Corporate Social Responsibility

Sustainability is a primary focus within Blue Star. It is becoming a core attitude within our business. What does sustainability in business really mean? It is not simply about the environment. It is about ensuring our impact on our people, our industry, our customers, our community and the environment is positive.

Blue Star has established key goals that may seem simple, but will affect our customers, our people and the environment These goals include the reduction of waste, the elimination of toxins, the reuse and recycling of materials, the use of papers sourced from sustainable managed forests, mills with EMAS (Eco Management and Audit Scheme) accreditation and the ongoing development of the industry through investment in our people.

Blue Star’s journey has begun and already in a relatively short period of time we have made significant progress. Everyday, we are looking at ways in which we can fold sustainability into our strategic and non strategic business decisions.

Blue Star has pioneered a number of initiatives within the New Zealand Printing industry and we will continue to lead the way in sustainable business practices. The best way to demonstrate our commitment to sustainable business practices is to look at real examples that support our goals.

It is more than eight years ago, that Blue Star pioneered the use of vegetable based inks, replacing oil based inks and it is gratifying to know that today all inks supplied by the Ink Manufacturers and distributors in NZ to Blue Star companies are vegetable based.

Blue Star led the way in the introduction of papers sourced from orgainsations with EMAS accreditation or carrying the FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) and/or COC (Chain of Custody) logo's to a number of large corporate clients. Although these papers were potentially more expensive, Blue Star persisted in its recommendation to it’s large client base to implement the use of these products. Today, more than 70% of our papers are from EMAS accredited organisations with ISO14001 and Blue Star recommends this and the use of papers carrying the FSC and/or COC logos.

As an organisation, we are only as strong as our people. We have a commitment to continue to reinvest within our industry. This commitment can be demonstrated by the more than 30 apprentices Blue Star is supporting across all trades, from Prepress through to Bindery.

By selecting goals that ensure we make the greatest impact allows Blue Star to identify it’s priorities and deliver effective sustainable and socially responsible solutions