“Green” certification is turning into alphabet soup and we’re all getting lost in the acronyms!
Confusion is swirling around not only the SGP guidelines, but also FSC and SFI certification. What does this all mean? Should my company consider one or all of these certifications? Let’s do a quick comparison of the SGP program with FSC/SFI certification programs.
Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP)
The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership was established to “encourage and promote participation in the worldwide movement to reduce environmental impact and increase social responsibility of the print and graphic communications industry through sustainable green printing practices.”
Guiding principals for sustainable business – according to the SGP - are:
- Employ, wherever and whenever possible, materials derived from renewable resources or with low environmental impact, maximizing recycling and recovery efforts with efficient utilization of renewable energy.
- Encourage the adoption of changes within the supply chain by strongly recommending the use of raw materials that do not threaten or harm future generations.
- Educate the customer and ultimate consumer regarding the benefits of a restorative economy.
The SGP Partnership was established in 2007 as an independent third-party verification organization by three founding organizations—PIA/GATF, SGIA (Specialty Graphic Imaging Association), and FTA (Flexographic Technical Association).
At the NEHS (National Environmental, Health, and Safety) Conference, March 12, the Sustainable Green Printing (SGP) Partnership announced the release of draft guidelines for becoming a “sustainable, green printer” under the partnership’s registration program. You may get a copy from SGP and make comments until April 18.
The guidelines outline criteria for becoming an SGP Printer and include several categories of best practices in the area of management processes and systems and best practices. The best practices fall into three areas:
- Product - the design aspects and input material management to create the product.
- Process - all manufacturing steps involved with converting raw materials into a finished product, including process by-products that have an environmental, health and safety impact.
- Envelope - all the manufacturing support activities and includes the building, grounds, utilities employee, and other functions at an individual site.
Forest Certification and Chain of Custody Certification Programs
In recognition of concerns about the forest crisis in Europe in the 1980s, forest certification programs were developed, for the most part, by non-governmental business, landowner, and environmental organizations (NGOs) in an attempt to harness the power of the private market to encourage compliance with forest management rules. FSC - the Forest Stewardship Council - was market-driven, and developed by a variety of NGOs, and comprises a world-wide organization; SFI - the Sustainable Forestry Initiative - was developed by the forestry industry itself, and is a North American entity.
Companies are certified as to whether their management practices follow specified rules regarding environmental, social, and business functions of the forests. Chain of Custody programs simply ensure that an “audit trail” exists to guarantee the certified products are being delivered to the consumer/end user as promised.
You can access a wide range of information about forest certification programs by going to the Yale Program on Forest Policy and Governance.
Do I Certify?
Certification under either FSC or SFI Chain of Custody (CoC) certification or the Sustainable Green Printer program is a business decision you have to make. There are costs and resource demands to any certification program; you need to commit people and their time to meet the requirements and there are certification and audit fees as well. For small companies, several thousand dollars may be out of reach; for larger companies, it’s easily budgeted.
While the “Seal of Approval” may be your long-term goal, the best short-term action you can take is to pick up the FSC/SFI CoC certification requirements and the SGP program criteria, and begin to implement them.
What you will have in your hands is a manual for good business practices – not just a guide to becoming more “sustainable.” Building good business processes is good business, and following these guidelines and best practices ensures that you will run a tighter, leaner company. A tighter, leaner company is a more profitable company.
Then, when the time is right for you, you will have already put into place all the practices required to qualify, and a simple audit will ensure your certification.
Discussion
By Marci on Mar 27, 2008
I agree that it is becoming an alphabet soup, and as a founding partner of the SGP Partnership Program, I can report that we do get quite a few inquiries as to the differences between SGP verification and FSC/SFI certification.
As we see it, the concept of SGP verification goes beyond a chain of custody program. Through the SGP program, we are seeking to instill a program that contemplates people, profit and the planet into a facility's business plan. In other words, development of a sustainable business through a holistic approach to sustainability.
And, the SGP program may not be for everyone, we can agree with that statement. But, we are hearing from our customer base that there is an increasing need to not only say we are doing the right thing, such as recycling, or lowering our environmental footprint, but that we can verify and prove that we are doing it! The goal of the SGP partnership is to provide a printing facility with the ability to offer that proof.
