Beatrice Klose of Intergraf gave the overview of legislation in Europe and its background – European legislation at top level, which all EU members have to comply with, national legislation and industry initiatives. She summarised the history and aims of European environmental legislation, and how the EU is seeking substantial improvements to industries that are not always ready to respond because of their investment cycles. Next, she gave more detail of legislation specific to the printing industry.

The first issue described was VOC emissions, identified as the main pollutant of the industry, and governed by three separate pieces of legislation.

REACH is a new EU chemicals policy: Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of CHemicals. Its aim is to ensure that all risks associated with their use, in whatever form or combination, are known and understood, with controls put in place where necessary. It is mainly the domain of chemicals producers, but will affect printers as downstream users. New controls may be introduced on how products are used, prices of some products are likely to increase as a result of costs of compliance, and some may even be discontinued.

Others areas mentioned included the fight against deforestation, an opportunity to raise the image of the printing and paper industries, and legislation designed to improve performance. This latter is also covered by voluntary measures, such as the EU Eco-label scheme.

Intergraf prefers self regulation for specific issues, and Ms. Klose highlighted the exclusion list used by the Ink Manufacturers Association banning certain ingredients, the intense involvement generally of the print communications sector in carbon management, and the success of recycling and Chain of Custody for paper. Finally, she touched on corporate social responsibility and how printers can become involved in this, raising awareness of social issues, equal opportunities and health and safety as well as environmental issues.