The Watershed Spotlight: Our Environmental Promise

Last week in our Watershed Spotlight we gave you an insight into our Shrink Sleeve Machinery division and our capabilities as a Shrink Sleeve Machine supplier.

This week we are shining the spotlight on a different aspect of our business and today we will be giving you an insight into our environmental credentials and what we are doing as a business to ensure we are as green as possible.

Since our formation over 28 years ago, Watershed Packaging has become one of the prominent suppliers of Flexible Printed Packaging. Producing Flexible Packaging such as Shrink Sleeves, Flexible Packaging, Die Cut Lids, Labels and Printed Tape. We also sell end of line Packaging Machinery. Our core values ​​of quality, service and innovation make Watershed a premium choice for many multinational companies.

Watershed Packaging is committed to being a sustainable and environmentally friendly business operating in the Print industry. As a business we want to play a vital role in ensuring we are doing all we can to help the environment. We are constantly taking steps to ensure our business is as environmentally sustainable as possible and we have the environmental credentials to match! Sustainability is at the forefront of our design of our end of line Packaging Machinery, with energy saving and safety a priority and passion. All our machines are built with non-toxic components.

Our Environmental Credentials
In 2018 we were awarded a Zero Labels 2 Landfill certification and a Zero Foil 2 Landfill certification. This Scheme is run by Prismm Environmental Limited and is sponsored by the British Printing Industry Federation (BPIF). It guarantees that absolutely none of our Label waste or Foil/Metalized Polyester waste will be taken to landfill. Every year since 2018, we have maintained this certification which shows we care about the sustainable aspects of our business.

Label Printing companies similar to ourselves that have already signed up to the scheme have diverted 5,925 tonnes of Label waste from landfill in 2015. We also ensure that all the aluminium Die Cut Lids that we produce are all fully recyclable.

Our Building & Site Environmental Measures
Our state-of-the-art headquarters in Leeds is also extremely energy efficient. Fun fact: this year we made the move to ensure that 100% of the Electricity supply at Watershed Packaging now runs on renewably sourced energy and we have a Guarantee of Origin (GoO) certificate to prove it. We are adding to our Green Credentials all the time.

We use primarily LED lighting where possible and in our office spaces we recycle paper printer waste and all our printer ink cartridges. We encourage our staff to bring in their own ink cartridge waste from home to recycle at work.

Throughout our building we recycle air to ensure our employees are receiving a high-quality air supply despite being indoors.

We hold surface water in a huge underground tank to prevent our nearby river from flooding.

All oil leakage from cars and transport vehicles is collated into a central separator underneath our site which prevents it from reaching fresh water.

We have also taken part in CycleScheme whereby our employees are given funding towards a bicycle of their choice, to encourage an active method of transport to get to and from work, to not only reduce car emissions but also to promote fitness and wellbeing.

Our Materials
We ensure that all materials used to manufacture our Packaging are ethically sourced to guarantee we are reducing our carbon footprint.

This year we produced an extremely exciting innovative product on our printing presses which was a paper film that was 100% plastic free! This is a huge gamechanger for our business and opens the doors for our customers who are similarly striving to be more environmentally friendly with their offerings within their respective markets. Within our Environmental Department, we have our own team sourcing Plastic Free and Fully Recyclable packaging. We are constantly looking at new products and trying to develop new products with our customers that are environmentally friendly and more recyclable. It is one of our primary objectives to produce products that are 100% recyclable, and our Environmental team are constantly developing and trialling these new innovations with our customers.

As well as aiming to delight all customers, we truly care about our team and the wider community. Having a happy, healthy and empowered workforce working in a thriving community is central to the ongoing success of Watershed.

This week’s blog post is a brief overview of Watershed Packaging’s environmental responsibilities and our promises to our customers that we are striving to ensure we are operating in an environmentally friendly way. We offer such a variety of products and we hope the Watershed Spotlight can help tell the world who we are and what we do.

We hope you enjoyed this weekly spotlight on our Environmental Credentials! Keep a lookout for our next Watershed spotlight coming to you next week!