Stuff New Zealand Goes Green with Kodak
Stuff New Zealand and Kodak recently celebrated Stuff receiving the 2018 ANZ KODAK SONORA Green Leaf Award.
Komal Sharma, managing director of Middle East, Africa and South East Asia for Kodak, traveled to New Zealand to present the award. The KODAK SONORA Green Leaf Award program, now in its sixth year, celebrates printing industry partners who take a lead in adopting sustainable practices and in offering their customers eco-friendly options for their printing needs.
Judges criteria include management practices to improve energy and water efficiency; participation in local community sustainability initiatives; and the use of eco-conscious materials and supplies.
Ricky Baker, national print manager for Stuff, says the award recognizes what the team has achieved in terms of reducing carbon emissions and reducing waste output; goals that the team feels strongly about.
He says, “The reasoning behind it was to go process free. We believe it is critical for our business to be sustainable. That is where the thought process began. We have a responsibility to do that; all businesses do. Stuff has signed up to a sustainability mindset in everything we do.
“If you think back to not too many years ago, the industry had some terrible chemicals in our pressrooms. However, the industry has changed dramatically and continues to become more environmentally friendly. As one of the quickest industries to move toward sustainability, printing is making a difference.
“Our customers constantly ask questions around sustainability. As we continue to evolve the business around that, we become a better business as well.”
To illustrate his point, Baker lists a number of benefits the process free plates deliver. He says, “In terms of money and time saved, we have sped up the output of the plates and using them has enabled us to remove a machine from each CTP line.
“The process free plates have also removed the need for ongoing maintenance in the plate room because we have taken out the chemicals and the need for continual spend of the processors."
“Another obvious benefit is in health and safety, where the prepress room environment has improved for our staff. It also allows us to reallocate resources more efficiently.”
Baker says the quality has also improved. He says, “The KODAK SONORA Process Free Plate gives better definition and is a better quality product. This gives us a powerful story to tell our customers. In New Zealand, Stuff leads the market in process free plate technology for newspapers.
“We are impressed with the way Kodak has developed this plate that works so well, adding to the sustainability of its clients. When we first sat down with Kodak, their representatives talked about a range of advantages the process free plates offered and Kodak has delivered on every one of them. Kodak has kept all its promises and that has worked out fantastic for us.”
Grant Campbell, country manager for Kodak in New Zealand, sees process free becoming the new normal in New Zealand. He says, “While Stuff is the only newspaper site in the country that is running process free plates, the demand for them continues to increase and we already have a number of commercial print customers using SONORA plates.
“KODAK SONORA Process free Plates offer much more than just a plate, including the ability to move into UV and longer run lengths. 80% of printers in the world now have the opportunity to use process free technology in their business.
“We have an ROI calculator that shows what print businesses can save in terms of money, time, maintenance, power and so on. It really helps. For example, consider how much space it creates when you take the processor out of the room. It also takes a lot of cost out for our customers.”
One of only 13 printers around the world to receive the 2018 KODAK SONORA Green Leaf Award, Stuff New Zealand publishes newspapers nationwide. Baker says, “Between our two print sites in Wellington and Christchurch, we produce eight daily newspapers, community newspapers, Sunday newspapers, and work for other clients. We employ around 100 staff over both sites.
“Like other printers, we face challenges in this digital age but we work smart and hard to innovate. I think that, from a print perspective, being environmentally friendly can bring real cost savings. The more we can do that the better our future looks. The secret lies in becoming more cost-effective and more sustainable.”