Quad's Tab for CO2

Quad/Graphics has a long history of protecting the environment by doing business in a socially conscious manner. Because public awareness of environmental issues—especially climate change —is increasing, hardly a week goes by without another client asking us about the carbon footprint of their publication or catalog. This increased awareness is being driven by readers and consumers who want to know if the magazines they purchase and the catalogs they buy from affect climate change. In turn, publishers and marketers are seeking carbon footprint information from us. Working to reduce the carbon footprint of our operations is another important example of our environmental efforts.

What is a carbon footprint? During the combustion of fossil fuels, carbon is released and mixes with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO₂). The measurement of this emission is referred to as a carbon footprint; in the case of a business, as part of its everyday operations; in the case of an individual or household, as part of his or her daily life; or a product or commodity in reaching market.

The carbon footprint represents the effect human activities have on the climate in terms of the total amount of greenhouse gases produced, primarily CO₂. CO₂ levels in the atmosphere have been increasing and have been linked to global warming and climate change.

A carbon footprint is often expressed as metric tons of carbon emitted, which, in turn, is translated into metric tons of CO₂ emitted. A total carbon footprint/emission quantification would include energy-related emissions from human activities; that is, from heat, light, power, refrigeration and all transport-related emissions from cars, freight and distribution, etc.

By measuring the carbon footprint through such tools as carbon calculators, we can get a better sense of what the individual impact is and which parts of our activities and lifestyle deserve the greatest attention. However, even though there are many versions of calculators available for determining a carbon footprint, there is no universal way to measure and quantify one.

Some scientists believe that CO₂ emissions from fossil-fuel combustion are causing the Earth’s climate to change and warm, which could have catastrophic results if we do not act to reduce them. CO₂ emissions are about 40% higher than they were before the Industrial Revolution and are now at their highest levels in recorded climatology.

Effects of climate change can be seen today. Temperatures are increasing, glaciers are receding at unprecedented speed, chunks of the Antarctic ice shelf are breaking off, warm seasons are becoming longer, and storms are becoming more severe.

CO₂ emissions are a global problem, so reducing a ton of CO₂ in China or Montana has the same climate change benefit as doing so in our backyard. Also, no technology is inherently better than another. Wind is not better than solar; renewables are not better than energy efficiency. Each ton of CO₂ reduced is the same as any other ton.

“We embrace the concept of carbon footprint,” says Tom Estock, Quad/Graphics corporate environmental manager. “That’s why we developed a consistent way to report carbon footprint to customers. Our biggest challenge was to come up with an acceptable, consistent reporting method. At this time, there is still no agreement among scientists about how to accurately calculate carbon footprints. Go to the Internet and Google 'carbon footprint’ and you’ll start to see how many different measurement tools are out there.”

Quad is working with its partners—publishers, paper mills, other vendors—to develop acceptable and consistent measurements.

One step the company has taken is to join Climate Leaders, a voluntary program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that works with companies to develop long-term, comprehensive climate-change strategies. Partners that join Climate Leaders set a corporate-wide greenhouse gas reduction goal and inventory their emissions. By reporting inventory data to the EPA, partners create a benchmark against which to measure themselves and identify opportunities for continuous improvement. They also identify themselves as corporate environmental leaders and strategically position themselves as climate change policy continues to unfold. (Quad/Graphics is one of only four printers that are members of Climate Leaders; the others are EarthColor, Ecoprint and Sandy Alexander.)

“We input our energy-usage numbers into a spreadsheet to determine how much greenhouse gas emissions are created,” Estock says. “These emissions are our largest environmental impact because printing is an energy-intensive process—with natural gas being used for the offset dryers and pollution control, for the boilers at our gravure facilities, electricity being used for process drives in finishing, press and distribution, and propane used for forklifts. We also include gasoline used in our fleet vehicles, the diesel fuel in our over-the-road transportation and our heavy-duty construction trucks. So we look at everything throughout our operations.”

Quad’s participation in Climate Leaders is helping it get a firm grip on what can be done to further reduce energy consumption and reduce the total impact on greenhouse gas emissions. The printer has been tracking its energy consumption since 1986, according to Estock. “Now we’re taking the next step to translate our energy use to carbon emissions, and we’re looking at ways to reduce those numbers whether it’s through alternative energy sources like wind energy, hydroelectric, solar, biofuels or energy conservation projects and so on. We’ve also been addressing our supply chain to reduce our indirect environmental impact.”

Estock notes the company is working with vendors to receive more bulk and returnable packaging to reduce waste. An example of how Quad reduced its indirect footprint is using 110-gallon stainless steel refillable inkjet ink totes, which are returnable and reusable. Previously, the company used smaller plastic jugs that were not recyclable and ended up in landfills.

When it comes to calculating the carbon footprint of a particular job for a particular client, we include only the emissions based on our energy usage in our manufacturing facilities—and for good reason.

“If we were to include the entire supply chain, the biggest challenge becomes 'where do you start and where do you end?’” Estock says. “In other words, 'How far back in the supply chain do we go—and how far forward?’”

The approach Quad is taking is to calculate the carbon footprint within its walls; essentially, from the moment materials come into a facility to the time product leaves the dock. The printer can’t track emissions for the supply chain all the way back to paper mills and refineries. For the same reason, distribution is not included because Quad does not manage the entire mail distribution process to individual households.

The carbon footprint data is included in a larger Client Environmental Impact Statement, which includes a comprehensive look at all environmental factors including VOC emissions, solid waste, wastewater effluent and greenhouse gas emissions. The statement emphasizes that carbon footprinting is only one part of environmental protection.

“Even though the public’s attention is turned toward climate change, we can’t overlook the other factors that impact our environment from our process,” Estock says.

Quad’s “big picture” approach to environmental protection includes energy efficiency, employee awareness/education and a commitment to being active in local, state and national policy-making. We partner with a number of groups to provide environmental problem-solving. Examples include: EPA’s Energy Star Program, Forest Stewardship Council, SmartWay Transport Partnership (see sidebar at left) and ReMix.

The proof of these efforts lies in the results. Since 2000 (a period in which production levels at Quad/Graphics rose by 27%), energy costs rose 62% but total energy consumed increased less than 6%. In fact, during that seven-year period, energy consumed relative to manufacturing levels decreased by 18%. These efficiency efforts eliminated 43,560 metric tons of CO₂ emissions annually, which is the equivalent of planting 144,980 trees or eliminating 9,075 cars from the road.

Ever since the first pages rolled off a Quad/Graphics press in 1971, the firm has had a history of protecting the environment by doing business in a socially conscious manner. It stems from the ideals first put in place by founder Harry V. Quadracci. When asked back in 1993 how he had turned his 5,000 employees into active environmentalists, he replied: “Frankly, I don’t know if I led or whether I followed. I think that taking better care of ourselves and our world is good business.”

Today we continue to ask ourselves two primary questions when making business decisions. Is it good for business? Is it good for the environment? These simple ideas work in conjunction with our environmental mission: to take better care of our world.