Ecolabelling of printed matter - part I
4 Synergy effects and supplier collaboration
- 4.1 Environmental management in printing companies
- 4.2 Environmental labelling of graphic products
- 4.3 Synergy effects
- 4.4 A method for product-oriented environmental management
This chapter is defined within the following frameworks of goals, activities and results:
Goals
To present examples of synergy effects achieved through introducing environmental labels in environmental management systems.
Activities
On the basis of the experience gathered in the graphics sector in Denmark with the Swan Nordic environmental label, as well as environmental management in relation to ISO 14001 and EMAS, the synergy effects generated by combining environmental labelling and environmental management are described.
Using GA’s guide to environmental management as the background, which is currently used by nearly 50 printing companies, examples of the use of the environmental requirements for environmental labels implemented into environmental management systems have been examined and evaluation with the aim of revealing synergy effects which could be generated between them.
Examples of the use of the Swan at both the strategic and operational level in environmental management have been drawn up. Also, examples have been drawn up of the supportive effect of environmental labels in developing both an environmental policy and the operational system.
Results
Examples of the synergy and supportive effect that can be achieved by producing methods for integrating the environmental label criteria into the environmental management system.
Proposals for producing methods for product-oriented environmental management with a view to developing or revising the environmental label criteria in the environmental management systems for the Swan and the Flower.
The structure of the sections
The system used is first to describe the Danish experience with environmental management and environmental labelling. This is followed by a number of interactive effects (in the description of results these are called synergy and supportive effects), which are typically achieved by companies that work with both environmental labelling and environmental management systems. Finally the relationship is made concrete by setting out some actual suggestions for making environmental management systems product-oriented.
4.1 Environmental management in printing companies
In Denmark in 2004 there are over 50 graphics companies, which have an ISO 14001 certificate and/or an EMAS registration. The principal types of company that are certified work with sheet offset and heat set printing. They mainly produce advertising material, brochures, magazines, books etc. Companies, which are certified and/or registered, represent around 50% of the production capacity in Denmark in the groups mentioned.
The first Danish graphics company was certified in the med-1990s. By the end of the millennium, that number had risen to more than 50. It was particularly the customers for printed matter, and their increased focus on the environment, who put environmental certification on the agenda at the graphics companies, and still today it is often a requirement that the company be environmentally certified in order to qualify to bid for large scale public sector printed material commissions.
The next sections are based on the elements which Danish graphics companies work seriously with in regard to environmental management. They can be categorised as:
- Determining significant impacts
- Environmental management of the company
- Auditing
4.1.1 Significant impacts
One precondition for developing environmental management is that the company is able to identify and focus on the significant environmental impacts generated by its production, the raw materials used and the way in which the products are used and disposed of.
The ISO 14001 standard defines this as follows, ”The organisation shall establish and maintain (a) procedure(s) to identify the environmental aspects of its activities, products or services that it can control and over which it can be expected to have an influence, in order to determine those which have significant impact on the environment”.
In practice is it usual, as far as Danish graphics companies are concerned, to identify the significant environmental impacts on the basis of criteria such as the volume of environmental parameters, hazard, legislative requirements, occupational health and safety and/or economic considerations etc.
Some companies have approached their environmental work by identifying and prioritising the significant environmental parameters by using various theories formulated in relatively comprehensive point-scoring models. The results of using these various points models has been shown by experience to be identical to the results achieved by letting the companies use what is in practice a model more accessible to the company, where the significant environmental parameters for production are evaluated on the basis of volume, danger, legislative requirements, occupational health and safety and/or economic considerations etc.
In fact today nearly all the graphics companies use the procedure described above when it is necessary to identify environmental parameters for setting goals, action plans and management. In addition, those companies who are licensed to use the Swan label for printed matter have the chance to include the criteria from this scheme when identifying significant environmental conditions.
Annex B gives an example of a typical matrix of significant types of impacts for a sheet fed printing company. The term “significant impacts” is defined in the ISO 14001 standard.
