FESPA UK partners with industry suppliers to improve print media recycling

FESPA UK add Self-adhesive Plastics and Siliconised backing papers to their Waste Management Accreditation Scheme and welcomes support from key industry suppliers.

FESPA UK add Self-adhesive Plastics and Siliconised backing papers to their Waste Management Accreditation Scheme and welcomes support from key industry suppliers.

FESPA UK Association are proud to announce the successful implementation and widespread adoption of its Waste Management Accreditation Scheme. Launched 18 months ago, the scheme has empowered businesses to effectively manage their waste, increase recycling rates, eliminate landfill, and realise significant cost savings.

In response to the pressing need for sustainable waste management practices, FESPA UK developed their Waste Management Accreditation Scheme to provide businesses with comprehensive guidance and support. By partnering with industry experts and leveraging innovative strategies, the scheme offers businesses a structured framework to review and optimise their waste systems.  Through a rigorous evaluation process, businesses gain valuable insights into their waste generation patterns and receive personalised recommendations for improvement.

Since its inception, the Waste Management Accreditation Scheme has gained widespread acclaim, with multiple businesses reaping the benefits of enhanced sustainability and cost efficiency. The Accreditation currently includes Graphics materials such as ACM, Rigid Boards, PVC Banner and polyester fabrics, but the material that has historically been the most challenging to dispose of sustainably has been the Self-Adhesive face plastics and siliconised backing papers used in Vehicle and Architectural wrapping. 

FESPA UK are delighted to announce that they can now offer a solution for these materials and will be working with some of the Industries key suppliers to launch the latest part of the Accreditation.  Joining the fight to help businesses become more sustainable are 3M, William Smith, Spandex and Premier Paper, All Print Supplies & Soyang Europe. With suppliers working together for the industry under the FESPA UK flag, they will champion the Accreditation by offering the recycling solution to their clients and helping them to attain their own Accreditation Logo & Certification. This allows Waste Producers to display the Accreditation on their website, stationery and social media channels.

Through the accreditation, the service provides Print, Signage and Graphics manufacturers not only 100% accountability for their Graphics waste but focuses on investigating Total Waste Management Solutions.  The scheme therefore assesses the current methodologies and costs of all the waste outputs from a site, including general waste, graphics media, dry mixed recycling and hazardous wastes etc, and provides improvement opportunities through our network of waste/recycling contractors. Meaning that the suppliers who champion the accreditation, maximise their customers sustainability potential, ensure compliance, potential cost savings and offer them a complete scope of solutions. 

Suzi Ward MD FESPA UK said "We are thrilled to witness the positive impact our Waste Management Accreditation Scheme is having on businesses across the Graphics industry. We remain committed to supporting businesses on their sustainability journey through our Accreditation and our Sustainable Waste Academy courses, and as an Association we will continue to reinvest our profits into proactive initiatives that help to build a better future for our members and the industry.  It is such a great feeling to see suppliers working together for the benefit of the industry and their clients. It could have been so easy for the suppliers to just want their own materials collecting from individual sites, but everyone involved agreed that it was important not to single out any materials and make it harder than it has to be for the Waste Producers who want to be more sustainable, but still have a business to run. By collecting any manufactures materials, we reduce the need for extra time spent segregating materials before collection.” 

Jon Hutton FESPA UK’s Sustainability Consultant said ''Increasing recycling rates is a key strategy to developing a circular economy and we are increasingly delivering this throughout all sectors of graphic printing, from events to POS, signage, large format, and vehicle wrapping. Our Sustainable Waste Academy is delivering education and collaboration opportunities too across the supply chain, enabling suppliers, Printers, Signage and Graphics businesses to better understand how to manage their waste through best practices, whilst discussing their own ongoing challenges. The Accreditation Scheme ensures accountability to businesses for waste produced, collected, and treated, and is assisting to improve their environmental position by accounting for the end-of-campaign waste taken back from customers. It's great to see the Accreditation becoming a standard that businesses want to work to achieve.''  

For more information on the Waste Accreditation please contact one of the Industry Champions, who are ready to answer questions and guide their clients through the initial process.

If you would like to know more about The Sustainable Waste Academy or Membership to FESPA UK, please contact suzi.ward@fespauk.com or jay.burfield@fespauk.com