Environmental Sustainability Case Study
Cambrian Printers

Cambrian Printers (Cambrian) based in Llanbadern, Aberystwyth is a long established printing company that prides itself on high quality service and technical excellence. A family owned business, Cambrian has been in the printing trade since its inception in 1860, moving from its roots in newspaper production to being the printer of choice for a number of the world’s top publishers of books and journals. With its 85 skilled employees Cambrian offers a wide range of additional printing services, including the production of magazines, catalogues and other commercial products.

Cambrian is a forward thinking, thriving company that has always met new challenges through the timely, innovative integration of new technologies, embracing their potential to the maximum degree. Whether its one of the world’s first ‘powered printing presses’ or a state of the art thermal computer-to-plate machine Cambrian has always made use of technology to provide modern facilities to support the delivery of cutting edge offerings such as its print on-demand service.

Cambrian has been quick to recognise the importance of managing its waste outputs and has become a Welsh trail blazer in the field, setting an example of best practice to SMEs. Recognising that printing is by reputation a ‘dirty’ industry Cambrian undertook a comprehensive environmental review in 2001, identifying several areas for action including pollution prevention, waste minimisation and the development of a comprehensive environmental management system.

As a result of its efforts Cambrian has achieved numerous awards and distinctions, from achieving ISO 14001 in March 2004 to being the only print company to be awarded the Green Dragon Level 5 Award in both 2004 and 2005. Additionally Cambrian recently beat off stiff competition to win the prestigious Arena Network Wales Minimisation Award 2005 for its “achievements in demonstrating a clear understanding of the waste it produces, and the programmes it has established for minimisation of waste”.

The decision to become an environmentally proactive company and to adopt good practice was born not out of an altruistic desire to save the environment but from recognition that such policies make strong business sense. A vast array of practices have been adopted by Cambrian, from the introduction of complex printing technology to an onsite wormery, all following the underlying theme of being self financing and saving money as well as the environment.

Considerable cost savings can be made through effective recycling. Cambrian recycles 90% of all its waste materials and is hoping to increase this figure with the development of a recycling process for cleaning solvent, a chemical used in the production process. It is anticipated that this improvement will allow almost all of its current usage to be recycled.

Whilst many of the recycling measures at Cambrian are industry specific it is particularly noteworthy that a 25% reduction in the amount of office waste has been achieved. This is a result of a general move towards a ‘paperless office’ environment and through the use of back-to-back printing amongst other measures. IT infrastructures form the core of Cambrian’s way of doing business, based upon minimal cost Open Source network software where ‘print jobs’ largely arrive in electronic format (submitted via the Web site or eMail) and are then distributed through the various departments over the computer network, leading to a more secure, more efficient and more environmentally friendly office.

As well as recycling Cambrian is committed to reducing the amount of waste generated by the company, achieving over a 60% reduction to date. This was partly reached through the purchase of new technology that enabled 55 tons of paper to be saved per annum, equating to a £60,000 cost reduction. Although this is significant in itself, the improved technology has also lead to a productivity increase of between 30-40% and as such it is estimated that the machine will pay for itself within 18 months. These improvements were all achieved through an environmental management system that allowed for the monitoring and calculation of waste levels. Perhaps a more generally applicable example of savings that can be made through high quality waste management is the £14,000 per annum saving Cambrian achieved simply by monitoring its water usage! Cambrian intends to make similarly impressive savings of £600 per month on electricity usage after the collation of the results from a comprehensive monitoring program.

Employing an effective environmental management system provides additional ‘fringe’ benefits on top of the cost savings. Halving its VOC emissions has assisted Cambrian in compliance and indeed future compliance with regulatory legislation, breach of which could lead to huge costs in punitive damages. Furthermore, being accredited with standards such as ISO 14001 assists in creating a corporate image that can attract customers and assist in gaining public sector contracts. By improving their offering to include recycled paper sources Cambrian recognises the value its customers place on the environment.

In order for an environmental policy to be successful it is critical that its underlying ethos is embedded in the culture of an organisation. Cambrian have taken environmental management to all areas of their work; indeed they are currently offering an inventive ‘cycling initiative’ to encourage employees to replace their cars with subsidised bikes as a means of travelling to work!

Cambrian does not pretend that the processes undertaken to achieve these vast savings is quick and easy, indeed it recognises that a long term cycle of monitoring and evaluation together with the implementation of new policies are essential components to making long term, significant business improvements. However it believes through setting realistic targets and involving all staff strong environmental management polices make good business sense and are eminently achievable.