Product Composition

As a responsible employer and corporate citizen for over 70 years, Independent Printing took a proactive stance in protecting our environment from the start. Years before “green” was a positive social/environmental condition anyone aspired to, Independent had already incorporated a CTP production process, earth-friendly inks, stringent recycling/waste disposal guidelines and much more. Green is just Independent’s way of doing business, and always has been.

Today Independent Printing’s formalized green initiative involves a focus on educating and assisting customers with their own sustainability efforts. That’s exactly why we encourage the use of environmentally-friendly papers whenever possible, and it’s the reason Independent continues to purchase increasing amounts of paper containing post consumer waste (PCW).

Our standard product lines include an extensive selection of papers containing PCW and/or are FSC certified. As the mills and paper manufacturers offer a greater selection of sustainable papers into the future, our purchase of certified and PCW papers will continue to grow.

When the opportunity presented itself to become affiliated with the Forest Stewardship Council, Independent was among the first Wisconsin printers to apply for, and be awarded, FSC-certification as a chain-of-custody supplier in Spring of 2006. Our certification, through SmartWood, an affiliate of the Rainforest Alliance, confirms that we follow the FSC’s rigid standards, and demonstrates our commitment to sound forestry practices. We are also certified by the Rainforest Alliance whose mission is to protect ecosystems, and the people/wildlife that depend on them.

As paper selection is one of the best ways for our customers to promote their own green initiatives, we encourage the use of FSC-approved papers. We also promote customer use of the FSC logo and/or Rainforest Alliance seal on approved products so that they may clearly display their own commitment to sustainability.

Handschy Industries is Independent Printing’s in-house ink company. We currently use two ink systems – Verdant process inks and Flashcure Hybrid UV inks.

The Verdant series consists of 51% sustainable materials including vegetable oils and modified rosins. These inks are also formulated with organic materials that do not contain any animalbased by-products. The overall volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are less than 1%. Flashcure is a Hybrid UV-cured ink. It contains no vegetable oils and is dried (cured) with UV energy. UV inks do not contain any VOC’s, making them a very green choice.

Both Verdant and Flashcure are environmentally responsible ink systems. Therefore, Independent can use whichever ink best suits the project.

Independent is proactive in efforts to reduce our own paper usage, and promotes innovative options to customers for that same purpose.

One of our most recent efforts was to introduce the use of 100% post-consumer recycled chipboard as a paper option. Repurposing a paper that’s typically used solely as disposable packaging, and then printing it with low VOC-emitting, renewable vegetable-based inks, has become increasingly popular with our green-minded customers. In addition, the 20 pt. chipboard is durable and lasts longer than other papers, reducing replacement needs.

Independent has taken great measures to alleviate paper waste in producing our standard products. Roughly 23% of paper purchased for our standard products is manufactured specifically to the required size. We believe this to be a responsible production choice, enabling us to better control, and ultimately minimize our paper usage.

In addition, we offer print-on-demand services. These services allow us to cost-effectively produce lower quantities per production run of print products for our customers. This can result in less waste as customers’ product information changes frequently, making their inventoried print obsolete, and thus unusable – but recyclable, of course!

Not only are print processes themselves monitored for environmental purposes, our post-production materials are a major area of focus as well.

We carefully monitor the packaging and shipping materials used throughout our facility. We purchase two types of shipping cartons; our white logo cartons are 74% PCW, while our kraft cartons, chipboard packing material, kraft wrap packing material and corner protectors for skids of outgoing paper are all 100% PCW and recyclable.

Our packaging peanuts are composed of biodegradable cornstarch. They dissolve when exposed to water, or may be reused.

Additionally, skids of incoming paper have steel bands securing the paper to the skid. We chop those bands into small pieces and recycle them.