Australian Paper

After 28 years Finsbury printing went on a ‘low carb’ diet, added the weight of ‘green’ to its name, and set about building its brand. The journey has taken 10 years. Now it is emblematic of a sustainable business. Since then it has devoutly spread the green gospel. For the past six years the company has produced an audited sustainability report. It also produces a guide to every available green paper in Australia. Finsbury Green’s National Environmental and Technical Manager Rod Wade discusses its diet.

What are Finsbury Green’s environmental credentials?

It’s about the sum of its parts, it’s not one or two credentials. There’s all the certifications. The industry pioneering printing practices: no alcohol, and vegetable based inks. Our sustainability report remains the only legitimate sustainability report by any printing company in Australia. That is our sixth sustainability report. Our Green Paper Guide lists all the paper merchants and rates all the stocks on its green credentials. It provides background about sustainable paper, third-party certification and how paper is made.

A big focus has been about educating designers?

Rather than tell people how good we were, we’ve spent a lot of effort educating people about certifications, paper, environmental practice and the CO2 story. The last two years havebeen spent educating about how do you determine who is legitimate. There’s a hell of a lot of greenwashing out there.

How do you determine who is legitimate?

We’ve developed the Finsbury Green Green Star Rating system, a questionnaire on our website. Designers confused by hype can say to a printer, ‘Fill out this questionnaire and then I can make a better informed choice on who I want to work with’.

Is the Green Star Rating based on auditing procedures your company has gone through?

Correct. It covers waste management systems, carbon status, credentials and specific printing practice: do they use alcohol to make their plates, do they use vegetable inks. You can fill it out in 10 minutes and get a fairly accurate report on where they stand. It also gives a CO2 rating.

How important is third-party verification?

Absolutely important.

Which are the most important logos to look for in a supplier?

ISO14001 environmental management system at the very minimum. If you’ve gone that far, ISO 9001 (which is the quality management system) is also mandatory. FSC (Forest Stewardship Council certification) would be another mandatory certification, in terms of chain of custody papers. The next most important thing is for people to report on their CO2 footprint. Any business should be meeting those at a minimum before they even start talking about their ‘greenness’.

What are the benefits of being Australian made?

The trend 10 years ago was for a lot of magazine work to go offshore. That’s changing partly because of the lead times that are increased by printing offshore. The issue now is if we have some sort of carbon trading scheme in Australia, printing offshore will have to account for transportation and all the stuff that’s done there. That’s going to impact on decisions about the supply chain. But that’s less of a challenge compared to correcting the misconception that electronic communications are greenerthan print. There’s a lot of work being done to settle the factually incorrect myth that print has a bigger CO2 footprint than electronic.

Where is the biggest cost saver for you in going green?

Isopropyl alcohol is one of the key contributors to volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, which is the biggest emission outside electricity from our industry. We’ve been alcohol free for four years.

What is your advice for designers wanting to be sustainable?

Take time to understand the new carbon economy and challenge yourselves and your studios to become low carb. Don’t engage in greenwashing. It is only through transparency and truthfulness that companies can avoid the accusations of greenwashing. You can’t put a lettuce in a butcher’s shop window and declare that you’ve become vegetarian. The more pressure designers put on all print providers, including the ‘green washers’ to improve their environmental practices, the better.

A small cardboard schoolhouse launched at the Royal Adelaide Show in 2009 has become a model for both sustainability and the work of sustainable communications consultancy Ecocreative.

The South Australian consultancy designed a package to link learning about sustainability with action in schools. The client was the state’s Department of Education and Children’s Services (DECS).

What set the package apart was an inventive way of using a potential off-cut from the presentation folders. Instead of discarding it, they used the excess to create a fun-to-assemble fold-up schoolhouse. Reinforcing sustainability concepts on a number of levels, the cardboard schoolhouse helped educate children on elements of sustainably designed buildings, including orientation and the placement of eaves.

“Since the die, stock and press-time were already being used for the presentation folders, this extremely successful piece didn’t involve additional costs or use of resources” says Project Manager Jamie Ackerman-Harvie.

