How printing can help you to reach your sustainability targets

Let’s look at your company’s printing targets: your coworkers are probably printing less, printing in black and white and choosing the double-sided print option to save ink, paper and energy. But of course, there is always some level of printing that just cannot be avoided. That’s where you come in. As a purchaser, you have the power to offer your colleagues more sustainable printing options. Paper that will help you reduce your carbon footprint, or even allow you to print the same amount while still meeting your sustainability targets. Intrigued? Let’s get into some ways to print more sustainably.

We’ve all heard about the environmental impact of the paper industry. And it’s true: making paper requires wood, which is turned into fiber through energy-intensive processes and then into paper through the use of chemicals. Especially if you want high-quality paper products that look professional and perform at the highest standards, without needing reprints or causing paper jams. Still, some printing paper has a higher environmental footprint than others. When you’re sourcing paper, you can benefit your sustainability targets by keeping the following in mind:

• Is the wood from more sustainable sources? For instance, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forests. This certification means that the forest management is done according to sound principles that protect biodiversity and ecosystems.
• Is the paper producer working towards reducing the footprint of their paper mills?
• Whether the paper is virgin or recycled, is it recyclable? By choosing paper types without heavy lamination, dye or coating, you help reduce the amount of paper that ends up in the landfill.

In all these categories, you will be able to find paper with the right weight, quality and cost requirements. Some paper offers even more in terms of sustainability, like Canon’s Red Label Zero. Not only is it a high-quality paper for high-impact documents, it is also supporting CO₂ net zero goals. At Canon, for instance, we are working towards a 3% average annual improvement in the index of lifecycle CO₂ emissions (per product unit), realising a cumulative improvement of 50% by 2030 compared to 2008. We aim to achieve net zero CO₂ emissions for the whole product lifecycle (Scope 1-3) by 2050. For more information about Canon’s journey towards a more sustainable business, visit our sustainability page.

Beautiful, thick, high-quality paper is wonderful to use. However, a lighter paper weight will save not only on carbon emissions, resource use and transport weight, but also on costs. One excellent way to reduce your carbon footprint from printing is to choose your paper wisely, and save the thicker paper for where it matters most: for sturdy prints or high-impact visuals. For the other print applications, why not invest in a range of lighter-weight papers? That way, your coworkers can help reduce emissions and save on costs wherever they can.

Laminates and coatings can add an extra dimension to your prints, but they are also an extra stage in the process, requiring energy and resources. Some finishes are more sustainable than others, so it’s worth considering which finishing capabilities you want to purchase for your company.

Aqueous (water-based) coatings are fairly environmentally friendly, for instance. They contain fewer volatile organic compounds (VOCs) than some other coatings, and still provide some protection against scuffing and smudges. UV coatings and laminates, in contrast, offer much stronger protection, but are much less sustainable. UV coatings contain higher levels of VOCs and use more energy when curing. Laminates are often plastic-based, which is not biodegradable and more difficult to recycle. The same considerations apply to luxury finishes such as varnishes (high VOC levels) and foils (hard to recycle).

For many applications, luxury finishes and superior protection are essential. But to meet your sustainability targets, it is important to apply them only when such protection is needed. When an application needs just a little protection, using water-based and biodegradable finishes is a great opportunity to reduce your environmental impact.

Finally, recycling your empty ink and toner cartridges is a meaningful step to help reach your printing sustainability targets. If everyone did that, we would prevent millions of cartridges from ending up in landfills each year, instead allowing us to reuse them whole or in parts. This saves on mining for metals and using fossil fuels to create new plastic, which uses a lot of resources and energy. In addition, recycling reduces pollution and toxic effects for the environment. Recycling cartridges fits great with an overall business strategy to reduce your corporate carbon footprint.

Like this article discusses, there are many ways that you can help reduce your carbon emissions though smart paper purchasing. And with a carbon neutral product choice like Canon’s Red Label Zero, printing does not need to affect your sustainability targets at all.

To support CO₂ net zero goals, Canon financially contributes to 3rd-party-certified renewable energy projects through ClimatePartner, to balance out the emissions we can’t reduce yet in the life cycle of our Red Label Zero paper, from forest to disposal.

Together, this makes Red Label Zero the paper of choice for the discerning sustainability-minded professional. With its high whiteness, stiffness and opacity, Red Label Zero makes your documents look great while also delivering reliable runnability for your printers. The Zero range suits a range of applications, and is tested and approved in the Canon print centers. And because we are an established global partner, you can count on us for timely support and reliable availability.

Would you like to know more about any of the sustainability measures we use? Feel free to get in touch, because we have transparent and verifiable CO₂ footprint reporting data on file.