Green thinking 2016 b

The Paris Agreement and where it's at p10 Biomaterials: What are they? p18 Bureau VallĂŠe: Living and breathing sustainability p22 Setting the paper record straight p27 Vendor interview with carbon neutral Faber-Castell p40

COMMENT Editorial Editor Heike Dieckmann

+44 (0)20 7841 2950 heike.dieckmann@opi.net

Deputy Editor Michelle Sturman

+44 (0)20 7841 2942 michelle.sturman@opi.net

Freelance Contributors Andy Braithwaite andy.braithwaite@opi.net

David Holes

david.holes@opi.net

Sales and Marketing VP – Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa Ewan Dickson

+44 (0)20 7841 2954 ewan.dickson@opi.net

VP – North America and UK Chris Turness +44 (0)20 7841 2953 chris.turness@opi.net

Director of Growth Services Jeremy Hughes +44 (0)7807 810617 jeremy.hughes@opi.net

Digital Marketing Manager Aurora Enghis

+44 (0)20 7841 2959 aurora.enghis@opi.net

Events Events Manager Lisa Haywood

+44 (0)20 7841 2941 events@opi.net

Production and Finance Studio Joel Mitchell

+44 (0)20 7841 2943 joel.mitchell@opi.net

Operations & Production Eda Sismanoglu +44 (0)20 7841 2950 eda@opi.net

Finance Kelly Hilleard

+44 (0)20 7841 2956 kelly.hilleard@opi.net

Publishers CEO Steve Hilleard

+44 (0)20 7841 2940 steve.hilleard@opi.net

Director Janet Bell

Game changer – or not?

Not only is it the 25th anniversary of OPI this year – this very month in fact – it is also our 10th year of publishing Green Thinking. Some issues are perennial favourites: paper and its role; last mile delivery and its evolution; carbon footprint and the growing desire to become carbon neutral; the changing workplace and the increasing concern for and implementation of wider CSR issues… the list goes on.

Much progress has been made in all of these areas as the following pages will demonstrate. Germany’s Faber-Castell is an outstanding example of a company that exudes green and CSR credentials and is completely carbon neutral to boot (see page 40), while French reseller Bureau Vallée demands the highest ecological standards not just from within its own organisation, but also from its suppliers (see page 22).

The larger picture was looking pretty good too. Out of last year’s climate conference in Paris – COP21 – came the Paris Agreement, a deal that has now been ratified by more than 100 countries and which came into effect on 4 November 2016. For more details on the Paris Agreement, turn to page 10.

So why do I say “was" looking good? Because there’s the not-to-beunderestimated impact that the brand new President-Elect of the US might have. Environmental regulations and agreements have repeatedly been attacked by Donald Trump, he wants to slash funding to the Environmental Protection Agency (if not abolish it altogether) and he said he would "cancel" the Paris Agreement and other international efforts that address the “hoax” issue of climate change.

With all this said, it remains to be seen how much of a game changer the Paris Agreement will be if the world’s biggest economy is not on board. This scepticism aside, others will still do their utmost to make sure it will be.

+44 (0)20 7841 2941 janet.bell@opi.net

Contents

Printed in the UK by

The carrier sheet is printed on Satimat Silk paper, which is produced on pulp manufactured wood obtained from recognised responsible forests and at an FSC® certified mill.

It is polywrapped in recycleable plastic that will biodegrade within six months.

Heike Dieckman, Editor

4 News 8 SOFEA 10 Legislation 14 CSR Initiatives 18 Biomaterials

20 Schneider 22 Big Interview 26 Category Update – Paper 31 Green Jan/san

35 Final Mile 40 Vendor Interview 44 The Workplace 46 Edding

CBP0009242909111341

No part of this magazine may be reproduced, copied, stored in an electronic retrieval system or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with provision of the copyright designs and patents act of 1988. Stringent efforts have been made by Office Products International to ensure accuracy.

However, due principally to the fact that data cannot always be verified, it is possible that some errors or omissions may occur.

Office Products International cannot accept responsibility for such errors or omissions. Office Products International accepts no responsibility for comments made by contributing authors or interviewees that may offend.

Office Products International Ltd (OPI), 2nd Floor, 112 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1M 5SA, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7841 2950

Page 40 Vendor Interview Connecting the

business products world

GREEN NEWS NEWS

FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Iron Mountain invests in wind Document storage and management firm Iron Mountain has signed a wind power purchase agreement that will leverage the renewable energy source to power as much as 30% of its North American electricity load by 2018.

The company said the capacity would be sufficient to power all of its Texas operations, as well as additional states. When completed in 2017, Iron Mountain’s share of the wind farm could produce up to 100,000 megawatt hours per year – the equivalent of nearly one third of its power consumption for North America.

This purchase, coupled with the company’s recent signing of a 15year agreement with a wind farm in Ringer Hill (PA), as well as ongoing investments in solar projects throughout the US and Canada, has put Iron Mountain in the position of being able to utilise renewable sources for two thirds of its total North American electricity load by 2018.

In addition, Iron Mountain is teaming with other corporations and non-profit organisations to support renewable energy market transformation. The company recently became a signatory to the Corporate Renewable Energy Buyers Principals – a joint effort of the WWF and the World Resources Institute. It has also joined The Rocky Mountain Institute’s Business Renewable Center, an independent initiative with a community of over 150 organisations providing resources, tools and best practice for companies seeking to execute renewable energy transactions.

Green Seal for RedDot

Hankscraft-owned RedDot Brands has been awarded the Green Seal GS-1 Standard for Sanitary Paper Products certification.

This standard recognises reduced lifecycle impacts of sanitary paper products – in RedDot’s case, for its White and Natural roll towels, as well as its Junior Jumbo toilet tissue. All of these products contain 100% recovered materials with significant post-consumer content, and use recyclable packaging. They are also biodegradable and are processed without chlorine.

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Green Thinking 2016

Simply recycled

UK-based collection and recycling service Simply Cups has developed a collection of consumer products made from material derived from postconsumer cups.

The product range, which includes office stationery, resulted from a collaboration between Simply Cups, recycling specialist Nextek and product designer and manufacturer A Short Walk.

According to Simply Cups, trials had shown that what it calls a “new, durable polymer” was much stronger than conventional plastics and can be moulded into products at high speed.