Questioning the consequences of potential waste resulted in an inventive solution that supported the sustainable message of the entire package.

Since it began in 1998, Ecocreative has focused on reducing waste and specifying sustainable materials (including giving preference to Australian made products). “Part of the reason clients come to us is because we specialise in sustainable communications,” says Ackerman-Harvie. “So they are usually happy when we specify materials based on their environmental and social credentials. This also supports their procurement policies where they want every aspect of their supply chain to support their values.”

“An important aspect of [our commitment to sustainability] is favouring Australian products, services and materials,” says director Matthew Wright-Simon. “In particular, using resources from local recycling streams ensures that our recycling policy lives again as new products.”

The folder package is typical of that process. It was printed locally with soy-based inks on Australian made paper (made up of a mixture of post-consumer recycled content and FSC-certified virgin fibre from sustainably-managed forests).

“There are a lot of good reasons to buy Australian made,” says Ackerman-Harvie. “One is to limit kilometres that materials have to travel, which reduces the carbon footprint. Another is to support the local economy. It works well for us to work with local suppliers because we have personal relationships with them. We see them face-to-face and are able to check what’s coming off the press—the end result is a better quality and more sustainable product.”

As an industry largely reliant upon fossil fuels, car manufacturers are keenly aware of the issues of climate change and sustainability. In 1997 Toyota was the first to reach the market with a petrol-electric hybrid vehicle, the Prius. The company has indicated that by 2020 every Toyota model will have a hybrid option. But its environmental credentials extend beyond hybrid cars. As its Environmental Policy Manager, Jon Ward, explains, Toyota has in place sustainability programs that are part of its kaizen philosophy of continual improvement.

How has sustainability influenced design at Toyota?

Environmental sustainability is a significant driver for design innovation in the car industry. To meet this requirement, Toyota developed ECOVAS – the Eco Vehicle Assessment Scheme. It’s essentially a part-by-part assessment of vehicles each time new generation models are released. Over that model’s cycle the vehicle is continually reviewed to consider its overall sustainability, including recyclability.

How much of the vehicle is recycled at the end point?

Toyota’s aim is to achieve a 95% recycling rate for its vehicles, but this depends both on vehicle design and local industry recovery capability. For the Prius, batteries are a significant part of the footprint and those batteries achieve a 96% recycling rate.

What other sustainable initiatives have you explored?

In vehicles manufactured in Melbourne, the engine blocks are made from recycled aluminium. We receive metal in a molten state, which means we don’t have to expend energy melting it again. Toyota is also experimenting with new design materials, such as bio-fibres, instead of carbon-based fibres. For example, the floormats in Prius are made from cornstarch polymers.

Does Toyota have a program of corporate social responsibility?

We have a five-year environment plan that falls under Toyota’s ‘Earth Charter’ and a range of programs under our Toyota ‘Community Spirit’ program. We report our performance and the outcomes from these two program areas in our annual sustainability report, available from our website.

Have you set guidelines and targets for your suppliers and dealers?

All parts suppliers have to certify to the ISO14001 environmental management standard. We’ve just launched the TED (Toyota Environmental Dealership) program to encourage our dealers to measure their current performance and improve against those benchmarks over time.

Has Toyota been independently audited?

Yes we use the Global Reporting Initiative Indicators to guide our reports and we independently verify our sustainability reports and the performance of our environmental management systems.

What are the key sustainability metrics used by Toyota?

The GRI drives our reporting which covers social, environmental and financial indicators. We also measure the carbon intensity of our operations, including buildings, manufacturing, supply chain, dealers and logistics. In Australia we’ve reduced CO2 emissions by 27% per vehicle since 2005. We’ve reduced water use 40% since 1999–2000.

How can suppliers align their sustainability credentials with Toyota?

We have a green purchasing policy that sets out requirements for our suppliers. Our tenders ask for evidence of environmental initiatives, and we’re always looking to lever those relationships into greener ones.

Is there awareness among businesses to take on a sustainable approach?

