PEGASUS HITS 94.87% RECYCLABILITY, SAVES 1275 TONNES FROM LANDFILL

Print environmental pioneer Pegasus Print Group has reached almost 95 per cent recyclability from its Blacktown factory, saving 1275 tonnes of waste from landfill in the past year.

The company, part of AAB Holdings, saved the equivalent of 4600 trees, a million kilowatts of power, 447,000 litres of water and 223 tonnes of CO2 emissions, thanks to its focus on waste management, recycling, and following environmental practices and protocols in its print manufacturing.

 Wayne Finkelde, CEO of AAB said, “Pegasus has been pursuing an environmentally-friendly manufacturing strategy for 15 years. It is really paying off now, I’m proud of the whole team. Everything we do goes through an environmental matrix.”

Finkelde says this year’s result should top 95 per cent. He said, “We changed our waste partner to Wanless a year ago, and they have been terrific. They have their own recycling plant, and they even sort through our general waste to recycle more. We sort into plastic, metals, paper, board, timber, all our pallets are recycled, broken ones are chipped.”

The company has also just inked a new deal with plate supplier Fujifilm, that will see Fujifilm take all used plates for recycling. Previously the plates were being sent to metal recycler by Pegasus.

A recyclability of nigh on 95 per cent is a remarkable achievement. Finkelde said, “Much of the remaining five per cent is still work in progress”.

Pegasus has 180 staff at its Blacktown site, with WH&S manager Andrew Davies and commercial manager Daryn Wilson leading the environmental drive, along with the operational managers.

Sister company SOS Print + Media has 60 staff at its Alexandria site. Finkelde said, “The SOS report is not yet in, but when it comes I expect it will achieve an even higher number, as it is mainly a digital operation there.”

All lights at Pegasus are LED with low CO2 output. Finkelde said, “Energy of course is a major cost as well as environmentally sensitive. We have reduced our consumption tremendously. Older equipment that consumed a lot of power has been shipped out and replaced with modern energy efficient systems.”

Pegasus has looked at all aspects of its business, its display bins for instance are now 100 per cent recyclable. Finkelde said, “Even the clips, which used to be plastic, are now made from sugar cane, and recyclable.”

Pegasus Print Group is one of the biggest independent print businesses in Australia, providing print, mail, warehousing, logistics and merchandising.