It is produced using both the plastic and paper content of paper cups.

The scheme, originally established to collect and recycle paper cups, has also recently added PP, high-impact PP and PET cups to its list.

Ecolabel first for French vendors

France-based stationery and business supplies firms Hamelin and La Couronne have received product certification under a new European Ecolabel.

The criteria for the European Ecolabel for converted paper products were released to manufacturers last year and the first items came onto the market in time for the 2016 back-to-school season.

Hamelin and La Couronne were the first companies to bring out products that conformed to the new Ecolabel, and the European Flower logo now appears on over 30 products lines – such as envelopes, folders, document holders, notebooks and diaries – under more than 150 brands (including private label).

The European Ecolabel for converted paper products guaranties that the paper used is recyclable and that air and water emissions during production have been minimised.

Belgian paper group Elep is now also certified under the new Ecolabel.

NEWS SOHO consumers go green According to a report from global information company The NPD Group, over half of SOHO consumers in the US buy environmentallyfriendly business supply products.

The Understanding the Small and Home Office Consumer 2016 report also reveals that this number increases to over three quarters (76%) among those purchasing for an office with 31-50 employees.

The most popular green supplies for the SOHO market are paper products (61%) such as notebooks and printer/copier paper, and jan/san supplies (57%) including paper towels and cleaning items.

In addition, the available choice of green products is currently pleasing buyers, says NPD, with almost 80% indicating they are very to extremely satisfied.

International Paper gains FSC leadership recognition The Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) has honoured International Paper (IP) with an FSC Leadership Award for forest certification.

The award celebrates organisations and individuals that have demonstrated “extraordinary” commitment to responsible forest management and the FSC. IP was acknowledged for its innovative US FSC certification strategy to increase the amount of FSC-certified fibre used in packaging, pulp and paper products. One way in which IP achieved this goal was through the development of its own FSC forest management group – Certified Forest Management (CFM).

As a result of its efforts with CFM and the creation and support of supplierbased FSC groups, IP has influenced the growth of more than one million acres of FSC lands in the US and currently supports 40 suppliers that have FSC Chain of Custody certificates. This has helped IP achieve a 28% increase in certified fibre over its 2010 baseline and grow its annual volume of FSC-certified tonnes by around 1.6 million.

PrintFleet joins UN initiative Print software solutions provider PrintFleet has joined the United Nations Global Compact initiative.

UN Global Compact is the world’s biggest corporate sustainability scheme with over 8,000 companies and 4,000 non-business participants based in over 160 countries.

Membership is voluntary and participants pledge to incorporate ten principles in their strategies, culture and dayto-day operations to promote corporate sustainability.

PrintFleet is committed to uphold the principles which include human rights, labour, anti-corruption and environmental measures.

Armor looks at recycling in 3D Last year, remanufacturer Armor launched OWA, a brand that fully recycles printer cartridges. In keeping with this sustainable development approach, the new OWA 3D filaments allow 3D printer users to reduce their environmental impact.

The OWA 3D filament uses HIPS (high impact polystyrene) plastic, with its reels and filaments manufactured from recovered materials – used ink cartridges, collected and recycled by Armor.

Armor said its ultimate objective is to offer other filaments made from recycled materials in partnership with manufacturers, together with more technical filaments to meet the specific needs of users.

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NEWS Commercial Group acquires Wiles Greenworld In a deal that created one of the largest sustainable OP dealers in the UK, Commercial Group has acquired Wiles Greenworld.

Both resellers are known throughout the industry for their commitment to sustainability and green office supplies.

The acquisition gives Commercial a wider UK footprint which will help to achieve the company’s goal of growth. Wiles Greenworld Managing Director Peter Duncan, who said the time has come for him to look forward to retiring, will stay on in an advisory role over the next year to ensure a smooth transition.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

In other news, Commercial has announced a further three-year contract with toner cartridge manufacturer Turbon. The manufacturer was appointed in 2014 to support Commercial’s toner recycling programme.

Depot HQ re-certified for LEED Gold Office Depot’s US headquarters in Florida have been awarded Gold Re-Certification under the US Green Building Council’s Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance rating system.

To achieve the re-certification, the reseller focused primarily on monitoring and documenting environmentally-sustainable programmes and elements within the four walls of the facility.

Some of the highlights of the HQ include: an underground water retention system; a commuter programme to encourage public transport; motion detectors for conference rooms, restrooms and offices; LED 50watt fixtures; sustainable purchasing policies for technology, furniture, lighting and cleaning products; and the use of green cleaning products for indoor janitorial use.

CIG commits to sustainable practices Clover Imaging Group’s Mexicali, Mexico, facility of Clover Environmental Solutions (CES) has achieved the R2:2013 Standard, the leading global environmental, worker health and safety standard for the electronics refurbishing and recycling industry.

CES Mexicali is at the heart of Clover’s cartridge collection operation and processes nearly three million units a month. As part of the certification, Clover will track products through the downstream vendor chain to ensure compliance.

Throughout the year-long process conducted by a third-party audit, the Clover team developed and confirmed processes for the security of shipments, enhanced storage of products, and confirmed that partnering transportation companies carry the proper insurance levels and licensing requirements.

National Office Furniture celebrates green design Kimball’s National Office Furniture has been recognised with a Green Good Design award that identifies the world’s most important and influential examples of sustainable design. Award winners are judged on innovation, sustainability and ecologically-responsible design, among other requirements.

National Office Furniture was awarded for the concept, design and completion of its 50,000 sq ft (5,000 sq m) corporate headquarters, located in Jasper, US.

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SPONSORED PROFILE SOFEA is getting ready to go live with its first categories for the environmental rating of office products

Sustainable

Becoming

a reality Inside a pilot group A key benefit of SOFEA membership is the ability to shape product scorecard criteria by participating in product working groups. A number of pilot groups have been successfully setting the standards for the wider community to follow.

Leading Jacqueline the pilot Wellhaeusser group for

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Green Thinking 2016

filing products is Esselte’s European Sustainability Manager, Jacqueline Wellhaeusser. Here, she provides some insight into the role and workings of a pilot group.

OPI: How is the pilot group organised and how does it work?

Jacqueline Wellhaeusser: The filing pilot group is made up of five companies – all SOFEA members – which volunteered to invest the time in creating this rating system.

