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John WeaverIGH Solutions EMEA

Producing Green Cards: A Manufacturer’s Perspective


IGH Solutions Companies

Cards & Card Services Specialty Print & Retail Graphics


Mega Trends

Market Trends Driving Design, Innovation, Development• Recognition of gift cards as an important driver of brand – especially in new

customer acquisition• Green dictates by large retailers, card issuers, which trickle down from overall

corporate social responsibility commitments • Green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product

modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising

• No “one-size-fits-all” solution to sustainability – bioplastics, recyclable plastics, and substrates including recycled content are novel materials in the card manufacturing industry.

• Showing off green credentials is not without risk – Brands with publicized sustainability campaigns are also thought of as greenwashers


Understanding the “Green” Wave

The market for Green products is driven by environmental concerns and customer demand

Source: Gfk Roper Consulting Green Gauge study, August 2007

What is considered “Green”? It’s a complex subject with no easy answers

Reduce Reuse Recycle Renewable Bio-degradable

• Compost• Litter• Landfill

Sustainable Inert in the landfill No toxins in its manufacture New carbon versus old

carbon Locally produced Low carbon footprint

• 87% of US consumers agree they are “seriously concerned” about the environment

• 35% say business should lead addressing environmental issues; only 29% think corporate America is fulfilling its environmental responsibilities

• More than 70% say a company’s environmental practices are important in deciding which products they’ll purchase and recommend and where they’ll shop

Go Green


Green Initiatives and Card DesignGoing Green.. It’s the right thing to, provided you do it right. Too often, the hype is getting ahead of the science. Here’s what you need to know to evaluate “Green” card alternatives and how other card issuers are going Green.

Go Green


Top 10 Environmental Issues Facing Humanity

1. Climate change

2. Energy

3. Water

4. Biodiversity and land use

5. Chemicals, toxics and heavy metals

6. Air pollution

7. Waste management

8. Ozone layer depletion

9. Oceans and fisheries

10.Deforestation

Go Green


Go Green

“The green movement has serious issues underpinning it, but in order to get people on board you have to make it funny.” - Simon Doonan, Barney’s creative director1

Barney’s included limited-edition gift cards with tags such as “Green is Groovy” or “Join the Green Revolution,” a collection of eco-conscious gifts and a themed catalog.

1Newman, Eric. “Dreamin’ of a Green Xmas” Brandweek. Nov 5 2007. pg. 58

“Can we just dye the smoke green?”


Why Go Green?

1. It’s the right thing to do

2. Climate change is real and a real problem

3. Uncertainty in the old carbon supply

4. Customers are demanding that their supply chain partners are proactive in business practices that are green

5. Customers are demanding that their supply chain partners are proactive in green products and service offerings

Go Green


Go Green

Different retailers have different reasons for going green:

- For some, it’s the savings and other efficiencies associated with reduced energy consumption.

- For others, promoting green initiatives is a way to demonstrate corporate social responsibility and civic leadership.

- For still others, it’s a way to bond with shoppers.

- For many, it’s a combination of the above.

- For many retailers, the embrace of green design is still tempered by the question, does it cost more?

While the strategy may include higher first costs, the extra investment is more than made up for in brand awareness, product differentiation, and trendsetting in being good stewards of our environment.


Go Green

Different corporate goals – No standards in the retail industry


Where to Look When No Standards Exist?

Green card standards and best practices currently do not exist.

Look to other industries, such as packaging

Sustainable Packaging Council

• Meets market criteria for performance and cost

• Is sourced, manufactured, transported and recycled using sourced, manufactured, transported and recycled using renewable energyrenewable energy

• Maximizes the use of renewable or recycled source materialsMaximizes the use of renewable or recycled source materials and is manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices

• Is made from materials healthy in all probable end-of-life scenariosmade from materials healthy in all probable end-of-life scenarios and is physically designed to optimize materials and energy

• Is effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrial effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrial cradle-to-cradle cyclescradle-to-cradle cycles..

Go Green


Traditionally Green Materials Were Defined in Four Categories

BiodegradableBeware of claims – nothing degrades in a landfill, which is where most cards end up

BiocompostableDegrades in an industrial composting environment – the number of these is growing but still very rare

RenewablePaper or PLA-type plastics made from corn, switch grass or other renewable resources

RecycledOften wrongly confused with industrial scrap. In the real world, limited by established recycling streams

Almost nothing

degrades in a modern landfill.

Researchers date layers in a landfill

by the newspapers

they find. This

newspaper had been in a landfill for

45 years!

