By Rich Boland, Client Services, Precision Group – Printing Services Melbourne Discover the benefits of sustainable printing in Melbourne and how it can make a positive impact.
Sustainability claims are everywhere. ‘Eco-friendly.’ ‘Carbon conscious.’ ‘We plant a tree for every order.’ For procurement teams and brand managers in Melbourne trying to demonstrate genuine environmental credentials, the noise makes it genuinely difficult to distinguish meaningful commitments from marketing. In print, the picture can be murky. We want to be direct about what our certification actually means — and what it means for the Melbourne brands and organisations that print with us.
The Rigor of The Sustainable Green Print Programme
The Sustainable Green Print (SGP) certification is administered by the Visual Media Association (VMA) in Australia. It is the most rigorous environmental accreditation framework available to commercial printers in this country, with five certification levels assessed across multiple environmental dimensions. Precision Group holds Level 3 certification — the highest level currently achieved by any printer in Victoria and one of only five operations nationally to have reached this standard. That’s not marketing language. It’s a verifiable, third-party-assessed credential with a formal audit cycle.
What Gets Assessed at Level 3: The Six Domains
The SGP framework assesses performance across six domains. At Level 3, a Melbourne printing company must demonstrate not just compliance but continuous improvement across all of them:
- Environmental Management System — documented policies, objectives, and performance metrics aligned to ISO14001 – NOTE: we also have this
- Chemical and Hazardous Materials — management of inks, solvents, and processing chemicals including reduction targets
- Energy and Climate Change — energy measurement, renewable energy use, carbon emissions tracking, and reduction commitments
- Water Management — water consumption monitoring and reduction strategies across all production processes
- Waste Management — waste hierarchy applied across all production waste streams including paper, film, and consumables
- Supply Chain — environmental criteria applied to substrate purchasing, including FSC certification requirements
This is not a checklist exercise. Level 3 requires evidence of active management and trend data demonstrating improvement over time. It is audited externally, not self-reported. If your print partner claims sustainability without third-party verification, ask to see their certification number and audit date. Precision’s is publicly verifiable through the Visual Media Association.
What Level 3 Sustainable Printing Means for Your Melbourne Brand
For marketing and brand teams, printing with a Level 3 SGP-certified Melbourne printing company provides three concrete things:
- Evidenced credentials you can include in your own sustainability reporting without qualification
- FSC-certified substrate options that meet procurement and ESG requirements
- A print partner whose environmental practices are independently audited — not self-declared
For procurement and finance teams, it addresses an increasingly common tender requirement: demonstrate that your supply chain meets minimum environmental standards. An SGP Level 3 printer satisfies that requirement in full.
Why Only Five Printers in Australia Have Reached Level 3
The honest answer: achieving Level 3 is genuinely hard. It requires investment in energy infrastructure, rigorous management systems, ongoing staff training, external auditing, and the willingness to document performance data that may initially reveal areas for improvement. Most printers stop at Level 1 or 2 because the improvement requirements become progressively more demanding. For Precision Group, the investment reflects a long-standing organisational commitment that predates the current demand for ESG credentials. We have been building toward this standard for years, not sprinting to it because procurement teams started asking. This article provides information upon our people behind the standards.
Sustainable Printing Is Not a Premium: The Cost Reality
A question we hear regularly: does printing with an SGP Level 3-certified Melbourne printer cost more? The answer, in most cases, is no. FSC-certified substrates carry a modest premium over uncertified equivalents, but the production processes themselves are not priced differently because of the environmental framework. You are not paying a green tax. You are choosing a supply chain that can be justified.
Want to know how our sustainability credentials support your ESG reporting?
Talk to Precision Group — Melbourne’s only Level 3 certified sustainable printer.