During seven face-toface meetings and various conference calls, we have worked on what products this group covers, how

Office European Association (SOFEA) President Matthias Schumacher says he is looking forward to a positive 2017 after the environmental product rating organisation made good progress on a number of fronts during the past year. The senior tesa executive points to the finalisation of the A-E rating system – which has been ratified by key trade partners such as Staples, Office Depot, ADVEO, JM Bruneau and Antalis – the creation of an IT platform, and the establishment of a new identity and partnerships as some of 2016’s main achievements.

“We feel that we are on track,” he notes. “We will be ready to publish the first product groups under the rating system from the middle of next year and we will use Paperworld 2017 to go public.”

Schumacher believes the concrete progress that has been made will give SOFEA more visibility and help attract more members, especially from the UK, Germany and France.

“WE WILL HAVE A DEADLINE FOR WHEN THE SOFEA METHODOLOGY WILL BE OUR GREEN CRITERIA FOR RELEVANT PRODUCT CATEGORIES”

they can be evaluated, what evidence will be required and what scores will be awarded for the different criteria.

OPI: How are the criteria decided upon, agreed and then validated?

JW: The basic requirements to be considered are set in the SOFEA framework. The team had to consider each requirement to decide if it is relevant for filing products and if we could find a feasible way to assess it.

In the filing group, there are quite a lot of relevant existing ecolabels such as FSC, PEFC, Blue Angel, EU

EcoLabel or Nordic Swan.

We found that between all of us we had experts on nearly all the labels and so could often use the existing label frameworks to create criteria.

In this way, companies can also use their existing labels to fulfil the criteria.

If they don’t have the labels, they can still fulfil the criteria by providing the same evidence as they would if they were applying for that label.

However, in some cases there were no existing criteria, so we worked together to create them and found ways to assess what needed to be assessed. We almost

SOFEA VITAL ROLE

NEW IDENTITY

One company that has backed SOFEA from the beginning is Staples. “We understand that we play a vital role in our industry to improve the standards of eco-conscious products and to broaden the understanding and awareness of our customers around these standards,” says the reseller’s Head of Marketing & Merchandising Europe Thomas Nowak.

“Staples appreciates that it cannot work in isolation to improve these standards, so is grateful that SOFEA allows us an important opportunity to work with vendors and key industry players to form the future of environmental product labelling in our industry,” he adds.

“By consolidating as an industry, Staples feels that we can create greater transparency and understanding of what constitutes an environmentally-conscious product and better support our customers in making informed choices. Also, the independent scientific panel, which ensures that the outcomes from SOFEA are scientifically robust, is key.”

Nowak recognises that membership of SOFEA has enabled Staples to embed its own requirements into the association's criteria, ensuring that the needs and questions from Staples’ own customers have been taken into account. When Staples begins to promote SOFEA's criteria to these customers, it means vendors that have participated in SOFEA will be in “an advantageous position”.

“We do of course understand that some vendors might need some time to join," adds Nowak, "but we will have a deadline for when the SOFEA methodology will be our green criteria for relevant product categories going forward.”

Earlier this year, SOFEA launched a new brand identity – including a refreshed logo and revamped website www.sofea.eu – which reinforces the progress it has made. “Our members want us to be the leading European voice in the office supplies industry, and I am confident we can meet or exceed all expectations,” enthuses the association’s Managing Director Anita Singh-Gunther.

Part of SOFEA’s strategy has been to build partnerships in order to enhance its visibility as an authority in the field of sustainability in the office supplies industry. This has resulted in links with German association BAUM and Netherlands-based initiative Sustainable Office.

In September, a kick-off meeting was held for SOFEA’s online platform powered by Factor X, a leading sustainability consulting firm. “We have chosen an existing system that is Thomas Nowak flexible, clear, easy to use and which communicates with other systems,” highlights Singh-Gunther.

The first wave of pilot group members from the notebooks, filing and writing instruments categories will be able to enter their data in the web-based platform in early 2017, leading to their products receiving a SOFEA rating.

Matthias Sc After several years of hard work, humacher the SOFEA rating system will truly become a reality in 2017.

always found a consensus quite quickly, simply by reminding ourselves we are looking at what the actual environmental impact of the product is and not what we think or assume is better or worse.

Sometimes we were surprised by what actually makes a bigger or smaller environmental impact. For example, with filing products the impact of the packaging is absolutely minimal, so there is no point in having complicated criteria to assess the packaging.

The validation of our scorecard will be finally done by the Scientific Committee.

and digital information holders', which covers products from lever arch files to letter trays, pockets, folders and archive boxes.

We still have some work to do to translate the basic criteria we have set for filing to each sub-group and ensure the scoring works for all.

OPI: What have been some of the challenges you have faced?

JW: A big challenge is to be detailed enough to make the assessment meaningful and not too superficial, but keeping it simple enough so that it can work.

SOFEA is intended to be a living framework and we have tried to settle on solutions that are workable for now but which we can look to improve on in the future.

Filing is a particularly complex category. The definition we set was 'organisation, storage, classification and preservation of paper

OPI: So what is the finished article?

JW: The finished article is the scorecard, which shows how the products will be assessed. This will be refined to make specific criteria for the different sub-groups.

The scorecards are now being integrated into

the third-party software platform, which will make the data entry much easier and enable the final rating for each product to be defined.

OPI: What has been your personal experience of being on the pilot group?

JW: The project has been hard work and challenging, but very rewarding as well. It is a perfect example of how collaboration can help us to be more sustainable.

The companies which have worked so hard on this have made a great investment in helping the OP industry to be more sustainable in the future.

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LEGISLATION

New world order

The historic Paris Agreement will hopefully provide the momentum required to reduce the world’s greenhouse gases, but it’s still only one of many pieces of legislation that businesses need to keep up with

A

corner has been turned in terms of the worldwide cooperation necessary in the fight against climate change thanks to the historic and unprecedented Paris Agreement.

Boiled down to its basics, the agreement is a climate change accord whereby almost 200 countries have committed to holding the increase in global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels through limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – all while trying to actually limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. Before the December 2015 meeting that took place in Paris – often referred to as COP21 – EU Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete had said: “This is it. Paris is a historic opportunity that we cannot miss. Now we must translate the momentum we have seen on the road to Paris into an ambitious, operational, legally binding agreement. This is a real game changer. But there is no room for complacency – the credibility of the deal will depend on these key elements: a long-term goal, regular reviews to increase ambition over time, and strong transparency and accountability rules.”

