Green Initiative

Xpressdocs is committed to keeping the world around us clean and green for generations to come. That's why we do everything we can to make Xpressdocs one of the most efficient and environmentally responsible print operations there is. While our plan incorporates recycled papers and environmentally friendly inks, we are inspecting every aspect of our business—from energy use to roof coatings—so we can remain on the leading edge of environmentally responsible business.

We reuse and recycle. We have made reuse and recycling top priorities in our green initiative. All waste paper from our production process is recycled, and we reuse and recycle all our printer and copier paper. We are also introducing pre-consumer and post-consumer fibres into our products and are always searching for quality papers that have a high percentage of post-consumer recycled content. Of course, we also make sure that all of our products are 100% recyclable by our users.
We minimize solid pollutants. Ask any printer: in this business, it ain't easy being green. Still, we have tailored our process so that we produce only one substance that governmental authorities consider detrimental to the water table—imaging oil used in our digital printing system. What little of this substance we produce is collected and disposed of through a licensed facility in accordance with all applicable regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and the State of Texas, where our operation is located.
We reduce air pollutants. We also strive to keep our printing process as free of air pollutants as possible. This has led us away from using conventional offset printers, which typically produce unnecessary amounts of air volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. To reduce our emissions, we use HP Indigo 5000 presses, which produce far fewer emissions than traditional printers.
We limit our paper waste. Believe it or not, Xpressdocs's print operation produces 10,000% less paper waste than the conventional process! Whereas to print just 100 standard postcards typical presses waste 400 sheets of paper in what's called the "makeready" process, our advanced HP Indigo 5000 presses allow us to sidestep the makeready process entirely. Occasionally we must calibrate our colors, but because of our clean technology, we require only four sheets per 100 postcards. Do the math—that's a 10,000% drop in wasted paper!
We restrict our metal waste. Xpressdocs's digital printing process also reduces metal waste. In the example cited above, conventional printers would use four metal plates (one for each color), none of which can be reused. Not only do all colors run on the same plate in Xpressdocs' printing process, but our HP Indigo printing plates may be reused to the tune of 30 to 40 thousand impressions per plate. We also have our laser print cartridges refurbished, refilled and reused so we can eliminate harmful waste to landfills.
We are certified with The Forest Stewardship Council® COC: As a company that is a heavy user of paper, we are in the process of earning our Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody (COC) certification. Widely promoted by prominent conservation advocacy groups (including Forest Ethics, Greenpeace, and the Sierra Club), the Forest Stewardship Council and its standards "represent the world's strongest system for guiding forest management toward sustainable outcomes" (source: Forest Stewardship Council). The FSC's COC certification is required whenever a company carries out any physical alteration to or takes physical or legal ownership of timber or a timber product. We are currently working with our vendors so that we use only FSC-certified papers beginning in early 2008.
We are decreasing our carbon footprint: We at Xpressdocs are also engaging in a number of other environmentally friendly projects to limit our carbon footprint: High-efficiency low-energy lighting is installed in all renovation projects. A special reflective foam coating on our roof combined with specially programmed thermostats are combining to dramatically increase our energy efficiency. In addition, Xpressdocs' state-of-the-art automation enables us to reduce our carbon footprint even further. The bottom line: we require less equipment, less office space, fewer employees, and therefore less energy consumption than comparable companies.