FTA honors two companies for environmental excellence

The Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) recognized two companies in the 12^th Annual FTA Environmental Excellence Award program. Promoflex International of St Leonard, QC, Canada, took top honors in the competition and The Label Printers of Aurora, Illinois, USA, earned an honorable mention.

Promoflex International strives to prevent pollution by reducing the amount of waste generated by its production cycle. The company raises the awareness of its workforce toward environmental issues by providing them with adequate training and by implementing an efficient internal communication network to promote its philosophy.

Promoflex’s environmental program is extensive. To reduce its environmental footprint, it joined the EnviroClub program. The company uses the heat generated by air compressors to heat the facility. Lighting fixtures have been replaced with state-of-the-art technology to reduce energy use. A solvent recycling program resulted in reducing solvent purchases by more than 1,000 liters over a nine month period. A corrugated recycling program reduced waste by three tons annually. The plant has reduced its overall carbon footprint by 30 tons per year. All profits generated from Promoflex’s recycling program are to be donated to social causes, such as the local guide dog foundation.

The Label Printers earned an honorable mention in this year’s competition. The company continually evaluates every aspect of purchasing, operations and waste generation. Its ‘Go Green, Save Green and Earn Green!’ program is built on the premise that the company can not only reduce costs by being a better environmental steward, but that sustainability initiatives can also generate savings and revenue.

As a result of the program, almost 70 percent of what had previously been solid waste and sent to a landfill is either recycled or converted from waste to energy. The company diverted more than nine tractor-trailer loads of waste from landfills including returning almost one million linear feet of stock to the process stream.

Judge Heather Barrett of MacDermid Printing Solutions summarized the competition by saying: ‘It's exciting to see all these companies get creative in how they meet the sustainability challenge and how they engage their employees in their efforts. They are setting an excellent example for the rest of us to follow.’

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