In the membership commitment letter to the EICC, Chairman of the Océ Corporate Sustainability Forum, Pierre Vincent notes: “As a responsible attitude and sustainable behavior are characteristic for our company, sustainable supply chain management is an essential part of our business. It is our strategy to require our partners and suppliers to adopt the same norms and standards with regard to sustainability as we apply to our own activities. At the same time, we challenge them to inspire us with new ideas.”

Today - World Environment Day - Océ proudly announces the winners of its Sustainability Contest, during which employees sent in their ideas to make Océ more sustainable. A jury consisting of members of the Corporate Sustainability Forum selected three winning ideas. The victorious proposals are fully in line with Océ’s sustainability focal points to ‘minimize incorrect and unnecessary prints’ and to ‘maximize reuse of materials and minimize landfill.’

Furthermore, the winners were announced of the children’s drawing competition entitled ‘The World of the Future.’ Children of Océ employees in The Netherlands drew their dream of the world of the future. The winning drawings were very creative and full of innovative ideas.

The Océ Sustainability Week activities included:

• Océ The Netherlands organized a sustainability event for its external relations. Customers, suppliers and NGOs were inspired by presentations on cradle-to-cradle, a green debate, and a tour of Océ’s Asset Recovery plant in Venlo.
  
• Océ UK organized a Go Green Day; employees wore sustainable and green clothes and donated money to the local wildlife trusts which the company matched pound for pound. Daily newsletters full of information on sustainability topics were published, inviting employees to discuss and share ideas on a special sustainability blog.
• Océ Italy published a green staff magazine and several news features on its local intranet, and served a green menu in its restaurant.
• Océ France served sustainable lunches in its restaurant, held a ‘Go Green Day’ where employees could dress in green and will organize a customer event later this year.
• Océ Spain encouraged staff to use the recycling bins and featured sustainable technology and recycled supplies as its main message at the Construmat exhibition in Barcelona, held April 20-25.
• Océ Austria already paid attention to sustainability earlier this year after moving to a new building. Besides achieving 40% savings in energy consumption, a significant reduction of waste was realized by asking employees to replace their plastic coffee cups by non-disposable mugs.
• Océ Australia published a list of "Top 10 Environmental Tips" on the intranet in an earlier campaign. “Lights out!” signs were put next to light switches, messages on the intranet and on bulletin boards promoted duplex printing, all waste streams were separated and much emphasis was laid on the recycling of products and packaging.
• Océ Singapore redesigned its showroom in a sustainable style.
• Océ-Switzerland held a range of activities including a special ‘Green’ menu in the staff bistro, a nature walk during lunch time and a conference about Océ’s green technologies.
• Océ-Technologies organized a drawing competition for its employees’ children. The drawings will showcase their hopes for the planet with regard to protecting flora, fauna and culture.
• Océ North America published daily postings on the intranet. Each day articles on various sustainability topics, Océ sustainability facts, and information regarding Océ’s US Sustainability Council were featured. On Wednesday 22 April, employees in selected offices could participate in a Jeans’ Day and a Green Day Festival for the promotion of sustainability awareness and to celebrate the week’s events.
• Océ Business Services offered 13 print/copy management practices that can help OPCOs and SBUs reduce costs and benefit the environment while doing so. These management practices are summarized on a poster that has been displayed at Océ Business Services’ client sites.
  

“In recognition of their substantial efforts to promote sustainability via the products used in their business operations, the services provided to their customers and internal employee programs, we are proud to announce that Blair Graphics is the winner of Océ’s second annual ‘Green Reprographer of the Year’ award,” said Sal Sheikh, Vice President of Marketing, Wide Format Printing Systems division of Océ North America. "We received numerous entries for this award, showcasing the relevance today’s reprographers place on environmentally friendly business practices. Océ can help reprographers, and their customers, reach their sustainability goals, through environmentally conscious products that also adhere to the quality and reliability for which Océ is recognized.”

An independent panel of judges, including Denise Gustavson, Editor of Wide-Format Imaging magazine, Dave Barista, Managing Editor of Building Design & Construction magazine, and Ed Avis, principal of Ed Avis Associates, a communications firm specializing in the imaging industry, and author of The Green Reprographics Handbook, selected Blair Graphics as the winner based on its enterprise-wide dedication to sustainability.

An American Reprographics Company (ARC) reprographer, Blair Graphics has incorporated sustainability into nearly every aspect of its business operations. The company uses Océ recycled paper for printing construction and other large format black & white and color documents (Océ 45-111R recycled paper). They also offer small format document printing on recycled paper. The company manufactures wrapped covers on recycled paper for wrapping of prints around a chip-board core instead of wrapping prints with a petroleum-based product. The majority of its mounting substrates are made from recycled materials, and Blair Graphics uses a rice-based adhesive for mounting onto substrates.

In January 2009, Blair Graphics procured an Océ ColorWave® 600 printer, which further supports their sustainability goals by producing no ozone, odor, or fine powder emissions, employing reusable packaging, and printing color images on recycled bond paper. The company has been instrumental in promoting the benefits of this new large format color printing system to customers who look to certify their projects through the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Certification Program.

“From the products it offers and the services it provides to the policies that company management have put into place regarding its employees and how its facilities are run, Blair Graphics gets it. They understand that sustainability is a process and a journey and that every piece is required to make up the whole and arrive at the end goal of a green and sustainable business,” said award judge Denise Gustavson.

In that spirit, Blair Graphics has strived to think outside the box to embrace new applications and services that enable their customers to print only what they need when they need it. They promote online digital services for sending files to their shop electronically rather than using a driver to pick-up content. They provide online document management and Invitation to Bid services like the PlanWell® online plan room and BidCaster™ and Sub-Hub software.

