Carbon calculator for book publishers

Book manufacturer Griffin Press has launched its Carbon Calculator to help large, small and self-publishers make sound environmental and business decisions when printing their books.

The Griffin Press Carbon Calculator, the first of its kind in the Australian book manufacturing industry, was designed by Griffin Press and parent company PMP Limited to better understand the carbon footprint of manufacturing and printing books and to demonstrate how Griffin Press, PMP Limited and clients can improve the environmental impact of this process.

Feedback from the industry highlighted that publishers were looking for carbon emission information that was specific to the manufacturing methodology that Griffin Press uses in its printing presses, not simply an industry average or a calculation sourced from manufacturing in other countries.

The resulting Griffin Press Carbon Calculator was developed in line with the ISO 14040 and ISO 14064 life cycle analysis and greenhouse gas measurement standards, ensuring that all emission sources were captured.

Ben Jolly, General Manager of Griffin Press, said, “We actively work towards reducing our footprint and want to encourage our customers to do the same.

“The Carbon Calculator provides Griffin-specific calculations to enable our customers to reduce the footprint of manufacturing their book by calculating the number of carbon offsets that can be purchased should they choose to do so. These carbon offsets can then be purchased in the marketplace, or we can provide a quote from certified carbon offset suppliers.

“Our Carbon Calculator takes into consideration Griffin’s energy use, coldset web presses and the inputs, recycling and waste management programs that are specifically relevant to our printing mechanisms and our operations in South Australia.”

In order to ensure that the Carbon Calculator was certified for use by its clients, Griffin Press engaged Perenia Carbon, a specialist firm in this area, to perform a complete greenhouse gas inventory assessment of its book printing facility. Perenia has previously worked with parent company PMP Limited across its print sites in Australia and New Zealand.

The Carbon Calculator includes the following components to provide as much detail as possible on the carbon emissions generated throughout the book manufacturing process:

• Manufacturing of raw materials (for example, pulp and paper)
• Manufacture of the book (not the publishing or retailing)
• Energy consumed on site in the production of the book
• Transport of raw materials to the production site, and transport of books and waste from the site
• Waste disposal of excess material from the manufacturing process

Ben Jolly adds, “The launch of the Griffin Press Carbon Calculator is the latest in a series of investments PMP is making in the business, and includes the launch of Global Print Solutions and the arrival of Australia’s first HP T350 ink jet web press that can produce 1000 books per hour.”