Heidelberg, the leading manufacturer of offset presses, has put up 50,000 Euros for the most sustainable printshop worldwide. The entry period for the Heidelberg Eco Printing Award has been extended to the end of August.

Sustainability is an ongoing issue for printers. Beyond the obvious concern of the paper necessary for any printing, the average printshop has several ongoing issues. For instance, an offset press can have a huge amount of waste just in the process of getting it ready to print. To make sure that colors match precisely, a printer might go through hundreds of test copies.

Joerg Daehnhardt, the director of product management for Heidelberg USA, told American Printer that "reducing startup waste should be a top priority for environmentally minded printers — it's the one area with the largest impact on a press's environmental performance."

Heidelberg has also moved to produce streamlined presses that reduce waste. Their new Anicolor inking unit, for instance, can be calibrated in as few as 20 sheets for most jobs — a major improvement on past presses. And while Heidelberg's newest presses are much most sustainable than older models, they're also creating paper-saving modules that can be added to existing presses for customers who aren't able to buy a brand new press.

Image — Heidelberg