The Label Printers has chosen TLMI’s (Tag and Label Manufacturer’s Institute, Inc.) Label Initiative For the Environment (L.I.F.E.) to guide the company’s ongoing efforts to become “greener”.  Director of Human Resources (and TLP’s Illinois EPA Compliance Representative) George Tommasi, the L.I.F.E. team leader and senior executive on the team says, “We decided that we wanted to explore an environmental program for The Label Printers because we wanted to make our existing “green” efforts more structured, focused, and visible.  We looked at investing in a number of different environmental programs.  One of the main reasons we chose L.I.F.E. is because it is designed for label converters and we felt that we would get better results from a program that came from people who understood the printing industry – specifically label printing.”

The Label Printers’ “green” efforts had typically grown out of an ISO/CQIP environment.  Individuals within the organization would offer suggestions on how to make incremental quality improvements and/or incremental cost savings by doing things such as reducing the use of solvent-based inks, changing lighting in the plant, recycling scrap, etc.  “L.I.F.E.”, said TLP General Manager Lori Campbell, “gives us a way to formalize and perhaps speed up what we were already doing. It will give us the means to have a ‘green’ program with progressively greater impact.”

The first goal of the L.I.F.E. team is to learn more about the program, and then go through the process of establishing a “stake in the ground” on their current efforts.  Says Tommasi, “We need to look at what we have done to be a good environmental steward over the years, and then we can identify our L.I.F.E. goals, and how to accomplish and measure those goals.  L.I.F.E. provides both a ‘self audit’ and an ‘external audit’ to help us identify areas that will allow us to reduce our environmental footprint, and lessen our environmental impact.”  TLMI/L.I.F.E. has partnered with NSF International, The Public Health and Safety Company™, to build the external audit.

“Being ‘green’ is a no-brainer,” says Campbell.  “A program like L.I.F.E., done right, means you’re reducing waste and therefore cost, improving operations, getting your employees engaged and thinking, and being a good citizen of the planet Earth – all at the same time.  We’re looking forward to seeing the team’s plans come to life.”