“It was quite an intense application process; there were more than 15 different criteria they measured us on regarding environmental stewardship,” said Gemini marketing director Suzanne Heaven.
“It covered everything from our accreditations, to some of our softer, if you like, proactive things we’ve done like our ‘say no to plastics’ campaign, and how we had taken our eco scenarios into our community and charity projects.”
Heaven said that the award was recognition of everyone’s efforts in the business.
“Like any environmental work, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, you have to have it touching every single aspect of your business and you never actually achieve the goal, it has to be a constant process of evaluation and action.
“It’s about changing habits, which can be one of the most challenging aspects of any business goal.”
She added that Sonora plates were in important pillar of the firm achieving its environmental goals.
“With process free you have the efficiency improvement aspect because it’s taken away some of the variabilities, but you also have a definite reduction in your water, chemical and energy consumption.”
The awards are open to any of the 4,000-plus print business across the world that use Kodak Sonora plates.
Only nine companies achieved ‘top score’ status in their regions, with Gemini and Drukkerij de Bij achieving the top scores in Europe.
“We were absolutely delighted,” said Heaven.
A total of 52 printers from around the world were honoured and with eight award winners, the UK had the strongest showing.
As well as Gemini, the other UK companies who achieved the award were Blackmore Group; Bluetree Group; Calverts; John Price Printers; Midland Regional Printers; SF Taylor; and WPG Group.
“Those recognised in this year’s Sonora Plate Green Leaf Award exemplify the tremendous dedication it takes to run a high-performance print operation,” said Robert Price, general manager of Kodak’s plate business.
According to Kodak, Sonora products now represent one out of every three plates it sells.
