Flying with the swan - one step ahead of legal requirements

Being Green is Easy
"Our management is strongly committed to the principle of continual improvement, and every employee is responsible for its implementation in their daily work. Ensuring the commitment of our employees was easy, because they share the values related to environmental responsibility. And, in many cases, ecological improvements also contribute to promoting occupational health and safety," adds Ms Mähönen.
Being a sizeable company, Hansaprint is in the position allowing continual upgrading of its production technology.
"It's truly easy being an environmental manager in this company, because eco-friendliness is an in-built feature of our state-of-the-art technology. Our machinery guarantees minimum waste production, minimum energy consumption and optimum resource-utilisation efficiency," Ms Mähönen explains. "The transition to digital workflows has had a positive environmental impact, because we no longer use chemicals and films that contain silver," she says.

FACTS IN BRIEF
All Hansaprint product groups are qualified to use the Nordic Swan Label, complying with the following standards: The product must be made of eco-friendly paper. The product must have the minimum 90% by weight of paper, which complies with the specified environmental label requirements. A lower 80% requirement is applied to books, directories and technical product manuals. The product must be free of elements that impede recycling. Inserts and single-layer plastic coating are allowed.

The Customer's Choice
It is the customer, however, who makes the ultimate decision about whether to print the Swan Label on the finished product.
"Most customers are keen to use the Swan Label, but whatever the customer chooses in terms of eco-efficiency, all Hansaprint products meet the same rigorous standards. Provided the customer has no special requests or requirements that might compromise our customary standards of ecological responsibility, in principle, all our products are qualified for the Swan Label," Ms Mähönen explains.
The regularly updated Swan Label standards have no direct impact on Hansaprint's customers, since these criteria only apply to Hansaprint's operations.

Classification and allowable amounts of, for instance, detergents have been tightened. There is also a tighter restriction on the use of isopropanol, which is an additive used in the offset dampening solution.
To qualify for the Swan Label, at least 90 per cent of the product's weight must consist of paper that complies with Swan Label standards. However, for books, directories and technical product manuals, the portion is lower, 80 per cent.
"For instance, the cover of the publication can be any material, provided its weight does not exceed ten per cent of the total weight of the publ

ication," says Ms Mähönen.
Stand-alone and separately packaged inserts are allowed, since these are intended to be removed before the product is recycled, but the plastic wrap must not contain any phthalates or chlorine.
"Of course we also produce non-complying products if the customer specifically requests it," adds Ms Mähönen.

The current criteria of the Nordic eco label known as the Nordic Swan are valid until March 2010. These criteria can be tightened as required, usually at the interval of three years. Fulfilling the updated and constantly tightening requirements included in the Swan specifications has not posed any problems to Hansaprint since continuous improvement and voluntary protection of the environment is included in the company environmental policy. Quality and Environmental Management Systems in line with ISO standards and certified by Det Norske Veritas are in place at all Hansaprint production facilities.

"We keep a close eye on new developments and strive to stay one step ahead of legislation and other new stipulations," says Hansaprint's Quality and Environment Manager, Anne Mähönen. Hansaprint has already voluntarily increased the use of plant-based cleaning agents and significantly reduced the use of isopropanol even before this was required by the Swan specifications, notes Ms Mähönen.

What Makes a Printed Product 'Eco-friendly'?
"It should be recyclable, the materials and additives must be completely safe, and waste should be kept at minimum. Any hazardous waste and emissions should be recovered and treated appropriately," Ms Mähönen sums up.
Eco-friendliness is usually in the customer's best interests, too, adds Ms Mähönen. The less resources wasted during the production process, the cheaper the job is for the customer.