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Green Thinking 2016

THE DEAL The agreement, which had been ratified by more than 100 countries at the time of going to print (it needed 55 countries), came into effect on 4 November 2016 and includes the big hitters – US, China, India and the European Union (EU).

At the Paris climate conference, a number of major deals were struck by the participating nations that will come into force in 2020. Important elements include the need for global emissions to peak as quickly as possible, so that rapid reduction can take place. This is also strongly linked to developed countries taking the lead by undertaking 'economy-wide absolute emission reduction' targets while emerging countries are encouraged to make the same move over time. In addition, developed countries have agreed to pledge $100 billion by 2020 in the form of ‘climate finance’ to help emerging nations.

All participating countries in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) before the COP21 meeting

LEGISLATION in Paris and have agreed to increase their emission targets every five years. Ideally, the goal is to reach zero emissions by the end of this century.

Governments have also agreed to recognise the role of non-party stakeholders in addressing climate change, including civil society and the private sector.

According to the agreement, these stakeholders are invited to scale up and support the effort to reduce emissions; promote regional and international cooperation; and build resilience and decrease vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change.

Importantly for the paper industry, part of the Paris Agreement includes the implementation and support for incentives related to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, along with the role of conservation, suitable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in emerging countries.

THE BUSINESS CASE But it’s not just going to affect the paper industry. To meet the INDCs, it is abundantly clear that all businesses will have to play their part. The EU, for example, has committed to a 40% reduction in GHGs by 2030 while the US has set a target of reduction of 26%-28% by 2025 (although the latter comes with a big question mark now, given the views on climate change by the country's new President-Elect Donald Trump).

To achieve these figures, there will likely be a shift to a low-carbon economy with companies that wish to remain competitive switching to renewable energies, dealing in carbon trading, reducing their overall carbon content and embracing all manner of different ‘green’ options in terms of manufacturing, buildings, transport and products. This will become increasingly important as the long-term goal is to reduce global emissions of GHGs by at least 60% below 2010 levels by 2050.

There are many other new and/or updated environmentally-based agreements and legislation pieces that businesses need to be aware of, and there will likely be many more. In October 2016, for example, 197 countries signed the Kigali Accord. This legally binding accord will reduce the production and consumption of hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) – chemical coolants used in air conditioners and refrigerators – which could avoid up to 0.5°C of warming by 2100, and go some way towards achieving the goals set by the Paris Agreement.

The Kigali deal is an amendment to the successful 1987 Montreal Protocol which set out to protect the ozone layer through the phasing out of the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances (chlorofluorocarbons). Finally it seems the Paris Agreement could be the tipping point for the global cooperation needed to keep our planet habitable.

“IDEALLY, THE GOAL IS TO REACH ZERO EMISSIONS BY THE END OF THIS CENTURY”

USEFUL UPDATES

SAFER DETERGENTS FOR EUROPEAN CONSUMERS

Updates to legislation happen almost every day and it can be difficult to keep up. Below are just a few that have changed recently and are worth knowing about.

KYOTO PROTOCOL SECOND COMMITMENT The latest Kyoto Protocol package sets three key targets: • 20% reduction in EU greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 1990 levels • 20% improvement in the EU’s energy efficiency • 20% of EU energy from renewables (wind, solar, biomass, etc) The main focus of the revision covers 45% of the EU’s total GHG emissions and seeks to cut them from the power sector and major industry cost-effectively through a cap-and-trade policy.

It also incudes the Effort Sharing Decision, legislation that sets binding annual targets for each EU country to reduce GHGs from sectors including housing, waste and transport.

The third piece of legislation deals with binding targets to raise the share of renewable energy by 2020. At least 10% of transport fuel in each country must also be renewable.

The fourth part is a legal framework for the environmentally-safe use of carbon capture and storage technologies.

This legislation harmonises testing methods to determine the biodegradability of all surfactants used in detergents.

The update to this legislation puts the main emphasis on ultimate biodegradability of detergents. http://eur-lex.europa.eu

ISO 14001 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS REVISION ISO 14001 is one of the most widely used standards. Recent updates relate to the following: • Increased prominence of environmental management within an organisation’s strategic planning processes • A greater focus on leadership • The addition of proactive initiatives to protect the environment from harm and degradation • Improving environmental performance • Lifecycle thinking while considering environmental aspects • The addition of a communications strategy www.iso.org

REACH The EU regulation REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) is continuously being updated as it deals with improving the protection of both human health and the environment from the risks posed by chemicals, including those in cleaning products, furniture and electrical appliances. https://echa.europa.eu

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CSR INITIATIVES

Fighting cancer...

The business supplies industry as a whole has been a longstanding supporter of a number of philanthropic initiatives. But perhaps no charities have been closer to its heart than those fighting cancer, supporting cancer research and helping those that are in any way affected by the disease.

City of Hope in the US is heavily involved with our industry through the National Business Products Industry Council, while in the UK the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) unites the OP community through the annual Climb of Life (COL), organised by industry stalwart Graeme Chapman MBE. This year’s COL – the 29th in total – took place just before this issue of Green Thinking went to press. Dozens of UK OP industry personnel gathered in the country’s mountainous Lake District in early November to tackle some of its toughest peaks in

...in many different ways Also supporting a number of UK cancer charities is European paper, packaging and visual communications merchant Antalis, which has recently put on its fundraising hat.

The first one is CLIC Sargent, a charity that provides emotional, practical and financial support to young cancer patients and families during and after treatment, as well as working with service providers and policy makers to improve the quality of care.

A group of Antalis employees cycled over 500 miles at the end of September, without even leaving the office. The team cycled on exercise bikes in their UK head office in support of a member of staff who is currently

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Green Thinking 2016

being supported by the charity.

In addition to the bikeathon, there was a cuddly toy sale, staff raffle and cake sweepstake as well as a special bake sale.

The total amount raised was over £3,000 ($3,700). This will fund the family support packages that are offered by the charity after families receive the devastating news that their child has been diagnosed with cancer.