4.1.2 Environmental management of the company
Annex C shows an overview of the elements Danish graphics companies typically focus on in their environmental management systems.
The central fulcrum of the company’s environmental work is formulated in the environmental policy, goals and action plans collectively called the environmental strategy. In fact for many years Danish graphics companies have had a tradition of setting up action plans for reducing the use of VOCs, paper, inks etc. as well as minimising waste and the discharge of wastewater.
In addition, the environmental management systems often place a special focus on:
- Evaluating raw materials, including chemicals and other additives
- Evaluating the production equipment
- Consumption of raw materials
- Advising customers
- Pre-sorting waste
Evaluating raw materials, including chemicals and other additives
A number of different chemicals are used in producing printed matter, of which the most important are ink, varnish, glue, damping solution concentrates, alcohol and washing agents as well as photographic chemicals. Typically, the selection of these products has been assessed on the basis of parameters such as price, quality and delivery reliability. In recent years, as mentioned, greater weight has been placed on factors such as the environment and occupational health and safety.
In general in Europe there is a very wide selection of raw materials and products for graphic production. There are many different variants of each of these raw materials and products.
In general, graphics companies often change products. The reason for this stems from several factors. Part of the reason is just the large selection of raw materials and products available; another reason is the continuous technological development in these areas. Another factor has been that as a natural consequence of price pressure in the market for printed matter, there has been pressure on suppliers’ product prices.
As graphics companies choose products in a market where there are a large number of products, and where it is very difficult to form a complete view, it has proved very difficult to place much focus in the environmental management systems on environmental assessment of new chemicals and additives in such a way as to avoid the introduction of new products with worse environmental qualities than those previously used.
Evaluating the production equipment
There has been a great deal of technological development in the graphics sector over many years. The digitalisation of the production equipment and the development of machines with ever-higher production volumes have played a key role. Technological development in general, alongside the keen competition in the market for printed matter has meant, and still means, that companies must develop and consolidate their market position, and this has required a relatively extensive replacement of production equipment.
Replacing production equipment often involves changes in the significant environmental impacts generated by the companies. If this concerns production equipment, which, despite the speed of technological development, has a relatively long lifetime, there will be many significant consequences for the overall environmental impact of the companies for many years to come.
Thus it is important to evaluate new production equipment not just technically and financially, but also from an environmental point of view. Thus, as a main rule, environmental management systems in the Danish graphics companies include guidelines for evaluating production equipment.
Consumption of raw materials
Not using resources optimally normally leads to unnecessary environmental impacts.
By monitoring the consumption of raw materials and the disposal of waste, the company has an opportunity to make a management initiative concerning unnecessary environmental impacts. In the environmental management system this monitoring is typically performed through agreed procedures for recording non-conformances, and preventive and corrective actions, or through systems, which register waste continuously.
Procedures for non-conformances and corrective actions and preventive are an important aspect of a management system. Insofar as this part of the environmental management system is implemented successfully, the company has the opportunity to involve all levels of employee in identifying variations in consumption of raw materials or waste. Also, and absolutely central to the dynamics of the system, continuous registration of non-conformances will produce knowledge about new environmental goals and areas of initiative.
Using systems for continuous registration of waste ensures continuous monitoring, which makes it possible not only to take action if there is suddenly a large unnecessary wastage of raw materials, but also to assess the usage of raw materials etc. from a strategic perspective, both from an economic and environmental point of view.
Advising customers
As can be seen from the LCA conducted in Part II of the project, the customer’s choice of design, gram weight, format etc. has a large influence on the overall environmental impact of the graphics product.
Products (raw materials) such as paper and inks play a not insignificant role, and therefore it makes a big difference not just that the printing company itself can use paper and inks as optimally as possible, but also that there are discussions with customers about design and format with the aim of avoiding, for example, an unnecessarily large waste of paper during production. For example, choosing the lowest gram weight possible for the material will have a positive effect on environmental impacts.
