The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 45: Oct/Nov 2019 | Page 19

GOING GREEN PRINT AND PAPER MYTHS & FACTS Leading Swindon printer, Acorn Press, demystifies the green credentials of the print industry. MYTH #1 MYTH #5 MYTH #7 Paper is bad for the environment. Paper production is a major cause of global greenhouse gas emissions. Digital is the preferred means of communication. FACT FACT Most of the energy used is renewable and carbon intensity is surprisingly low. The European pulp and paper industry produces original bio-based products using wood, a renewable material. It is also the biggest single industrial user and producer of renewable energy in the EU: 60% of the industry’s total fuels consumption is biomass-based. And the industry has the potential to do even more in the future. It has the experience, technology and supply chain to play a big part in the bio-economy and to do so in a resource efficient manner. Many consumers value paper-based communications. FACT Paper is one of the few TRULY sustainable products. MYTH #2 European forests are shrinking. FACT European forests have been growing by 1,500 football fields per day. MYTH #3 Only recycled paper should be used. FACT Virgin fibres from sustainably managed forests are needed to maintain the paper cycle. Without new fibres, from new trees, the paper cycle cannot be maintained. MYTH #4 Paper production consumes an excessive amount of water. FACT Paper production is dependent on water, yet relatively little is consumed. MYTH #6 Electronic communication is better for the environment than paper-based communication. FACT Electronic communication also has environmental impacts. Acorn Press is an ethical printer with ISO 14001 certification and the environmental aspect of printing is important to us. We use recycled or sustainable FSC papers, vegetable-based inks, mailings that use potato starch poly and recycle all of our plates and waste paper. To find out about our sustainable print solutions please get in touch. Our clients include holiday companies, publishers, charities, universities and colleges, premier league football clubs and fine art companies. We even print the magazine you’re reading! *Key facts taken from Two Sides research. A forum for the graphic communications supply chain, who work together to improve standards and practices. www.twosides.info “The electronic waste problem is colossal, and it’s growing. In 2016 alone, 44.7 million tonnes of e-waste were generated globally, of which 435 thousand tonnes were mobile phones, representing more than the mass of the Empire State Building.” Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2018 BRINGING COLOUR TO LIFE PRINT ON DEMAND 01793 608 900 DIGITAL PRINT [email protected] LITHO PRINT LARGE FORMAT acornpress.co.uk THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2019 19