For some print service providers, sustainability initiatives have climbed to the top of the priority ladder. Allied Printing Services counts itself as one of them.
“It’s been a nice to have, but it’s becoming more of a need to have,” John Sommers says.
Sommers is president of Allied Printing Services, a third-generation family-owned commercial printer, based in Manchester, Connecticut. He explains that while the environmental focus is a recent shift in the company’s 76-year history, it is now firmly part of its DNA.
In 2014, Allied installed one of the largest rooftop solar arrays in Connecticut, which now supplies 20% of the facility’s power, with a fuel cell generating an additional 60%.
“That was when we really started to take things seriously,” he says. “After that, we replaced every light bulb in the shop with LEDs. We also have regular energy audits and a more energy-efficient HVAC system.”
The drive to become a more sustainable company doesn’t end there. Sommers notes the company employs an in-depth recycling program for aluminum and paper, a process that has had a significant impact, as well as a virgin paper baler and a plastic baler.
“When we started adding all of these different recycling streams, we went from producing a dumpster of waste per week to a dumpster of waste per month,” he says.
Read this full article on Printing Impressions, a publication of PRINTING United Alliance, ASI’s strategic partner.