Advising customers about environmental aspects when designing printed matter is also an important environmental parameter, and so should be included in both the strategic and operational parts of the environmental management system. In fact, by far the majority of companies who work with environmental management focus on this in selling and marketing printed matter, and this is reflected in their environmental policies, sales procedures, external information etc.
Pre-sorting waste
In Denmark, waste has to be sorted at source by law, and each municipality has special regulations for sorting commercial waste. When disposing of waste it is attempted to give the highest priority to truly recycling it, and as a second priority that waste that cannot really be reused is destroyed by incineration at plants, which use the energy, released for electricity generation or district heating. Waste, which can be neither recycled nor incinerated, is destroyed or dumped as landfill at specially designed areas.
This legislation is reflected in the environmental management systems at the companies, where there is a great deal of pre-sorting, so as much as possible can be recycled and the rest incinerated or dumped. In practice there are concrete guidelines for sorting and disposal, which are generally included in the instructions for individual departments or processes.
4.1.3 Environmental management system audit
To ensure that results are achieved and the management system develops, there are periodic reviews, both internally and using external audits of the environmental management system. For the most part, Danish graphics companies place particular weight on the relevance of the goals and action plans established, as well as the ability of the company to carry them out, the site view, environmental awareness, use of assessments of chemicals and production equipment and the ability to conform to the appropriate legislation.
4.2 Environmental labelling of graphic products
In Denmark, over 130 graphics companies have a licence to label printed matter with the Nordic Swan. Most of those who have this licence are sheet offset and heat offset printing companies who produce advertising material, brochures, magazines, books etc. The companies represent between 80 and 90 per cent of the production capacity in Denmark in these areas.
The first company was awarded a licence at the end of the 1990s, and when the previous criteria document was issued in 2002, there were more than 160 license holders. The reason that the number has fallen to approximately 130 today is the general reduction in the number of companies in Denmark, due to mergers, acquisitions etc. Thus this should not be taken to mean that the companies who are licensed today have a lower production capacity than the total of companies licensed in the past.
The following section will describe the key elements in the work involved with environmental labelling. These in turn will be sub-divided into:
- criteria
- maintaining the licence and the production of Swan labelled products
- inspection
4.2.1 Criteria
When a manufacturer or dealer applies for a licence to produce environmentally labelled products, the general purpose with the various environmental schemes is to provide a guarantee that the product is amongst the best from an environmental point of view. The label conveys the right to market the product as more environmentally friendly than other products of similar type, which do not carry an environmental label.
The requirements for the Swan and the EU Flower attempt to employ the cradle-to-grave principle. The mapping normally involves five phases: Raw materials used, production, distribution and packaging, use and disposal.
However, the results of Part II of this project show that the existing requirements in the criteria document for Swan labelling of printed matter are only supported to a lesser degree by knowledge gleaned from recognised life cycle analyses.
The goal for establishing the level of requirements in both the Nordic and European environmental label is that no more than one third of goods on the market will be able to fulfil the criteria when they come into force. This is set out as goal, but for this study it has not been possible to obtain information, which gives more details about it.
Annex D lists the parameters required to be allowed to use the Swan label. There is also an assessment of what environmental impacts these parameters have had and the extent to which it is actually possible to monitor and control the individual requirements.
4.2.2 Maintaining the licence and the production of Swan labelled products.
A company with a Swan label licence for printed matter must continuously maintain that licence. Should the company change:
- inks, varnishes, glues, washing agents, damping solution concentrates etc.
- sub-contractors
- consumption volumes (washing agents and alcohol)
- production equipment
the licence awarder must be informed.
Similarly, in order to keep its licence, the company must ensure that a number of concrete conditions are met for the production of the particular product to be Swan labelled.
4.2.3 Inspection
The company is controlled by the environmental scheme on the award of the licence and/or an inspection visit during the period for which the licence is valid.
