Schawk Establishes an Environmental Sustainability Team

DES PLAINES, Ill.—Schawk, Inc. recently announced its commitment to environmental sustainability and has established a global environmental sustainability team to drive progress forward for the benefit of its clients, employees, and the communities in which it operates around the world.

“Schawk acts in accordance with the belief that its actions as an organization must be aligned with its philosophy of being a good corporate citizen,” said David A. Schawk, president and chief executive officer. “We have established a global environmental sustainability team to bring greater focus to our efforts on behalf of our clients, employees, and local communities. We are committed to discovering innovative new ways in which to deliver on this promise.”

The Schawk commitment to environmental sustainability includes seven pledges:
• Ensuring that its operations all over the world continue to use clean production technologies and follow best practices for environmental protection.
• Providing goods and services to its clients that enable them as brand owners and retailers to meet and exceed both regulatory and proprietary environmental initiatives.
• Building and nurturing collaborative relationships with its clients, suppliers, product and service collaborators, and industry associations to enable a swift and intelligent exchange of environmental solutions.
• Helping its clients streamline their brand development workflows through better use of best practice workflows, technology, enhanced materials selection, and source reduction.
• Leveraging its knowledge and experience to innovate new services and solutions that drive environmentally friendly brand development thinking forward.
• Nurturing the climate of innovation inside the company that makes great leaps forward possible.
• Creating a healthy environment in the communities in which we live and work, and to the world community as well.

“Schawk operates every day with the understanding that the products it generates, the counsel it provides to its clients, and the decisions it makes about operating practices impact our environment,” said A. Alex Sarkisian, executive vice president and chief operating officer. “As an industry leader, we believe that being environmentally responsible requires a shift in consciousness. We are working to ignite this shift internally because we believe that environmental responsibility and corporate profitability will increasingly work together as more industries learn that nature “works” for both sustainability and the bottom line. We have, are, and will continue this practice as a matter of conscience and culture, not regulation.”

On the premedia services side of its business, Schawk’s flexographic platemaking system is a closed loop system, meaning that solvents used in the process are captured and recycled and not discharged. The company’s gravure cylinder-making process is 100 percent electrostatic, eliminating the need to use chemical pellets to coat cylinders. All the company’s plates and cylinders are digitally engraved, eliminating the need for solvent-based chemicals. Additionally, Schawk’s color and print management services help to reduce paper and substrate waste while improving speed.

On the technology side of its business, BLUE, Schawk’s content lifecycle management system, helps clients substantially reduce or eliminate the volume of paper required by traditional proofing processes, as well as the cost of overnight shipping and the transportation energy required to make these deliveries. The implementation of BLUE can also help organizations manage ISO 14000 Environmental Program Management. Additionally, Schawk offers virtual three-dimensional packaging as an alternative to paper-based mock-ups.

On the branding and design side of its business, Anthem Worldwide, a Schawk strategic design company, offers guidance and recommendation on the selection of substrates, structures, and inks during the design process to maximize clients’ environmental sustainability options at the point of conception.

Schawk has also been testing the performance of water-based inks on substrates used in flexographic printing and employing more widespread use of vegetable-based printing inks such as soy, which is renewable.

Schawk’s globally integrated brand image management supply chain solutions are custom-built for clients based on services that include branding and strategic design through Anthem Worldwide, production and premedia services through Schawk’s graphic services group, and content lifecycle management through Schawk Digital Solutions. The Company’s solutions deliver strategic business value, improved speed-to-market, enhanced brand consistency, and improved marketplace agility.

Schawk, Inc. is an approved member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. Additionally, Its Los Angeles facility received chain of custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in December 2006. Also, the Company’s London facility has been re-accredited with ISO 14001-2004 management systems. ISO 14001 2004 is an environmental management standard that specifies a set of requirements for environmental management systems. The purpose of this standard is to help organizations protect the environment, prevent pollution, and improve their environmental performance.