At the Gala Award Event in Antwerp, Agfa Graphics was honored with the Belgian Supply Chain Award 2015. The winning project about sustainability through recycling via collaborative supply chain was selected out of six nominees.

With the Supply Chain Award-Project of the Year, The Belgian Purchasing and Logistics Association and the Belgian Society for Integrated Supply Chains aim to bring supply chain projects under the attention of management and executives in Belgian companies and government organizations. It should stimulate them to invest more in projects that improve the efficiency of their supply chain processes.

Agfa Graphics’ winning project involves the supply of aluminum printing plates, which are vital consumables to the offset printing industry. Agfa Graphics is a world-leading supplier of such plates, which represent more than 60% of its turnover.

With the project, Agfa Graphics and a number of partners in the supply chain of printing plates presented a sustainable closed-loop solution to their high-volume customers in which high-grade aluminum can be reused without value loss.
An evaluation of the carbon footprint for printing plates showed first evidence that the impact of the life cycle of plates on the environment is highly influenced by the production of the aluminum itself. The study demonstrated that current recycling technologies allow for the use of recycled printing plates in the plate production process. This reduces the total carbon footprint with 70% given the aluminum is carefully sent back to the manufacturer after being used on the printing presses. Consequently, the setup of a collaborative supply chain is crucial.