The main items inspected are:
- use of the logo
- compliance with the licence for production of Swan labelled orders
- conformity between the statements in the application (use of chemicals, sub-contractors etc) and reality
4.3 Synergy effects
On the basis of experience in Denmark, the next section presents a number of selected examples of the effects of incorporating environmental labelling into environmental management systems in the following areas:
- Environmental strategy
- Environmental aspects, significant impacts and areas of initiative
- Evaluation of raw materials - waste
- Evaluating the production equipment
- Consumption of raw materials
- Advising customers
- Audit/inspection
4.3.1 Environmental strategy
4.3.1.1 Incorporating environmental labelling in the environmental management system
In the second half of the 1990s the Danish Environmental Protection Agency assessed the experience and results of ISO 14001 and EMAS in Denmark. One of the principal conclusions was that environmental management systems should be much more product-oriented than they had been until then.
Up until that point, the graphics companies had primarily focussed on the internal conditions of production at the companies, with the focus on reducing the use of water, electricity, consumption of solvents etc.
A number of graphics companies, however, right from the establishment of their environmental management system had decided, as part of their environmental strategy to provide information about the life cycle of the product itself. In practice this proved to be difficult for a number of reasons. Firstly, the operational part of the environmental management system was typically based on the actual production conditions within the company, but also, and perhaps most importantly, the sector as a whole lacked an overall analysis of the environmental relations of graphic products from a life cycle perspective.
For companies in general, the key goal will always be to produce products of the quality the market demands. Traditionally for graphics companies, this has meant visible qualities such as price, delivery, flexibility, advice and properties such as function, durability, design and the message in general.
The environmental properties added to a graphic product in the production process are different from these, because they are invisible. They are qualities that need to be made visible actively through providing information, and which are not immediately obvious from the appearance of the printed matter.
Seen in the light of the fact that the companies were lacking precise product-oriented knowledge about environmental conditions from an LCA perspective, as well as any methodological experience and training in environmental matters, then the introduction of the Swan environmental label by the Nordic Council of Ministers rapidly turned into a huge success in the graphics sector. The Swan logo became a tool, which could communicate simply, visibly and reliably with the customer partly about the product, partly about environmental relationships and also provide the customers with a marketing impact in their own market.
While an environmental management system such as ISO 14001 and an ecolabel such as the Swan are in theory two completely different systems, in a market-oriented context a decisive factor will often be what the customer markets best. The Swan label thus became both a tool for individual companies to make visible their ability to produce graphics products with consideration for the environment, while also involving the product-oriented element in the environmental management systems to a much higher degree than before, as well as a tool allowing the end-customers to market their own environmental awareness.
4.3.1.2 Environmental management as an element in environmental labelling.
The opportunity to be awarded a licence for environmental labelling meant that development at the companies, which wished to establish environmental management systems largely stopped. By far the majority of the companies, which already had an environmental management system, were awarded a licence for environmental labelling, but also a large number of companies, which did not have such systems in place, applied for and were awarded the licence.
Amongst the companies, which did not already have any environmental management system, there had previously been no tradition for working with environmental matters, and thus the Swan meant that the environmental parameters became part of the overall management strategy in a number of these companies. For these companies the idea of having to commit to environmental conditions in a technical production context was something new, and for this reason in many cases they had to start a process of change or invest in new technology to be able to meet the environmental requirements. These activities in turn meant for many companies that they have developed and implemented a type of environmental management system suitable for smaller companies in order to manage the ability of the company to introduce such activities and meet the requirements of the environmental label. In addition several companies have drawn up a real environmental strategy both for their own obligations and for external marketing.
4.3.2 Environmental aspects, significant impacts and areas of initiative.
4.3.2.1 Incorporating environmental labelling in the environmental management system
As already mentioned, in principle, environmental management and environmental labelling are two different systems. Experience has shown, however, that it is neither possible nor particularly appropriate to separate these systems within the same company, as there are a number of circumstances in the systems which either complement or work against each other and thus need to be clarified.
