Aware of the importance of each action in the environmental Protection, Exaprint, the online printing company for professionals in the world of communication, continues to evolve in its commitment to sustainable printing.
Sustainability has become one of the priority objectives of practically any organization today. More and more companies launch initiatives seeking reduce your environmental impact and being aware of the value it brings to society. Not surprisingly, 85% of consumers choose brands that have a good reputation in this field.
Awareness thus grows, and reducing the environmental impact becomes an increasingly key aspect in any sector of activity and, in the graphic arts, it is no exception. On the path of many companies towards sustainable printing, there are many improvements that must be made on multiple fronts considering that, currently, an employee uses about 10,000 printer sheets per year, despite advances in digital technology.
Many companies in the graphic arts sector have been adapting their business to this new reality with their sights set on meeting their sustainability goals. It is the case of Exaprint, an SME with more than a century of life that has been able to adapt its traditional printing business to new needs thanks to digitization.
Taking over from the old Gráfica Minerva, in 2009, its owner, Enrique Pardo, is associated with the French company Exaprint. jointly created the first Internet printing application, Web2print. Today, this SME, which has 60 employees in Spain, and a total of 300 if those in France are added, continues to evolve and offers graphic arts, advertising and communication professionals a wide range of solutions digital printing on multiple customizable supports.
Despite its 100 years of life and having experienced significant growth in recent years, the company continues to maintain a mentality of startup and has been able to adapt to the great changes of the current situation.
Innovation during the pandemic
This led her during the first months of the pandemic, and in the face of the interruption of her business, to address the creation of custom printed face masks and glazing screens, as well as packaging for establishments that deliver products at home and to take away, catalogs and packaging products.
In this “reinvention”, Exaprint has continued to reinforce its environmental commitment as a responsible online printing company, both in its processes, materials, machinery and eco-responsible product ranges.
Exaprint’s ‘green’ philosophy
Although sustainable printing is in vogue, Exaprint has pioneered responsible and sustainable online printing by supporting communication projects through eco-designed products in his local workshop in Molins de Rei, in Barcelona. Practices such as saving water, local consumption, comprehensive waste management and the choice of responsible energy are some good eco-responsible practices that they have been practicing since 2010.
And it is that, since its creation, Exaprint has positioned itself as a printing company that respects the environment through committed actions and strategies. Among them stands out the recovery of 99% of waste and being the first online certified with the ISO14001 of environmental management, as well as the first in its area with the Imprim’Vert label.
Another proof of this is that, since 2017, it has had a waste classification and recycling system, managing to recycle up to 220 tons of paper in the last year.
Exaprint facilities are also designed to meet this environmental commitment. in them optimize the use of plastic shrink films and they continuously study solutions adapted to packaging, betting on cardboard containers using recyclable materials, in addition to the reuse of the processed cardboard waste itself.
In this green commitment, the use of ecological machinery is also key, since they manage to reduce CO2 emissions from manufacturing and transport. The company carries out an exhaustive control of the impact of your transport providers, as well as the carbon footprint generated by its actions and that of its partners.
Its facilities seek maximum efficiency in processes, but also sustainability. As an example of this commitment, the company has a 2,000m² park in Europe with photovoltaic panels that produce more than 100,000 kW/year, which is equivalent to the energy consumed by 100 four-person households. Exaprint’s buildings are also certified as High Environmental Quality, and some of the air is filtered before being re-injected into the workshops. In addition to reducing energy consumption, this allows you to optimize the temperature in all seasons.
Towards the future of sustainable printing
Sustainable printing seeks to carry out the printing process in the least polluting way, replacing some elements with others that are more environmentally friendly, such as ink and printing technology. Here, the use of ecological ink, made from materials that pollute the environment less than traditional ones, or from sustainable paper, prepared taking into account sustainability criteria throughout the process, is key.
Exaprint takes this very much into account as it confirms its desire to have state-of-the-art machines that facilitate sustainable printing by optimizing the use of paper per order to the maximum, thus minimizing its waste. In addition, the machines use ink drying by LED technology, reducing energy consumption, and eliminating the use of highly flammable isopropyl alcohol.
But the use of paper is a key point for the company that, always seeking maximum sustainability, has a stock that comes from 95% of sustainably cared for forests. Likewise, it uses responsible vegetable inks composed of only 2% solvents, and has a waste management system in collaboration with Llorens GMR that allows the recycling of nearly 99% of its paper waste.
Consequently, there is a control and reduction of environmental impacts that, at the same time, contributes to the firm having high levels of quality and productivity.
Despite the fact that 2020 was a complicated year due to the impact of the pandemic, Exaprint’s business has managed to continue combining growth and sustainability, managing to invoice 9 million euros in our country. The figure, however, reaches a turnover of 90 million euros, also combining the business in France, and plans to invest 3.5 million euros in R&D over the next two years with an eye toward reaching a turnover of 15 million in our country in 2024.
In this investment, the company hopes to expand its plant in Molins de Rei with 500 more square meters that will be added to the 2,000 square meters it has to expand its production capacity. To this end, it also plans to invest in the acquisition of state-of-the-art machinery that contributes to increasing and diversifying the performance of the printing press, in addition to saving costs and achieving greater energy efficiency.
Nails on 150,000 impressions and about 800 orders per day, Exaprint continues to advance in an industry in which paper is losing weight as sales have fallen between 7% and 10% annually since 2006, among other reasons, due to the growing awareness of respect for the environment.
However, his creativity and ability to diversify print formats, and to do so in the most sustainable way, continues to guide Exaprint’s strategy for future growth.
