Alan Coulson, Sales Director at Wood Richardson said: “We’ve been an FSC certified printer since 2009. Becoming certified was a strategic decision which made good business sense and pro-actively encouraged responsible printing to our clients.”
Wood Richardson works with its clients to ensure that a range of options are considered for every print job. Measures include recommendations on paper sizes to reduce waste; suggestions on the use of environmentally friendly inks such as vegetable-based inks; and on making informed decisions about paper stocks and finishing considerations, so as to make the finished product more easily recyclable.
One tonne of recycled paper saves approximately six mature trees and 3.3 cubic yards of rapidly diminishing landfill space.* Aside from statistics such as these, to be FSC certified makes good business sense too. Businesses who consciously ‘go green’ have been proven to improve market access, achieve higher revenues and enhance their public image.
Making the commitment to sustainable forestry is doing a huge job in making a stand against deforestation. FSC certified forests all over the world ensure they meet the highest environmental and social standards and paper from FSC forests are marked with the ‘tick tree’ logo so buyers can be confident that choosing this paper won’t be causing harm to the world’s forests.
At Wood Richardson, in addition to guiding customers through the process of sustainable printing and making responsible choices, the business ensures that through continual investment in its production processes and presses, their equipment is state of the art. By operating ‘computer to plate’ and ‘closed loop colour control’, the number of ‘make ready’ sheets needed are reduced, thereby minimising overall energy consumption.
Wood Richardson was established in 1905 and has been run by the Richardson family since the 1920s, based in purpose built facilities in York. It combines the skills and experience of a century of craftsmanship with an ongoing investment in the latest technology and innovations in print and production machinery. Dynamic and responsive, the company works closely with a wide range of customers throughout Yorkshire, delivering high quality print and customer service by a team of print experts.
In 2011 it recognised the need to demonstrate its commitment towards ethically produced products for all of its customers. Being an internationally recognised approval system, FSC fitted the bill perfectly. The company subsequently employed FSC certification body, SGS, to help achieve certification. “SGS were invaluable in their help in understanding the process and implementing it into our systems to achieve the relevant certification,” said Alan. “For us, the traceability of raw materials from the forest, through multiple production processes across the globe is the definitive solution to protect the credibility of any wood-based product.”
“Through this impressive process and the commitment of manufacturers & suppliers to comply with the FSC chain of custody standard, we can be sure that the print we supply has a positive impact - economically, environmentally and socially - wherever our paper is sourced from.”
Being a commercial printing company, Wood Richardson supply marketing literature like leaflets & brochures, books, greetings cards, menus and whole host of ink-on-paper products to customers from many sectors. Almost all the paper it buys today is FSC certified and it actively encourages customers to take advantage of the FSC claim and apply the FSC label to their print.
A good example is arts event organisers York Open Studios who have been a client of Wood Richardson for many years and have the FSC label applied to their printed work. Committee member Robin Grover-Jacques explained: “A commitment to sustainability is really important in all our activities, and the familiar FSC logo on our print communicates this really well with our patrons.”
To administer production from their York facility Wood Richardson rely on the computerised Management Information System (MIS), Primo, supplied by Lancashire based Tharstern Ltd. who specialise in MIS for the print industry. It has the flexibility to manage all FSC compliant work and records all the pertinent data for auditing - from traceability of purchases, through to label use, delivery & invoicing communication, thus making the process easier to manage, whilst also reducing paperwork.
Alan summed up the impact that introducing FSC stocks has had on the business: “Without doubt, our FSC certification has opened doors for us with customers who insist on FSC certified paper stock - but it’s also started a whole new topic of conversation with customers who think that recycled paper is the only solution for environmentally conscious print.”
Source: *FAO: http://www.fao.org/
This article was originally published in Forest Matters, our bi-monthly magazine. To sign-up, click here.