We calculated the climate footprint from one copy of our magazine PAPER. It was equivalent to driving a car for 304 metres. Here's how we did the calculation, and also some tips about how you can reduce the carbon emissions from your print productions.
There are many factors you can work with to minimize the environmental impact of your printed matter. Impact from paper is a rather large part, since paper is a large part of the production. So if the carbon emissions from paper production are low, the whole print and publishing value chain will benefit.
Climate impact from paper varies with a number factors: How the paper is produced, how raw material and components are sourced and transported, and how the end product is used and waste is minimized. As a paper supplier, we follow up and report all production emissions that cause environmental impact, and we constantly work to improve all factors that we can control.
Read more about the product life-cycle or value chain approach in the GHG protocol scopes FAQ.
Paper suppliers often provide a Carbon footprint declaration, which takes into account greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the whole paper-making process from cradle to gate. The Carbon footprint declaration follows the CEPI framework for carbon footprints for paper and board products. It shows emissions in kilos of fossil CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents) per tonne of paper, and helps you compare papers from different suppliers.
For a comparison that includes emission parameters outside of Carbon footprint, look at the product declarations called Paper profiles. But please note that the Paper profile only includes emissions from onsite pulp and paper productions, and needs to be supplemented with data from earlier steps in the production chain. Emissions related to GHG protocol scope 3 upstreams are not included.
We wanted to know how large the carbon footprint per copy of our customer magazine PAPER#5 was. Our paper is among the best in class regarding carbon footprint per tonne of paper, compared cradle to gate. It also has a bulk benefit that allows us to use an 80 gsm paper, but still get the desired page thickness and opacity.
The magazine has 48 pages including cover, a size of 2000 x 265 mm, and is printed in a rather small circulation, 4,000 copies, at an offset sheet printer in Linköping, Sweden.
To get a relatable perspective on the figures, we decided to compare them to the emissions from car driving. Another interesting aspect would be to compare it to known data about emissions from digital communication.
The result was that you can drive a mid-size, hybrid passenger car (Euro 6), like a Toyota Prius or Volvo XC, for 304 metres, with the same emissions as one copy of PAPER. If you instead drive between Hamburg and Berlin, or Norrköping to Gothenburg, the emissions will we equivalent to reading PAPER for 475 years (based on two issues per year).
Climate footprint from this issue
| Paper | 17.5g CO2e |
| Printing | 16.6g CO2e |
| Scope 1+2 (printer) | 6.2g CO2e |
| Transport to gate | 2.3g CO2e |
| Total CO2e for one copy | approximately 43g CO2e |
| Paper | 17.5g CO2e |
| Printing | 16.6g CO2e |
| Scope 1+2 (printer) | 6.2g CO2e |
| Transport to gate | 2.3g CO2e |
| Total CO2e for one copy | approximately 43g CO2e |
The common elements to measure for the carbon footprint are calculated based on the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) protocol scopes 1, 2 and 3. They can help us to see the bigger picture. Below, we have summarized them into seven headlines. We will delve deepest into the emission calculations from paper, since paper is our main focus as a supplier.
In the normal case your print purchaser or your printing company will calculate the total paper need for your production as part of the quotation procedure. When you know the total paper weight, you can use the paper's Carbon footprint declaration. Here you will find the CO2 emissions per tonne of paper, calculated cradle to gate.
Multiply the CO2 emissions per tonne with the actual used tonnes of paper and then divide it per copy for the full print circulation. You can also use a climate calculation tool, such as Climate Partner, Climate Calc, or similar, to facilitate the calculations.
In our case, for clarity, we calculate the paper need for one copy of the magazine by size and weight, as you can see below. After that, we add a factor for trim and paper waste for start-up and settings adjustment in the paper machine. The trim and waste was estimated together with the printing company to the factor 0.3, which means that we calculated 30% extra paper use because this production has a small print circulation and many language versions.
Weight of one copy: 44 pages/2 x 0.2m x 0.265m x 80g = 93g (0.000093 tonnes).
| Why 44 pages / 2? | Because you have two sides to print on for every page. |
| Why 0.2 m x 0.265 m? | Because this is the format of our magazine. |
| Why 80g? | Because this is the weight per square metre of the chosen paper Holmen TRND (80 gsm). |
| Why 44 pages / 2? | Because you have two sides to print on for every page. |
| Why 0.2 m x 0.265 m? | Because this is the format of our magazine. |
| Why 80g? | Because this is the weight per square metre of the chosen paper Holmen TRND (80 gsm). |
The carbon footprint of Holmen TRND 80 gsm = 90 kg/tonne of paper.
So, we calculate 90 kg x 0.000093 tonnes = 0.00837 kg = 8.37g co2e for the paper insert in one copy of the magazine.
Normally your print purchaser or printing company will calculate the total paper need for your production as part of the quotation procedure. They may be able to help you use the paper's Carbon footprint declaration which shows the CO2 emissions per tonne of paper, calculated cradle to gate, as well. A climate calculation tool, like Climate Partner or Climate Calc, facilitates the calculations and takes the printing company emissions from scopes 1, 2 and 3 into account.
But in this case we calculate the emissions from the cover paper based on the magazine format and the paper weight. Please also read about trim and paper waste under the next headline.
Weight of one copy: 4 pages/2 x 0.2m x 0.265m x 260g = 27.6g (0.0000276 tonnes).
| Why 4 pages/2? | Because you have two sides to print on for every page. |
| Why 0.2mx0.265 m? | Because this is the format of our magazine. |
| Why 260g? | Because this is the weight per square metre of the chosen paper Holmen Iggesund Invercote G 260 gsm |
| Why 4 pages/2? | Because you have two sides to print on for every page. |
| Why 0.2mx0.265 m? | Because this is the format of our magazine. |
| Why 260g? | Because this is the weight per square metre of the chosen paper Holmen Iggesund Invercote G 260 gsm |
The carbon footprint of Invercote G 260 gsm is 186 kg/tonne, see Iggesund Invercote environmental declaration for 2023.
