Here at Edale, we are at the start of a long journey in educating ourselves and our customers to be more environmentally aware, whilst trying to make active changes and future pledges in order to become more sustainable.
We are aware of just how much more we need to be doing. We believe this awareness shows that we are actively thinking about what we can do and taking the first steps to do so.
As a business, we are currently taking actions to be more environmentally friendly. Across both the offices and shop floor, we have implemented recycling bins to ensure all paper and cardboard waste is correctly recycled and are aiming to go paperless in our offices in the near future. Moreover, we now have a fully renewably sourced energy provider, and are working on a plant a tree campaign which will ultimately help us to offset some of our carbon production. As well as this, we have already begun to make changes in terms of our sustainability and specifically our carbon footprint, by offering virtual meetings and demos as opposed to travelling overseas to events with both staff and print machines.
Our primary product development focus will continue to be on the development of machines for the production of paper-based packaging as opposed to plastic, as well as exploring and implementing the use of technologies to reduce production waste and energy consumption.
In the long term, we are hoping to switch to recyclable materials for our demos, which will mean there is less waste, and what there is, can be recycled. We are also striving to be net zero. That being said, technological advances, changes in market demands and consumer priorities all factor into this.
Through these steps we are currently taking, it is clear we are on the journey of becoming a more environmentally aware company. The fact we are making changes and pledges to be more environmental in our practices reflect this and we will continue to strive for sustainability in everything we do as we feel it is our environmental obligation to do so.
Our managing director James Boughton has made a statement on sustainability outlining what we are doing and what we have done as a beginning to our journey
FACTS
Stand out information found from research
- There is a beneficial link between the market’s demand for cartons and carbon sequestration (the long-term removal, capture, or sequestration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow or reverse atmospheric CO2 pollution and to reduce or reverse climate change).
- Cartons are made from a renewable resource, compostable and easily recyclable, with decreasing production emissions.
- Using wood as a raw material for the paper and board industry creates four times more value and retains six times more jobs than the energy sector would by burning wood.
- 2020 Pro carton consumer research study: 77% would pay more for more environmentally friendly packaging.
- Trade shows have a considerable environmental impact: Travel accounts for up to 96.3% of an event’s total carbon footprint.
THE CARTON INDUSTRY’S POSITION ON CARBON
How others are addressing sustainability
- The raw material used to create carton boards is made from wood fibres from sustainable forests. Sustainable forest management is part of the important relationship between forests and climate.
- Growing trees capture and store carbon and when the wood fibre is processed into cartons, the carbon continues to be stored in the cartons.
- There is a beneficial link between the market’s demand for cartons and carbon sequestration.
- Cartons are made from a renewable resource, compostable and easily recyclable, with decreasing production emissions.
EARTH DAY 2020
Key facts on why paper is the right choice
- European forests store almost 80 billion tonnes of carbon in their biomass (European Environment Agency, 2015)
- The CO2 emissions of the European pulp and paper industry reduced by 26% between 2005 and 2015 (CEPI Statistics, 2017)
- Trees absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and wood and paper products store that CO2 throughout their lifetimes.
- 58% of the European pulp and paper industry’s energy consumption comes from renewable biomass. (CEPI Statistics, 2017)
- 75% of the pulp delivered to paper mills in Europe comes from independently certified forests (CEPI Sustainability Report, 2013)
- Between 2005 and 2015, European forests grew by 44,000 KM2 – that’s over 1500 football pitches every day! (FAO, 2005-2015)
TWO SIDES
Paper packaging
- The paper packaging and allied industries recognise a responsibility to continually improve their environmental credentials, and also address consumer concerns about the environmental impacts of their products.
- Consumer, business, and political interest in the packaging debate has never been so apparent. Now is the time to ensure that the fundamental sustainable attributes of paper packaging are actively communicated to all those for whom paper touches their lives every day.
- Paper packaging is durable, attractive, renewable and recyclable and will be an invaluable material as we move towards a regenerative, circular economy.
Results of the 2021 study show that, whilst paper remains a vital communication and packaging material, there are misconceptions around the impact the paper industry has on the environment.
The study found that consumers still believe forests are decreasing in size, with 59% of UK consumers believing that European forests are shrinking.
In fact, between 2005 and 2020, European forests grew by 58,390km2 (an area larger than Switzerland, of forest growth every day).
SUSTAINABILITY – LABELS
FlexoGlobal’s discussion on edale’s label sustainability stance
With sustainability in the label industry being just as vital as in the carton market, we are aiming to further improve our environmental stance within the production of our label printing machines, the label stock we print on as well as other factors like carbon footprint, energy inputs and waste materials produced.
Back in 2019 at LabelExpo, James discussed our stance on becoming ‘greener’ with FlexoGlobal and the reasoning behind us not taking a running press. This decision was the turning point for Edale and our journey of becoming more aware of the environmental implications our practices have.
By not running a press Edale saved more than 10,000KG of waste that would otherwise have been destined for landfill without fulfilling any purpose “this waste is produced unnecessarily in our opinion and is only produced in the pursuit of profit with total disregard for the environment.
As a company, we want to be green. “We are constantly using technology in our presses to reduce waste on set-up, by having the EZ REG Autonomous registration system along with the EZ DIE quick-change die station waste is taken away from the operator’s control allowing for consistent and low waste figures.”
Edale is constantly looking at ways to improve our carbon footprint, the latest demonstration press to be installed in our showroom, has LED curing.
Having extensively researched the market, Edale has chosen its partner based on the fact that an astonishing 90% power saving can be achieved over conventional UV ARC systems, which results in a 75% overall power saving when taking the press and curing into account.
Our latest stance following our successful withdrawal from showing live equipment at Labelexpo 2019 and the more recent adoption of digital marketing and communication technologies, our current approach is that we will not at this stage be committing to future international trade shows.
“Power is a major concern and will only get worse as the years pass by, power will not get cheaper it will only get more expensive. A by-product of not running a single demo press at label expo was that we saved the equivalent of running an average household for 50 days.”
FL3 Eco is an energy efficient configuration equipped with low energy LED UV curing
James finally states, “going green is not easy and will take time for a company like Edale, however there is a common misunderstanding that going “green” impedes business performance. This is not true, because our decision not to print waste at the show did not affect the number of leads generated and 2020 looks set to match the record growth and sales to be achieved in 2019, perhaps not something all analogue press manufacturers can claim.”
FEEDBACK
Let us know what you think we could be doing better. If you'd like to get in touch, please find the numbers below.
HEAD OFFICE
+44 (0) 1489 569230
info@edale.com
SUPPORT
+44 (0) 1489 569230
support@edale.com
PRESS ENQUIRIES
+44 (0) 1489 569230
marketing@edale.com