450 Years in a landfill!...

That is right. The use of Foam Core for advertising and signs is extremely effective, so effective that those advertisements and signs will still be around 450 years from now. On the plus side it will let future generations know about our current products;imagine 400 years from now, someone digging and finding an advertisement for an iPad? the thought is actually funny if you think about technology, but not so funny if we think about environmental impact.

Of course Foam Core manufacturers state that the material is recyclable, which is true if we were to implement comprehensive recycling programs that included pick up and delivery from the point of disposal to the point of recycling. Recycling Foam core or it's polystyrene content must be done by specialized equipment in specialized facilities. In the absence of a recycling program waste facilities have to options; the worst case scenario is for it to be incinerated, which releases extremely dangerous styrene gas which can affect the nervous system in humans and animals. The second option is to send it to a land fill, where it will bio-degrade in about 450 years.

Countries like Japan have had to implement recycling programs that are almost imperialistic. Because the country is an island and it is populated by a consumer oriented society, authorities have had to implement stiff penalties for violations in recycling. In Tokyo if you commit a recycling infraction, which can include not separating your #1 from your #5 plastic could land you up to a $500 USD fine.

But in the US we are far from this type of intervention. Luckily we have the technology! Yes, we do. We are arguably the most advanced country in the world when it comes to engineering of new paper products, the US's chemical industry is second to none. Proof of these are the large number of real, bio-degradable products and recyclable materials being introduced to the market in the last 12 months. So, maybe in the future they will only find advertisements printed in Foam core in the 90's and wonder if advertising simply went out of style. The question is adoption of these new environmentally friendly materials.

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LEED Qualified Wall Papers

Having been in the Graphic Communications, paper and printing industry for over 25 years, I have seen several green marketing trends come and go. Certainly I remember clearly the mid 90's when marketing campaigns to have all paper finished products have some recycled pulp value was the "theme of the day". It wasn't long before marketing was touting "this product is made with 20% recycled paper", which sounded good and made everyone feel great, even though 20% recycled paper content had been in place almost since the beginning of the paper industry. Paper manufacturers had already built in re-pulping floor scraps, roll ends and trimmings back into the cycle, simply out of economics. Ironically, this was enough to be able to put the "recycle" graphic bug on these papers.

Is today's "green" campaign any different? Possibly! The industry is much wiser to the "post-consumer content subject and government "green" incentives carry a greater set of rules and qualification processes. It is not to say that there is not a great deal hype to go around, after all we all have seen the "green lawyer" advertisements. But, there is an element of reality to the fact that sustainable practices must be put in place if we are to survive the competition for resources. China, Brazil and India enter an industrialization phase that could create if nothing else a price war for raw materials like we have never seen and this includes paper pulp. Enter the FSC and LEED certification and qualification programs that scrutinize the labeling of finished products in an effort to demonstrate sustainability of commercial practices.

This all sounds great! But, as a printer in the industry I have always been in the middle of the Designers who's goal has always been to attain "graphic nirvana", perfection in graphic representation and the reality of printing technology and application. Translated to production this means that we must be able to print fine screen rulings or DPI, with crisp edges, great ink hold-out and of course durability, beautiful whiteness and opacity with machines that were not engineered for this purpose. The reality of post-consumer waste in papers is that the greater the percentage, the more "dirty" the paper will look like, also the coarser the paper will be, that is unless the paper manufacturer uses a lot of energy or chemicals to clean the pulp and bonding agents to hold the short and broken up post consumer fibers. Herein lies the reality of sustainable practices, meeting that middle ground were quality is not compromised (greatly) and retain a manufacturing process that is neither costly or defeats the end goal of sustainable without harming the environment.

My company as a printer has decided to put skin in the game and is an investor in a paper development company that will comply with FSC and LEED certified materials. I believe that this is how we can make an effective difference; we must work together in cross-industry verticals to attain real sustainable products, rather than just another hallow marketing campaign of "green logos" everywhere. Our company has now announced a new paper line with an adjustable post consumer content, depending on the application and quality expectation. This paper already meets LEED requirements now, but we will have to see how real is market adoption of these materials. I will keep posting as we make progress and I have tangible data in terms of adoption and uses of these materials.

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