A right Royal look at printers' waste
Monday 8th March 2004
One Dorset firm's efforts to make the print industry more environmentally-friendly came under Royal scrutiny when the Duke of Kent visited the Blandford headquarters of print waste collection and recycling services specialists J&G Environmental.
The company, which collects and processes waste from almost 2500 UK print works, won a Queen's Award for Sustainable Development last year - the first company in its sector to do so.
The Duke asked to visit J&G during a trip to the area in order to congratulate the staff on their success and learn more about moves to reduce the industry's huge waste mountain.
He was accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant of Dorset (Capt. Michael Fulford-Dobson) and North Dorset District Council chairman Mrs Della Jones.
Joint managing director Steve Armstrong told the Duke that the reprocessing of waste was not the most glamorous part of the industry but it was a practical contribution to helping the environment and "making a dirty industry just that little bit more conscious of its responsibilities."
The Duke, who met many of the company's 45 staff and unveiled a commemorative plaque, heard that J&G disposed of around three million litres of printers' toxic liquid waste weekly and collected over 6000 tonnes of aluminium litho plates and tens of thousands of used fluorescent lamp tubes every year.
J&G currently recycle or reuse nearly three-quarters of the waste they collect and was aiming to achieve 85% in the near future.
The Royal visitor donned a hardhat - but declined ear protectors - to watch J&G's new £85,000 shredder in action for the first time. The shredder turns huge amounts of plastic waste from printers into recyclable pellets as well as chopping up discarded wooden pallets into chippings which are dyed and used as decorative garden covering.
Said Steve Armstrong: "The Duke's visit marked an important milestone in our history. He took a keen interest in just how much printers' waste is now being recycled and we think this is particularly important given the volume of polluting chemicals, inks, solvents, varnishes, water and forest products the industry uses."
