Portland, Oregon-based Rose City Label has declared its intent to deepen its commitment to environmentally-responsible production, following its certification by the Sustainable Green Printing (SGP) Partnership.
SGP Partnership is a non-profit accreditation organisation that promotes sustainability in printing practices and manufacturing operations.
Rose City Label Company is a custom label printing company for small to medium-sized manufacturers in the Pacific Northwest. It utilises both flexo and digital printing technologies, in addition to foil stamping and embossing.
Scott Pillsbury, president at Rose City Label, said, ‘SGP certification was a natural progression for us. Since our initial local county certification in 2009, we have been focused on our sustainability. Along with people and profits, we recognise that being a good environmental citizen is not only good for business, but also is the right thing to do.’
He continued, ‘We have been active with TLMI for 40 years, so when it decided to partner with SGP, we were excited to dive in and lead the way for other label printers. In Oregon, being a green company with water-washed printing plates and wind power is a tremendous advantage. This certification didn’t require any changes in our operations, it was just a more formal recognition of the hard work we have been doing for over 10 years.
‘Being a sustainability focused company is baked into our culture. We have been sharing our results with our full team each quarter for over five years now and people are excited to see that we have cut our water usage by 47 percent since 2013. These results help us attract and retain both customers and team members. This is a big competitive advantage for us, and we are proud of this success.’
Going forward, Rose City Label will position itself, and evaluate more options, to advance its sustainability credentials. Lighting upgrades are in the works, for example, while waste reduction will continue to be a focus.
Mr Pillsbury added, ‘Being sustainable is also about improving our business operations and reducing costs at every level. We are proud of what we have done so far, but we aren’t done yet. We still have many improvements to make in the future.’
