COLORMAKER WINS SUSTAINABILITY AWARD
Permaset ink manufacturer Colormaker Industries has won the Northern Beaches Sustainability Award for 2023, as it ramps up its already impressive eco-initiatives.
The Northern Beaches local government area has a population of 265,000, and is located in Sydney, with the Sustainability Award recognising businesses that are actively pursuing sustainable practices, and embedding them into their business planning, operations and marketing.
David Stuart, managing director of Colormaker said, “Colormaker is delighted to have been recognised with the Northern Beaches Sustainability Award. What we have achieved has been the culmination of work by many people, contributing countless hours, over more than 20 years, to make this happen. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am to each and every of them for the support given to us on our journey.”
Colormaker, a member of trade association Fespa Australia, is located in Brookvale, and manufactures the Permaset ink and other products, with increasing focus on solvent-free, low-VOC and water-based technologies. Everything is manufactured using 100 per cent renewable energy, most coming from Colormaker’s 100kW solar array.
The company also reduces its waste, recycling paper, board, and scrap metal where possible, and uses LED lighting throughout the office and factory complex. In addition, it uses rPET packaging sourced from post-consumer waste.
It also has a small but growing fleet of electric vehicles, which are charged off the roof of the production facility. The EVs are used for local deliveries and staff commutes, helping reduce the business’ and staff members’ carbon footprint, and staff cost of living pressures.
Colormaker also supports the local community through sponsorships and social giving, as well as supporting a variety of groups throughout Australia, the South Pacific, NZ and other parts of the world. These are just some of the initiatives that led to Colormaker winning the prestigious award.
The business recently took delivery of a ReVolve 144 kW battery, a new Australian technology built around second-life Nissan Leaf EV batteries. This industrial level of storage will allow Colormaker to soak up excess solar power that can be used on site during peak periods and feed it back into the grid when most needed.
The company sees the new ReVolve battery as a game changer in terms of energy utilisation, resilience, self-sufficiency, and alleviating strain on the grid. “We are excited about this innovative battery technology, around “proof of concept” of this level of energy storage and around savings that other businesses can follow, as well as contributing to the redeployment of second-life EV batteries,” commented Stuart.
Targeting Net Zero by 2025, way in advance of the national target, Colormaker says it is committed to the continual improvement of its environmental performance. The business employs several measures to reduce the impact of the paints and inks that it produces. These include significant investment in R&D, aimed at making all its products more eco-friendly.
Colormaker is currently on a waiting list for a larger EV with bigger payload capacity and longer range so that more deliveries can be made using clean power. A carbon farm, where carbon can be sequestered in soil using regenerative farming techniques, is also on the horizon. Using regenerative farming practices, where carbon is stored in soil as well as trees, would be used to offset emissions in the business that were unavoidable.
“Our planet is fragile at the moment,” said Stuart, “so we haven’t a moment to lose. Sustainability is something that we care deeply about. With our solar array, we’re delighted to say that there’s a little bit of Northern Beaches sunshine in every drop of ink we make.”