Yes the business sector sees the green economy as an emerging reality, largely driven by the community’s environmental consciousness. There’s a shift from companies providing green products in their range to mainstreaming greener options across the range.

Who is the average Prius buyer?

Prius hybrids have always done well in fleets. Most companies and government departments have seen their fleet as a place to express sustainability. And, increasingly, private buyers wishing to save on fuel costs and make a difference to the environment.

What benefits have you gained from your focus on sustainability?

Environmental sustainability is a low-cost and customer-focused approach to doing business.

What can the design community do?

Designers play a key role in determining the product outcome. The design community is very aware of sustainability. Their challenge, like ours, is to mainstream this so that in 20 years, sustainable is simply how things are made.

Soon after the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, Greenpeace UK encouraged designers to submit posters rebranding BP’s flower logo. From around the world, over one thousand submitted designs ranged in tone from darkly humorous to bitter, venomous, frustrated and outraged.

While drawing attention to the Gulf catastrophe, Greenpeace also aimed to discredit BP’s green credentials and its claim that it is ‘beyond petroleum’. Its green logo, Greenpeace contends, is another example of corporate greenwashing.

Adding its own fuel to already inflamed popular opinion, Greenpeace’s campaign nevertheless confirmed one thing: bad reputations escalate fast in the information age.

But alongside all the spin and bad news, there’s a wealth of useful information available to those genuinely wanting to practice sustainability. In areas such as the sharing of ideas, the sourcing of information on sustainable design and improved accountability, there are many independent organisations set up to help businesses.

The intention of sustainable design is, of course, to avoid any detrimental impact on the environment. But there are also social and economic considerations. Together, these concerns comprise the triple-bottom-line approach: a holistic philosophy also known as ‘The Three Ps’ – plant, people and profit.

Achieving sustainable design relies upon sourcing sustainable materials. Like any system, a business supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Many corporate websites declare the sustainable credentials of their companies; often it’s in their annual reports. For those wary of exaggerated claims, the easiest way to verify accuracy is to see if that company has been independently audited. Companies who have been audited will proudly wear that appellation. After all, reputations are at stake and misleading claims can come back to hurt.

But as respected website Ecospecifier warns, “all labels are not recreated equal”. So, as a consumer, it helps to research the standards by which companies judge their own products. Always look for products, companies and certifications/labels that have been independently audited. The Australian Government’s ‘Greenhouse Friendly’

logo administered by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (and scrutinised by the ACCC) is a goldstar example of an independently audited certification/label, as is the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) logo that certifies that fibre inputs only come from sustainable forests.

For those who commission work or buy products from Third World countries, the ‘Fair Trade’ logo ensures workers are fairly paid and maintain a decent standard of living. Fair Trade has a social consequence and an economic benefit to workers and their communities: by paying a fair price for goods and services you ensure money is available for infrastructure, like schools and healthcare, in the product’s country of origin.

‘Good Environmental Choice’ is another respected label. This Australian program indicates the environmental performance of a consumer product from a whole-of-product-life perspective. The internationally recognised program awards its label to “products that meet voluntary environmental performance standards, which have been created and assessed in conformance to international environmental labelling standards”.

ISO (International Standards Organisation) certification is designed to “make the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more efficient, safer and cleaner. They make trade between countries easier and fairer. ISO standards also serve to safeguard consumers and users of products and services in general – as well as making their lives simpler”.

Smaller companies, however, don’t always have the money required for auditing. But it costs nothing to ask questions. For designers, it’s often a matter of asking printers or merchants for advice. If your printer can’t help, find another. There’s a lot of information out there already and organisations like AGDA, Designers Accord and AIGA provide basic information for anyone wanting to keep an independent eye on the claims made by others.

The benefits of sustainable design and sourcing are not just about future proofing the planet, they’re also about the survival of businesses.

 It’s an ugly management term for a generously spirited idea: ‘thought leadership’.

Multidisciplinary design studio HASSELL has, for the past three years, been sharing its research – its ‘thought’ – beyond its 12 Australasian studios. Its research initiatives cover a spectrum of project scales and design inputs – from wayfinding to space planning, creating healthy indoor environments and environmentally sustainable design.

