The competition shortlisted the 30 most impressive of those inventions awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal during the show, presenting those meeting certain standards with a double gold, platinum or diamond award. Other categories included ‘British Invention of the Year’, ‘International Innovation of the Year’, ‘Environment’ and ‘Design’. Five other companies were awarded a platinum trophy, reported managing director of Tech-ni-fold Graham Harris, with five taking home diamond awards. “Though it’s not part of the official criteria those diamond awards are typically reserved for doctors and scientists, people behind lifesaving and enhancing technologies. And in fact the platinum awards are usually bestowed upon companies who create solutions on a wider consumer scale,” said Harris, citing a fellow platinum award-winner Alexander Bushel and his water collection and purification technology. Harris added: “To be spoken about in the same sentence as these people is a real honour.” The reason given by the judges for the CreaseStream Mini series’ win, was not only the innovativeness of the technology but its commercial success. Harris said: “It’s not just about the fact we invented something, it’s what we have done with it and how far we have gotten with it. We have proven we can take it through all of the design stages to bring it to market – only a handful of companies could demonstrate that. There were some fantastic products, but you could see they were going to struggle to get financial backing.” He added: “I think the judges were impressed with how we had evolved our technology to develop a range of machines based on a simple rubber o-ring concept that had already served us so well to crease materials and combat the threat of cracking in the offset market. It helped that we could demonstrate the three Mini machines, two of which required no electrical input, and could feed digitally printed sheets without using vacuum pumps, avoiding the problem of marking the sheets during transportation.” Alongside delivering technical demos of the CreaseStream Mini and hosting a Christmas card challenge where visitors competed to crease as many cards in 60 seconds as possible, Tech-ni-fold also demonstrated new packaging and instant-play video card tutorials at the show. The cards are being rolled out to replace in-person installation where the customer is happy with this cost-saving alternative....

The JetSet and JetStar papers were relaunched as a result of improved performance following the upgrade. Applications for the papers include direct mail, reports & accounts, catalogues and brochures and the papers can be used with all leading high-speed inkjet printing systems, including those from Kodak, Océ, Screen, HP and Impika. “This upgrade significantly improves the final printing results of JetSet paper and enables us to meet the growing printability requirements of customers in this segment,” said a spokesman. “JetSet offers excellent image contrast when working with dye-based and pigmented inks.” JetStar surface-treated paper, meanwhile, was designed for use with pigmented inks and delivers colour stability, enhanced print performance and better fade and water resistance, said the company. It produces “visibly better results” over standard offset paper. Both products are PEFC and Ecolabel certified, while the Saillat mill is one of the world’s best-performing sites in terms of CO2 emissions, with an average wood procurement distance of 128km, according to International Paper. Inkjet papers brand manager Katarzyna Nieciag added: “The investment was a continued development of our value-added grades strategy at the mill.”...

Greenpeace’s APP’s Forest Conservation Policy: Progress Review examines APP’s recently implemented forest conservation policy (FCP), which resulted in a moratorium on all natural forest clearance. Greenpeace, which has been campaigning for APP to change its behaviour for several years, subsequently suspended action against the paper manufacturer. The report concluded: “Our view, nine months in, is that the company is serious about its FCP plans and its key senior staff are genuinely committed to driving the delivery of these new commitments. The risk of APP again reneging on its promises appears limited at this time. “However, there have been, and will continue to be, many challenges. Some of these are internal, with a complex corporate structure making delivery sometimes cumbersome across 2.6m hectares of land in Indonesia alone.” Greenpeace, which led a decade of protests and helped stoke up media coverage so damaging it prompted more than 100 companies, including giants Lego and Xerox, to suspend contracts with APP, stopped short of complete endorsement. “Several former customers of APP have asked Greenpeace whether they should re-engage it as a supplier. As this review makes clear, there are several encouraging signs about APP’s delivery of its FCP commitments, as well as some outstanding concerns.” The report suggested companies should continue to closely monitor and engage with the company over its implementation of the FCP. They should seek assurances there would be no further breaches of forest clearance and peatland development moratoriums as outlined in the FCP. Greenpeace International senior campaigner Phil Aikman said: “APP is moving quite swiftly in some areas and not so in others, partly because they have to hire people to help them deliver. They are being very transparent, but I think they will always have to be monitored and bring in third-party auditors.” APP managing director of sustainability Aida Greenbury said she was encouraged that Greenpeace’s report recognised progress made to date. Greenbury said: “We know many years of work lie ahead, but this report has given us additional confidence that we are on the right path as we aim to put a permanent end to deforestation in our supply chain. “Scrutiny from Greenpeace and other NGOs has been an important driver for us and we hope to continue to work with all stakeholders in this way over the coming years.” The Greenpeace report highlighted positive steps taken since the launch of the FCP in February 2013. These included: self-disclosure of two breaches of the FCP, action to improve the management and implementation of the FCP and commitment to consulting stakeholders. The report also raised several challenges for improvements. These included setting out a plan to engage other stakeholders to help address the issue of overlapping licences...