WEAR IT PINK In another initiative a month later, Antalis staff dressed up in pink to help raise awareness of Breast Cancer Now’s ‘Wear it Pink’ campaign.

This particular charity has been championed by Antalis for over ten years. This year, as well as dressing in pink and fancy dress, colleagues took part in several fundraising activities that also raised £3,000.

challenging conditions. In the process it raised the record sum of £102,000 ($128,000) for the ICR. As Chapman said: “To reach over £100,000 for the third year running was quite frankly a shock. However, with the amazing consistent support from OPI, VOW and many others, including more than 30 new trekkers this year, we were able to reach our goal for our tenth year in support of the ICR.”

MONEY PUT TO GOOD USE Members from the ICR itself were present, not only to take part in the climb, but also to explain what the money raised is being used for. Professor Keith Jones from the ICR joined COL for the second time this year. He said: “It is truly inspiring to see all these people from this industry raising money for the ICR. It enables us to carry out our recently announced research strategy for the next five years.

"This strategy revolves around four main pillars: unravelling the complexity of cancer to identify the weak spots to target; using innovative approaches to exploit these weaknesses; discovering smarter and kinder treatments tailored to patients; and making it count by putting our discoveries into action for patient benefit.

Implementing this ambitious plan requires talented people and world-class facilities. Much of our funding is in the form of project grants that are tightly defined, but the funding raised by COL is unrestricted and allows us to direct it to areas of most impact."

OPI was again the top fundraiser of the event, bringing in a total of £26,242. CEO Steve Hilleard, who has been a longstanding supporter – and climber – of COL, said: "Raising a record sum for the ICR made battling the rain, wind, hail and snow that bit more bearable. Well done to Team OPI for again being the top corporate fundraiser and a huge thank you to everyone who supported us and all the other hardy participants."

Breast Cancer Now, the UK’s largest breast cancer charity, is dedicated to funding research into the disease to improve the way we prevent, detect, treat and stop breast cancer. Each October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the charity runs it flagship awareness day ‘wear it pink’ and encourages people to dress in pink – whether at home, work or school – and donate money.

The team at Antalis started the day with a ‘Big Breakfast’ sandwich eating challenge, followed by a ‘Pink Bake-Off’ competition and bake sale. It also took up the challenge of ‘climbing the pink mountain’ by taking it in turns on a cross trainer to see whether they could conquer the highest mountain possible. The team managed 58,665 steps – the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest.

CSR INITIATIVES

Staples drives staff initiatives Staples has launched a student loan repayment plan that will help ease the burden of staff with student debt.

The programme initially targets specific new-hire sales people and existing internal candidates who have been identified as high potential and top performers. The intention is to offer it to additional groups in the future.

Active, full-time US employees of Staples with at least one outstanding loan obligation, who have obtained or are in the process of receiving a degree from an accredited institution, will have their loan principal paid at $100 per month for 36 months.

Student loan debt is a growing concern among the millennial population, which represents a large portion of Staples' employee base. Over a trillion dollars of student loan debt is held by 40 million borrowers currently, and new graduates owe a record-breaking average $37,000 in loans.

"Staples is pioneering this effort within the retail industry to help with the recruitment and retention of the key talent needed to support our previously announced strategy to focus on midmarket customers," said Regis Mulot, EVP of Global Human Resources. "We're adding more than 1,000 people to our sales force and offering a student loan repayment benefit shows our commitment to supporting both new and existing associates."

The Student Loan Repayment Plan is being administered

by Tuition.io, a leading platform for employee student loan contributions. It joins a number of education-themed benefits that the reseller offers to staff. These include the Tuition Reimbursement Program where eligible employees are offered reimbursement for a portion of their tuition fees based on number of years of service and the Dependent Scholarship Program which provides 30 awards of $3,000 to employees' dependents who plan to continue their education at a college, university or a vocational-technical school.

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES In addition to the new student loan repayment plan, Staples has launched a series of other recruiting efforts. With the company's new internal headhunting programme, in-house recruiters proactively search among current staff and offer them other opportunities within the organisation. Staples is also conceptually piloting a programme later this year called ‘Refer a Talent’ where staff are encouraged to refer highpotential outside candidates in order to facilitate bringing them on board even if there is not a specific open job requisition.

In another CSR initiative, Staples recently showed its commitment to ending the gender wage gap and advancing women in the workplace by becoming the biggest retailer to join a consortium of companies that share best practices and promote new ideas called the Employers for Pay Equity.

Mud, sweat and tears for Lyreco for Education programme Global reseller Lyreco has been running the Lyreco For Education programme since 2008. The initiative raises funds from all 26 countries where Lyreco is operational and chiefly supports children in five countries – Brazil, Togo, Madagascar, Bangladesh and Vietnam – helping to give those that live in poor conditions better access to education.

Over the past eight years, over €1.7 million ($1.9 million) have been raised and delivered to NGOs that have a focus on children’s education and which devise specific action plans that are based on the local context. So far, the money has helped to build 161 schools and enrol 72,800 children into school, as well as providing training to teachers, supplying muchneeded IT equipment and supporting local schools in a variety of ways.

TOUGH MUDDER HALF In a recent fundraising event in support of the programme, about 17 staff from Lyreco in the UK and France took part in the Tough Mudder Half charity event in the north of the UK. They had to brave six miles of mud and more than 15 difficult obstacles, including having

to push, pull and roll their way through 60 ft of slick, rotating barriers in muddy waters, wading through mud pits and conquering the 10 ft Hero Wall.

While his colleagues were tackling the assault course at one end of the country, Lyreco Sales Manager Richard Young was facing his own challenge competing in a Half Ironman in the south, which included an open water sea swim of 1.2 miles, followed by a 56-mile bike ride, featuring more than 2,000 ft of hill climbs, and finally a 13.1-mile run.

The fundraisers raised more than £4,000 ($5,000) for Lyreco for Education.

UK Managing Director Peter Hradisky, who was one of the participants, said: “The Tough Mudder was just that – very tough and very muddy!

Not only did we successfully complete it, we enjoyed it too.

Richard’s challenge was even tougher than ours and he has put many hours of hard work and training into preparing for the Half Ironman."

He added: “For all of us, the motivation of raising money for Lyreco for Education helped spur us on to finish and we’re delighted to have raised so much money to help more children into education.”

