INDUSTRY ISSUE – SUSTAINABILITY “We want to change the way the world buys stationery so customers can join the sustainable stationery revolution. Be part of the circular economy, repurposing waste to make beautiful stationery that can then be recycled or composted in your household waste, leaving absolutely nothing for landfill.” Storigraphic has also had a sustainable infrastructure since launch with all products and packaging produced in the UK, no plastics, and using a carbon-neutral print partner which has FSC chain of custody. Co-founder and creative director Roz Nazerian explained: “Challenges the stationery industry continues to face fall into several key areas, including logistics, production processes, paper stock, binding, lamination and finishing. The focus should be to find the right balance of materials which have been sustainably sourced/ manufactured/certified and then combining to develop an end product that carries the smallest environmental footprint.” As well as its own-brand products, Jakar distributes Caran d’Ache and M+R which both implement ecofriendly production methods. “A special focus goes to the choice of products and raw materials used,” Jakar md Paul Sacki said. “Cut from Californian cedar wood, Caran d’Ache pencils have FSC certification and the wood used comes from strictlymanaged forests with reforestation programmes supported by replanting that is not dangerous to the eco system.”
And at M+R, there’s a twopronged approach with renewable materials including natural beech wood that’s free of toxins and recycled products such as plastics for its Green Line range, while production waste is the basis for the Eco products. Danilo is a keen member of sustainability membership organisation Products Of Change and Sedex, which provides sustainable supply chain solutions, and md Daniel Prince is the sustainability lead on the Greeting Card Association council. In just five years the licensed calendar, diary and greetings publisher has changed from supplying 75% of its cards cellowrapped to 75% naked, as well as losing the plastic wrap on its huge calendar business, designing products for reuse, and adding clear recycling labels to all products. As well as working to improve its carbon footprint, there’s a tree planted through Ecologi for every direct-to-consumer purchase over £10, plus solar panels, led lighting and ev chargers installed at its Waltham Abbey base, and the company is moving towards a closed loop system and circular economy. Meanwhile, Staedtler senior marketing executive Becka Bell admitted: “We’ve found the demand for sustainable products and packaging is at the forefront of consumer purchasing, and is now largely a requirement to secure retailer listings.” So “innovative developments” in production have seen a switch to 97% recycled plastic housing for the
LEFT TOP: Pentel is spreading the sustainable word about its EnerGel Eco pen range. LEFT BOTTOM: Sustainability is a key driver at ExaClair. Its Exacompta eco-friendly laptop cases are Global Recycled Standard certified.
Lumocolor marker range, using upcycled wood in the Noris pencils, and using at least 75% recycled materials for packaging. And Becka added: “Additionally, we have committed to using 100% green energy at our production sites in Germany, and have begun switching to electric vehicles, reinforcing our dedication to environmental sustainability.” Packaging is the focus at Manuscript Pen where Alex Beaman said the company is “continuing to build on our objective of 100% plastic-free packaging”, as it has undergone a huge project across many of the bestselling core calligraphy lines. Alex added: “We’ve removed the single-use plastics of old clamstyle packaging and replaced with
INSET BELOW: Carousel has cut plastic in packaging. ROUND INSET: Steve Plackett leads the group’s green.
A DATE WITH CHANGE
Firmly committed on the sustainability front, Carousel Calendars, Otter House and Calendar Club have taken another giant leap by signing up for the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI). A collaboration between global disclosure charity CDP, World Resources Institute (WRI), the Worldwide Fund For Nature (WWF), and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the SBTI champions fact-based target-setting in the transition to the low-carbon economy. Part of Zebra MTD, the calendar, greeting card and gift group is now among the companies whose targets are published on the SBTI website showing their clearly-defined pathway specifying how much and how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, in the context of their longer-term business growth. Zebra MTD has committed to reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 46% by 2030 from a 2019 base year, and to measure and reduce its Scope 3 emissions, and the business aims to encourage 50% of its key product suppliers to sign up to SBTI by next year. Steve Plackett, Carousel md and Zebra MTD director, said: “We’ve been working on improving our overall environmental performance for several years, mainly by identifying key environmental issues and setting targets to reduce our impact. “SBTI seemed more direct and structured, and we believe we couldn’t just pay to offset our carbon emissions, we had to take action to reduce those emissions, setting and following science-based targets and making real changes to our processes.”
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