Environmentally friendly Alpha Colour Printers have been given two internationally recognised seals of approval for sourcing all their paper from legal and sustainable forests.
After rigorous inspection from a team of auditors from BM Trada, a UKAS approved independent accrediting company, Alpha Colour now has full FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) accreditation.
The Gloucester based company, which already has full ISO 14,000 certification for its high standards of quality and environmental awareness, can now print the FSC and PEFC logos on its products.
Alpha Colour quality assurance manager Dave Oldfield said: “This is a marvelous achievement and is a tremendous endorsement of the ongoing commitment we have to protecting the environment.
“By having the PFC and PEFC logos on our Products it means that the end user has peace of mind about the effect using this paper has on the environment.
“The auditing can normally take anything up to eight months but because we already have ISO 14,000 environmental accreditation, we already had lots of procedures in place so we went through in just five weeks.
“Basically they look at the whole ‘chain of custody’ back from the print works to the paper merchant, the paper mill where the timber is pulped, right back to the forest where the wood came from.
“It’s not just about the simple sustainability of planting a tree for every one felled. It goes right down into the way the forest is managed and to the effect it has on animals, birds and even insects – the whole living environment.
Alpha Colour Printers has earned an excellent reputation in Gloucester and across the UK, winning them some huge clients, including regional and international blue chip companies and government organisations. They use Alpha to print greetings cards, brochures, leaflets, posters, and stationery, annual and financial reports.
Founded 27 years ago in the centre of Gloucester, the company has seen exceptional growth, settling into its current purpose-built Quedgeley site in 2001. The company recently invested £600,000 in a new 10,000-sq.ft distribution and storage facility, enabling Alpha to store over 3,200 pallets of printed materials.
“Our current site in Waterwells Business Park enables us to be more efficient than ever before - we keep up with technology, invest in high quality, purpose-built buildings and continually strive to improve and refine the operation,” says David Oldfield. “We’re always looking to improve and we never rest on our laurels.”