Whether ‘re-lifting’ buildings, researching double-skinned facades, or developing in-house tools for sustainable design and effective space planning, HASSELL shares its research and the processes behind its project outcomes with its peers and clients.

By appointing dedicated research roles and understanding the importance research plays in achieving good design, HASSELL has established a leadership position in the Australasian market. With a dozen studios around Australia, China, Singapore and Thailand and over 700 staff, HASSELL is one of the largest and most awarded architectural practices in the region. Its SA Water building in Adelaide and the ANZ Centre in Melbourne’s Docklands are – as AIA gold medal winner and HASSELL Chair Ken Maher describes – “demonstration projects for environmentally sustainable design.” The practice has a Sustainable Futures Unit (SFU) which advises each of its studios, working closely with local professional teams and ‘sustainability communities’. HASSELL also undertakes pro bono work for non-profit organisations as part of its commitment to social responsibility.

“All studios operate under the HASSELL environmental management system, and the responsibility for that rests with all staff,” says Suzette Jackson, senior associate and sustainability leader in the SFU at HASSELL. “The work we do at the unit is research, project-specific advice and management advice on sustainability objectives and initiatives. It’s about future thinking and thought leadership.”

But it’s not all one way. HASSELL, a founding member of the Green Building Council, also relies on international resources and research.

“Sourcing low-impact, eco-friendly material is much easier compared to 10 years ago,” says Jackson. “We use Ecospecifier (see View), GECA (Good Environmental Choice Australia), and other third-party organisations that certify products – for example sustainably managed and recycled timbers such as FSC certified products.”

“It is really important for us, and for clients to be able to demonstrate sustainability in the market place through independent and credible pathways,” says Jackson.”

www.hassell.com.au

Media Release – Monday, 19 July 2010

Australian Paper today announced it will continue to be at the forefront of action on climate change by joining the Federal Government’s new carbon neutral program, the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS).

NCOS came into effect on 1 July 2010 when the Greenhouse Friendly^TM (GHF) initiative came to an end. The new carbon neutral program is the evolution of GHF as the voluntary complement for the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS).

NCOS will be administered by Australian Carbon Trust, an entity set up by the Australian Government to promote energy efficiency and to help all Australians tackle climate change. Whilst Government oversight will continue through the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE), Australian Carbon Trust will take over responsibility for certifying businesses, products and services under the evolved carbon neutral program.

For existing end users, the major change they will see is the introduction of the new NCOS consumer logo which will be phased in over the next six months to replace the GHF logo. Everything else, including logo access and approvals, will remain the same.

Commenting on the new NCOS carbon neutral program, Australian Paper’s General Manager, Marketing, Paul Allen said,

“Australian Paper is pleased to be joining other leading Australian businesses in voluntary action against climate change, including Australia Post, ANZ, Fosters, Jetstar, National Australia Bank, Qantas and Virgin Blue Airlines.

Australian Paper has led the way in developing carbon neutral papers to support like-minded organisations in their action against climate change and will continue to be at the forefront of initiatives that genuinely reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

NCOS certification means that organisations that purchase carbon neutral papers made by Australian Paper are making a genuine, incremental contribution to reducing Australia’s overall carbon footprint.”

The transition to NCOS will be virtually seamless for organisations already using carbon neutral papers. Shortly, Australians will see the new NCOS carbon neutral consumer logo replace the GHF consumer logo on printed material as end users extend their commitment to the fight against climate change through their use of NCOS certified carbon neutral paper.

For information on Australian Paper’s range of carbon neutral papers, including Reflex Carbon Neutral Ultra White, visit www.australianpaper.com.au  and ask for a “Sustainable Paper Guide.”

