Eco-friendly printing is one of the big issues in the print media industry, with a growing awareness of the need to protect the environment. The increasing scarcity of resources and the impact on air, water, and soil are making this urgently necessary, with the focus first and foremost on cutting CO2 emissions. Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) provides support for its customers in all areas relating to environmental protection, thus helping enhance their competitiveness.

Sustainability Report 2009/2010
Dedicated to the CO2 footprint issue, the Heidelberg Sustainability Report for financial year 2009/2010, which has just been published, explains the ins and outs of the topic, its importance in the print media industry, how the CO2 footprint can be influenced, and what Heidelberg is doing to reduce it in press production and the print process. Heidelberg is committed to taking a holistic approach to eco-friendly printing, giving consideration not only to cutting the CO2 footprint but also to reducing and avoiding energy consumption, emissions, and process waste.

Through the example of manufacturing a press, the Sustainability Report 2009/2010 explains what the CO2 footprint is made up of and how it can be calculated precisely. For instance, the materials and energy used in manufacturing a Speedmaster XL 105 five-color press with coating unit add up to 218 metric tons of CO2. Examining the ratio of materials to CO2 emissions provides interesting findings. Heidelberg is currently the only press supplier that uses such a precise method and can ensure carbon offsetting for the presses it manufactures.

The Sustainability Report itself serves as an example for calculating a publication's carbon footprint. It also identifies the aspects that have the strongest impact on CO2 emissions, such as paper and the energy used - factors that therefore offer the greatest potential for savings.

Two customer profiles from Germany and the Netherlands offer a powerful demonstration of how varied the approaches to environmental protection and implementing it in practice can be and how important personal commitment is.

The report is rounded off by news on the environment, business, and social responsibility, and site and project information.

"We have a clear commitment to taking a pioneering role in environmental protection in the printing industry and providing our customers with support in putting this into practice. We see our comprehensive measures in this area as an opportunity to combine environmental and economic benefits. Printing ecologically ultimately also means thinking economically," says Stephan Plenz, Member of the Management Board at Heidelberg.  

Environmental protection along the entire value added chain
Environmental protection at Heidelberg has been an integral part of its company objectives since 1992. The company works consistently and systematically to achieve this aim along the entire value added chain, from product development and production to their use by customers. Heidelberg focuses on three aspects - wherever possible, consumption of resources, emissions, and waste should be reduced or, ideally, avoided completely. In producing the Sustainability Report 2009/2010 it was also made use of the opportunities for conserving resources and minimizing CO2, while the CO2 emissions that could not be avoided were offset. The report therefore leaves no CO2 footprint overall.