Today, the GOpak team continues to expand its sustainable offerings. Take electron beam curing, which is designed to help protect the inks and graphics without adding a layer. This makes it easier for compostable materials to compost and recyclable materials to be recycled. It also has been using landfill biodegradable materials called PakZero. Because it is biodegradable, it breaks down in an anaerobic landfill environment. Buran says that digital printing has been another player in helping to reduce waste. In addition, RFID/NFCsmart packaging and QR codes help give consumers access to updated information, as well as assist brands in tracking and tracing.
The answers are out there
From where she sits, Kathi Rowzie has a unique view on the commercial print industry’s sustainability story. As President of Two Sides North America, she helps steer the group’s straightforward, balanced approach to the greening of print, paper and paper-based packaging. As part of the non-profit Two Sides global network, Two Sides’ reach can be pretty wide. The global network includes more than 600 member companies across North America, South America, Europe, Australia and South Africa. Its member companies span the graphic communications and paper-based packaging value chain, touching the areas of forestry, pulp, paper, paper-based packaging, chemicals and inks, pre-press, press, finishing, printing, publishing, envelopes and postal operations. Rowzie says print customers and their customers are increasingly aware of the environmental impacts of the products they buy and use. That means everyone understandably wants to do the right things— even if doing so becomes a battle between fact and disinformation. 8
print illustrated
Fall 2023
MYTHS & FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW The production and use of paper is destroying U.S. forests.
Paper manufacturing is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
MYTH
MYTH
U.S. forests are a renewable natural resource that is continuously replenished through sustainable forest management and natural regeneration.
FACT
U.S. forestland totals around 766 million acres, with the total live-tree volume exceeding 1 trillion cubic feet. This translates to nearly 9 billion stacked cords of wood. Each year, U.S forests grow approximately two times more tree volume than is harvested, with a net average annual increase in growing stock of about 25 billion cubic feet.
THE SKINNY
“When it comes to print on paper, the right things are often buried under an avalanche of misinformation driven by corporate greenwashing, pop culture media, competitive interests and anti-paper environmental activists. It’s a business imperative that printers arm themselves with the facts to help their customers and other stakeholders understand the inherent environmental benefits of print on paper, and how it contributes to a more sustainable, circular economy.” From Two Sides’ perspective, it helps to tackle relevant environmental and social issues head-on with an arsenal of factual, authoritative information that works to quash myths and
The pulp and paper industry contributes less than 1% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
FACT
Carbon neutrality is an inherent property of biomass reflecting the fact that the carbon residing inside it was only recently removed from the atmosphere, so returning it to the atmosphere has no net effect on atmospheric CO2. This inherent property exists whether or not trees are regrown.
THE SKINNY
explain the industry’s sustainability goals. The resources help give stakeholders a solid foundation for making well-informed decisions about the use of print and paper products.
There tends to be a lot of talk around sustainability, but the action taken has been slow. There is so much confusion, politics and greenwashing in the marketplace.” – AJ Buran, President of Sales, GOpak
