Environmental Initiatives
Colad is the premier provider of custom paper-based packaging in the U.S. For over 60 years, Colad has worked to improve the health and safety of both our employees and the environment. Our focus on environmental stewardship is two-pronged:
1) First, we make sure that everything we do at Colad is done with the health of the environment and the safety of our employees in mind.
• Colad works very closely with recycling companies to ensure that every material that can be recycled gets recycled. In 2008, Colad recycled over 900 tons of paper-based scrap – the equivalent of:
o Saving 22,437 trees
o Reducing total energy consumption enough to power 363 homes/ year
o Removing the greenhouse gas emissions from 466 cars/ year
o Conserving enough water to fill 24 Olympic-sized swim pools
o Keeping 70 garbage trucks worth of solid waste out of landfills
• We have eliminated all acetone and alcohol emissions, and removed hazardous waste material from our operations.
• We minimize the use of press solvents, and what we do use is better for the health of the environment and our employees than what was available in prior years.
• We have upgraded to newer, faster, safer equipment and in the process replaced harmful emission-producing machinery.
• We have converted from wet-based lamination systems that produce hazardous byproducts to clean, water-based thermal lamination processes.
2) Second, we work with materials that are environmentally responsible.
• Paper – our primary material – is totally natural, recyclable, and renewable. Colad can source recycled stocks, FSC, and SFI stocks, to name a few.
For more information on FSC and SFI,
please click the logos to visit their websites.
• The Colad Group is proud to be named an EPA Green Power Partner through our commitment to purchase at least 105 MWh of energy from renewable sources (such as Wind). Our commitment helps reduce the risks associated with climate change by supporting technologies that are more sustainable for businesses and communities. Colad’s purchase commitment will reduce CO2 emissions equal to taking 15 cars off the road, or planting approximately 60 acres with trees each year. Learn more about the EPA Green Power program at: http://www.epa.gov/grnpower/partners/partners/coladgroupllc.htm
• Colad sources renewable and recycled materials whenever possible:
o Colad’s printing presses use 100% vegetable-based inks
o The vast majority of Colad’s ‘house’ paper stocks are FSC and/or SFI certified
o Our binder board is produced from 100% post-consumer waste
o Our laminating films are inert and recyclable where facilities exists
For the Future…
Improvements are continuously being made and Colad is exploring many ways to help future generations enjoy the world we live in.
Colad is a leader in environmental stewardship, and we hope that you value our natural resources as much as we do.
