Sustainability and environmental labels in the graphic industry

Sustainability is no longer a side step in the graphic industry — it has become part of the core business. Customers demand documentation that paper colours and production meet environmental requirements and as a graphic technician you meet those demands in daily life.

§FSC and PEFC — traceable paper

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC are international certification schemes that document that paper comes from sustainably managed forests. According to a 2021 survey by FSC Denmark and the industry organization Grakom, nearly 80 percent of total paper sales to Danish printers are FSC-certified — so it is the norm rather than the exception today.

§The Swan Label printing

The Nordic Swan Mark sets requirements for the entire production not just the paper. A Swan-marked printing company must among other things use vegetable printing inks and environmentally correct paper from sustainable forestry and the company must actively work to reduce paper waste and energy consumption in production. Today the vast majority of Danish printing companies — over 80 percent — are Swan-marked.

• 01FSC/PEFC documents paper's origin from sustainable forestry.
• 02The Swan Label sets requirements for colours, paper, waste and energy consumption throughout production.
• 03Several printers also work with CO2 accounting and climate certification of their production.

§What does it mean in practice for you?

As a graphic technician you may be asked to document that a particular job was printed on certified paper or to keep track of what colours and materials meet the customer's environmental requirements. This requires you to know the difference between the different marks and to be part of managing waste and resource consumption in daily production.

§Less waste, better bottom line

Environmental considerations and economy often go hand in hand. Less waste, better use of the paper sheet through smart imposition and lower energy consumption on machines are both greener and cheaper. The graphics technician who thinks resource-consciously in their daily work thus contributes both to the environment and to the company's economy.

Sustainability is not about one big move but about many small decisions in daily life — from choice of paper to how you plan a delay. It has become as natural a part of the trade as the printing technique itself.