We welcome comments on our draft criteria --
Marci Kinter
VP Government & Business Information
SGIA
By Adam Dewitz on Mar 27, 2008
Marci: perhaps the SGP program should look into providing educational resources on the various sustainability certifications and programs on its Website.
It seems like printers are hungry for this information and are not finding it anywhere free accessible.
By Patrick Berger on Mar 28, 2008
Having attended the NEHS and being a former member the the SGP initial committee I can truthfully say that there is an abundance of good intentions. The educational resources at this time are not readily available. The trainers available to properly instruct in the implementation of these programs are very few and those with years of experience tend to keep it to themselves as a marketing advantage. Helping educate on SGP techniques is the only way this will ever work and reach its full potential. Thank you Pat Berger
By Vic Nathan Barkin on Mar 28, 2008
Right now there is no market demand for SGP for obvious reasons. It hasn't been fully developed and pushed out yet. That however will change.
That said, the demand for the concept IS out there in the form of new "sustainability"-oriented questions from customers and on RFPs.
The paper certification requirements (FSC, SFI, and now, PEFC) are, in fact, being driven by public demand today. FSC is predominant due to their Triple Bottom Line approach to certification, while SFI and PEFC concentrate primarily on good forest management practices and has therefore not had the same demand as FSC.
In our world, certification is mostly about demand and supply, not the other way around. As an FSC Tier 1 auditor for Smartwood, and as an industry consultant, the first thing I always ask my clients is "Why are you getting certified?" 85% say because their customers demand it.
In the end, whether you're being proactive or reactive, once you decide to embark on any certification program, the documentation of processes and the setting up of data collection and reporting protocols is the first step. This is common to all of the system requirements, which are more or less based on ISO standards.
The difference is that SGP is more centered on an enterprise-wide Environmental/Sustainability Management System approach (EMS/SMS), while the paper certifications (FSC, SFI, PEFC) Chain of Custody systems (COC) concentrate only on paper purchases and sales.
In the end I believe that SGP will succeed and have a good effect on the industry once it gets through the start-up phase and is pushed out to the print buyers. In the meantime, going in that direction and setting up "Documented Control Systems" is a wise course of action.
Respectfully,
Vic Nathan Barkin
Vic Barkin Consulting
By Marci on Mar 28, 2008
Regarding educational resources -- the partner organizations, SGIA, PIA/GATF and FTA, have long provided information regarding compliance issues, EMSs, sustainability, other certification programs.
I disagree with Mr. Berger that the educational resources are not available. There are many printers that are willing to share what they have done -- this is the true spirit of sustainable business practices. It requires facilities to be transparent in their actions.
Also, there continues to be outreach/education efforts undertaken on the part of many print orgainziations, not just the partners. I do agree that education is key. But one must remember, the SGP Partnership Program is the registry system. It falls to the industry trade associations to help their members and respective industry platforms achieve sustainability.
Marci Kinter
SGIA
By Kevin Preston on Mar 28, 2008
Finally a rebuttal to FSC,SFI etc.!
Right from the beginning I've been skeptical of the true value of chain of custody as opposed to really being a green and sustainable printer. You can be alphabet soup certified and still be a terrible SGP printer. At our company we are striving to educate our customers on the virtues of SGP.
By Patrick Berger on Mar 29, 2008
I have been in numerous printing plants with ISO 14000 certification. In every case I experienced a sore throat and watering eyes after less than 30 minutes inside the plants. Having some types of certification are paper work trails only. In certain parts of the country this type of certification has some meaning because of local regulations and requirements. Thank you Pat Berger
By Linda White on Apr 02, 2008
I just want to make sure that everyone within range of Minnesota or who uses Minnesota printers knows that we have had a certification program since 1997, called the Great Printer Environmental Initiative. Our Director of that program, Paul Gutkowski, is available to answer questions and can explain the differences between the GP program, the CoC certifications, and SGP (as it now stands). The Great Printer program requires an audit and meeting criteria, including Beyond Compliance projects, but with the added benefit of Paul's expertise readily available. The Printing Industry of Minnesota, Inc., and Minnesota printers have been dedicated as a whole to sustainable environmental practices for years. PIM as an association sees many members who are going green for market reasons, as well as ethical reasons. We have been and will continue to be their resource.
Thank you,
Linda White
PIM Director of Marketing & Communications