Decarbonisation in print is complex. Every material purchased, press operated, product manufactured and order delivered contributes to the environmental impact of the finished product. But complexity should not become a reason to delay action.
In a recent FuturePrint podcast, Simon Daplyn of Sun Chemical was joined by Jeff Freeman of Cimpress and Dominic Harris, CEO and Co-Founder of CarbonQuota, to discuss how print and packaging businesses can measure carbon more accurately and use the results to support meaningful change.
The central message was clear: carbon measurement creates the greatest value when it moves beyond annual reporting and begins influencing everyday business decisions. Start by measuring, but continue to improve.
Most businesses begin their carbon measurement journey with Scope 1 and 2 emissions: the energy and fuels used within their own operations. They may then extend their assessment to Scope 3, covering the wider value chain, including purchased materials, transport, suppliers and other indirect activities. An initial spend-based calculation can help a business understand the approximate scale of these emissions. However, it has significant limitations.
As data quality and capability improve, businesses should progress towards more accurate activity-based and supplier-specific information
If the cost of paper, ink or another material increases, a spend-based footprint could also increase, even when the physical amount purchased remains the same. This makes it difficult to distinguish genuine environmental progress from changes in market prices. Spend-based measurement can therefore be a useful starting point, particularly for smaller businesses with limited resources. But it should not be the destination.
As data quality and capability improve, businesses should progress towards more accurate activity-based and supplier-specific information.
Good carbon data has two parts
An accurate footprint depends on two distinct types of information.
- The first is activity data: what physically happened when the product was made. This could include the amount and source of the paper, the time spent on press, the energy used, the distance travelled and the method of delivery.
- The second is the emissions factor used to translate that activity into an environmental impact.
Both parts matter. Knowing that a press operated for 30 minutes is not enough without understanding the energy mix behind that production. Equally, a high-quality emissions factor cannot compensate for inaccurate or incomplete operational data.
Businesses should also consider the age of the information, the methodology used and the lifecycle boundaries applied. Carbon data should be regularly reviewed because production processes, energy supplies, transport routes and emissions factors change over time.
Move from company footprints to product footprints
Annual Scope 1, 2 and 3 measurement provides an important organisational baseline. However, it does not automatically tell a customer the environmental impact of the specific product they are purchasing.
For that, businesses need product-level footprints. Every print and packaging job is different. Materials, quantities, production methods, finishing requirements, packaging and delivery routes can change from one order to the next. Product-level measurement makes it possible to reflect those differences and calculate the footprint of each unique specification.
This creates opportunities to provide carbon information during estimating, procurement and purchasing. Customers can then compare not only price and quality, but also environmental impact.
Crucially, the lowest-carbon option is not necessarily the most expensive. Better data can help identify choices that reduce emissions while also improving efficiency or controlling costs.
Use carbon data inside the business
Cimpress described how it is moving carbon information from sustainability dashboards into operational and commercial decision-making.
One example is its carbon “guardrail”, which assigns an internal value to carbon reductions. This allows an energy-efficiency project, procurement decision or operational change to be considered alongside other business priorities such as price and quality.
This is an important evolution. Carbon becomes more actionable when it is given a recognised place within existing processes. Procurement teams can compare suppliers, operational teams can evaluate improvements and commercial teams can communicate credible information to customers.
Focus on material impacts, not assumptions
The discussion also highlighted the importance of materiality. For many printed products, the substrate represents the largest part of the overall footprint. But the balance can change depending on the material, production method, product weight, delivery distance and intended use.
A display produced for a one-week event should not automatically use a material designed to last for decades. A product manufactured locally is not always lower carbon if another facility uses cleaner energy or more efficient production.
Recycled content can also involve trade-offs. Processing recycled fibre or plastic may require more energy than manufacturing a virgin alternative, while still delivering important benefits by reducing the consumption of natural resources.
There is rarely one universal answer. Decisions should be based on consistent lifecycle measurement rather than assumptions or isolated environmental claims.
Measure, reduce and measure again
No print or packaging business needs to solve everything at once. The practical approach is to establish a baseline, identify the most material impacts and improve the quality of measurement over time. Carbon data should then be used to guide reduction activity, support supplier conversations, strengthen customer reporting and inform product decisions.
Measure, measure, measure!
As Dominic Harris concluded during the discussion, the industry needs to continue to “measure, measure, measure”.
Measurement is not the final outcome. But without credible measurement, businesses cannot confidently identify progress, prove improvement or make better environmental decisions.
Watch the full discussion here 👇
To learn more about automating carbon and environmental footprint calculation for your operations and products – contact the team at CarbonQuota.
