Pioneering the introduction of vegetable-based inks, diverting over 3,500 toner bottles from landfill and retraining staff have helped Blue Star, New Zealand’s largest multi-site print and marketing company to achieve Toitū enviromark gold certification.

Toitū enviromark gold certified organisations are audited by Toitū Envirocare, a subsidiary of Crown Research Institute Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. The certification confirms that they have developed a comprehensive plan to help them achieve their environmental goals.

Blue Star CEO Jill Cowling says the company has been on a progressive journey that commenced in 2001 and this Toitū enviromark gold certification is recognition of the importance and focus placed on sustainability by both the business and Blue Star’s valued customers.

“For Blue Star, achieving this is about accountability. We have taken a logical and systematic approach to our environmental management systems and are proud to say all our sites across the country are now Toitū enviromark gold certified.

“Blue Star’s environmental management form a vital part of our market-leading production facilities and have done for a long time.”

Cowling said Blue Star was an industry leader and the first New Zealand print business to receive Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) multi-site certification in 2007 allowing customers to use the FSC logo on printed material.

“We continue to invest in New Zealand manufacturing with the introduction of new efficient technology to replace 40% of our fleet of traditional offset printers in 2018. We now have fewer machines, less paper wastage and lower power consumption.

“Blue Star is not doing this alone and has partnered with like-minded suppliers across the supply chain to introduce other industry firsts including only sourcing FSC or PEFC paper, chemical distillation and recycling along with biodegradable courier bags.

“All our key suppliers are ISO14001 certified and we encourage all suppliers in our supply chain to demonstrate sustainable sourcing practices,” says Cowling.

“We recycle toner bottles – over 3,500 bottles have been diverted from landfills. One of our main suppliers, Ricoh, is ISO14001 and Toitū carbonzero certified.

“As part of the wider Blue Star sustainability strategy, people and community are a key focus. With over 600 employees, diversity and their contributions towards building a sustainable and successful future are critical.

“We have a number of national and local programmes to improve staff diversity, develop skills and qualifications and source talented graduates and apprentices.

“A measure of this success in upskilling and retention is the longevity of our people – half have been with us for more than seven years and one in four has worked for us for more than 15 years.”