For some companies environmental management has been used as an “answer book” in identifying significant environmental aspects, for others, using this “answer book” has shifted the focus from the significant environmental aspects the company has itself identified. For the first type of company with environmental management, there have been a number of areas with the result that there is a definite incongruity between:
- The significant environmental aspects identified on the basis of selected principles in the environmental management system and the environmental requirements which should be observed in the criteria document for the Swan label
and
- The requirement for technology specified in the criteria document and that considered by the public authorities as the cleanest technology, especially at a regional level.
Both areas could be clarified by performing a life cycle analysis of the given product area.
Despite the lack of clarity, the requirements from environmental criteria could give the companies new opportunities to set goals, action plans and to follow up on them.
4.3.2.2 Environmental management as an element in environmental labelling
Companies, which had no experience of environmental management before being awarded a Swan label licence for printed matter, have in some cases used the environmental principles to set up action plans for meeting and maintaining the criteria. In this way companies have set activities in motion, which they would probably not otherwise have done without the licence. The criteria for the Swan have thus become a type of answer book for what good environmental practice is.
4.3.3 Evaluation of raw materials (chemicals)
4.3.3.1 Incorporating environmental labelling in the environmental management system
The criteria for Swan labelling of printed matter include special requirements for the ingredients in and product qualities of inks, varnishes, glues, damping solution additives, washing agents and other products.
In practice, these products are approved through the manufacturer sending the necessary material for a particular product to the secretariat of the environmental labelling scheme. The environmental labelling scheme secretariat examine the documentation submitted and inform the manufacturer involved whether or not the product can be used for Swan labelled printed matter.
Printing companies that then want to use a specific product in their production of Swan labelled printed matter must they inquire from the scheme as to whether a particular product is approved.
This centralised collation of evaluations of product information provides companies, through the requirements of the Swan label, easy and reliable access to information for use in setting goals and action plans.
In this way the database for the environmental labelling scheme is a type of positive list, so the companies do not themselves have to make sometimes-difficult decisions on the basis of supplier instructions and other documentation, as they can rely on the database.
It also gives the potential for companies using environmental management to use the environmental label criteria as evaluation parameters in purchasing and using new chemicals.
4.3.3.2 Environmental management as an element in environmental labelling
Companies with the Swan licence are obliged to continuously maintain the licence, for example, when they wish to use new inks, varnishes, glues etc. This requires that the companies systematically evaluate new products, not just the technical and financial aspects, as is usual, but also in regard to the requirements of the environmental label. In order to ensure that all products are evaluated, and the evaluations are technically correct and conducted within a suitable timeframe, the companies have to draw up procedures.
4.3.4 Evaluating the production equipment
4.3.4.1 Incorporating environmental labelling in the environmental management system
When investing in new production equipment, it is also essential to evaluate the investment in relation to the requirements for environmental labelling to ensure that these are still observed. In other words, companies have to commit to a number of specifications of an environmental nature relating to the actual investment in question.
In some cases, meeting the Swan label criteria can mean that the companies have to invest in special production equipment or ancillary equipment. Experience shows that companies which use environmental management already have procedures for environmental assessment of new production equipment implemented in these systems.
4.3.4.2 Environmental management as an element in environmental labelling
Licensed companies are obliged to maintain the licence on a continuous basis, for example, when they change production methods or equipment.
This requires that they systematically evaluate new production equipment, not just from a technical and financial point of view, but also from an environmental perspective. To ensure that the evaluation is technically correct, the company must have a procedure in place for evaluating new production equipment, including the environmental aspects.
4.3.5 Utilisation of raw materials - waste
4.3.5.1 Incorporating environmental labelling in the environmental management system
Depending entirely on what requirements are set out in the environmental label criteria concerning the utilisation of raw materials, there will be elements that can advantageously be implemented in environmental management systems. Experience shows that many companies, which traditionally work with environmental management, have already established procedures for monitoring and managing raw materials consumption and volumes of waste.
