Sustainability

Integrating Sustainable, Cost-Effective Initiative

LSC Communications' practices are built around the concept that sustainability does not involve making a choice between being cost-effective and being conscious of environmental impacts. It integrates the two.

We are committed to strive continuously to improve global Environmental Health & Safety performance by using practices that protect employees and the environment, including reducing the quantity of emissions, developing opportunities for recycling and pollution prevention and using paper, energy, and other resources more efficiently.

For more information on our EHS Policy, please click here. This policy informs and guides our Sustainability Leadership Committee, an internal multi-discipline team responsible for reviewing and approving initiatives relating to our Sustainability Approach, which is reflected in a variety of practices across four objectives: Resource Efficiency, Supply Chain, Waste Minimization, and Stewardship. Advancements in these objectives assist with minimizing our environmental footprint in the communities where we operate, supporting our customers as they work to improve their environmental performance, and driving profitable growth within our company through minimizing waste and improving energy efficiency.

The Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance Committee

The Committee is an extension of the Board of Directors that oversees LSC Communications' environmental, health and safety programs. This committee annually reviews and approves the overall structure and design of EHS, and other compliance and responsibility programs.

Resource Efficiency

Doing More With Less

We identify, measure, and continuously improve efficiencies associated with consumption and use of energy, raw materials, water and other resources.

LSC Communications is pursuing energy efficiency programs involving several different technologies that we are installing in our plants worldwide. In order to reduce our energy usage we're investing to use enhanced energy consumption and recovery systems.

Included below are some examples of the energy reduction opportunities pursued:

Electrical Demand Response Programs

In the hot summer months, there are times when electrical supplies cannot meet demand. To help reduce consumption and allow utilities to manage demand without brownouts or investment in costly generation capacity, LSC Communications participates in several Demand Response programs. These programs, offered by some local utilities, ask large industrial users to reduce consumption during peak demand periods.

Computer and Lighting Energy Reductions

We use energy efficient ballasts and light bulbs and continue to expand our deployment of Energy STAR compliant computer equipment. We're also continuing our implementation of a software solution that maximizes energy efficiency of PCs and monitors. It automatically monitors the systems and moves them to lower energy consumption levels when they are not in use.

Energy Efficient Oxidizers

Oxidizers are devices used to control emissions from printing processes. LSC Communications continues to invest in emerging technologies that use significantly less natural gas while achieving better overall performance.

Heat Recovery Initiatives

Heat is a byproduct of almost every industrial process. In most cases, it is simply allowed to dissipate. It may even be offset by cooling systems that ultimately generate even more heat.

A better solution would be to harness, rather than to waste thermal byproducts. LSC Communications is doing precisely that in some locations, with a proprietary process that captures heat and allows it to be used again. This heat is used to reduce ambient heating needs, to even more effectively dry printing inks, and to make boilers operate more efficiently.

Lighting Upgrades

To ensure a brighter future, LSC Communications is taking advantage of recent advances in lighting technology. We have completed lighting system retrofits in multiple domestic and international facilities.

Supply Chain

Minimizing Environmental Impact Through Procurement Practices

LSC Communications has a depth of supply-chain expertise, and is a subject matter expert on environmentally preferable products. We believe we are uniquely capable of partnering with our customers to help minimize impact to the environment. We extend our influence across the breadth of the supply chain by encouraging sustainable practices among our suppliers and enabling them for our customers.

Product Substitution

We continue to explore ways to substitute more sustainable materials, from using inks that include soy, vegetable, or other renewable content, to making alcohol replacements in fountain solutions. We also make a range of recycled papers available to our customers.

Responsible Forestry Management

LSC Communications provides customers with a variety of supply options that protect forest ecosystem health.

Environmental Specifications

RPM (Regulated Products and Materials) Safety Specifications

We have developed comprehensive environmental specifications that are used in contracts with our vendors, suppliers and contractors.

Papers, Inks, Coatings, Adhesives, other Raw Materials and Finished Products

The RPM has been created to ensure that all materials purchased and finished products provided by LSC Communications are compliant with applicable environmental requirements in the country of manufacture as well as a number of international regulations including, but not limited to:

Conflict Minerals
Consumer Product Safety Information Act (CPSIA)
Endangered Species Act
Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS)
Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)

Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)
Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH)
California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (CA Proposition 65)
U.S. Lacey Act

As an assembler of these finished materials, LSC Communications also confirms that it does not intentionally add any chemical components to final products supplied to our customers.

Waste Minimization

Finding Ways to Minimize Waste Throughout the Supply Chain

Packaging Minimization & Solid Waste Reduction

Reuse, repair, repurpose, and recycle. These practices guide our waste minimization efforts. We work with our customers and suppliers to ensure that packaging and other materials meet environmentally-responsible specifications, for example, by including post-consumer fiber.

Our facilities also focus on:

Returning wood pallets to vendors for reuse
Reusing the bubble wrap received as wrapping around our thermal papers
Using end-of-roll paper as packing material
Reusing paper cardboard wrappers and roll headers as packing material between layers
Reusing polystyrene wrap to affix printed rolls on pallets
Recycling oil, plastic wrap, aluminum printing plates, CDs (shredded), end rolls (also used as packing material), bare cores (cardboard), carbon interleave, bound and stapled waste, negatives, plastic wrap, add roll trim, paper tear off, and office paper

Reclaiming silver from spent photo fixer
Using and laundering cloth shop towels
Returning forklift batteries for recycling
Reprocessing ink to new ink specifications or re-mixing it into the black (key) inks
Repairing and reusing broken/damaged pallets

Stewardship

We strive to learn and share best practices through internal and external education, communication, and through demonstrations of our commitment and progress.

ISO 14001

ISO 14001 is designed to provide a process that allows facilities to control the environmental impact of their activities, products, or services, and to continuously improve their environmental performance. ISO 14001 status is awarded only after an audit by an independent third party. The systematic approach of ISO 14001 requires an organization to take a hard look at all areas where its activities have an environmental impact. This approach can lead to benefits such as:

Reducing waste management costs
Driving consumption savings for energy and materials
Increasing the awareness of all employees about the importance of environmentally responsible behaviors
Establishing an environmental performance framework that facilitates continuous improvement

For a listing of current ISO 14001 certified locations, please visit External Certifications.

OHSAS 18001

The Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Specification (OHSAS) 18001 is earned by sites that have implemented safety and health management systems to make safety more efficient and integrated into overall business operations.

For a listing of current OHSAS 18001 certified locations, please visit External Certifications.

SASST

Our Tlalnepantla, Mexico site earned the Sistema de Administración de la Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo (SASST) in 2004 from the Mexican Labor Secretariat (STPS). This certification is for accreditation of the facility's management systems and security in the workplace.