No stranger to environmentally sound printing, East Windsor, CT based Specialty Printing, LLC, which received honorable mention in the 2016 Sustainability Excellence Award competition, has been recognized for its achievements before. It won the Sustainability Excellence Award in 2010, when it was known as the Environmental Excellence Award, and became Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) certified in 2014.
Photo courtesy of Specialty Printing, LLC
The company says that it “is committed to excellence and leadership in protecting the environment,” and that, “In keeping with this policy, our objective is to reduce waste wherever possible.” It works to minimize its impact on the air, water and land through pollution prevention, paper recycling and energy conservation. “By successfully preventing pollution at its source,” Specialty states, “we can achieve cost savings, maintain a safe and healthy workplace for our employees, and improve the environment.”
To receive an honorable mention in the 2016 Sustainability Excellence Award competition, Specialty undertook both internal and external energy audits, which identified areas where consumption could be reeled in. These included:
- Upgrading one air compressor and rebuilding a second, which cost $15,000, and reduced energy consumption by 160,000-kWh. and carbon footprint by 155 tons
- Rebuilding a distiller, which decreased runtime from 168 hours per week—an entire week—to 40
- Implementing a solenoid to create an automatic on/off turnbar shutoff system
- Replacing plant wide main vacuum system motors, increasing the machines’ reliability
- Detecting water leaks by monitoring water bills
- Designing a program to control glue tank temperature to minimize unnecessary heating and reducing power consumption during off peak hours
- Bypassing the air conditioning compressor to utilize cool air from outside
- Hiring an in plant ink technician, who reduced ink inventory by 19 percent
In addition, Specialty also implemented several kaizen events, which included a partnership to perform an electromechanical preventative maintenance audit.
Judge Danny Christianson, from Farnell Packaging, commended Specialty’s program for its wide coverage of different areas of sustainability. Lauterbach Group, Inc.’s Dolores Corcoran added that, “Through true business understanding, analysis and technology, [Specialty Printing] has developed unique programs and innovations to effectively reduce its environmental impact while creating profitability.”