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TPH, Hemlock and Mitchell top Canopy sustainability ranking

Canadian printing companies are being recognized for their focus on sustainability. Canopy’s fifth annual Blueline Ranking reveals that four of the top five ranked printers actively supporting the development of next generation solutions, such as agricultural residue and wheat straw papers in North America, are Canadian printers: The Printing House (TPH), Hemlock Printers, Mitchell Press and TC Transcontinental Printing.

Domestic production of straw pulp, paper and packaging is set to hit the North American market within the next six months with the opening of the Columbia Pulp mill in Washington State, U.S., Canopy explains. With wheat straw pulp carrying half the ecological footprint of conventional wood fibre pulps, top ranked printers understand that next-generation papers will help reduce the impacts of their operations, as well as those of packaging and paper, on the world’s forests and natural systems, it notes, adding that today’s top printers are actively fostering the development of these papers, which promises this new environmentally friendly shift in paper production shortly.
 
Canopy’s 2019 Blueline Ranking is a tool that helps businesses that use print products reach their climate and sustainability goals. This year’s top ranking Blueline printers are The Printing House with a new all-time high score, followed closely by Hemlock Printers in second place, and Mitchell Press in third. All three of these companies secured coveted dark green ink drops, indicating their commitment to sustainability, ancient and endangered forest conservation and next-generation solutions, Canopy explains. TC Transcontinental Printing, the seventh largest printer in North America, also took action on conservation and innovation and is ranked fourth, moving up from a ninth place in the previous edition.

Below is the list of Canadian printing companies featured in the 2019 Blueline Ranking and their respective position:

1. The Printing House (TPH)
2. Hemlock Printers  
3. Mitchell Press
4. TC Transcontinental Printing     
6. Metropolitan Fine Printers     
8. Marquis Book Printing     
9. Friesens
11. The Lowe-Martin Group
16. RR Donnelley         
17. St. Joseph Communications     
19. Vistaprint (a Cimpress business)
 
Click here to see the full list.

The top three dark green printers distinguished themselves in 2019 by:

• Requesting suppliers provide forest of origin information in order to assess the risk of having Ancient and Endangered Forests in their supply chain.
• Asking at least one mill partner to test paper made from North American sourced agricultural residue fibre.
• Writing to government decision makers to encourage them to implement additional conservation plans and protected area proposals in a priority landscape in Canada’s Boreal Forest.

“With the world increasingly attentive to the health of our planet, it’s heartening to see the sustainability progress of the top printers in this year’s Blueline Ranking,” said Nicole Rycroft, Executive Director and Founder at Canopy. “Their actions to protect the world’s ancient and endangered forests and draw next-generation solutions like straw papers through to market, positions them strongly with customers.”

The Blueline Ranking is fully interactive and can be sorted by subjects like points, performance on the Printing Impressions Top 400, or various other criteria. Each ranked printer also has a detailed company page with further details on the sustainability practices that resulted in their total points. Thirty-four printers were ranked, representing more than US$28 billion in total sales. Printers were assessed on 41 criteria for a possible total of 51 points, Canopy explains, noting that 13 printers improved their total score this year.