Around the world, newspapers are recognizing the value and promise for the future that is created by implementing a green strategy. The move to be more environmentally friendly is happening across businesses, consumers and governments. For their part, news publishers are taking a hard look at efficiencies that can be implemented across their value chains, such as more aggressive recycling schemes, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, lowering electricity usage and better ways of handling e-waste, SFN's Going Green reported.

InfoTrends, a U.S.-based market research and strategic consulting firm for the digital imaging and document solutions industry, partnered with the North American Publishing Company in January 2008 to create a new quarterly tracking programme called "Emerging Strategies in Production Print." The project is aimed at polling print service providers on the hottest industry topics.

For their inaugural survey, the groups chose the topic of green printing and sustainability to find out how the print industry was adapting to the rapid trends involving green and sustainable initiatives, and how much was just talk. The survey explored print-for-pay (commercial) businesses and in-plant trends, and found that more than half of the 768 (283 from in-plants and 485 from commercial print) providers surveyed had implemented a green policy, while almost a third of those with a green policy in place had also completed one or more certification programmes. Meanwhile, larger companies (those with 500 or more employees) had a higher adoption rate of green policy implementation, according to the InfoTrends and NAPCO study, "Emerging Strategies: Green Printing and Sustainability."

The two primary reasons for adopting green policies are social responsibility and customer demand, with customer demand driving green policy adoption in commercial printing more than in-plant companies.

Marketing and public relations also have an impact on implementing green policies, with expected legislation being rated as less of a factor. This is because many providers routinely must be in line with local and national regulations in their businesses, making expected legislation less of a factor, because it is already part of daily policy.

Meanwhile, although there are costs associated with adopting more eco-friendly policies, most companies were supportive of these initiatives, according to the report, Going Green, released by SFN and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers.