Money for Trash: How One SGP Certified Printer Monetizes its Packaging Waste

How Designtex turned a profit from eliminating all Low- and High-Density Polyethylene waste

The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP), the leading authority in sustainable printing certifications for print manufacturers, is pleased to announce thousands of dollars in cost savings and more than 35 tons of recycling achieved as a result of new partnerships and innovations at certified facility, Designtex.

As part of its decade-long SGP certification, Designtex engages in yearly continuous improvement projects to increase the effectiveness of its sustainability program. In 2017, the organization pledged to eliminate all waste from its production facilities. As a result of its recycling initiatives, Designtex saw a tremendous reduction in waste and earned tangible profits from recycling every month in 2018.

In 2018, Designtex took action toward its zero production landfill goal by forming partnerships with its own vendors and others in the community. They eliminated all waste in the following categories and generated thousands of dollars in profit from their recycled goods at the same time:

• Packaging waste: Designtex now gets paid to return hybrid packaging materials to its vendor for reuse.
• High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) waste: One of Designtex’s vendors pays for the return of not only their own HDPE waste but all HDPE waste generated by the facility.
• Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) waste: LDPE waste is delivered to a composite decking manufacturer as part of a joint program with other companies generating LDPE waste.
• Organic waste: A local composting company composts all organic waste from the facility for reuse as soil in the employee garden.

Paul Glynn, Designtex Manager of Materials and Digital Technology R&D and sustainability ambassador, credits employee buy-in with the success of its recycling program and other sustainability initiatives. “By working with employees from all departments,” he said, “the organization was able to design the flow around the program so that the program fits right in.”

When advising other facilities about sustainability, Glynn always recommends that they start with a small, achievable goal, learn from there, and expand. “Don’t forget to reach out to suppliers,” he added. “They may already have a sustainability initiative that can help reduce your waste and costs, and if not, they may be willing to collaborate to create one.”

SGP certification helps printers stay profitable on the cutting edge of the industry by focusing not only on the current sustainable practices employed by a facility but on its continuous improvement as well. As a result of these best practices, the average certified facility saves $43,000 a year. To learn more about how SGP certification can help your print facility turn sustainability into profit, contact the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership at [email protected] or visit www.sgppartnership.org.

About Designtex

Designtex is a leading company in the design and manufacture of applied materials for the built environment. They curate an evolving catalog of more than 8,000 sustainably-sourced materials specified by designers for corporations, government and private institutions, education, retail, hospitality, and healthcare environments, as well as entertainment and sporting arenas in the United States and around the world. Designtex achieved its first SGP certification in 2009 and has renewed its certification since then, with continuous improvement projects to operate as carbon neutral and eliminate waste from production facilities. To learn more about the organization, visit www.designtex.com.

About SGP

The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) is a non-profit organization that certifies printing facilities’ sustainability best practices. SGP advocates best practices and innovation among print community stakeholders, aligning the printing industry and its customers in the pursuit of a more accountable sustainable supply chain. SGP works with patrons such as 3M, Cooley Group, International Paper, ECOR, FLEXcon, Laird Plastics, Piedmont Plastics, Gilman Brothers and numerous other leading brands. www.sgppartnership.org