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CSR INITIATIVES

A journey on the ground

In the summer of 2016, Emerald Brand's CEO Ralph Bianculli Snr embarked on a roadtrip through the US for a CSR reality check of the country. Here is what he saw

My journey started off as a question: How can I really understand the impact we are having on our planet?

I am no scientist and cannot spend many hours a day breaking down the problems that exist in our world of consumption, so I decided to take a trip to see things for myself at ground level. Being a motorcycle enthusiast, I decided to travel the entire United States and talk to as many people as possible.

The first reaction from my colleagues and family was: “You’re nuts! At 56 years old, how are you going to ride over 4,000 miles on a motorcycle?” Well, that was all I needed to hear. Off I went, dragging along some great friends who found my mission intriguing.

Launch day was exciting. Travelling light was very important, but I also had to tell the story of the Emerald mission throughout the country, so naturally I took along some Emerald products.

MY BEST LESSON

MY FIRST LESSON As the journey began I quickly realised how many tractor trailers were on the roads throughout the country and it was here that I came upon my first lesson: we need to have a more efficient and cleaner way to move the goods we consume every day. This is a no-brainer, but you don’t always realise how many products are travelling every day on major highways.

It is definitely time to rethink our transportation systems, which are a tragic result of the incredible increase in imports, and the decrease in local commodity manufacturing in the US. This change has dramatically increased shipping containers moving from ports all over the country. We need to revitalise manufacturing, so we can service regions of our country with finished goods in a local manner.

As we continued, travelling outside the urban areas of so many cities, there was always one common denominator: there were a huge amount of empty manufacturing plants. I met many people along this journey, young and old alike, and quickly learned what the stats on domestic migration have already indicated: people are moving to larger urban cities looking for

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Green Thinking 2016

a better life. The rural areas in which they and many generations before them lived are being abandoned.

I witnessed vacant farmlands, For Sale signs, boardedup streets, crumbling roads and bridges everywhere.

And trends to move away from the heartland of the US are very visible. Local farmers are struggling with cost and challenges from agricultural imports and fracking is quickly replacing what once was prevailing cropland. It was obvious – we have abandoned the bread basket.

The youth of our generation is not seeing a future in farming or manufacturing because their parents and neighbours continue losing their jobs in small businesses, in manufacturing and in agriculture. This common thread was echoed in every small city I visited.

I certainly understand we need to re-educate and prepare for the new economies, but I found myself asking: “What exactly is the plan?” How have we come this far, where we have allowed millions of US jobs and thousands of small towns to be wiped out?

Ralph Bianculli with his HarleyDavidson on his road trip

As our journey continued, I so desperately wanted to see a shining light of hope, and I think I found it when we finally reached the plateaus of the four corners, where Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico all converge.

I sat there, discerning a way to better understand what is it that we are missing in our everyday life that blinds us of all of this beauty right at our feet.

While roaming a small Native American kiosk of handmade goods, I found my answer. It didn't come from Google or Siri, from any textbooks I read at school, or from listening to the news networks. It came from an 80-year-old Navajo man.

I explained to him what my company is doing, and how we have attempted to inspire the young generations to respect nature and learn how to consume things that have a real positive impact on our planet. I tried to explain our technology to use renewable agriculture to avoid deforestation and petroleum-based plastics, and to bring the land back to use in a positive way. At one point, I thought I was somewhat confusing him with all this “renewable” language, but I was wrong.

He already knew what we have been blind to for so many generations – blinded by consumption, by inexpensive options to keep us happy. And this is what he said: "Son, nature is a living spirit. We have messed with it for too long, and it will fight back in ways we will never understand.”

Wow – my journey is over! Now the real work begins.

BIOMATERIALS

Building the case for biomaterials

As the use of fossil fuel-based plastics comes under increasing scrutiny, what potential is there for business products made out of biomaterials? OPI takes a look

The

use of bio-based materials in manufacturing is not new. Most of us have heard of soyabased printer ink or paper made from wheat or other crops. But demand for these types of products looks set to grow rapidly in the coming years.

According to the most recent data from the Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites based in Hannover, Germany, bioplastics represent only about 1% of the approximately 300 million tonnes of plastic produced annually. However, it is a market that shows great potential: global production capacity of bioplastics is forecast to more than triple by 2019 as more sophisticated materials, applications and products emerge, and it has been estimated that bioplastics will be worth 40% of the $803 billion plastics market by 2030.

“Over the past five years, we have seen a significant growth in demand for sustainable products made from biomaterials,” notes Jaclyn McDuffey, Managing Director at US vendor Emerald Brand, known for its products made from sugar cane by-product bagasse.

She continues: “In the B2B sector, more and more companies are pushing through sustainability strategies from the top down.

C-suite decision-makers are finding value in shifting to sustainable models, and this is forcing different departments to proactively implement sustainability initiatives, including using biomaterials throughout their facilities and perhaps even in their products or product packaging.”

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Green Thinking 2016

GROWING CONSUMER AWARENESS Drew Bowers, Director of Marketing at Samsill, which makes the Earth’s Choice brand of biobased ring binders, agrees that demand is growing, but adds: “As with most new innovations, it’s about consumer awareness and understanding the benefits and overall value proposition. I think companies like Coca-Cola, Heinz and Procter & Gamble have helped tremendously in this area with the focus on biobased materials and the billions of impressions they get on the plant-based renewable-material message.”

Canada-based bioplastics manufacturer Solegear recently acquired the TOPS Products Canada book of business for office products from Colombia Plastics, giving it the exclusive rights to produce and distribute a range of office accessory products in Canada and the US through retail and commercial channels.

“Demand from consumers [for bioplastics] has been increasing for years,” says Solegear CEO Paul Antoniadis. “What is notable now is that demand from brands and retailers has begun to grow exponentially as they face increased, organised pressure from their customers and from regulatory bodies to reduce carbon emissions, remove hazardous waste and increase their use of renewable resources.”

It would appear that this increased demand is – at least in part – down to generational factors.

According to Antoniadis, “millennials have grown up around greater environmental awareness". He adds: "There are numerous studies that reference their inclinations to make choices not only based on what products they want to consume, but which brands reflect their priorities and values. In addition, many studies reference their holistic approach to consumption and awareness of the waste we’re creating.”

