Sheridan Magazine Services: News Releases

Dartmouth Printing Company Achieves FSC Certification

August 2009 — Dartmouth Printing Company recently joined its sister company — United Litho, Inc. — in achieving Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain-of-Custody certification (SCS-COC-002259). DPC’s certification was granted through Scientific Certification Systems, an independent, third-party certifier of environmental, sustainability, food quality, and food purity claims, while ULI was certified in March 2008 (SGS-COC-004057) through the SGS Group, the world’s largest organization in the field of third-party inspection and verification.

In practical terms, chain-of-custody certification verifies that products from certified forests are not mixed with products from uncertified forests at any point in the supply chain, from the forest to the consumer. The strict tracking requirements that must be met as part of the FSC certification process allow us to ensure that all the papers we offer our customers — whether recycled or not — are provided by mills and distributors that follow responsible forestry practices.

As a result, we are able to make more environmentally and socially responsible supply-chain decisions on behalf of our customers, providing them the option to produce a magazine using 100% guaranteed FSC-certified paper — from forest to printed product. And conscientious consumers can look for the FSC logo on wood and paper products to know they are supporting forest management that protects biodiversity and supports local communities.

At Sheridan Magazine Services, we’re proud that both operating plants also adhere to many environmentally sound practices and policies that go beyond the trends to ensure a positive impact on the environment.

Both Dartmouth Printing Company and United Litho have installed thermal oxidizers, which reduce their emissions to less than one ton of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
All of our inks are de-inkable, meaning that there are no heavy metals in the sludge residue left after de-inking. Web ink is delivered in 200-pound totes that are returned and refilled, eliminating disposal of containers and waste ink. We also recycle all of our web waste ink.
We recycle plates, paper, cardboard and roll cores.
We produce very small amounts of hazardous waste, all of which is shipped to an approved facility and disposed of according to strict guidelines.
The Dartmouth plant has been recognized by the state of New Hampshire for its leadership and efforts to reduce energy consumption. In a cost-shared project with the local power company, DPC replaced 450 Very High Output fixtures with Super Saver 15s, realizing a 12 percent reduction in energy costs. Additionally, DPC has installed new energy-efficient lighting and cooling systems, as well as variable-speed motors on all equipment to ensure that they always run at the most efficient level.

Our goal is to maintain uncompromising printing standards as we evaluate and adopt practices that allow us to avoid wasting the earth’s resources.

Get more information on other paper trends.

Return to the August 2009 issue of the SMS Register.