The Carbon Balanced Paper initiative has been relaunched in the UK, administered by CarbonCo in partnership with conservation charity World Land Trust (WLT).
Carbon Balanced Paper offers a simple way for printers, paper makers and distributors to balance the carbon impact of the paper they use through the work undertaken by WLT. As part of its activities, WLT has identified areas of forest which, through protection and reforestation projects, can offer opportunities for specific Carbon Balanced Programmes. Carbon is offset or 'balanced' through the purchase and preservation of ecologically important forestry under imminent threat of clearance, which then locks carbon that would otherwise be released.
During its initial phase prior to this relaunch, over 350 printers in the UK had registered 12,000 individual Carbon Balanced print jobs on behalf of 2,500 different brands and organisations.
Today, managed by CarbonCo, the newly launched Carbon Balanced Paper initiative is available through a new and expanding network of partners and distributors.
Partners announced at the relaunch include paper merchants Antalis UK and Denmaur Independent Papers, paper specialists Fedrigoni UK, as well as a number of Carbon Balanced printers.
Printers that register a print job can use a unique Carbon Balanced Paper
logo on that job, serving as a visible demonstration of a customer’s commitment to the environment. They can also receive a certificate from WLT for clients, highlighting the amount of CO2 that has been balanced and the area of land preserved as a result of the Carbon Balanced print job.
Jonathan Tame, director of CarbonCo, said at the relaunch: "I have been involved with World Land Trust for many years, having originally developed the Carbon Balanced Paper programme. This proved to be a very popular way for printers to add real value to clients by means of a credible way to reduce the carbon emissions of their marketing communications simply through the choice of paper. Following the relaunch of this initiative, with our multiple partners now offering this programme, plus the additional possibility for any printer to balance all or any of their purchases, Carbon Balanced Paper is a very simple option for all.
"Through our initial launch partners, printers can ask for any product or individual paper order to be Carbon Balanced. Alternatively, they can buy from specific ranges which are already Carbon Balanced. Our Partners offer the simplest and most cost effective way to source Carbon Balanced Paper but printers can choose also to balance any paper grades directly using our easy-access Web platform."
Sir David Attenborough, a patron of WLT, said: "The money that is given to the World Land Trust, in my estimation, has more effect on the wild world than almost anything I can think of."
Go to www.carbonbalancedpaper.com for details.