Recycled Magnets: How We Got Sustainability to Stick

Printing with recycled magnets just makes sense. After all, the Earth itself is a magnet.

(We interrupt this article with a quick geology lesson: The planet’s core is made up of mostly iron, thus giving Earth its very own magnetic field – hello, North and South Poles. This magnetic field protects us by deflecting a bunch of scary stuff like solar winds, radiation and charged particles from the sun. And now back to your regularly-scheduled article.)

This new magnet printing process fits right in with Smartpress’ commitment to sustainability and provides yet another green printing option for our conscious clients. The magnet material itself contains 75% recycled content, 100% of which is pre-consumer recycled content.

Complete with a printed vinyl face, our magnets are part of a “closed-loop” process, and it’s a pretty cool one at that. Here’s how it works:

1. We get a roll of the magnet material from our vendor.
2. Any material we don’t use after a project is printed gets returned to our vendor.
3. Our vendor recycles this unused scrap material and makes new rolls out of it.
4. The new rolls are then sent to us so we can print new projects with it.

(As a customer-focused online printer, we’re all about full disclosure: The vinyl face is not made of recycled content. But don’t worry, we’re working on it.)

Hint: We’re your online printing shop for lots of insider tips and tricks. Connect with Magnet Printing FAQ here.

Business Card Magnets

• Perfect for networking and promoting your brand or business.
• Can be easily slipped into sales kits and marketing packages or handed out at conferences.
• Available in custom sizes and shapes, plus horizontal and vertical orientations.

Die-Cut Magnets

• Perfect for branding, marketing and advertising.
• Digital die cutting available in any shape, pattern, lettering, etc.
• Especially good for complex brand logos or designs.

Magnet Calendars

• Perfect for brand awareness, name recognition and as part of a multi-piece marketing package.
• Can include 12 or 18 months and suit specific schedules (school year, sports season, etc.).
• Available in custom sizes.

Car Magnets

• Perfect for on-the-go marketing for your business, products and services.
• Features strong and durable .030 mil vinyl that has a 95-pound pull (aka it’s staying put).
• Available in custom sizes and shapes.

Save the Date Magnets

• Perfect for business or personal events (fundraisers, conferences, weddings, milestone celebrations, etc.).
• Can be slipped into envelopes for easy mailing.
• Available in custom sizes.

Hint: Need magnet design inspo? We’re the online printer that’s got that, too: Magnetic Marketing: 5 Ways to Print Magnets & Attract Attention.

Our goal was to offer recycled magnets to our clients and customers, but as a sustainable printer, we took it one step further – it’s just what we do. That one step further came in 2022, as we began recycling our magnet material for the first time ever.

We set our sights high, wanting to improve the performance of our waste program throughout all facilities across Smartpress and our parent company, The Bernard Group. Our ultimate objective was to divert 500 tons of waste to its proper disposal.

The result is a win that’s stuck with us since then. We exceeded that goal, with a total of 538 tons of redirected waste. Plus, we made our recycling program even more top-of-mind for our employees with improved communication (turns out, the right email goes a long way).

Hint: Recycled magnets are just another example of our planet-friendly online printing services. Find more green alternatives here: Sustainable Swap: 4 New Green Alternatives for Eco-Friendly Printing and Sustainable Signage: 8 Substrates for Planet-Friendly Printing.