BIOMATERIALS McDuffey notes that, as millennials move into higher-level decision-making positions, “they are overwhelmingly choosing biobased, sustainable materials over traditional materials”, while Bowers points to strong sales within the college bookstore market as an indication that these products resonate with younger customers.

Nevertheless, it can still be something of a challenge to get the message across about the benefits of biomaterials. “It will still take time […] to truly get the benefit message engrained in consumers’ minds,” states Bowers. “There is not always a lot of time to explain the whole feedstock story when a consumer is walking down the aisle of a supermarket or convenience store.

This puts an emphasis on effective, concise messaging that conveys the value and benefits responsibly and efficiently.”

EDUCATING BUYERS At Emerald Brand, the focus is squarely on educating buyers. “Our philosophy is that if decision-makers truly understand the impact they can have by choosing sustainable materials over non-sustainable materials, they will choose to go sustainable nearly every time,” says McDuffey.

Samsill’s Bowers is also staunchly optimistic.

“This is the future,” he declares.

“Now it is a value-added product that represents a small portion of total plastic products and packaging. However, it is our belief that this will eventually be the norm and everyday standard.

There are just too many benefits not to move in this direction.”

As Andrew Gill, Technical Director of UK-based biomaterials manufacturer Floreon sums up: “Even in office products, everything from pens and stationery to paper trays, the plastic parts of computers and printers, janitorial supplies packaging, films, carpets and water cooler bottles can all be made with bioplastics of one form or another.”

“OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS, WE HAVE SEEN A SIGNIFICANT GROWTH IN DEMAND FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS MADE FROM BIOMATERIALS”

Bioplastics explained

Industry experts share their technical knowledge of what bioplastics are… and aren’t There are some common misunderstandings and misconceptions about bioplastics. As Andrew Gill, Technical Director at UK-based biomaterials manufacturer Floreon, explains: “The term ‘bioplastics’ can cause some confusion and it’s important to qualify all environmental claims using the relevant certification schemes. Bioplastics as a term can mean plant-based plastics that are non-biodegradable (eg bioPET, Coca-Cola’s plant bottle); it can mean oil-based plastics that are biodegradable (certain agricultural mulch films, etc); or it can mean both bio-based and biodegradable. Just because something is made from plants doesn’t mean it is degradable. A lot of people think that all bioplastics are biodegradable, which isn’t true.

“A large proportion of bioplastics growth has been driven by ‘drop-in’ solutions like Coca-Cola’s bio-PET and bio-based polyethylene. These plastics are popular because they are identical to the oil-based version and fit into the existing recycling infrastructure. While these materials are an exciting step forward, they’re still the same plastics we’ve been using all along, but with a price premium because they’re ‘green’. They don’t offer any new functionality or performance enhancements, so when oil prices dropped, they became less competitive and growth stalled slightly.

“Newer materials like PLA (polylactic acid, a bio-based and biodegradable polymer) or Floreon (an enhanced PLA) do still carry a premium, but they also have new functionality and it’s difficult to compare them to commodity plastics which are being produced in millions of tonnes each year. These plastics are relatively early in their development cycle and we’re still finding ways in which they can open up new functionality."

LABELLING SCHEMES He adds: “There are labelling schemes related to important standards that can communicate the bio-content of the packaging, and whether or not it is biodegradable. Most biodegradable plastics meet the standard for industrial composting (EN13432 in Europe and ASTM D6400 in the US). This means that finished products up to a certain thickness will degrade within a timescale of about three months in a controlled industrial composter.”

Paul Antoniadis, CEO at Canada-based bioplastics manufacturer Solegear, further explains: “Materials known as ‘bioplastics’ may be made exclusively from renewable materials, or they may be a combination of renewable materials along with fossil fuel-based additives. A material may be called a ‘bioplastic’, in fact, even if it only has 20% of renewable materials in its composition. So not all bioplastics are equal.

“There is further confusion around the terms ‘compostable’ and ‘biodegradable’. A bioplastic that is compostable has been certified to break down into nothing more than water vapour, soil and CO2 within 180 days in optimum composting conditions (currently only reliable within industrial facilities).

A bioplastic that is biodegradable does not have to break down within a set period of time and may last for hundreds or thousands of years. A plastic described as ‘degradable’ may break down in a reasonably short period of time, but has no regulations associated with it about what it breaks down into. In some cases, it simply breaks down into microscopic fragments of the plastic itself."

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19

SPONSORED PROFILE

Taking responsibility Schneider’s sustainability journey has been long and rewarding, but there’s plenty more to do says the German writing instruments manufacturer

The

UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015 (COP21) has shown the world that global warming is one of the biggest challenges we face today – and one that we can only really address and master if we band together and have united strength.

The Paris Agreement is one of the key outcomes of the UN conference. It came into force at the beginning of November 2016 with over 55 countries ratifying the agreement that together represent over 55% of worldwide emissions. Indeed, reducing global greenhouse gas emissions is the paramount goal of the Paris Agreement as well as of the overarching United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was negotiated 24 years ago.

The signatory parties of the Paris Agreement must now draw up more stringent emissions reduction plans and will be legally bound to give progress reports on their commitments.

PLAYING YOUR PART Companies around the globe can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by assuming responsibility for their carbon footprint, and German writing instruments manufacturer Schneider is certainly playing its part.

It’s nothing new for Schneider, however. This is a

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company that has been focusing on sustainability for many years, having firmly anchored this responsibility into its corporate policy. A great deal has already been done to reduce carbon emissions at the manufacturer.

Since 1998, for example, Schneider has been following environmental policies in accordance with the EU EcoManagement and Audit Scheme (EMAS), the strictest environment management system in the world.

THREE-YEAR PLAN As a general rule, Schneider sets new goals on how to improve its environmental performance every three years. Independent auditors monitor all progress on an annual basis, renewing the certification for another three years if all of the required goals have been achieved. This year, the EMAS certification was renewed for the sixth time.

Schneider is not just concerned about the sustainability – and energy efficiency in particular – of its own production sites, but also extends this to transportation and supplier compliance in terms of raw materials, for instance.

