Since 2007 Fespa has published the Planet Friendly Printing Guide which interprets and distils the myriad regulations and certification schemes pertaining to environmental best practice for printers and offers detailed advice on environmental management. The Planet Friendly Printing Guide has been updated several times each year since its first publication in 2007 - which gives an indication of how swiftly things have moved within the sphere of sustainability.

To date, the Planet Friendly Printing Guide has only been available to members of Fespa's 37 member associations. The latest version of the guide will remain exclusive to Fespa members; however, in recognition that sustainability is a pressing issue for all printers, Fespa will make an abridged version of the guide available to non-member printers around the world.

In addition to the valuable advice and guidance offered in the Planet Friendly Printing Guide, Fespa will be extending the availability of the insights and advice on pursuing sustainable printing which has been a strong feature of all Fespa's recent content-led events - such as the Fespa Global Summit 2010, the Fespa Planet Friendly Summit 2010 and the Fespa Global Summit 2011. Fespa has explored more than 40 aspects of sustainability in its research over the last five years, and delivered more than 50 presentations in four continents on the topic.

Presentations on sustainability from global experts, certified sustainable printers, suppliers to the PSP community, and its customers such as top-ten global creative agency Ogilvy and brand owners such as Unilever, Nike and others are now available to all without charge on www.fespa.com

Fespa is making these resources available to the global print community to promote understanding of the key drivers for adopting sustainable practices, and the routes to ensure our businesses become more planet-friendly. These resources will be complimented not only by the continued offering of insight and advice on sustainability at Fespa's events, and an increased offering of advice and consultation on www.fespa.com via webinars and other online resources.

Planet Friendly Printing is another facet of Fespa's reinvestment programme, which has already seen more than three million Euros reinvested in various initiatives to support printers over the last seven years, explains Fespa Head of Events& New Media Duncan MacOwan, who is steering the Planet Friendly Printing programme development.

"The development of fresh initiatives under the Planet Friendly Printing banner recognises the ongoing significance of sustainability to our global print community, and its reprioritisation by PSPs and their customers as we gradually emerge from global recession." He continues: "Sustainability is far from being a topic for dark green 'eco-champions'. Sustainable print capabilities are a decisive factor for many print buyers when selecting a PSP, and as the corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda matures, so demand for environmentally responsible print will increase. What's more, environmental best practice is often economical best practice, particularly when it comes to energy saving and prudent materials and waste management, so there are immediate commercial gains to be made from 'going green'."

Fespa's Managing Director, Neil Felton comments: "Navigating the route to sustainability can be challenging as printers looking to avoid greenwash and empty claims by commercial entities seek impartial advice on how to become more planet friendly in their business activities. The issue of sustainability in printing has long been recognised by Fespa as pressing, as evinced by our efforts to raise awareness of the issue, encourage printers to adopt more planet friendly printing practices, and offer practical advice and expert insight to printers - wherever they are on the journey to sustainability. We believe that to be truly planet-friendly it is important to address sustainability globally. Fespa's global footprint within and beyond our 37 member associations, coupled with the profit-for-purpose basis on which Fespa is organised, means we are well placed to offer continuous independent, unbiased support to the worldwide print community as we collectively move towards a more sustainable future, and we are excited to be further extending the reach of our activities in this area."