Majestic Athletic’s primary apparel-printing facility has received certification from the Sustainable Green Printing (SPG) Partnership.
The Partnership, initiated in 2008, promotes best practices for reducing environmental impact and increasing social responsibility in the graphic communications industry.
Majestic is the first major apparel brand to earn the SGP certification for an owned printing facility. Other recipients of the certification include Walmart Print Solutions and the U.S. Government Printing Office.
“The impacts of printing are sometimes overlooked in the apparel industry,” said Roian Atwood, director of sustainability for Majestic. “But athletic brands of this size do tremendous amounts of printing that require safe and responsible management of chemicals, water, energy and other resources. We’re proud to have Majestic’s printing practices verified.”
Each year, Majestic’s primary printing operation in Tampa, FL, prints roughly 25 million pieces of licensed apparel for Major League Baseball, the National Football League, National Basketball Association, Harley-Davidson and other properties.
In order to achieve certification, the printing operation had to meet comprehensive requirements including energy audits every two years, assessments for indoor air quality and emissions reductions, adoption of mandatory best management practices, establishment of a sustainability committee and policy, annual reports to SGP and continuous improvement projects.
In its first year of certification, in addition to benchmarking energy, waste and water, Majestic will also reduce its primary source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from 78 tons per year to zero by shifting to a different screen-cleaning compound. Future projects under consideration include investments in water-reuse technologies and energy-saving occupancy lighting.
“Majestic deserves recognition and praise as the first major apparel brand to take this step,” said SGP Chairman of the Board Lynn Krinsky. “We hope others in the industry will follow Majestic’s lead in committing to greener printing practices.”
Majestic Athletic designs, markets and manufactures performance athletic apparel, team uniforms, outerwear and licensed athletic wear.
The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership is a non-profit organization that certifies printing facilities’ sustainability best practices, including and beyond regulatory compliance.