4.3.5.2 Environmental management as an element in environmental labelling
In order to monitor the consumption of raw materials in relation to concrete environmental labelling requirements, it is important to introduce a certain level of environmental management.
As an example, the Swan criteria include requirements for the volumes of consumption of alcohol and washing agents. To monitor and follow up on such consumption, it is necessary to continuously register the volumes used, evaluate the consumption in regard to the environmental label requirements and, where necessary, set up action plans if the results are unsatisfactory.
4.3.6 Advising customers
4.3.6.1 Incorporating environmental labelling in the environmental management system
As section 4.3.1.1 shows, the product-oriented element, that is environmental labelling, can be advantageously incorporated in environmental management systems in a number of areas.
As the LCA analyses in Part II show, there are a number of areas where it is impossible for a printing company alone to monitor the overall environmental impacts of a graphic product. The customers of the company are equally responsible for deciding on the design, choice of paper etc. for printed matter.
If the customer is offered an environmental label for a particular print product, there will normally be a potential to achieve a better environmental performance from an LCA perspective. It must be added that in the case of the Swan label criteria in particular there are shortcomings in relation to the significant environmental aspects identified in the LCA analyses in Part II. Thus there are no real requirements in the criteria document regarding parameters such as waste paper, gram weight etc.
4.3.6.2 Environmental management as an element in environmental labelling
Before customers can be correctly informed about the environmental label criteria, it is important that both existing and new sales personnel are given appropriate training. It is also important that any training that is done is consistent and accurate, so that it is an advantage for the company to have a procedure for this.
4.3.7 Audit/inspection
4.3.7.1 Incorporating environmental labelling in the environmental management system
Many of the elements, which are continuously audited in environmental management systems, are identical to those, which have to be monitored to maintain environmental labelling requirements.
Some examples are as follows:
monitor and measure, on a regular basis, key characteristics of its operations
establishing and maintaining procedures related to the identifiable significant environmental aspects of goods and communicating relevant procedures to suppliers
establishing and maintaining procedures for handling and investigating non-conformances
In this way, a good synergy effect can be achieved by auditing and monitoring the environmental managements system and the maintenance of the criteria for environmental labelling at the same time. This would give a more complete understanding of the whole and a better chance to see the conditions from a joint perspective.
Annex 4.1 shows an overview of monitoring elements, which the experience in Denmark has shown to be common to the Nordic Swan label and ISO 14001.
4.3.7.2 Environmental management as an element in environmental labelling
Any environmental requirement included in the environmental labelling criteria can, as described above, advantageously be monitored and audited along with the other parts of the environmental management system.
For companies that only work with environmental labelling, some of the monitoring they carry out for the label will be the same as those, which would come under an environmental management system.
4.4 A method for product-oriented environmental management
4.4.1 Strategy/environmental conditions
To achieve a synergy by incorporating the requirements of environmental labelling in environmental management systems, it is important that the labelling criteria reflect the life cycle of the printed matter. These criteria, as explained in section 4.3.2.1, because the work with environmental labelling and environmental management cannot be separated within the same company, take the form of a BAT list, and so it is extremely important that the precise requirements in the environmental label criteria are well founded, and as a result of accepted LCA methods.
If this is not the case, then as environmental labelling becomes more widespread, the development will move in an inappropriate direction. Alternatively, it could happen that the graphics industry does not want to join in the scheme, because it wants to move in a different direction than that indicated and prioritised by the companies’ own environmental management systems and what any LCA studies suggest.
An example is that the criteria for the Swan label set only a minimal focus on the use of paper and ink resources at the printing company. The LCA study in Part II shows that production of inks (pigments) and the manufacturing of paper form an important part of the overall life cycle of printed matter.
4.4.2 Chemicals
4.4.2.1 Visibility of areas of initiative
As described in section 2.7.3, it is important that the environmental labelling criteria provide a good overview of the types of requirements for different kinds of chemicals, an example is sown in figure 4.1.