So, we calculate 186 kg x 0.0000276 tonnes = 0.00513 kg = 5.1g CO2e for the magazine cover.
If your print purchaser or your printing company has calculated the total paper need for your production, they have already included paper needed for trim and settings adjustment.
To keep the paper trim low, we ask our printing company to advice us regarding the format of the magazine, so that we get the most content out of the print sheet. This was done when we started producing the customer magazine PAPER, and we are happy with our format which gives 16 pages per sheet for optimal paper use.
But there is still a waste of paper that cannot be avoided. Every time a new print intake starts, the offset printing machine needs to run for a while while printer settings are adjusted. So we defined together with our printer that we should add approximately 30 percent extra paper in this case for trim and waste.
This means taking the total CO2e emissions we have so far, 13.5 g CO2e times 0.3, which will give us additional 4.05 g CO2e.
Emissions associated to printing of the magazine, including plates, inks and chemicals are counted under this headline. The emissions are calculated in total for the print production, and then divided per copy of the magazine.
For plates, this is easy, since you know how many plates are used. But for chemicals, ink and consumables, Miljöpunkt has to calculate by dividing the annual consumption with the total weight of the paper used over the year, to get an emission value per kilo. This emission value can then be assigned to a specific print production based on the weight of the paper that is printed.
Plates 10.9 g CO2e
Chemicals / consumables 5.7 g CO2e
These emissions are what the GHG Protocol calculation call Scope 3, upstream. This implies that the printer should try to incorporate all emissions that arise from production and transport up to the point when they are used at the printing company. Different models are used for defining and assigning emissions from Scope 3 upstream, since it is one of the most complex factors, and a consultant or company tool may be very helpful here.
Summary printing 16.6 g CO2e
Because we measure the carbon footprint of one magazine by the time it leaves the printer, scopes 1 and 2 are defined from the printer's point of view. Please see the GHG Protocol FAQ to learn more about scopes. Scope 3 (upstream) is defined under the headline "Printing".
Scope 1 and 2 concerns direct and indirect emissions from power sources and energy used at the company. For a printing company, the most energy is used by the printing presses, but electricity is also needed for heating or cooling the workplace and storage, computers, lamps, and maybe vehicles or trucks.
The offset printer in this case benefits from buying their electricity only from renewable energy sources, which keeps the CO2e emissions low. When they started doing this in 2015, their energy emissions lowered by as much as 60%.
To define how much of the annual energy consumption a print job should carry, they again divide the total emission with the total weight of paper used over the year, to get an emission value per kilo. They then assign an emission value to a specific print production based on the weight of the paper that is printed.
Scopes 1 + 2 at the printer 6.2 g CO2e
When emissions are calculated and assigned to a print job this way, you will benefit if you print on a low grammage paper.
The emissions from transporting all purchased material and consumables should also be taken into account. Miljöpunkt calculates the printing company's transport emissions through a combination of methods. Either based on a model value for different types of products and distances or based on real values, which is possible for paper and printing plates. Since the emissions are often lower when transporting over shorter distances, we of course benefit from our paper production being close to the printer. However, our paper was delivered in reels, converted to sheets, and sold to the printer through a paper merchant, so it still had to cover some distance.
Transport to gate 2.3 g CO2e
This included all known transports up to the point of distribution of the magazine.
The calculations are based on the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) protocol, scopes 1, 2 and 3 with the printing company in focus. They are made in cooperation with the printer's environmental consultant Miljöpunkt. For paper, emissions from paper production scopes 1-3 cradle to gate (upstreams) are included, because we as a paper supplier wanted to show all emissions related to paper with full transparency.
Printing is also reported including emissions from material components cradle to gate (upstreams). Transports from the paper mill gate to the printer is part of transport to gate, which also includes all other materials being sent to the printer (upstreams).
The climate impact of our editorial work is not included. Transport from the distribution partner to the reader cannot be calculated because of the great variation of conditions. PAPER has readers in all parts of the world.
All partners in our production chain work to minimize the climate impact of our operations in general, but we didn't adjust the settings in any way outside our normal production conditions for this issue.
In the end, we decided to compare the carbon footprint to the emissions from car driving, because it is so much easier to understand when related to a normal everyday activity. We also find it interesting to compare to known data about digital use.
The bottom line of our carbon footprint calculation shows total fossil carbon dioxide emissions from all steps stated above. We show the emissions in kg per tonne of paper.
1
By using our bulk calculator, you can see how much weight you save when switching to a high-bulk paper in a lower basis weight.
2
Then compare the carbon footprint in kilo/tonne with the carbon footprint of the paper you used before. You can ask to get the carbon footprint declaration directly from the paper supplier. All carbon footprints for Holmen's papers are free to download.
3
Multiply your need of paper in tonnes with the carbon footprint per tonne for the product (or convert both measurements to kg, if you have a smaller print run). Repeat the procedure for both of the papers you compare.
When you decide on a paper in a lower grammage, make sure to check paper samples or ask your sales contact for a dummy, to fully grasp the look and feel of the final product.
Our bulk calculator will guide you in the process of choosing the right paper for your requirements. It will also show you how much weight you can save by using a paper in a lower grammage.
Download our customer magazine in PDF format - unfortunately the printed version (our favorite version) is out of stock, but this way we are still able to share it with you.
If you would like to get future issues of our customer magazine, subscribe here.
Here are some recommendations if you want more detailed information about how sustainability is core to us: