Transitioning Towards Conscious Sustainability Efforts in the Print Industry: An Examination

The print industry has a reputation for being wasteful, especially within the printing processes, and it uses significant raw materials and energy to produce custom products that often have a limited lifespan. However, paper is one of the most recycled materials, and considerable efforts in R&D and policies push for transition efforts in sustainability across all five stages of a product's environmental life cycle. Life cycle assessments (LCA) are being executed to establish a baseline and comparative analysis of print operational systems' ecological impacts and seek improvements in planning approaches, technologies, and manufacturing. Government and regulatory bodies are implementing new policies such as end producer responsibility (EPR), whereby manufacturers are responsible for the end-of-life and disposal of their packaging.  This leads to efforts in the design of recycling and circular economy-focused development strategies. This research paper will highlight many aspects of the initiatives undertaken to make the printing industry more sustainable, environmental frameworks to benchmark with, and ways forward for the industry to make changes starting today.