Respecting People & the Environment

At Australian Printed Ribbon we are committed to fair, ethical and sustainable business practices, focusing on keeping as much production in Australia as possible and sourcing only those products that reflect the quality and principles we stand behind. 95% of our ribbon is printed in our Melbourne factory (supporting local production, reducing carbon miles & ensuring reliability of supply), and our ribbon is sourced from Australian and European manufacturers with ethical and fairtrade policies in place. We are actively working towards carbon neutrality.

You can find our Social and Environmental Policy here.

Here are some of the things we do as part of our aim to be a good corporate citizen:

Sustainable Packaging

1. We send orders in recyclable or recycled packaging.
2. We pack all orders minimally and request minimal packaging from our own suppliers.
3. All protective packaging – like packing fill and bubble wrap – is recycled/reused. We don’t use virgin packaging filler.
4. We don’t send a packing slip or additional invoice, unless requested, to save on excess paper.

Sustainable Office & Factory

1. Our office and factory has energy efficient lights, low wattage globes and skylights.
2. Office paper: we only use FSC and recycled paper and we only print out what is necessary. We segregate, reuse and recycle all of the paper.
3. Our office and factory has energy efficient lighting and skylights.
4. We use 100% green renewable electricity supplied by Diamond Energy in our factory and office.
5. Factory waste is recycled or repurposed whenever possible. Ribbon offcuts and end of rolls are donated to local kindergartens and primary school craft rooms.
6. We use a safe, non hazardous computer etching process to engrave logos on to our printing plates, rather than a chemical process. Discontinued plates are rejuvenated and reused.
7. Our printing machines were deliberately designed and built to be sustainable – well made, long lasting, and repairable.
8. We are committed to keeping as much manufacturing and production here in Australia as possible, with 95% off our printing taking place in our Melbourne facility.

Environmentally & Socially Conscious Suppliers & Partners

1. We actively source environmentally sustainable ribbon, keeping up to date with the emerging research and development so we can provide our customers with the latest innovations.
2. We are committed to supporting other Australian small businesses and source as much as we can locally. As an example, post printing processing like bowing and awareness ribbon assembly are done just up the road, and the metal printing plates are computer etched with logos by a local business.
3. We have been members of SEDEX since 2016, and our overseas suppliers and partners hold SEDEX certification which assesses their social (health & safety, ethics, fair trade. anti-slavery etc) and environmental performance. We deal with a SEDEX certified factory when outsourcing is required

We believe that our commitment to social and environmental responsibility is not only the right thing to do, but it also makes good business sense. We will continually review and improve our social and environmental practices to ensure that we are making a positive impact on society and the environment.