The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is the winner of the 2015 Sonora Plate Green Leaf Award in the Middle East and Africa region. The award, presented by Kodak, recognizes organizations that are leaders in their commitment to integrating green practices into their operations to achieve reductions in their environmental impact.
The UNECA, which was founded in 1958 as one of the UN’s five regional commissions, has a mandate to promote the economic and social development of its member States, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa’s development. The organization publishes and prints numerous reports, studies, and papers in support of this mission while also providing printing services to other UN Agencies based in Ethiopia and the African Union Commission.
The UNECA, which is ISO-14001: 2004 certified, is being recognized as a user of Kodak Sonora Process Free Plates and for its focus on minimizing and reducing consumption of power, water, and other consumables. By transitioning its pre-press operations from chemistry-based to process free computer-to-plate technology, the UNECA has eliminated all the processing steps associated with traditional plate making, reducing water and energy consumption, while minimizing waste and chemical pollution.
In addition to their use of Sonora Plates, the UNECA is using 100% recycled paper both for office use and conference documents and aims to incorporate ecologically sustainable building design across its operations. As part of its mission, the UNECA is a vocal advocate for sustainability. It publishes books that support environmental initiatives including, the Special report on the ICGLR Regional Initiative against the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources (RINR) and other Certification Mechanisms in the Great Lakes Region, The Renewable Energy Sector in North Africa and Achieving Sustainable Development in Africa through Inclusive Green Growth.
“As part of the UNECA’s mandate to promote the economic and social development of Africa, the organization advocates for the proper management of Africa’s natural resources that play a large part in the continent’s economic growth,” said Rich Rindo, Kodak General Manager, WW Offset Print and Vice President Print Systems Division. By integrating green printing practices, the UNECA is leading by example and demonstrating to the communities it serves that sustainability is good for business and the future of the continent.”
Charles Ndungu, Chief, Printing and Publishing unit of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) remarked on the UNECA’s commitment to sustainable printing: “The UNECA is on a journey to become a more responsible printer. We started here in Africa by publishing conference documents on recycled paper. Today, the UNECA publishes all of its Publications on chlorine-free paper. By moving our pre-press operations to process free platemaking, we continue our commitment to print responsibly, while reaping the benefits of increased productivity and the conservation of critical energy and water resources.”
The Sonora Plate Green Leaf Award is named after Kodak Sonora Process Free Plates which are designed for commercial, packaging and publishing printers, offering a commercially sound and environmentally improved solution for printing a wide range of applications.
Launched in 2014, the Sonora Plate Green Leaf Award recognizes excellence among Kodak customers that are leaders in environmental initiatives. Award entrants are judged on a range of criteria, including management practices to improve energy and water efficiency, participation in local community sustainability initiatives and the use of eco-conscious materials and supplies. All submissions are reviewed with scores determined by a panel of Kodak judges.
