CMD Striving to make the NZ Printing Industry Sustainable
North shore based printing agency, CMD Print Solutions is determined to shatter long-held misconceptions surrounding the printing industries relationship with the
environment.
Director, Danny van der Velde highlights that printing can in fact, be a highly sustainable industry. He believes this
can be achieved in each phase of the printing process - from paper production through to printing and consumption.
“By making smart decisions around where we source our materials, what inks we use, and how we distribute our product,
printing can be a much more environmentally friendly process than people believe it to be”.
The initial stage of the printing process; paper production, is where most people’s animosity towards the printing
industry stems from. van der Velde points out that it has become industry standard for paper suppliers to source their
raw material (trees) from stringently managed forests.
“The forests used for the production of paper tightly managed to ensure their sustainability. They are heavily regulated
by governing bodies which ensure they remain fully sustainable”.
The key way in which van der Velde’s company is making an environmental difference is by continuously looking to improve
and implementing modern printing practices.
“Through consciences decisions around the inks and toners we use, the way we package products, and recycling ink and
toner cartridges, we can offer our customers a product which has a very low environmental impact”.
CMD Print Solutions also minimises wastage by offering customers small print runs with their print-on-demand-service.
“Traditionally, due to set up costs and the use of film and plates etc. it wasn’t always economical to print small
quantities. This often led to a high volume of wastage, as customers were forced to place larger orders in order to
bring down their cost per unit”.
“Having the flexibility to offer both offset and digital printing means that CMD Printing Solutions can print small
quantities while still being economical but they can print high volumes as well when required”.
CMD Printing Solutions is very conscious of the environment and knows that their clients are too. They will continue to
look into improving where and when possible as they believe that more people will choose to work with printing suppliers
who share in these beliefs.