Greenpeace’s APP’s Forest Conservation Policy: Progress Review examines APP’s recently implemented forest conservation policy (FCP), which resulted in a moratorium on all natural forest clearance. Greenpeace, which has been campaigning for APP to change its behaviour for several years, subsequently suspended action against the paper manufacturer. The report concluded: “Our view, nine months in, is that the company is serious about its FCP plans and its key senior staff are genuinely committed to driving the delivery of these new commitments. The risk of APP again reneging on its promises appears limited at this time. “However, there have been, and will continue to be, many challenges. Some of these are internal, with a complex corporate structure making delivery sometimes cumbersome across 2.6m hectares of land in Indonesia alone.” Greenpeace, which led a decade of protests and helped stoke up media coverage so damaging it prompted more than 100 companies, including giants Lego and Xerox, to suspend contracts with APP, stopped short of complete endorsement. “Several former customers of APP have asked Greenpeace whether they should re-engage it as a supplier. As this review makes clear, there are several encouraging signs about APP’s delivery of its FCP commitments, as well as some outstanding concerns.” The report suggested companies should continue to closely monitor and engage with the company over its implementation of the FCP. They should seek assurances there would be no further breaches of forest clearance and peatland development moratoriums as outlined in the FCP. Greenpeace International senior campaigner Phil Aikman said: “APP is moving quite swiftly in some areas and not so in others, partly because they have to hire people to help them deliver. They are being very transparent, but I think they will always have to be monitored and bring in third-party auditors.” APP managing director of sustainability Aida Greenbury said she was encouraged that Greenpeace’s report recognised progress made to date. Greenbury said: “We know many years of work lie ahead, but this report has given us additional confidence that we are on the right path as we aim to put a permanent end to deforestation in our supply chain. “Scrutiny from Greenpeace and other NGOs has been an important driver for us and we hope to continue to work with all stakeholders in this way over the coming years.” The Greenpeace report highlighted positive steps taken since the launch of the FCP in February 2013. These included: self-disclosure of two breaches of the FCP, action to improve the management and implementation of the FCP and commitment to consulting stakeholders. The report also raised several challenges for improvements. These included setting out a plan to engage other stakeholders to help address the issue of overlapping licences...

The JetSet and JetStar papers were relaunched as a result of improved performance following the upgrade. Applications for the papers include direct mail, reports & accounts, catalogues and brochures and the papers can be used with all leading high-speed inkjet printing systems, including those from Kodak, Océ, Screen, HP and Impika. “This upgrade significantly improves the final printing results of JetSet paper and enables us to meet the growing printability requirements of customers in this segment,” said a spokesman. “JetSet offers excellent image contrast when working with dye-based and pigmented inks.” JetStar surface-treated paper, meanwhile, was designed for use with pigmented inks and delivers colour stability, enhanced print performance and better fade and water resistance, said the company. It produces “visibly better results” over standard offset paper. Both products are PEFC and Ecolabel certified, while the Saillat mill is one of the world’s best-performing sites in terms of CO2 emissions, with an average wood procurement distance of 128km, according to International Paper. Inkjet papers brand manager Katarzyna Nieciag added: “The investment was a continued development of our value-added grades strategy at the mill.”...