Dr Chris Said, Parliamentary Secretary for Public Dialogue and Information in the Office of the Prime Minister, today visited the Government Printing Press to review the environmentally friendly measures that are being taken by that establishment. This visit tied in with the first issue of the Government Gazzette (No 18,361 since its first publication in October 1813) for this year being printed on recycled paper for the first time.

Dr Said spoke about the new look which is being given to the printed version of the Government’s legal instrument for publication. Besides being printed on recycled paper, the Gazzette is also being given a slightly altered format in order to make it more suitable for binding, and includes a contents page to help readers go to the items they want on the relevant pages. He said that the decision to go to recycled paper is one that will have a sizeable impact since the Government Gazette is published at least twice weekly on Tuesdays and Fridays. There are also regular supplements such as Legal Notices, Acts, Bills and Local Council By-Laws. Extraordinary editions are published when necessary.

Suffice it to mention that during 2008, 191 issues of the Gazzette (12,534 pages) were published, together with 361 Legal Notices (4,454 pages), 16 Acts (452 pages), 18 Bills (626 pages) and 3 Local Council By-Laws (34 pages). The print-run is of 650 copies per issue bringing the total number of pages up to a staggering 11,765,000 pages.

Dr Said also drew attention to the fact that the print run has also now been reduced from the 4000+ of previous years due to the Gazzette being available on-line on the day of publication, on the Department of Information website www.doi.gov.mt a service which in itself is also environmentally friendly. However the print version cannot be done without, as besides it being the legal version, there is still a considerable demand for its subscription by the public.

The Parliamentary Secretary also toured the establishment to review various other environmentally friendly initiatives and measures that have been taken in the past few months at the Printing Press. These include –

Promoting the use of Recycled Paper to Government Departments and Ministries. In cases where recycled paper is not up to the quality of print required, chlorine-free paper is used.

Paper waste is being separated and sent for recycling.

Spent aluminium plates which have been used in the printing process are being sold for recycling.

The packing system for publications has been changed by the introduction of two strapping machines to drastically reduce the use of cardboard boxes by 80%.

40% drop in electrical consumption for lighting by the changing of approximately 700 lighting units to Energy Saving T5 tubes.

The installation of photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Press.

Use of an electric car.

Dr Said expressed satisfaction that the Government Printing Press has taken up the Government’s call for more environmentally friendly operations without reducing the level of service to the public. He said that the introduction of these measures is reflective of the continuously increasing public awareness of the need to protect the environment, on a local, a national and also a global level. He thanked the management and workers at the Press and complimented them on their dedication to their duties.

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