For information on the National Carbon Offset Standard program and Australian Carbon Trust visit: www.climatechange.gov.au/government/initiatives/australian-carbon-trust.aspx

Reducing carbon emissions is one of the pillars of sustainable business, but it is difficult to action and can be confusing to understand. Almost all businesses have a carbon footprint, even those operating online. Consider where your business can reduce its carbon footprint, and work with clients and suppliers to achieve this. Then look into the variety of ways you can choose to offset your remaining emissions.

www.climatechange.gov.au

www.co2neutralconferencing.com

www.andmine.com

www.boomerangbooks.com.au

www.carbonconscious.com.au

www.1degree.com.au

The ‘Drink responsibly’ tag has been taken to new levels at Foster’s, with the 2008 launch of its Cascade Green bottled beer. With 130% volume growth in its first year, the completely carbon-neutral beer has since been released in draught form. To achieve Greenhouse Friendly certification, both tap and bottle varieties underwent separate lifestyle analysis, according to Foster’s Group’s sustainability manager Scott Delzoppo.

The ‘cradle-to-grave’ greenhouse gas emissions were measured and independently verified by ACCC-endorsed assessors DMV and SMEC, from picking the hops, to transport, packaging, merchandise and a percentage of consumers’ refrigeration. Naturally, bottle manufacturing was considered, which lead to more lightweight glass being used, says Delzoppo. It also led to the draught option.

“We wanted to remove the bottle altogether and make it available on tap, but we found the impact on the environment was quite even when you considered refrigeration [required at the tap],” says Delzoppo.

In either event, greenhouse gas emissions are offset (through landfill methane reduction and avoided deforestation carbon offsets), meaning the net impact of emissions is zero with the offset costs absorbed by Foster’s – not the consumer.

Sensis produces 20 million copies of its White and Yellow Pages directories. In late 2008 it undertook an assessment of the impact of its print and online directories. “Not just emissions,” says Jillian Riseley, group manager of sustainability at Sensis. “We were talking about toxicity, impact on land development – the entire lifecycle from cradle to grave.” As part of its commitment to the triple bottom line, Sensis has also produced a free directory for small businesses designed to spread the sustainability word further.

Why did you decide to go carbon neutral?

All our stakeholders are concerned about climate change and they want to see action. It’s now at the core of our operations. Every new product now goes through a [triple bottom line] checklist: environmental and social impacts of a product, change or initiative, as opposed to just an economic perspective.

How long did the carbon neutrality report take?

URS environmental consultants built a model that took nine months which was then verified by Energetics before receiving Greenhouse Friendly certification from the government.

Who sets the parameters for lifecycle assessment?

A lot of printers will be aware of ISO14001 for paper. The ISO14040 series recommends and details what’s included in environmental management and principles of life assessment. Using international standards means it’s clear what should be included. Our approach is, if something wasn’t built for use in our lifecycle, we wouldn’t include that material. For example, we include the energy used by a consumer doing an online search, but not the energy that would have gone into making their computer.

Would you consider abandoning printed directories altogether?

Forty per cent of Australians still use the printed version each week. We’re unapologetic in that we give consumers choice. If they don’t want a directory, they can opt out. Paper was part of the reason for going carbon neutral, but there are also a lot of good qualities about using paper, like its recyclability.

How much are consumers driving the push to carbon neutrality?

Australians don’t tend to take to the streets, they just stop using products. If businesses are smart they will get ahead of the curve and make sure they are as sustainable as possible.

Why did you do the Sustainable Growth book?

Ninety per cent of our advertisers are small businesses. From all the research we’d done, small business genuinely wanted to do something, they just didn’t know how. They’re time poor and they don’t have the resources to seek help from consultants.

How important is having third-party independent verification?

That’s critical. It gives credibility to the program.

What are your Scope 3 emissions and how do you look to reduce them?

As part of our [carbon neutral] claims, our supply chain is included. Our job is a lot easier because most suppliers have started doing their own lifecycle analysis and looking at ways to reduce emissions. The number of printers using waterless printing, vegetable-based inks, and working on reducing electricity, is extraordinary. But all new tenders and contracts with major suppliers have sustainability guidelines in them. It’s a triple-bottom-line approach which details how we expect them to treat their staff and how they interact in the local community. But it also details how we expect them to take responsibilty for their environmental footprint.

What sustainability expertise have your designers Studio Periscope offered for your sustainability report?

