Our objective is to manage our business so as to minimise the effects of our activities on the environment. We will:
• Evaluate and assess the environmental effects of the Company’s operations
• Apply the principles of reduce, re-use and recycle in our processes
• Monitor and control our processes to minimise and prevent pollution
• Liaise with suppliers whose activities relate to our environmental impact, to ensure they are compliant with environmental requirements.
We regularly review our environmental effects to facilitate continual improvement of our environmental performance.
Our three highest ranking aspects are solvent emissions, emission of greenhouse gases and paper dust.
• Direct impact – Darwin Print endeavours to prevent pollution to land, water and air, and to minimise its use of natural resources and production of waste. Our impact on the local community in relation to dust and noise is also monitored.
• Indirect impact – In addition, we recognise that the practices of subcontractors and suppliers have an indirect environmental impact.
We are committed to continually improving our environmental programme, and we encourage our customers and suppliers to do the same. The recyclable nature of our paper products result in minimal effects on the environment.
Packaging – Darwin Print instigated various initiatives in order to minimise the amount of packaging used. This delivered an 18% reduction in the amount of packaging used. We have reduced our use of custom boxes and we now order stock on a consignment basis, only replenishing/buying what we use.
Recycling – 99% of our production waste is recycled, which means only 1% goes to landfill. Waste streams include: white paper, cardboard, polythene, aluminium printing plates, toner cartridges, empty ink tins and metal drums, waste blanket wash and other solvents, and broken pallets (pallets are re-used where possible). For clarification, this production waste does not include waste associated with food and drink.
Hazardous waste – All waste, including our hazardous waste, is transferred to registered carriers for disposal or recovery.