Beacon Press Environment and Productivity Achievements

The moment you see the canvas of rich green foliage and colorful blossoms stretched across the company’s earthy brick and white washed walls, you get an immediate sense of a different approach to business. As the artfully designed plaque announces, you have entered Beacon House, home of The Beacon Press and the Beacon Creative Partnership.

Once within the garden-like Beacon House enclave, you have entered the world’s most progressive printer. Beacon has exchanged printer clichés and double-talk for a demonstrable record of dramatic reductions in all areas of commercial lithography’s environmental liability. At the same time, they have achieved remarkable levels of productivity and profits.

Beacon has taken a giant leap ahead of environmental regulatory authorities targeting the printing industry by taking a comprehensive series of initiatives. These initiatives not only involved waterless printing, but also included every aspect of its manufacturing process. The results have been astonishing both from the environmental point of view and the perspective of company profit.

Going Green Gets Results

Even though Beacon began their program in the early 1990s, they believe there is still much to be done. Yet their accomplishments are already enough to satisfy even the most stringent environmental laws of any country. Between September 1994 and August 1997 the use of the volatile organic compound (VOC) isopropanol (IPA or isopropyl alcohol) was slashed by 79 %. As the company converts more presses to waterless printing, the use of IPA and press dampening water will be completely eliminated.

Dramatic reductions in other areas such as paper waste and water usage were also made. An audit of paper waste revealed that the waterless printing process they began using in 1995 has resulted in a 29.7 % savings in paper used to date. And overall water consumption for the same period has declined by 32 %.

Green Without Red

Critics within the printing industry would point to the high cost, drain of profits as well as the loss of productivity in achieving such remarkable reductions. But Beacon addresses the critics with proof that there was no increase in electrical energy consumption during the survey period, despite heavier equipment loads, increased working shifts and total impressions produced. Even though total impressions produced increased by 31.6 %, energy held steady at 11 kWh per thousand impressions for the period. The use of natural gas for heating was also steady and reflective of normal winter/summer cycles.

During this same period, corporate profits have increased by 10 %, while the overall operating cost per thousand impressions produced has declined by 13 %. This has enabled the company to engage its customers by offering lower printing prices today than Beacon did in the 1994/1995 period.

The Beacon Press proves that adherence to a ‘green bottom line’ via resource and energy conservation, and pollution prevention, truly translates to reduced operating costs, higher profits - and more employment.

So Successful it’s pureprint™

It should come as no surprise to waterless printers that productivity and profits increased as Beacon’s proportion of printing output changed from conventional litho to waterless printing. By late 1996 Beacon management knew they were on to something special. There were not only substantial gains in key categories related to productivity, but also definite quality and ecological benefits for their existing and potential customers. And so it was that the "pureprint" designation came about. This has become The Beacon Press way of identifying its comprehensive environmental management program.

With this new identity trademarked in June of 1997 came an even strong marketing push which has resulted in the acquisition of many important new national accounts. Many of these firms are themselves environmentally conscious and are using the pureprint logo on the brochures and catalogs they produce.

It’s Not Just a Process, It’s a System

To attribute all of Beacon’s environmental management accomplishments to waterless printing would be exaggeration. Other programs are in place that round out the company’s total commitment. These range from energy saving modifications to lighting and heating systems to rigorous waste recovery and recycling schemes.

Other pressroom VOCs are stringently monitored and controlled. Low or no VOC replacements for everything from hand soaps to plate and blanket cleaners are now being used. At all times, the Beacon programme involves reductions in use, substitutions for, or the total elimination of harmful chemicals. As a matter of company policy, it seeks to reduce its consumption of these materials, even as production increases.

A Call to the Industry

Managing director Mark Fairbrass actively promotes environmental responsibility within the printing industry. He is a former chairman of the British Printing Industries Foundation environmental working party. Using public relations resources he asserts: "The printing industry has much to do to set its environmental house in order. We have continued to promote that message both by example and exhortation."

Just two years ago Mark Fairbrass’ exhortations may have fallen on deaf ears. Today there are two solid waterless plate competitors: Toray in analog plates and Presstek in computer-to-plate. In addition, there are other competitors scheduled to release new plates in 1998, which may very well increase waterless expansion.

This could be the year the industry responds to the call being made by Mark Fairbrass and The Beacon Press.

*The Beacon Press is a ISO 14001 and ISO 9002 certified company. ISO is an international standards group based in Switzerland. The ISO 14000 series of standards set guidelines for environmental audits in factories and labeling of environmentally sound products. ISO also mandates that companies account for their environmental information by tracking ‘life cycles’ of products, measuring energy, resources and waste output along the way. HTTP://WWW.BEACONPRESS.CO.UK/