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HP and ArjoWiggins collaborate on de-inking process

greenAgenda

Light Tape – a green alternative to neon

Light Tape UK Ltd is promoting its technology as an energy effcient alternative to neon and LEDs for display lighting that has the added benefts of reduced light and environmental pollution.

Made up of a DuPont metal ribbon coated in GTP-Sylvania phosphor and encapsulated in a Honeywell laminate, Light Tape is claimed to use less than one tenth of the power of neon and cold cathode lighting and one quarter of the power used by LEDs.

Light Tape claims that generating the electricity used to run 100m of Neon for a year produces over half a Ton of CO2,

whereas the electricity used to run the equivalent length of Light Tape would produce less than 20Kgs of CO2. Light Tape is also more fexible; easier to maintain and install (it is no thicker than a business card); produces no waste heat or infrared light; contains no gas, glass, mercury or heavy metals; and is fully recyclable.

0845 617 0697 www.lighttape.co.uk

Sustainability standard frst to address concerns of SMEs

A new sustainability standard has been developed by The Organisation for Responsible Business (ORB) especially for small and medium-sized businesses.

The Responsible Business Standard covers a broad range of attributes and can be run alongside or used as a stepping stone to achieve other forms of certifcation, such as ISO. It has progressive levels of attainment (bronze, silver and gold) and entry costs including professional auditing of less than £500.

Jill Poet, Managing Director of The Organisation for Responsible Businesses (ORB), said that the auditable standard would enable businesses to demonstrate their commitment to more sustainable business practices, helping them to win contracts in the public and private sectors.

“Many UK SMEs are already working hard towards best practice but don’t have anything tangible to demonstrate that.We developed The Responsible Business Standard because there wasn’t anything that is affordable, realistic and of value for the majority of SMEs for whom ISO accreditation can often involve too much time and too much money. It can also be daunting for SMEs to go down the ISO route and yet the lack of appropriate certifcation has often meant businesses have been unable to obtain valuable contracts,” she said.

“Historically, central and local government have always asked for ISO9001, but they are now accepting that it isn’t always necessary or appropriate. They do nonetheless require some sort of validation and The Responsible Business Standard will evidence what a business is doing and fll the breach to meet public and private sector requirements.”

www.responsiblebusinessstandard.org.uk or telephone 0845 4599749

Staples goes electric

Offce products supplier Staples has been working successfully with delivery frm TNT to shrink its carbon footprint. As well as reducing miles per delivery from 6.1 to 2.57, the use of TNT’s electric feet has enabled Staples to take 70 diesel vans off the road. As part of its agreement with TNT, Staples has exclusive use of this super-quiet7.5 tonne electric vehicle. Using the latest battery technology, it can travel 80 kilometres on a single charge.

Microsoft buys recycled

Microsoft is switching to 100% post-consumer recycled paper at all its US operations, including its Redmond heaquarters. The software giant claims that the change from 30% to 100% recycled paper will save the equivalent of 750 million pounds of CO2 annually and preserve 8,000 trees.

EFI joins Verdigris

EFI, a specialist in digital print products, solutions and workfows, has joined the Verdigris project as an associate member. Launched in 2008, Verdigris aims to help printers and their customers develop a better understanding of the environmental impact of print media.

IN BRIEF

A Light Tape display on the entrance of Foster Court, University College London. The display features the words Foster Court in Morse code, with all dots and dashes being made from the ‘cut-out shapes’ form of Light Tape.

ArjoWiggins Graphic and HP have announced a joint research project to improve the de-inking of materials printed on HP Indigo and HP inkjet digital presses.

The two companies have agreed to test new techniques for de-inking paper printed on HP Indigo Liquid Electrophotographic (LEP) and inkjet digital print jobs so that they can be recycled rather than sent to landfll.

Today, the amount of LEP and inkjet materials found in the recycling process is small relative to analogue prints such as offset lithography, but volumes will rise in the future as digital printing technologies take a greater share of the production print market.

The two companies plan to test new de-inking techniques on an industrial scale at ArjoWiggins Graphic’s de-inking plant at Greenfeld in France.

HP is aiming to improve de-inking of material printed on its inkjet presses