Strong interest in the new ISO 16759 standard for quantifying and calculating the carbon footprint of print media has been reported by Digital Printer contributor Laurel Brunner from The Verdigris Project, who sits on the committee that developed the standard.

Ms Brunner said that interest has far exceeded expectations,  suggesting that printers and print buyers are keen to understand how to account for their carbon footprint. ISO 16759 is the only way of benchmarking carbon calculators and providing some mechanism for quality control.

She said, ‘The interest in ISO 16759 is definitely real. At a recent conference of the Nordic Offset Printers Association in Oslo a presentation on how cutting carbon cuts costs prompted several printers to ask how they could get a hold of ISO 16759. They are interested to compare how their carbon calculators stack up and are even considering certification. 

‘These printers offer their carbon calculators online to publishers and print buyers to help them decide volumes, substrates and printing methods for their print jobs. In Scandinavia, environmental awareness has long been in the van of the rest of the printing industry, however the keen interest we saw in Oslo for tools such as ISO 16759 is really amazing. If this enthusiasm is spreading throughout the industry, the environmental impact of print is surely improving.’ 

In the UK, the top one hundred publicly traded companies are now required to report their carbon footprint and its impact on their supply chains. The legislation came in as part of the UK’s efforts to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions by 80% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels. 

The European Union is working on something similar that will extend to supply chains. Printers offering print media carbon footprint calculation services in addition to prepress, print and finishing, substantially strengthen their service offering and provide data that can be used to fulfil regulatory requirements, which has considerable value to clients.

This type of regulation could become increasingly common as countries strive to meet international targets, which may explain the interest in ISO 16759. 

Accounting for carbon footprints is still far from a legal requirement in most markets, but that could change, particularly in developed markets. In the meantime standards such as ISO 16759 and ISO 14001 provide printers and publishers with a useful operational framework.