Case Study: City of Seattle, City Light Bills Program
Creating an environmentally conscious solution for the Emerald City.
Seattle City Light consumes almost 10 million service bills imaged annually. Executive Order 13101 issued by then-Mayor Nichols instructed all city departments to reduce paper use, increase recycling and purchase 100% post-consumer (PC) recycled content, chlorine-free paper in 2005. Prior to 2005, City Light bills were printed on virgin bond paper. Trio NAE had produced the bills for many years and began a search for a paper that could withstand the rigorous print environment used by the utility department IT group.
Initial attempts to use 30% PC recycled paper from Boise Cascade and International Paper were deemed inadequate due to a desire by the department to experience zero error tolerance on the imaging, folding and inserting of the bills within an existing internal production process. In partnership with our production facility we explored different printing presses, several different grades and weights of paper to no avail (due in large part to the moisture content of the recycled paper and the stiffer weave associated with the recycled paper mill production process.
It wasn’t until we expanded our partnership arrangement to include Grays Harbor Paper Co. and used their Harbor 100 paper sheet that we settled on a 100% PC recycled sheet that works flawlessly within a demanding high-speed laser print environment (and after a switch in print hardware that eased drum wear due to a harder or stiffer sheet).
After many months of development we had a utility bill that worked from mill through print facility, City of Seattle internal storage facility and downtown high-rise print room environments.
We then moved into the conversion of the paper for the outgoing and reply envelopes. Again via a Trio NAE-inspired partnership we brought the second largest envelope converter to the table to work to convert the same 100% PC recycled Grays Harbor Paper Co. Harbor 100 rolls into final product envelopes and printed them to fulfill the final production link in the cycle.
We would not have been successful were it not for the team that we assembled including Grays Harbor Paper, City of Seattle staff and print production facilities. This project is emblematic of the zeal with which we dig deep into a total program to understand all variables, the impact on cost and the project's environmental impact. Ultimately, we assisted in the success of a critical initiative with a strong message to community stakeholders about governmental concern for our environment. Carbon Calculator of Sustainable Savings – supplied by Grays Harbor Paper
Trio NAE is more than just involved in environmental issues; we reflect stewardship in all aspects of our business and our community by being a leader in environmental issues and product development. By using one ton of Harbor 100 paper instead of virgin forested paper, customers save: Annual Savings on 100 tons of paper for 10,000,000 utility bills is: Annual Savings on 200 tons of paper for the outgoing and reply envelopes is even greater: While these numbers are staggering totals in their own right, a truly synergistic outcome is the coupling of environmental stewardship and the financial support provided to the many workers at Grays Harbor Paper, the single largest employer of people in an economically challenged county here in our OWN state.