“Sustainability needs to be integrated into your business philosophy.” With this simple but powerful statement, Sarah Osorio, Environmental Health and Safety Affairs Coordinator at PRINTING United Alliance, opened her recent session at PRINTING United Expo—urging print businesses to look beyond the ink, paper, and substrates that typically dominate sustainability conversations.
Osorio’s message was clear: the printing industry must shift from a product-centric view of sustainability to a holistic, operations-driven approach that includes energy usage, waste management, employee safety, supply chain management, and governance. This expanded view, she emphasized, is not only environmentally responsible, it is essential for long-term profitability and resilience.
What Sustainability Really Means
While sustainability has become a buzzword, its formal roots go back to the 1987 Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, which defined sustainable development as meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Or, as Osorio summarized: “Take no more than you need, don’t harm the environment, and if you do, make amends.”
In print, sustainability is often equated with substrate choices or certifications, such as 100% recycled or FSC certified. While these are important, Osorio stressed that such credentials tell only part of the story. “We’re seeing the industry market green products rather than green practices,” she noted. “That’s where the disconnect happens.”
The Three Pillars: People, Planet, Profit
Osorio reminded attendees that sustainability is not just about climate change or carbon emissions—it is built on three equal pillars:
• People (equity): Employee health and safety, culture, training, and community engagement. Printing is a high-risk industry, she emphasized: “We’re a high-amputation industry. People lose fingers. People lose limbs. Safety is central to sustainability.”
• Planet (environment): Energy, emissions, resource usage, water, waste, biodiversity, and more.
• Profit (economic viability): Sustainable practices reduce costs and strengthen long-term operational stability.
Sustainability, then, is not environmentalism alone. It is a holistic business framework.
Read this full article on Wide-Format Impressions, a publication of PRINTING United Alliance, ASI’s strategic partner.
