New Green Tier Charter streamlines participation in conjunction with the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership

Fairfax, Virginia - On September 30, 2015, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) convened with SGIA, the Great Lakes Graphics Association and the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) to sign an official charter unifying Green Tier with the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) — and Visual Impressions was the first printing company to be recognized as a Green Tier participant under this new agreement. 

“The team at Visual Impressions is extremely excited to be the first company to be acknowledged as a Green Tier Participant from our efforts earning the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) certification,” says Marshall Atkinson, COO, Visual Impressions. “What is really wonderful is that this is the start of the domino effect of state's governmental agencies validating the SGP program, and welcoming the reciprocity of the certification status. It's good to be at the top of the tip of the iceberg, as we can see what lies beyond.”

Green Tier is a voluntary program in Wisconsin that recognizes and rewards environmental performance through an in-depth certification process. The new charter seeks to streamline this certification for specialty printers within the state of Wisconsin, so that printers no longer need a separate ISO environmental management system to apply for Green Tier if they are already qualified as an SGP-certified printer. 

The charter serves as the launch pad for SGIA and SGP to work with states across the US to develop similar streamlining processes for environmental regulation. As the certification process becomes accessible under new charters and partnerships, printers across the nation can more easily evolve their programs to meet upper-level regulation.