to other printing companies.

The printing presses used by Butler and Tanner are three times larger than any other UK commercial printer. This means that less plates are made, less chemicals are used and less paper is wasted while machinery is being set-up for production. In addition, with the printing and binding happening under one roof and even our mailing facilities less than a mile away, our transport needs are greatly reduced.
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Use an ISO 14001 registered printer as part of your accreditation

If you are in the process of gaining accreditation for ISO 14001 or are thinking of embarking on the journey, why not use an accredited (and award-winning) printer as part of your commitment.

Butler and Tanner is able to provide a comprehensive service from design through to warehousing and distribution for all types of printing from brochures and leaflets through to books, catalogues and reports.

We already print annual reports for Shell and Vodafone as a result of our commitment to environmentally responsible practices and this list continues to grow.

If you are planning to produce a publication in the next few months we will be glad to work with you to look at the best methods of production to meet your goals.

For further information contact our commercial sales director Charlie Fenby or email details of your project to .
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