We want to update everyone on a couple of events related to the efforts of Printing Industries of Washington.

For those interested, the Department of Ecology is holding a webinar focused on the Cycle 2 Final Priority Products Report on June 17, at 10:00 AM.  You can register for this webinar at https://ecology.wa.gov/events/hwtr/spwa-cycle-2/safer-products-morning-webinar

Please hold Thursday, June 26, to attend a webinar with Samantha “Sam” Louderback on the current state of our efforts in Washington and plans for the coming legislative year.  Sam will address our efforts to protect the industry from a threatened ban of inks manufactured with chlorinated pigments and Washington’s extended producer responsibility legislation.  The Zoom information for this meeting will be sent via separate email.

On Friday, April 18, Samantha “Sam” Louderback, Washington State lobbyist for Printing Industries of Washington, organized an introductory meeting between members of the printing industry and Safer Products staff from the Department of Ecology.  The objective of the meeting was to initiate a dialogue between DoE and industry focused on concerns about the threatened ban of most widely used printing inks.  Attending the meeting were Chuck Stempler (AlphaGraphics), Brad Clarke (DCG One), Lou Caron (PIA) and Sam.  The meeting lasted approximately 45 minutes.
Highlights:

• Sam did a very good job of expressing industry’s concerns about the draft report that focuses on banning printing ink.  She politely explained that there is very little available documentation to support DoE’s findings.  She also noted that the timetable is aggressive and may not provide sufficient time to address the requirements of DoE to determine that there are readily available alternative products that are also economically feasible.
• Chuck and Brad attempted to explain that changing inks is not a simple process.  In fact, it requires considerable testing of both the performance with the press and the acceptability of the final printed product.  We highlighted that a printing press is a significant capital investment that each printer makes.  Further, printing presses are designed to have long lives and older presses would struggle with many so-called alternative inks.
• Brad commented that a large volume of printing actually consumed in the State of Washington is not manufactured in the State.  Regulating the local printers negatively impacts their ability to compete with the broader market.
• The issues faced by Inland Empire Paper Company are not solely caused by printing ink.
• Part of the discussion seemed to center on toner-based ink which was surprising in that it has not been a focus and, if it is an indicator of DoE’s interest, is concerning as to the breadth of their scope.  For instance, does “toner” include everything from the desktop printer to digital presses to large format presses?
• We inquired as to whether DoE staff had visited a commercial printer to gain a better understanding of the printing process and manufacturing processes.  We offered to arrange such a tour(s) to better educate staff.  Effectively, “we have nothing to hide.”
• We asked what more the industry can do to assist DoE.  They responded that the meeting and others to come are exactly the type of activities that are valuable to DoE.
• We expressed that industry wants to be part of the dialogue which is hard to do when comment letters are submitted and no response is received.  The point being that communication is two-way.

This was a good first step.  While we found some staff to be more open than others to dialogue, we did identify some concern when it was expressed that the mission of DoE was not only to protect Washington but to “change the world.”  Clearly, we have our work cut out for us.
DoE explained that they are in the process of prioritizing areas of concentration which may include printing ink.  They told us that the draft report due in June is the start of a long process of research and testing.

We continue to work to protect the printing industry in Washington.  We thank those who have contributed to these efforts and ask others to consider participating at https://waprint.org/contribute/ and join our efforts directed toward the entire industry and not just a few.