Publishers to press suppliers for more ‘green’ information

The Periodical Publishers Association's (PPA) is to send out a questionnaire to suppliers to help its members select more environmentally friendly equipment and materials.


The PPA says the questionnaire, which will be developed by the Sustainable Office Forum (SOF), will also enable suppliers to market their green credentials to publishers.

Initially, the SOF will consult PPA members and suppliers on their concerns and standards as a basis for the questionnaire. “We are looking at all sorts of issues, asking our members to consolidate their concerns into one questionnaire and talking to suppliers as well,” PPA’s law and public affairs consultant, Richard Henchley told edie.”This is a stage beyond just having guidelines on green principles. This is putting meat on the bones of the guidelines that we’ve had for a number of years and finding out how suppliers perform. It means reviewing suppliers’ performance and will take a lot of hard work to do properly.”

Although Henchley could not say what particular issues will be looked at until the consultation period is over, he indicated that the questionnaire would address industry-specific problems such as recycled paper percentages and ink composition. This, said Henchley, would ensure that the industry is well placed to deal with any further environmental legislation it may be subject to in the future. “We are trying to get ahead of the game. The paper printing industry is already fairly environmentally friendly, but we want to make it easier for suppliers to tell our members what they are achieving, and for members to tell suppliers what they want.”

The PPA says a draft will be ready by the end of July, with the whole scheme working by the end of the year.

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