Printer's goes green

Vending machines which switch on only when people approach and a toilet system which doesn't need water for flushing ...

These are just two of the projects introduced at an Uckfield company which have helped secure it an international reputation for being environmentally friendly.

Beacon Press was only the fifth company in the country to achieve an international standard for environmental management and the 11th to achieve a similar European accreditation. It has scooped a further 21 awards for its achievements.

And its green credentials save the business money. Company chairman Mr Mark Fairbrass reckons the green strategy adds about 100,000 to their bottom line at a time when profits are hard to come by in printing.

Part of that saving comes through the company recycling all its waste when it used to spend 24,000 a year on landfill costs.

Mr Fairbrass and his wife Wendy brought Beacon Press to the Bellbrook Industrial Estate in Uckfield 13 years ago having been based first near Maidstone in Kent and then in Lewes.

It was after the move to Uckfield that the couple saw the potential for helping to protect the environment.

'We could see that business could do so much more than Government in this respect. Business has got to take the lead,' said Mr Fairbrass.

He admits they didn't have any background knowledge of what they should be doing but started slowly to build up a culture which now runs through every aspect of the business and which attracts visitors from all over the world.

A group of Uckfield town councillors recently visited the company and are now asking whether there are lessons they can learn from Beacon Press.

Two of the awards the company is most proud of are an International Cham-ber of Commerce and United Nations Environmental Award and a Business in the Community Environ-mental Excellence Award.

Projects

Many environmentally friendly projects are already well established by the company but it is still striving to introduce more. Development of their own printing system called Pure Print, is ongoing and the company working on a biodegradable laminate and a biodegradable polythene. It is also producing its own envelopes, called envirolopes, made from forest stewardship paper.

Inks made from vegetable oils are already in use, more than 30 per cent of paper used for printing has been recycled and most of the paper is purchased through sustainable forest schemes.

The company also recycles mobile phones and aluminium and has installed a variety of energy saving devices like the vending machines which have heat detectors that only come on when someone is nearby and a system in the gents' toilets which does not require water to flush the urinals.

The building is supplied by green electricity from sustainable sources and the company is part of a scheme which calculates the total of carbon emissions into the atmosphere adding up the amount of fuel and power used and then offsets the total by planting trees.

Last year 650 trees were planted around the country on behalf of Beacon Press.