Green Printing

We are committed to respecting and protecting the environment, and we understand the importance of seeking out green printing practices and doing our part to help ensure responsible environmental stewardship.

Conquest Graphics is a leading green printer. We employ many environmentally friendly and responsible practices in our operation.

Please continue reading to learn more about our long-standing interest in green printing methods:

FSC Certification - We are proud of our certification in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain-of-Custody (CoC) Standards. Our certification status is a symbol of our commitment to eco-friendly printing, responsible forest management, and protecting the environment. Learn more about our FSC Chain-of-Custody certification.

Recycled Paper – At Conquest Graphics, we are proud to announce that ALL of our standard papers are now FSC-certified recycled papers that are elemental chlorine-free and contain a minimum of 10% post-consumer waste. We are committed to doing our part to help our customers protect the environment!

We are also delighted to now offer an FSC-certified 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper for our business card printing.

So why is paper recycling so important to an eco-friendly printing operation?

Paper manufacturing impacts the environment both upstream (where materials are acquired and processed) and downstream (waste-disposal processes). Recycling paper significantly reduces this impact. Here are some reasons why recycling is important:

• Recycling paper saves trees. Recycling one ton of printing paper saves slightly more than two tons of wood. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certifies paper made from trees harvested according to policies and guidelines that are meant to ensure sustainable forestry practices. It has been estimated that recycling half the world’s annual paper needs would avoid the harvesting of 20 million acres of forested land.
• Energy consumption is also reduced by recycling. The Energy Information Administration claims about a 40% reduction in energy when paper is recycled versus manufacturing new paper from virgin pulp. Recycling one ton of paper saves about 4000 kWh of electricity, which is nearly equal to the amount of energy required to meet the heating and air conditioning needs of the average North American household for about six months.
• Recycling reduces landfill use. Recycling 1 ton of paper eliminates 3 cubic meters of landfill waste. Paper decomposes in landfills, which releases methane into the atmosphere. Methane, along with carbon dioxide, is a potent greenhouse gas.
• Paper recycling reduces pollution. The EPA states that recycling causes 35% less water pollution and 74% less air pollution than the production of virgin paper. Recycling paper decreases the demand for virgin pulp and reduces the overall amount of air and water pollution associated with paper manufacturing. The paper recycling process typically uses fewer bleaching agents than manufacturing new paper; however, paper recycling produces more sludge. Cross Pointe’s Miami, Ohio recycling plant generates 22 pounds of ink sludge for every 100 pounds of waste paper that is recycled.

Conquest Graphics is committed to being a green printing company offering our customers the highest quality printed products, at the lowest possible price, with the very smallest environmental impact.

Saving Trees – Between April 2008 and April 2009, we recycled over 750,000 pounds of waste paper from our manufacturing operations. Based on a formula provided to us by Shred-it Corporation, Conquest Graphics saved nearly 5000 trees last year as a result of our recycling initiatives.

As a part of our effort to reduce paper usage and waste in our internal administrative activities, we also saved more than 20 trees during the same time frame by virtue of office paper recycling, and increased use of electronic and other paperless means of communication.

Clean Manufacturing – Our commitment to green printing pushes us to look for eco-friendly alternatives throughout our process. In our pressroom operation, we use low-VOC soy-based inks, and alcohol-free dampening solutions. We also recycle 100% of our waste paper. We use water-based, low-ammonia emission aqueous coating on most of our printed products, which helps reduce fingerprints and marking, and is also much more environmentally-friendly than competing coating methods.

In our prepress area, we have implemented a completely digital workflow, which allows us to operate without using photochemicals. We also recycle all of our used aluminum printing plates.

And we went a step beyond eco-friendly printing and looked at our business practices. We took a close look at our internal communication processes, and set a goal of implementing a totally paperless internal communication process by the end of 2009. By the end of 2008, we had already eliminated nearly 80% of the paper previously used in our internal communications. Did you know 115 billion sheets of paper are used annually for personal computing, and that the average daily internet user prints 28 pages of paper each day?

Energy Efficiency – Several years ago, when we began our search for a new location for our manufacturing facility, we made the decision to consider only those facilities that employed energy-efficient construction methods. Our current green printing facility is constructed entirely from brick, block, stone and concrete, which not only makes for a durable and energy efficient structure, but also provides renewable and recyclable materials at such time that the structure is demolished and re-built. Our building also features a structural concrete roofing system, which helps reduce heat loss during the colder months, and helps regulate internal temperatures during the summer.

Before we moved into our facility, we replaced incandescent lighting with fluorescent lighting wherever possible. On our manufacturing floor, we replaced nearly two hundred 400 Watt metal halide lamps with newer, more efficient, and cooler-running 250 Watt bulbs.

We replaced most of our aging HVAC systems with new units with a SEER (a measure of energy efficiency) of 14 or higher. We also captured and recycled all of the waste refrigerant that was removed from our old systems, and sent our old HVAC units to a metal recycler.

During the renovation process, we recycled construction waste whenever possible, and made extensive use of new, energy-efficient building and insulation materials.

The Digital Advantage – As an eco-friendly printer, we are firm believers in the environmental advantages of digital printing. In addition to our full complement of multi-color 40" offset presses, we also employ two Xerox iGen3 digital presses that utilize completely non-toxic dry inks (Xerox says we can eat the dry inks, but we haven’t worked up the nerve to try it!), and we recycle 100% of our waste colorants and developers.

Our digital presses run 80% quieter and use less electricity than an equivalent-sized conventional press with an IR dryer. We also re-purpose nearly 30,000 BTU’s per hour of iGen3 exhaust heat back into our building during the winter months.

But the big environmental advantage of digital printing is due to its ability to reduce overall material and energy consumption for printed materials. By printing only the quantity needed, when it is needed, digital printing significantly reduces waste due to obsolescence. Also, by taking advantage of the personalization capabilities of digital printing, marketers can now target their campaigns to those recipients who are most likely to respond, rather than “carpet bombing” an entire area with non-relevant materials that will just be discarded, and possibly end up in a landfill.

Please feel free to contact us at 1-800-707-9903, email us at support@conquestgraphics.com, or click on the "Live Chat" icon if you have any questions or suggestions regarding our eco-friendly printing practices and efforts to protect the environment.

At Conquest Graphics, we take green manufacturing seriously! Our printing services help keep the planet a cleaner place with green efficiency!