Sustainable Green Printing Partnership announces integration plan for L.I.F.E. certified facilities to join the SGP Community

• • TLMI L.I.F.E. (Label Initiative for the Environment) Certification program merging with the SGP certification program
  • TLMI joins SGP as a Resource Partner

The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP), the leading authority in sustainable printing certifications for print manufacturers, today announced an integration plan for L.I.F.E. certified facilities to transition to SGP certified facilities. The 20-month plan will allow L.I.F.E certified print facilities to phase-in the SGP certification program, adopt additional criteria and integrate the SGP Impact Tracker.

“There has long been a mutual support among all the major print associations to promote sustainability in the printing industry,” said Doreen Monteleone, SGP board member and Flexographic Technical Association representative. “Now with TLMI joining the other industry leading associations as a SGP Resource Partner, we anticipate a stronger, more sustainable future with integration of L.I.F.E. certification.”

Because L.I.F.E certified facilities already meet many of the SGP criteria, they should be able to easily move to SGP. The integration of L.I.F.E. certified facilities starts with submission of additional criteria from the SGP certification and utilization of the SGP Impact Tracker. The date of the last onsite L.I.F.E. audit will dictate when and what type of initial SGP audit, onsite or desktop, will need to be done. A team of L.I.F.E certified facilities has already begun the beta test process. TLMI will extend the L.I.F.E. certification to give facilities ample time to adopt the SGP criteria and SGP Impact Tracker.

The onboard process is facilitated by the recently released SGP Impact Tracker. The online tool streamlines the certification process for sustainable printing facility, provides comprehensive resources and tools, monitors progress and includes a certification tracker component. The SGP Impact Tracker gives printers a single, secure web platform to manage their certification from start to finish and help ensure continued progress as they seek to further reduce waste and improve efficiency.

For supplier facilities who are L.I.F.E. certified, the certification will remain active until 2019. SGP will be considering the incorporation of certification for supplier facilities when its criteria is revised in the next two years.

Jodi Sawyer, SGP chair and market development manager at FLEXcon commented, “FLEXcon is a L.I.F.E. certified supplier and a leading SGP Patron. For FLEXCon, this is it a win-win situation. The integration of L.I.F.E: will dramatically expand SGP’s ability to provide sustainable print to brands and companies across North America. Also bringing in TLMI to our community SGP will be able to do more. Our customers and society will benefit greatly as we keep making print even more sustainable.”

SGP Resource Partners
TLMI joins with Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA), Flexographic Technical Association (FTA), Printing Industries of (PIA), National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM), Foil & Specialty Effects Association (FSEA) and RadTech, The Association for Ultraviolet and Electron Beam Technologies, along with academic partners as a SGP Resource Partner. Resource Partners are subject matter experts that assure the SGP community is empowered with the acumen to advance sustainability in the printing industry supply chain.

SGP Community Day
Make plans to attend the SGP Community Day 2018 on November 14 in Cincinnati, OH. The conference will include presentations and discussions on the state of sustainability in the instore retail, packaging, textile and events market space. The day concludes with a SGP Community gala dinner celebrating the 10th anniversary of SGP. More information and registration: SGP Community Day 2018

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To learn more about getting your print facility SGP certified, visit www.sgppartnership.org.

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, International Paper, EFI, ECOR, FLEXcon, North American Plastics, Piedmont Plastics, Gilman Brothers and numerous other leading brands. www.sgppartnership.org.