Figure 4.1 – Outline of an approach where requirements on chemicals are given as a base for other requirements.
This produces a transparency, which makes it easier for the printing companies to use the knowledge, which has been acquired about the relationship of environmental labelling and environmental management systems.
If the company generally wants to phase out the use of chemicals containing particular substances, not just for the production of Swan labelled matter, for example heavy metals, the environmental labelling criteria can be used to see what types of raw materials might contain such substances. The list of approved raw materials and chemicals can be used to find products for which the manufacturer has documented do not contain the substance in question.
4.4.2.2 Procedure for evaluating chemicals
When setting the criteria for the Flower, as is currently the case for the Swan criteria document, tables should be produced which clearly state which requirements apply to a given type of product. These tables can be used for finding information about a given product and also used as checklist for the environmental management work of evaluating chemicals. The tables should be electronic and available from the web.
4.4.3 Evaluating the production equipment
The ability of the company to meet the environmental label criteria will to some extent depend on what type of production equipment is used. In drawing up criteria for environmental labelling which reflect production of the graphic product from a life cycle perspective, the companies, when evaluating new production equipment from an environmental perspective want to be able to focus more directly on the actual investment from an essentially life cycle point of view.
Thus a synergy could be achieved by including environmental criteria in the procedures the company has in place for evaluating new production equipment.
This could result in the production of a positive list, which describes conditions or technology, which states where the environmental benefits of investment lie and also what priority should be accorded to the detailed environmental label criteria.
4.4.4 Raw materials - waste
The LCA study in Part II shows that the production of some types of resources or raw materials, such as paper, inks or electricity contribute significantly to the overall environmental impact of printed matter. In addition several of the washing agents and alcohol currently in use also contribute significantly. Together, these five parameters account for over 90% of the total environmental impact of producing printed matter.
Requirements for these parameters can either be set as specific requirements on production of the raw materials and the contents of them, or on the company’s ability to use the resources optimally. In some instances it will be important to set requirements for raw material production. It can therefore be important, at least initially, to set requirements for the company’s ability to use resources, such as paper, inks, energy, washing agents and alcohol, optimally.
Of course the very best outcome would be that an environmental problem is eliminated as early in the life cycle as possible, but insofar as this is not possible, as mentioned, the simple fact that there is knowledge of the concrete conditions allow the companies to focus their environmental work on the most important elements in the process as a whole. Some examples of methods of controlling the consumption of the resources mentioned are given below:
Table 4.1 Consumption of resources
| Parameter | Proposal for control |
| Paper | Reward for a focus on usage of paper in the form of continuous monitoring of unnecessary waste. |
| Inks | Registration of ink consumption and wastage. Requirements for volume of waste.. |
| Energy | Reward to the extent that the company has conducted an energy mapping. Reward to the extent that the company continuously monitors its energy consumption. |
| Alcohol | Reward for minimal volumes of added alcohol to damping solution. |
| Washing agents | Reward for using low volatility washing agents. |
4.4.5 Advising customers
An optimal synergy effect for companies in incorporating environmental labelling with their environmental management systems can be promoted by supporting graphics companies in disseminating general knowledge of the environmental label. This would create increased demand for environmentally labelled printed matter, and so the volume of printed matter produced according to environmentally friendly principles would increase, and the environmental impact from the industry fall, everything else being equal.
4.4.6 Audit/inspection
As explained in section 4.3.7 the external certification body does audit many identical items for ISO 14001 and the external body that monitors companies’ conformance with the environmental label criteria.
It would add considerable value to the environmental work of individual companies if the two systems could be audited in the same context. It would demonstrate whether the management procedures actually work in relation to the company’s own monitoring and maintenance of the environmental label licence, and would also provide a greater confidence that the results of individual inspections are not simply co-incidental.
Version 1.0 August 2006, © Danish Environmental Protection Agency