Sigler Companies Wins Metro Waste Authority's Environmental Stewardship Award for Top-Down Efforts Toward Recycling and Waste Reduction
AMES, Iowa, April 17, 2008 – Sigler Companies, parent company to a designated green printer, marketing communications agency and promotional marketing business, has received an Environmental Stewardship Award for top-down recycling and waste-reduction efforts from the Metro Waste Authority (MWA), Des Moines.
The award, announced April 16 at the MWA's Annual Dinner, noted Sigler's positive effect on the environment across central Iowa. Sigler, composed of Ames-based print and production house Sigler Printing, plus two allied business units with locations in both Ames and Des Moines – creative-services company Innova Ideas & Services, and apparel, merchandise and ad-specialty company Signify Promotions – has demonstrated an overall commitment to industry-leading environmental initiatives. Its 22-member Green Committee, drawn from all three Sigler business units, exists solely to initiate green practices companywide.
This is the second environmental recognition for Sigler Companies in as many months. In March, Sigler won a Recycling Excellence Award from Mid America Recycling Co. in Des Moines for a second straight year. Sigler increased recycling volume by nearly 35 percent in 2007 compared with the previous year, from 670 tons to 903. Of that 903 tons, paper constituted 98 percent – 883 tons – of Sigler's recycling.
Sigler's global approach to implementing a spirit of environmentalism reaches from management directives for green policies to individual packaging labeled with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo, promoting products' environmental qualities. Sigler is among a select few companies nationwide that possesses a triad of green endorsements:
- Certification by the FSC and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) organizations;
- Waste-reducing Master Printer status from the International Digital Enterprise Alliance; and
- The resource-conserving concentric printing process.
“Sigler is honored to be recognized by the Metro Waste Authority, as a leader in environmental stewardship,” said Sigler Companies President Beth Cross. “Like MWA, Sigler Companies considers the big picture and is passionate about lessening our environmental footprint at work and at home.”
From a strategic perspective, the communication and marketing company's Green Committee achieves immediate results by raising environmental awareness among more than 300 Sigler coworkers. Delivered electronically, “Going Green Tips for the Week” presents simple ideas to help protect the environment and encourage the entire company to be more eco-friendly.
Operationally, Sigler has pursued an elusive balance between sustainability and profitability by combining environmental initiatives with advances in printing:
- Sigler Printing earned and maintains certification from the FSC and SFI, two organizations that set the standards for responsible forest use, management and sustainability. The twin designations demonstrate Sigler's ongoing commitment to seeking out and using environmentally-friendly papers, inks and chemical components in the printing process.
- New electronic prepress equipment and processes supporting Sigler's annual Master Printer qualification let technicians prepare printing plates faster and with tighter calibrations that match initial proofs more closely to finished pieces. This precision saves plates, paper and ink.
- Sigler converted recently to the concentric printing process, a technology that divides halftone dots into thin concentric rings. The arrangement concentrates ink application and uses a projected 25 to 35 percent less product than the conventional round-dot reproduction process.
Conservation, compliance and continuous improvement all contribute to Sigler Companies' comprehensive approach to environmental stewardship. Sigler Printing uses soy inks, a renewable resource and an alternative to petroleum-based inks. It also commingles multiple mailings into a single mail stream to reduce transportation requirements and the resulting fuel emissions. Companywide, recycling bins facilitate ongoing efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle.
About Sigler Companies
Sigler Companies is the parent company of Innova Ideas & Services, a creative services agency with offices in Des Moines and Ames, Iowa; Sigler Printing, a premier printing and production house; and Signify Promotions, an apparel and promotions business. Besides its Ames and Des Moines businesses, Sigler Companies also is the parent company to Sigler Marketing Services, based in Seattle. Sigler Companies was founded in 1958 in Ames, Iowa, as Sigler Printing. In its 50-year history, the company has continued to expand its capabilities, and currently offers clients across the United States an end-to-end solution of creative services, printing and promotions. Sigler Companies is privately held. Additional information is available at www.siglercompanies.com.
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CONTACT
Scott StuartInnova Ideas & Services
515.697.7226
scott.stuart@sigler.com