Go Green


Today, the Definition of Green is Broader – and More Complex

• Reduced content

• Reused multiple times

• Sustainable

• Inert in the landfill

• No toxins in its manufacture

• New carbon versus old carbon

• Locally produced

• Low carbon footprint

• No PVC

Go Green


Card Materials Summary

Bioplastics – especially PLA – are the most common alternative material used in “green” cards today…but they are not without problems

Traditional Plastics• Styrene• PVC• PETG

Bio Plastics• NatureWorks® (Ingeo)

PLA• Mirel PHA• Pace BioGraph.ics

Go Green


PLA is Made From Plants, Not Oil

Go Green


• Less energy used: From the silo to the resin, the manufacturing of PLA uses approximately 35% less fossil fuel than standard plastic

• Less greenhouse-gas: the manufacturing of PLA emits 25% less greenhouse gases than standard plastics

• Renewable resource: Contrary to standard plastics made out of petrol, over 92% of PLA is made out of renewable material

• PLA is compostable and offers the potential for more end of life options

• Thanks to the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (REC) from NatureWorks , PLA becomes the first polymer in the world to be greenhouse gas neutral

PLA: The Good News

Go Green


Mirel Offers a Similar Proposition

Go Green


As Does BioGraph.ics

Go Green


Bio Plastics: The Not So Good News

• Similar to Bio Fuels: Can be criticized for contributing to rising food prices by diverting agricultural resources to fuel/plastic production and causing increased “green zone” growth through fertilizer run off

• Genetically Modified Feedstocks: May be objectionable to some groups or banned in some areas

• Compostability Claims: Industrial or municipal composting sites are growing – but still rare. Most of these products will end up in a landfill

• Contamination of Recycling Stream: Bioplastics cannot be recycled and – like any exotic plastic – can create problems when mixed with recycled plastics

Go Green



Make degradability claims which may be difficult to replicate in the real world

Oxo Plastics•Styrene•PVC

Go Green

“The main benefit of oxo-biodegradable is not for plastic waste which gets into landfill, but for plastic waste which gets into the environment, where it will accumulate for many decades.”

-Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Associationwww.biodeg.org/ladfill.htm

“Oxo-biodegradable plastics fragment and partially biodegrade in the upper layers of the landfill”



Go Green

Difficult to run: Color and handling characteristics vary widely from batch to batch

Availability in production quantities can be uncertain

Recycled Content•rStyrene•rPVC



Can only be recycled if the local community provides for its collection or used cards are aggregated and passed on to recycler

Recyclable

• Polystyrene

• Polypropylene

• Polyethylene

• Paper

Go Green


Go Green

• Traditional Plastics• Styrene• PVC• PETg

• Bio Plastics• NatureWorks® (Ingeo) PLA• Mirel PHA• Pace Biograph.ics

• Oxo plastics• Styrene• PVC

• Recycled Content• rStyrene• rPVC

•Recyclable

•Polystyrene

•Polypropylene

•Polyethylene

•Paper

can be recycled if the regulations and/or ordnances of the local community provide for its collection.


Go Green

Nattera™ - The Industry’s Broadest Offering of Earth-Friendly Cards & Carriers

Nattera Sprout™ - Uses polypropylene as core material

Nattera Shine™ - Uses polyethylene as core material

Nattera Bloom™ - Uses a bioplastic made from renewable resources and with renewable energy (Biograph.ics)

Nattera Evergreen™ – Uses recycled PVC, up to 50% pre-consumer recycled material

Nattera Field™ – Uses polylactide (PLA) derived from corn

Nattera Forest™ – a cellulose-based card, match the look and feel of a traditional plastic card

Nattera Rain Forest™ – Uses PETg as core material


Manufacturing Process Considerations

• New substrates react differently to:• Ink

• Lamination

• Sunlight or heat

• Green Plastics, may work in POS systems, but may not meet ISO specification

• Mixing core materials with other materials affects the environmental impact

• Materials and Processes need to be evaluated to determine how earth-friendly is the final product

Go Green


Go Green

• Biodegradable, Recyclable, Recycled Content • FTC Regulations

• Independent Testing and Certification• Depends on construction

• Green PR platforms• many companies are under fire for claims critics say are difficult to verify and, in many

cases, spurious

• Consumers expect consistency in action and transparent messaging

• However, consumer attitudes could be hard for corporate marketing and PR execs to predict

BE CAREFUL!BE CAREFUL!


Key Takeaways

“Green” is a complex subject – and we have experts available to help you sort through the issue for your card program

• Beware the hype – remember “degradable” trash bags in the early ’90s?

• Understand the Green terms

• Know that it’s not just products, but manufacturing and business practices that affect environmental impact

• There are many materials available and none are exclusive to any one supplier or manufacturer

• The product still needs to perform – rigorous testing, manufacturing expertise and quality control procedures become even more important as you move your card program to non-standard materials

Go Green


Go Green

What we need…

Agreement on qualifying aspects to be measured on an environmental scorecard

Basis:•The United Nations for sustainability

– Economical aspect– Social aspect– Environmental aspect

•Printing quality standards – ISO 7810

•Security standards•Other

Vision for the future of Card Manufacturing within a clear definition ofSustainable Manufacturing

12

3

5

11

8

1012

9

Price

High

Low

ModerateGreenness

Low High

1. Laminated PVC

2. Press-Polished PVC

3. Surface Printed PVC

4. Recycled PVC

5. Surface Printed Styrene

6. Press-Polished PLA

7

6

4

7. Surface Printed Polypropylene

8. Surface Printed Polyethylene

9. Surface Printed Paper

10. Wood

11. Recycled Paper

12. PETG


Go Green

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