They recommended reducing pages, chemicals and glues in our binding, and making sure the amount of trim is minimised. From our directories perspective – which are designed inhouse – how we paginate can have a significant impact on the number of pages we have, [especially when you] multiply that by 20 million directories.

What are some easy first steps for the design community? 

There are lots of resources for small businesses: order a free copy of our Sustainable Growth guide (http://about.sensis.com.au/Small-%20Business/Free-Sustainable-Growth-book) or visit the Carbon Down website (www.carbondown.com.au)

Some day – and that day will come if it hasn’t already – your client will ask you about what sustainability measures your company has in place. If your answer includes the phrase ‘and we’re offsetting our excess carbon emissions’, then you probably don’t need to read on.

If, however, the question elicits some combination of nervous shuffling, uncomfortable silence or creative stalling, help is at hand.

Evidence that fossil fuel consumption contributes to global warming has lead many companies to investigate becoming carbon neutral.

Even if you recycle paper and ride a bike to work, it may not mean you are carbon neutral. To know where you stand, it’s best to get an independent assessment. This means your company’s products, operations and activities have had their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions measured, calculated, reduced and then ‘offset’ through the purchase of carbon credits (which means, if you are emitting five tonnes of carbon per year, you then buy the equivalent amount of credits in tree planting or treating methane gas at landfills until your position becomes neutral).

To do this properly, a company’s carbon footprint can be measured through independent life-cycle assessment (LCA). This guards against the risk of losing credibility with the public and clients, who may suspect ‘greenwash’ – making claims that can’t be verified. To avoid this, a number of government approved agencies can assess and verify your company’s greenhouse credentials, particularly the carbon emissions you produce.

These independent verifiers can be found on the federal government’s Department of Climate Change website.  It’s here that you’ll also find out about the new National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS), the updated version of the highly respected Greenhouse Friendly program.

Depending on the size of your company, ‘cradle-to-grave’ life-cycle assessments can cost a few thousand dollars. This is audited annually by the same company who first assess you (at additional, though reduced cost) to see if you are meeting the targets you set and if more carbon offsets have to be purchased.

Getting independent verification can seem like a double-up, but it’s all about providing rigour and integrity to the certification process. The ACCC’s  Green Marketing and Trade Practices Act details the rules around green claims. (Visit www.accc.gov.au and www.climatechange.gov.au/greenhouse friendly for more info). And to get an idea of the parameters involved, the ISO14040 provides the framework for conducting LCAs (www.iso.org).

The benefits to businesses are obvious. But not just in terms of reputation within the community, or a reduction in costs via improvements in the production process. As a supplier to bigger businesses, being carbon neutral may be a matter of economic survival.

Perhaps the most famous example of big business calling the sustainability shots is Walmart, the largest employer in the US. In 2009 it announced a Sustainability Index to which its 100,000 plus suppliers are accountable. The reason behind it, Walmart’s president and CEO Mike Duke explained, was that: “Customers want products that are more efficient, that last longer and perform better. And increasingly, they want information about the entire lifecycle of a product so they can feel good about buying it. They want to know that the materials in the product are safe, that it was made well and that it was produced in a responsible way. We do not see this as a trend that will fade. Higher customer expectations are a permanent part of the future.”

The reason suppliers are being asked these questions all comes back to the lifecycle assessment. Suppliers are part of a business’s lifecycle, which the widely used international accounting tool Greenhouse Gas Protocol breaks down in to three components or scopes.

Scope 1 is all direct GHG emissions. Scope 2 covers the indirect GHG emissions from consumption of purchased power. And Scope 3: other indirect emissions, such as what goes into the production of purchased materials and fuels, transport-related activities in vehicles not owned or controlled by the reporting entity, electricity-related activities not covered in scope 2, outsourced activities, waste disposal, etc. Design is a Scope 3 emission to a business.

But just as you can ask questions of your suppliers – such as printers – as to the sustainability of their business and practices, your clients may, if they haven’t already, ask you what you are doing.

Solutions can lead to stronger business relationships and, of course, a cleaner planet.