The research, commissioned by DM print firm GI Direct and carried out by Marketing UK, also found that only 5% have become ‘independently accredited’ as carbon neutral and that only 14% subscribe to Forest Stewardship Council standards or a recognised equivalent.
Patrick Headley, sales director at GI Direct, said: “I am not surprised or shocked by the results. We are an industry that needs to shake itself up in the environmental area.
“The environmental question is coming from the client side – they dictate that print companies need to improve.”
The contention of the report is that the print industry is “not doing enough to promote its environmental achievements, particularly in the area of accreditations”.
It added that if a “significant proportion” of print firms did gain those standards, then “no-one would think to challenge the industry on its environmental responsibility”.
Headley added: “What annoys me is that the print industry’s total carbon emissions are quite low compared to other sectors, such as transport.
“Before the Government attacks us for producing ‘junk mail’, it needs to get its own house in order.”
He added that the survey was carried out in a bid to find out how GI Direct compared to other companies in the industry.
Leicester-based GI Direct is part of the GI Solutions Group, which was previously called Graphic Inline. It was one of the first print companies to go carbon neutral in 2002, and in 2004 it gained ISO 14001.
GI DIRECT REPORT
• 24% of the top 200 print firms have ISO 14001
• 14% have attained FSC or similar standards
• 5% have become independently accredited as carbon neutral
• The report claimed that print is not doing enough to promote environmental achievements
Report takes industry to task over environmental failings
Only a quarter of the UKs top 200 print companies have the ISO 14001 accreditation according to a damning survey into the industrys environmental credentials.
