Printing & repro for publishers, agencies and companies
Sustainability
Italgraf Media is a full-service supplier in graphic production and our sustainability principle is as simple as it sounds:
It's about making a product in the best possible way and this is done by consciously making better choices.
The best way is to do it together with our customers and partners.
Step by step, production by production. Ultimately, it is the customer who decides, but we help the customer make the right choice and come up with suggestions for alternatives that have the least possible impact for each individual production. In all our quotes, we have as an alternative an offer for the best possible environmental choice for the current production.
Italgraf Media’s Code of Conduct
To clarify our commitment, we have established a Code of Conduct. This outlines our ethical values and the principles guiding our environmental efforts.
At our offices, we strive to work sustainably by sorting paper, plastic, ink cartridges, and cardboard. Another important aspect is how our suppliers approach and implement sustainability. To collaborate with us, suppliers must comply with our guidelines.
Our partners should share our perspective on the Code of Conduct and environmental responsibility.
A common factor among our suppliers is that they actively work to improve their environmental efforts in various ways. There should also be a focus on social sustainability, following a recognized “Code of Conduct.”
Our Code of Conduct is based on our values regarding human rights principles, labor practices, environmental responsibility, and anti-corruption. It provides guidance on how our employees should act and make responsible decisions in their daily work. In all our external and internal relationships, we adhere to ethical standards when interacting with customers, business partners, subcontractors, and colleagues.
This means, for example, that our suppliers comply with environmental laws and regulations applicable in their respective countries. Suppliers should sort waste and promote the recycling of materials and energy whenever possible.
It also includes ensuring that wages meet legal minimum requirements, providing job security—meaning employees are hired for extended periods—and granting parental leave in accordance with national laws, with the right to return to work after parental leave.
Our Process
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Guidance – Provide guidance early in the process
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Goals – Set objectives and measure results
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Processes – Continuously develop processes, systems, employees, and customer relationships
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Informed Choices – Make well-founded decisions regarding products, materials, packaging, and transportation
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Collaboration – Work together with our customers to reduce resource consumption
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Profitability – Operate in a long-term and economically efficient manner
Italgraf Media’s Model
We strive for increased transparency and knowledge sharing.
We care about our customers’ sustainability efforts.
We promise to always provide guidance for well-thought-out decisions.
Environmental work is an ongoing process, and we continuously seek new ways to create an even more climate-smart approach.
We aim to collaborate with our customers to proactively manage environmental risks and identify opportunities for improvement.
Certificates and Memberships
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Our partners play a crucial role in our work. We only work with suppliers who share our views on these issues. We always encourage our customers to choose the most climate-neutral production option such as FSC, Swan or Green Transport with forwarders who offer trucks, trains or boats that have the necessary certificates.
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Below is a selection of different memberships and initiatives that we can offer through our suppliers:
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Several of our suppliers are also certified according to ISO 9001 and 14001.
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As the full-service supplier we are, we are well aware that basically everything we produce affects the environment. Our sustainability work is about reducing environmental impact. We are constantly working to become better, it is part of the process and by extension, our goal is to be able to measure our climate impact through Carbon footprint (CO2).
The Swan
The Nordic Ecolabel (Svanen) takes a holistic approach to environmental issues and aims to reduce environmental impact and create a more sustainable society. This is achieved through the high demands placed on our processes, raw materials and chemicals. By choosing a Nordic Ecolabelled printed matter, you have chosen one of the best environmentally friendly products on the market. Our goal is to produce at least 50% of our production with the Nordic Ecolabel by 2020.
FSC®
The Forest Stewardship Council® is an international labeling system that promotes sustainable forestry based on ecological, social and economic aspects. Choose an FSC® paper and you get a guarantee that it comes from sustainable forestry. All our suppliers can offer production with this label.
Rainforest Alliance is a non-profit organization that works to preserve biodiversity and promote sustainable development by influencing land-use practices, business conduct, and consumer behavior.
Rainforest Alliance focuses on promoting better agricultural practices.
Crops produced on certified farms are eligible to carry the organization’s label.
Rainforest
Alliance
BSCI
BSCI, The Business Social Compliance Initiative, is a European business-driven collaborative initiative for companies that want to improve working conditions in the global supply chain. The organization behind BSCI is called Amfori. Companies work together to make it easier for members and suppliers through consistent requirements and the same improvements. All suppliers commit to following the code of conduct.
Deforestation Regulation, EUDR
The EU's Deforestation Directive has created a regulation designed to prevent deforestation and forest degradation. The regulation will enter into force on 30 December 2024 for large companies, and on 30 June 2025 for medium-sized, small and micro enterprises. The EU definition of large companies is companies that employ more than 250 people and whose annual turnover exceeds €50 million or whose balance sheet total exceeds €43 million per year.
In short, this means that book publishers must be able to report where the forest raw material comes from for each individual printed book. Not only which paper mills have supplied the material for the book, but they must also be able to report the GPS coordinates for the areas where the wood raw materials were sourced. Each paper quality in each book, such as cover paper, cover board, insert paper, is assigned a DD number which can therefore be traced upstream via the printing house and paper mill all the way to the forest area where the trees stood. A product can therefore have more than one DD number.
Exactly how the law will be drafted and how this will be reported has not been finally determined, but the industry's paper suppliers and printers have both reason and motivation to streamline the processes around this. Until the regulation is hammered out and implemented, we will follow the development closely.