Crossprint is UK’s first Ricoh Carbon Balanced Printer

Date: Monday December 10, 2012 09:13:10 am

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Crossprint is UK’s first Ricoh Carbon Balanced Printer 
 <img border=”0″ alt=”” class=”pic” src=”http://www.graphicrepro.co.za/assets/2/newspics/Rioch%20Tim%20Sell.jpg” /> 
Innovative digital and litho print house Crossprint has secured its place as one of the UK’s most sustainable print businesses by confirming itself as the first in the country to sign up to Carbon Balanced Production Printing Programme. 
 
Crossprint managing director Tim Sell (pictured right), who in September joined Ricoh Europe’s business development director Graham Moore on stage at EcoPrint 2012 in Berlin, has overseen a period of immense change at the Newport, Isle of Wight-based company. The far-reaching environmental initiatives introduced since 2004 include building an A-rated for energy efficiency eco-factory for its headquarters and switching 90 per cent of its energy supply to solar power. 
 
During that time, Sell has also established the company’s short-run digital proposition, first through the acquisition of a competitor on the island and then with the installation of a Ricoh Pro C751. And, as of August, every sheet printed on the Ricoh press is carbon neutral thanks to the Carbon Balanced Printing Programme’s three step process to Analyse, Optimise and Neutralise the carbon resulting from output. The programme applies Ricoh’s ground-breaking sustainability expertise to the commercial print environment to provide advice, policies and methodologies to help calculate the carbon footprint of each print job, reduce or optimise it, and then offset any unavoidable emissions. 
 
Said Sell, ’Sustainability has slowly crept up the agenda of our customers and, as early adopters we have been able to respond quickly. Indeed, our approach to the environment has gained us a lot of recognition from potential customers and the industry. Making our digital work carbon neutral with the Ricoh Carbon Balanced Printing Programme is the icing on the cake of our environmental efforts. We know from experience that today’s customers are increasingly more demanding about the type and flexibility of print work they want produced. The fact that Ricoh was able to offer us a way to make such a clear distinction from the competition was a major part of our decision to work with them. 
 
‘Our factory has an A rating for energy performance, which I believe is unique for a UK commercial printer. We really do everything we can to limit our impact on the environment, even the inks we use are environmentally friendly, and when we show the benefits of this approach to customers the response is very positive. Ricoh’s technology, the Carbon Balanced Printing Programme and its own thorough sustainability strategy supports our own environmental goals, which is both refreshing and also helpful to the business. The Ricoh solution completes the sustainability picture for Crossprint, making it possible for us to provide one of the country’s most comprehensive sustainable printing service within the parameters of the latest best practice and standards.’ 
 
With an equipment portfolio that includes the Ricoh Pro C751, a Xerox 260, Ryobi B2 and B3 presses and a full range of finishing equipment, Crossprint offers an integrated print, web design, mailing and data capture service. In 2004, Crossprint made the strategic decision to place the environment at the forefront of almost everything it did. 
 
Crossprint opted for offset presses that used 43 per cent less power and no alcohol as well as switching to printing exclusively with vegetable-based inks. It has held a carbon balanced certification from the World Trust Fund for around six months through its use of Hello and Revive papers from Robert Horne. 
 
In total, around 30 per cent of the paper it uses is recycled; it has moved its local authority onto exclusively recycled stocks and also prints a long-standing customers catalogues using more than a million recycled sheets each year. 
 
To make its sustainable print services as accessible as possible Crossprint has also begun using these economies of scale to lower the cost of environmentally friendly consumables and pass those savings on to the customer. 
 
Finally, Crossprint is also a founding member of the Isle of Wight’s Ecoisland initiative, which is a co-operative of businesses and residents dedicated to building a sustainable community on the island. 
 
Stephen Palmer, production print director, Ricoh UK said, ’Print buyers are increasingly seeking services that make a positive contribution to reducing their organisations’ carbon emissions. ’The print industry has already taken plenty of steps in the right direction toward becoming more sustainable, through recycled paper stocks, plant-based inks and reduced waste thanks to digital printing on demand. At a time when print service providers are differentiating their businesses to offer a wider range of services to their clients, Ricoh is pleased to provide customers such as Crossprint a carbon balanced printing solution that offers a unique way to reduce environmental impact, attract new customers and to add more value to existing ones.’ 
 
Three steps to carbon balanced printing: 
 
1. Analyse An in-depth analysis of printing activity, to determine annual carbon emissions. Areas of analysis include the operation of Ricoh production systems, the paper used, energy consumed, and distances travelled for supplies and service engineers. 
 
2. Optimise Initial and on-going optimisation of the print environment to make it more sustainable. A carbon calculator available through Ricoh’s Business Driver Programme determines the carbon generated per print job. More environmentally responsible ways to print are then identified and implemented, such as using different types of recycled media. And through a carbon assessment, Ricoh consultants review the entire production process. As a result they will suggest further ways to minimise energy consumption and reduce waste, by improving the recycling practices of both output and machine supplies. 
 
3. Neutralise Remaining and unavoidable carbon emissions are neutralised with Certified Emission Reductions. These carbon credits have been generated by clean energy projects in which Ricoh has invested. Print service providers are then certified as a ’Ricoh Carbon Balanced Printer’, with documentation provided to end-customers to prove that each print job is carbon neutral. 
 
The programme is exclusive to Ricoh production printing customers to differentiate and help grow their business through this value-added offering. Print buyers can have their print jobs ’Carbon Balanced’ on Ricoh production printing systems at Certified Ricoh Carbon Balanced Printers. 
 
For more information about Ricoh’s range of production printing products and services and the Carbon Balanced Printing Programme please visit: <a href=”http://www.ricoh.co.uk” target=”_blank”>www.ricoh.co.uk</a>.
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December 10, 2012 at 9:13 AM

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