Furthermore, Blair Graphics continues their sustainability push to lower carbon emissions by offering the innovative new ishipdocs™ program, which facilitates the distribution and local printing and delivery of documents nearly anywhere in the world. They also offer onsite services and “Easy Print” solutions that clients can leverage to download and print files in their own offices, eliminating the need for printing at Blair Graphics and delivery of prints.

Internally, Blair Graphics adheres to a number of green practices to reduce the company’s impact on the environment – from updating all fixtures with energy-efficient bulbs that save an estimated 19,955 kWh of energy and 7,675 kW of power annually, to turning off all non-used power sources like A/C after hours, to installing motion sensor light switches and water-filtration systems to reduce bottled water consumption. To reduce the company’s carbon footprint, their delivery fleet consists of 45% hybrid and 45% fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicles. Employees are encouraged to communicate electronically, and the company has eliminated the use of fax cover sheets, posts a single memo for all employees and adheres to only two-sided copying when copying is needed.

Employees of Blair Graphics are encouraged to support the company’s sustainability goals and consider alternate commute options. A “Share the Ride” computer match program helps reduce single-ride commutes plus provides convenient parking options. Discounted bus passes are also available. Nearly 25% of employees either “Share the Ride,” use public transportation, bike or walk to work. In addition, the company adheres to a detailed recycling program throughout the facility.

Blair Graphics even provides comprehensive employee training regarding company policies and how to better reduce consumption of resource-intensive goods. Additionally, they encourage employees through their employee suggestion program to continually offer new ideas on how the company can eliminate waste and further reduce environmental impact, specially recognizing those whose suggestions are implemented.

Blair Graphics participates in several dedicated “green” programs and causes, including:

The ISO 14001 certification process normally takes between six and 18 months. Nik Thomson, Océ UK Group Safety, Health, Environment & Quality Officer said “Océ UK completed it in four months. This was primarily due to Océ UK's advanced level of environmental practices and strong participation from all areas of the business: sales, service and operational support.”

ISO 14001 Environmental Management is the principal international standard for environmental management systems and a tool designed to increase resource efficiency, catalogue and minimize waste, reduce environmental impacts and assure compliance with legislation leading towards continual improvement with environmental performance.

Bron Curley, Managing Director of Océ UK Ltd said: “The certification further demonstrates to our customers and staff that we take environmental matters seriously. It will complement our other existing initiatives, such as Océ Green Services and the Océ Carbon Positive Plus + program, and is another positive step towards sustainable business.”

Launched in March, Océ’s Green Services is a new development in eco-friendly management services, following the success of a pioneering project with Pfizer, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. Targeted towards medium and large companies that work with Océ Business Services on long-term contracts for managed on-site document services, the main goal of Océ Green Services is to minimize the environmental impact of Océ-supplied services with a focus on energy usage.

The pioneering world-first, Océ Carbon Positive Plus+ program involved benchmarking the energy consumption and operational Co2 emissions of Océ VarioPrint 6000 series. Under the unique offering, Océ committed to offset 200% of the CO2 generated from the operation of each of its Océ VarioPrint 6000 systems, and has offset over 5069 tonnes CO2 to date.

Other green credentials from Océ include further recognition through its selection as a Climate Action industry partner. Climate Action is produced in partnership with Sustainable Development International and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Best of both worlds

This increase across the globe offers customers the opportunity to accelerate their investment in new printers. Their current printers are then re-used and they can keep pace with the latest technologies. In this way, customers benefit from the best of both worlds.

On average, these systems are three-to-five years used, fully renovated, and command a more economical retail price. Océ guarantees quality levels that are identical to those of a new printer. This is one of the keynote messages enshrined in the Océ 2008 Sustainability Report, published this morning.

Océ encourages employees worldwide to use public transportation, carpool, bike or walk to work, recycle, and save energy. In addition, some Océ Operating Companies have combined Sustainability Week with activities to provide customers with information about how organizations can implement document management best practices that are eco-friendly and cost effective.

Océ Green Services are targeted towards medium and large companies that work with Océ Business Services on long-term contracts for managed on-site document services. The main goal of Océ Green Services is to minimize the environmental impact of Océ-supplied services with a focus on energy usage. The idea for Océ Green Services was pioneered at the UK headquarters of Pfizer, based at Walton Oaks, Surrey, where Océ provides outsourced managed services - including the mailroom and printroom.

Carbon Positive Plus+, a world first in the printing industry, benchmarks Océ’s VarioPrint 6000 series printing systems’ energy consumption and operational Co2 emissions. The carbon is offset in the UK via the Woodland Trust and globally in partnership with The CarbonNeutral Company.

Before the event stakeholders were asked to fill in a short survey containing questions on Océ’s sustainability policy. The results of this survey were used as a starting point for the stakeholder dialogue.

DPDA members currently include HP, InfoPrint Solutions Company, Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group, and Océ N.V. Technical representatives from each company have been meeting regularly to define the objectives and scope for needed research. DPDA-sponsored studies will be focused on the de-inking of inkjet prints, but will also examine that focus in the context of de-inking of other print technologies.

The new sustainability icon is more than just a symbol of Océ’s commitment to ‘green’ products and processes. The aim is to make it easy for users to find practical information related to the use of Océ products. It refers to a new website launched by Océ: www.sustainability.oce.com. Here, users can find the answers to many everyday questions relating to matters such as the use of recycled paper, emissions of the Océ printers, environmentally safe disposal of materials such as packaging and empty toner bottles, and various environmental certifications awarded to Océ supplies and systems.