"Progress Printing has always operated in an environmentally friendly manner," says Phillip Pryor, purchasing manager. "We’ve recycled our scrap paper, plates, boxes, and skids for over 25 years. Progress was one of the country’ s first printers to go all-digital (film-less) to eliminate chemicals and the use of silver in the printing process."

"Our Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) designation is further proof of our commitment to preserving our environment and operating in an ethical and responsible way," he adds.

Most of us were born and bred in the farms, suburbs, and foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains...where as they say, the air is clean, streams are clear, and sunshine is always free.

Just ask Stan Smith. For this part-time Amherst County rancher and full-time printer, making Progress Printing a model for environmental sustainability isn’t a recent fad. The company has been striving to do right by the environment from the beginning.

"We want to continue to do the things that will solidify the future of this company. As each generation matures, we want to leave something that is great platform from which the next generation will provide a living," says Smith, vice president of manufacturing.

"Sustainability is our core philosophy," he emphasizes. "It’s not about today. It’s about the continuation of building something that’s going to be a future for someone else."

Progress Printing has come a long, long way to become "The Green Machine."

Here’s how:

1.2 MILLION LBS. OF PAPER RECYLED A MONTH: Progress Printing buys about $24 million printing paper a year. This figure will spike with a new MAN Roland Lithoman 32-page web in summer 2008. Progress Printing now recycles about 12 million pounds of paper waste each year.

Where does it come from? From saddle stitchers. The rotary trimmer on the webs. Signature waste from makereadies. Three-sided grind-off from the perfect binder. Slitting and trimming from the buckle folders. And countless ribbons of waste paper from the guillotine knives.

All this waste paper is sucked up through a complex system of collection vacuums snaking throughout the plant. A "printer’s mix" of stock grades is shredded by a giant waste extractor that chunks out half-ton bales. These are sent to Georgia-Pacific for recycling into tissue products. In addition:

> Progress Printing separates all brown papers for recycling, such as web roll wraps, ends and cores along with miscellaneous corrugated.

> Progress Printing separates miscellaneous inkless white paper that is sold at a premium to overseas markets for recycling.

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY WEB DRYERS: Progress Printing’s web presses are equipped with regenerative thermal oxidizers, a.k.a. afterburners. These units use recovered heat energy to pre-heat incoming air to oxidation temperatures. This results in an energy-efficient treatment of VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions, flashing off harmful solvents. The air emissions are virtually clean, far exceeding standards for environmental quality and pollution control. The two MAN Roland 16-page webs have Contiweb dryers by Goss. The new Lithoman will have a MEGTEC dryer.

"FRIENDLY" PUR GLUE: Progress Printing’s new Muller Martini Corona 21-pocket perfect binder uses PUR glue (polyurethane reactive) is much more environmentally friendly than EVA hot melt glue used by many binders. PUR easily separates from the paper pulp slurry during recycling.

VEGETABLE OIL-BASED INK: Progress Printing buys more than $1 million in ink each year. That’’s tons and tons of ink. The full webs drink voraciously from huge metal totes, each brimming with 2,800 lbs. of ink. In the old days, printers ink contained petroleum solvents that were more hazardous. Today’s vegetable and soy-based inks are more environmentally benign. Progress also remixes leftover PMS inks.

PLATE RECYCLING: Printing plates are made from high-grade aluminum and bring a handsome recycling price. Last year Progress bought and recycled about 90,000 plates (75,000 web, 15,000 sheetfed). Used plates are banded on palettes, loaded on a docked trailer, and sent to a recycling center.

CLEAN BLANKET WASH: Progress Printing has dramatically reduced the use of solvents throughout the printing process, particularly in the blanket and roller wash process. In yesteryear, printers had drums of harsh solvents that were flammable and vaporous. Today, Progress Printing’s automated plate washing processes use VOC-free vegetable solvents.

ALCOHOL-FREE: Progress Printing went dry on alcohol use about 15 years ago. Alcohol was used in press fountain solutions as a wetting agent for non-image areas on printing plates. The solution was volatile and vaporous. Today, wetting agents are much safer for employees and the environment.

There are dozen of other conservation measures enacted daily throughout the company, from energy-efficient servo engines to responsible lights-out at night. It’s all a process being corporately conscious of consumption, minimize waste, and seek recycling alternatives.

"It requires us to be wise with our purchases and how we spend our capital dollars," says Stan Smith. "Just like quality, it’s a process of continuous improvement. It’s never enough. You must always be reaching for a higher level...for tomorrow."

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