At a free event at Sydney's Graphics Arts Club in Mascot yesterday, attendees from various printing companies received a presentation from AKP Leura and ISO consultant Paul Kohn on the process for ISO 14001 and FSC Chain-of-Custody certification.
The first round of "truly green graduates" then received their official certificates, before participating in a Q & A session with the audience regarding the certification process.
Photo gallery: pictures from yesterday's 'Truly Green' seminar.
The course graduates all claimed that not only was certification advantageous from a business perspective, but that it improved their standing as green printers at a time when environmental issues were high on the government agenda. As one company pointed out, "environmental issues aren't going to go away from a legislative point of view, there are only going to be more rules down the track."
The graduates also encouraged the use of teams in implementing the program, rather than keeping it solely in the hands of upper management.
The event was facilitated by Knespal himself, who was called on to answer whether he saw the potential for collaboration with other associations such as the LIA or Printing Industries in the interests of creating a single standard for certification.
Knespal said he was open to the idea, but pointed out the difficulties of collaborating in the competitive world of business.
"The likelihood of one standard, one gold stamp, I don't see it anytime soon", said Knespal.