Lori Ashford (left), Quality & CPI Team Lead for Robbie Fantastic Flexibles, accepts an FTA Award from Doreen Monteleone, director of Environmental, Health & Safety; Membership & Special Projects, Flexographic Technical Association.

The Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) recognized Specialty Printing LLC of East Windsor, Conn., and Robbie Fantastic Flexibles of Lenexa, Kan., with Environmental Excellence Awards in March.

Specialty Printing, which won top FTA honors for its process improvement initiatives, is a label manufacturer dedicated to the design and conversion labels and packaging products for the government, medical and retail industries. In response to demands of customers and suppliers in addition to company's own incentive to become a better steward for the environment, Specialty Printing implemented a recycling, conservation and cost savings project that yielded positive impacts on the environment virtually across the board. Ultimately, Specialty Printing was able to reduce running waste an average of one million feet per month, reduce set-up times by more than half and significantly reduce water consumption.

Robbie Fantastic Flexibles produces bags, pouches and packaging films for a variety of markets. The company, a certified Sustainable Green Printing (SGP) Printer, developed a sustainability program using SGP criteria as a basic framework. By implementing a continuous improvement project, Robbie realized a 15% reduction of landfill waste by December 2009 and has set its sights on reducing current waste by an additional 15% by December 2010.

Flexographic Technical Association
631-737-6020; www.flexography.org