DIGITAL PRINTER
Paul Warren, managing director, Digital Studio
"At Digital Studio, and as a company that only offers recycled stocks, buying sustainably is of utmost importance. However, this year, it has sometimes been a struggle to do so. The paper we normally use has risen in price by 38% this year alone. Add to that, the press we use will not run some of the alternatives so we are often limited in our choices. However, we are not going to change our policy and therefore stick to our guns. Many customers we have on board have come as a result of our environmental approach and that is something we are happy with."

COMMERCIAL PRINTER
Bryn Oakley, partner, Astra Printing  
"I’m a great believer in sustainability and sustainable tree planting, and that consumers should buy print instead of using the internet. Print and paper comes from sustainable sources unlike the internet, which just uses up energy. As a company, the majority if not all, of our papers are either FSC or PEFC certified, and we expect the merchants to provide this to us. We also choose on price, but it’s not a case of these certified grades being more expensive that non-certified papers as it is possible to get a good deal with the merchant."

COMMERCIAL PRINTER
Roger Severn, managing director, Aquatint BSC
"I suppose everybody should care where all their supplies come from, but these days, money talks. With margins under so much pressure, it is difficult to look past the cost, so we don’t tend to investigate too closely. We take our merchants at face value when they tell us the paper comes from a sustainable source. Everybody has environmental badges, everybody is flying that flag, but when it comes down to it, pounds and pence are what count. We don’t give it much thought, but when we return to better times, companies will probably pay more attention."

EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER
Tony Pond, managing director, First Choice Group
"I think there is a big trend towards organisations developing sustainable purchasing programmes. I think it is really important to purchase sustainably, but other factors do come into play as well. At the end of the day, paper must be affordable and anything a customer sees must be of a decent quality. Sometimes recycled paper doesn’t meet those criteria and until it does there will always be times when the sustainability of the paper becomes of slight secondary importance."