Keystone Press Environmental Perspective
At Keystone Press, we care about the environment. We understand that businesses have a special role and responsibility in keeping the planet healthy and green. And we take that responsibility seriously. We are constantly looking for new ways to conserve and promote environmental stewardship within our company and by our suppliers.
Our Paper:
Along with recycling all of our waste paper, our main supplier of paper is triple certified by SFI and PEFC.
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI) program is based on the premise that responsible environmental behavior and sound business decisions can co-exist. SFI program participants practice sustainable forestry on all the lands they manage. They also influence millions of additional acres through the training of loggers and foresters in best management practices and landowner outreach programs. This unique commitment to sustainable forestry recognizes that all forest landowners, not just SFI program participants, play a critical role in ensuring the long-term health and sustainability of our forests.
The PEFC Council (Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes) is an independent, non- profit, non-governmental organization, founded in 1999 which promotes sustainability managed forests through independent third party certification. The PEFC provides an assurance mechanism to purchasers of wood and paper products that they are promoting the sustainable management of forests. PEFC is a global umbrella organization for the assessment of and mutual recognition of national forest certification schemes developed in a multi-stakeholder process.
These national schemes build upon the inter-governmental processes for the promotion of sustainable forest management, a series of on-going mechanisms supported by 149 governments in the world covering 85% of the world's forest area.
Our Inks:
We currently buy our inks from Superior Ink Company. Superior’s inks have always been designed with features that are recognized as “environmentally friendly”.
Their sheetfed inks and varnishes are formulated with significant amounts of bio-base, renewable resources, including vegetable oils such as linseed oil, resins based on tall oil or gum rosin, and alkyds derived from vegetable oils.
Keystone Press is currently using a process ink line that contains as much as 26% vegetable oil content and we are at this time testing a line that contains as much as 37% vegetable oil content which is as high a content as anyone in the industry.
Superior’s standard sheetfed inks, (those other than their 4 color process lines), contain a limited (17-18%) amount of petroleum-derived ink oils, which are considered to be volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). In terms of VOC emissions, the EPA only considers 5% of the VOC content to be released into the atmosphere during printing. Based on this ruling, Superior’s standard sheetfed inks release less than 1% VOC into the atmosphere during printing.
Our process inks also have a “stay open” feature. This means that our pressmen never have to “skin” off the top layer of ink before using. This greatly reduces the amount of waste that needs to be disposed of.
Misconceptions of “Soy-Based” inks:
The explosive growth of the biodiesel industry has dramatically increased the demand for soybean and palm oil. Unfortunately, this has resulted in an acceleration in the destruction of tropical rainforests as these and other environmentally-critical regions are converted into plantations.
Any plant or vegetable-derived oil can be categorized as a bio-derived, renewable resource. Soybean oil is only one of several plant-derived oils suitable for use in printing inks. In the case of sheetfed printing inks, there are alternative oils that offer dramatically better performance. In particular, drying oils such as linseed oil and tung oil are especially useful, since these oils have chemical structures that readily oxidize to give a durable printed film. Soybean oil, on the other hand, is considered a semi-drying oil, and is not suitable as the sole oil in a modern sheetfed printing ink. Linseed oil is the most environmentally responsible vegetable oil for sheetfed inks as it is not suitable for use as a biodiesel fuel and does not threaten to erode the world’s rainforests.
Our Pressroom Chemistry:
Keystone Press and it’s suppliers are equally committed to the environment. Our fountain solution has not contained any alcohol since 1995, well before it was an industry standard. We use the lowest VOC press washes that are available to us, continue to recycle our used press wash and all of our pressroom rags are professionally cleaned and returned to us to be used again.
Using a straightforward, balanced approach, Two Sides is telling the sustainability story of print and paper.
