Paper Sustainability: A Supplier’s View
delfortgroup is a significant supplier of thin printing papers to Reed Elsevier and for several years has been completing Reed Elsevier paper surveys for our three paper mills involved in supplying paper to the Group through Precision Publishing Papers.
We have been continually offering solutions to reduce environmental impacts. For example, some paper for journals has been reduced from 60g to 50g during the past few years, offering savings in paper purchased, printed, distributed, mailed and finally stored.
While the very use of paper is often questioned today, since it was first invented in China in AD105, the medium has been considered as one the most versatile in its form and function. It is robust and adaptable, practical and most importantly, both renewable and recyclable. Trees are the crop for paper and pulp and forests must be sustainably managed. They are also a valuable resource for many people in rural areas. Correctly managed forests ensure vitality, growth and bio-diversity. To put some facts behind these words, in harvested areas, 33% more trees are planted and across Europe, forests are growing by 4,363 football pitches per day.
Within the European paper and pulp industry we recognise our environmental responsibilities and are doing something positive about them; in Europe 86% of worked forests have Sustainable Forest Management certificates, 87% of market pulp produced has Chain of Custody certification, and 83% of paper and pulp has EMS certification. Additionally, our raw material, trees, are very good at storing and locking carbon: every book or journal is a carbon store; young trees are particularly efficient at fixing CO2. More figures about the European paper and pulp industry are available at www.cepi.org.
To consider what could be achieved by Reed Elsevier through lighter weight paper we compared:
| |
Sq Mt |
Tonnes |
Sea freight (t/CO2) |
Road freight (t/CO2) |
Total (t/CO2) |
| 80g |
12.5 mill |
1,000 |
59.16 |
33.33 |
92.49 |
| 60g |
12.5 mill |
750 |
44.37 |
24.99 |
69.36 |
Savings: 25% or 23.13t/CO2
Notes
- Sea freight at 28g/tkm Helsinki to Teesport; 2,113 km
- Road freight at 52.9g/tkm from mill to port (Finland) and port to printer (UK) 630 km
- CO2 figures supplied by external distribution company using 2008 figures
- Assuming 24t per 40ft container (1,000t = 42; 750t = 32)
- Excludes onward freight and postage savings and emissions by Reed Elsevier; emissions from paper mills; and reduced printer impact and emissions
Correct paper weight use has never been more important for economic and ecological eco-functions. To buy the same square metres of print area, while saving at every step of the process, is a win/win. The example above shows moving from 80g to 60g paper results in a 25% saving; of course moving from 60g to 40g leads to a 33% saving – an improvement worth pursuing.
Individuals can calculate their own business impact at www.thinprintpaper.com under the thinprint publication calculator.
For more information contact Ross Bradshaw, delfortgroup and UK board member PEFC UK