By Kat McDaniel, Principal at MEDiAHEAD

It’s something that is very important to me and all of our employees.

From the very beginning we recycled all paper, metal and plastic.

Items are collected all over the facility, recycled, reused or disposed of in a responsible way.

On demand printing, enabled by our digital presses, allows our clients to print only what they need. This reduces their waste and valuable storage space. Did you know that 30% of all printed material becomes dated or factually obsolete before it is ever consumed? That’s why on demand is better!

All components of the dry inks that we use have been tested to ensure no harmful compounds are generated or released during manufacturing, usage or disposal. The dry inks also can be readily removed from printed documents for recycling.

Our presses also feature patented coatings and glossing techniques in combination with the dry inks – these solutions use environmentally benign methods to add protection and enhance prints. No plates or water are used when printing digitally. Less paper is used since there is no need for a traditional make-ready, therefore less raw materials are used.

Recycled materials and paper are used when possible and we work very hard to ensure that our production is waste-free.

Our plant was one of the first facilities to be certified for FSC and FSI in Kansas City.

In 2007 we completely redid all the lighting in our 40,000 square foot facility and received the Orion Environmental Award. We reduced our power consumption by a third and we were able to recoup our costs for the project in less than one year.