Sustainable Print Company Auckland

'Sustainable' is our default setting

Soar Print has been on a sustainability journey since 2004, when we achieved our first accreditation. Unless you ask for specific inks and papers, we"ll always propose the lowest impact solution for every job. This means:

All carbon emissions from power and fuel consumed by Soar are offset with NZ sourced carbon credits
The opportunity to have carboNZero printed products and printed services, which includes the right to uses the carboNZero logo
A wide choice of responsibly sourced papers, either FSC or PEFC
Printing with vegetable based inks
Recommendation of best finished size to minimise paper waste
Optimum run sizes to reduce paper waste and minimise obsolescence
Energy efficient printing and finishing technology
Paper waste recycling (99%)
Online print management that allows just in time print ordering

Download our sustainability brochure now

We have credentials to back our claims

Through a commitment to continuous improvement, we have gained the strongest sustainability credentials of any New Zealand printing company.

ISO14001

ISO 14001 is an internationally recognised standard that specifies the requirements for an environmental management system. Soar uses its ISO 14001 compliant management system to support continual improvement of environmental performance.

carboNZero

Established by Landcare Research, this programme is widely recognised as NZ's most credible measure of sustainability. Soar was the first corporate printing company to achieve CarboNZero certification for company operations. We are also the only printer in NZ to offer carboNZero certification for printed products and print services.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

FSC is a non-governmental organisation that promotes the responsible management of the world's forests. We were the first printer in NZ to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)

PEFC is an international non-profit, organisation dedicated to sustainable forest management. We are certified by PEFC, the world's largest forest certification system.

Acknowledgement from government and industry

We don't follow a sustainable path for the glory, however it's great to be recognised for our achievements. Here are the sustainability awards we have collected so far:

Sustainable 60 Awards 2011

Overall Medium Business

Heidelberg Eco Awards 2011

Finalist

Sustainable 60 Awards 2013

Supreme Award
Environment
Strategy & Governance
Overall Medium Business

NZI National Sustainable Business Network Awards 2013

Commendation Mega Efficiency Impact

Green Ribbon 2015

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Responsibly sourced paper and card

Soar has achieved certification with two of the world's leading sustainable forestry certification organisations FSC and PEFC.

To maintain these certifications, Soar follows specific auditable processes. These include how we identify, source, track and label paper stocks that come from sustainably managed and certified forests.

Benefits for you:

Certainty that Soar's claims about products originating from sustainably managed forests are credible and verifiable
Use of the FSC or PEFC logo when identifying your paper source to your customers

Vegetable based inks

The problem - traditional petroleum based ink:

Conventional petroleum based inks contain high levels of solvent, which evaporates during the drying process, releasing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere. Additional solvents are required to clean the printing press after production adding even more VOCs into the air. These inks can also leach into the water table when sent to landfill and are more difficult to remove from paper during the paper recycling process.

The solution new vegetable based inks:

The inks we use at Soar Printing are 99% derived from vege sources such as corn, walnut, coconut, linseed, canola and soya beans. Vege inks release significantly fewer VOCs into the atmosphere during the drying process, plus we can use water based products to clean the press after production. Also, stripping ink from paper during the paper recycling process is much easier with vege inks and produces less hazardous waste.

Enhance your sustainability with carboNZero printing

Soar is the only printing company in New Zealand able to offer carboNZero certification for your printed products and print services. If you would like to display the carboNZero logo on your printed material, you need to let us know at the start of a job.

What is a carboNZero printed product?

If you want to use the carboNZero printed product logo, the entire carbon impact of the printed product must be measured and offset. This includes editorial emissions, which are the emissions generated by services that created your artwork (graphic design and photography, for example).

What is a carboNZero print service?

If you want to use the carboNZero print service logo, the printed products carbon impact must be measured and offset, with the exception of editorial emissions.

Other sustainability initiatives

Sustainability is also about social responsibility and the ability of a business to thrive from one generation to the next. Soar is a third generation family business that has been operating for nearly 100 years.

We're proud of our modern apprenticeship scheme and to have been recently certified as meeting ACCs highest standard for Workplace Management Practices (Tertiary Status). And we take our role in society seriously - Soar assists several not-for-profit organisations, including the Kauri Die Back Programme, Melanoma New Zealand, Shine, Oxfam, The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation and Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust. We also support the Indian Ink Theatre Company, NZ International Comedy Festival, Basement Theatre, Q Theatre, Documentary Edge Festival, Matariki Festival and the RNZYS Youth Programme.

Tips and tricks for shrinking your print footprint

Our new Xerox iGen is an excellent example of new kit that minimises waste and helps print budgets to go further. Its a sheet-fed digital press that can handle a large sheet of paper up to 364mm x 660mm. This means we can get creative with how jobs are produced, to minimise passes through the press.
In addition to the PEFC and FSC paper and card stocks we offer, we also have stock made from recycled paper. Ask us for samples.
We offer complete online integration of print ordering, warehousing, logistics and inventory management, making it easy to avoid over-ordering that can lead to obsolescence.