Q: How?
A: The planet needs saving.
195 countries signed up to the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit increases in global temperature to within 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels. Everyone, including publishers and printers, has to take responsibility for their greenhouse gas emissions. So, it’s important that we work together to find a way of working that balances the need for a low carbon footprint with the need to produce a commercially successful publication.
The start point is to establish the size of your publication’s carbon footprint because, if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.
We use the ClimateCalc platform which records the greenhouse gas emissions for each stage of the production process for a specific print job. This allows us to work out where in the process there is room for improvement.
The two main areas where attention should be focused on are paper & inks and energy.
• Paper & inks: There are two ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the paper you use: you can use a different kind of paper that has a lower CO2 value per tonne produced or you can try to use less tonnes, or, of course, do both.
Whatever type of paper you use, it’s critical to ensure that it’s FSC / PEFC certified. This means that you can be sure that the wood is sourced from responsibly managed forests and is fully traceable back through the supply chain.
Clever choices on paper grammage can have an environmental impact and help the bottom line. By selecting, for instance, a higher bulk paper, you can use a lower grammage; the reader gets the same sensation, but because it’s lighter, you are using fewer tonnes, resulting in lower CO2 emissions.
Using less paper in the production of your title can be achieved by deploying more efficient make-ready processes through investment in camera and control systems, and by optimising your layout and imposition to minimise paper waste and make the most efficient use of paper reel width.
At Roularta, our standard page size is 1.2cm smaller than classic A4, not enough to be noticeable to the reader, but enough to reduce paper usage by 3%.
Ink is another brought-in item where responsible sourcing is essential to help reduce the environmental impact. By using Blue Angel (a German ecolabel) certified inks, printers can be sure that the printing inks they use have a significantly lower impact on the environment, minimise the use of pollutants and come with high levels of recyclability.
• Energy: Your printer needs to prove their commitment to achieving ever more efficient energy usage by signing up for ISO 50001 (energy management) accreditation. This commits the company to develop policies, establish targets, measure results, ongoing review and, crucially, to “continually improve energy management”. It demonstrates their carbon consciousness and their commitment to go lower, year after year.
In part, energy efficiency comes down to making the right long-term investment decisions. In 2023, we invested €4.5m in new drying ovens to reduce CO2 emissions and energy consumption. Similarly, we have invested in extensive solar panelling on our roofs and on adjacent land, which has allowed us to greatly increase our usage of green energy.
Ultimately, energy saving decisions come back to mindset and measurement. Is the spirit there? Is the resource there? If it is and you are measuring properly, it is easy to identify areas that need attention and to take corrective action.
Efficiencies need not all be multi-million euro affairs. Take, for instance, the frequency controls on fans. Fans should not always be on at the same speed but, instead, be on at the necessary speed, which is sometimes lower than the standard speed.
Similarly, most of the lighting in factories and associated offices should be replaced by LED lights which consume less energy.
By doing a combination of big and small things, we have been able to reduce our energy consumption by 20% over five years.
Q: What are your three top tips?
1. Choose the right printer and involve them in your plans. Make sure they are committed to sustainability and have a long-term vision. Then talk to them, because they are best placed to advise on how to reduce your publication’s carbon footprint.
2. Print smarter, not more. Work to make sure that print orders match the real demand in the market. For some consumer titles, unsold copies can account for 50% or more of the print run. Smarter targeting means less waste.
3. Only use certified sources for paper and ink. This will make the biggest difference to your publication’s carbon footprint.
We are the largest offset printing company in Belgium, specialising in magazines and newspaper supplements for parent company Roularta Media Group and a range of UK and international clients, including Financial Times, The Economist, Bloomberg and The New York Times. We pride ourselves on being quality driven and environmentally aware.
Email: steven.renders@roulartaprinting.be
Web: www.roulartaprinting.be/en
This article was included in the 'Celebration of Print' special, published by InPublishing in August 2025. Click here to see the other articles in this special feature.