In order to become even more active in protecting the environment, Schneider works with ClimatePartner to calculate its corporate carbon footprint. ClimatePartner is a leading business solutions provider for climate protection, supporting

SCHNEIDER companies from all sectors in their voluntary climate protection. It is a pioneer in integrated climate protection software and enables its customers to carry out efficient carbon management.

In conjunction with ClimatePartner, Schneider has assessed the carbon footprint for the entire firm. This footprint establishes how much CO2 is generated by a company's activities and is then used as the foundation for developing concepts to reduce these emissions. Calculating the carbon footprint also provides an array of other advantages.

An analysis of all the data offers a good overview of all business divisions, for example, and helps with the identification of reduction potentials specifically in the areas of energy consumption and resource use.

The compilation of this data was a major achievement for Schneider. It's also quite unusual for a company of this size to embark on such a journey, but was facilitated and set in motion through the preliminary studies made for the EMAS certification.

It was also helped by the fact that Schneider is an independent enterprise with a high level of vertical manufacturing and over 90% of in-house production.

PRODUCT CARBON FOOTPRINT While the overall corporate carbon footprint is used to establish emissions throughout the company, the specific product carbon footprint quantifies the degree to which carbon emissions are generated by individual products.

As such, the calculation of product carbon footprints allows Schneider to reduce and eliminate emissions in its production processes. However, there will always be emissions that cannot be avoided, of course, but these remaining emissions can be offset to obtain climate neutrality in a product.

Greenhouse gases disperse evenly throughout the atmosphere no matter where they are generated. As a result, it is irrelevant whether the CO2 is saved at the site where it is emitted or elsewhere. In collaboration with ClimatePartner, Schneider is able to offset the exact amount of emissions for every product or even every single order by supporting an internationally recognised and certified carbon offset project.

The offset project supported by Schneider is located in Kibale National Park, one of the last remaining tropical forest blocks in Uganda. It hosts the greatest variety of primates found anywhere in East Africa and is home to almost 1,500 chimpanzees, Uganda's largest population of this endangered species.

Before the project began, the area had been subject to severe degradation of the surrounding vegetation

as well as soil erosion due to deforestation and excessive use of the area. Through reforestation and preservation initiatives, the project now aids biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. The project has been awarded with FSC and CCBA certificates for its sustainable forestry as well as for its benefits to the community and biodiversity.

OPTING FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS

Schneider's offset project in Uganda

There's an ever-growing number of consumers who value sustainable products. As a first step, Schneider decided to offset all emissions generated by its Slider series of pens. Specialist dealers can use the Slider series to expand their product line and attract new target groups. Since product prices in the Slider series have not changed since they became carbon neutral, it is also an easy and convenient way for consumers to opt for sustainable products.

There are many companies that are looking to implement and enhance their climate protection and 'green office' strategies. With the climate neutral Slider series, Schneider is offering a building block to those companies that contributes to better environmental performance. Its partners can also use the Slider series to establish a competitive advantage.

Schneider continues to work on a wide range of of projects to further improve the easy of use and environmental compatibility of its products. After years of cooperation with scientists and academia, it has achieved another milestone with the production of writing instruments using bio-based plastics. The first product of this kind, the K3 ballpoint pen, was launched a few years ago.

Two series of fineliners and fibrepens featuring a vast range of colours followed in 2016. In the process, Schneider managed to combine hard and soft biobased plastics for the first time.

In 2017, additional products incorporating bio-based plastics will be presented at Paperworld in Frankfurt.

[SCHNEIDER] ACHIEVED ANOTHER MILESTONE WITH THE PRODUCTION OF WRITING INSTRUMENTS USING BIO-BASED PLASTICS

Schneider's EMAS-certified headquarters in Germany's Black Forest

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21

BIG INTERVIEW

Living and breathing sustainability

For Bureau Vallée, concern for the environment is not a fad, it’s built into the company’s DNA

Bureau

Vallée is founded on the principle of ‘sustainable discount’; even the company name and logo are a nod to the importance that founder and CEO Bruno Peyroles places on the need for humankind and nature to live together in harmony.

The France-based franchise chain was a pioneer with its product environmental labelling system introduced ten years ago. As Peyroles reveals to OPI, the system is to be updated to reflect a more mature approach to sustainable development.

OPI: A tagline of Bureau Vallée is ‘sustainable discount is part of our DNA’. Can you explain that?

Bruno Peyroles: Bureau Vallée has always had a preoccupation with the environment and that, quite simply, is something that goes back to my childhood.

When I was a young boy, we used to spend holidays in the Haute Auvergne [region of France] and I would spend hours fishing for freshwater shrimps in a nearby river.

Back then, local farmers were subsidised to enrich their grass and the chemicals they used to do this found their way into the water and basically killed the river. It wasn’t done deliberately, but it showed how mankind can dominate nature and it was something that had a profound effect on me.

When I founded Bureau Vallée, my desire was to integrate sustainable development as a basic fundamental into the DNA of the company.

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Green Thinking 2016

OPI: How did this desire first manifest itself?

BP: Bureau Vallée was founded in 1990. Two or three years later, we opened an aisle for green products. I think we must have been the first or one of the first companies in our sector to offer recycled paper and other recycled-content products.

OPI: There was already a green offer at this time?

BP: It was at an embryonic stage and there were a few manufacturers that were more advanced than others; often German companies for recycled paper, but very few French suppliers.

Still, it was symbolic, the impact on sales was very minor and customers were not at all sensitive to this issue. But it grew slowly until we introduced our environmental product labelling system about 15 years later.

OPI: Tell us more about this environmental labelling.

BP: It really started in 2006 after I organised our annual franchise meeting in French Guyana, in the middle of the virgin rainforest. There had already been a certain reluctance by some franchisees to go to such an ‘exotic’ location, especially as at the time there was a lot of talk of tropical diseases.

During a trip that we had organised up the river in canoes, I suddenly noticed that everyone was silent and not saying a word. I wondered why and realised that they were all absolutely terrified. But we carried

BRUNO PEYROLES on up the river for an hour and a half, and the magic of the forest gradually took over.

We spent four days there and we never had any problems with mosquitoes, snakes, spiders or piranhas, etc. It was then that we decided together that the environment must become an important element for Bureau Vallée. We had a secret ballot – with 90% of the network in attendance – and the vast majority said ‘yes’. Not only was it important, it also had to become a priority.

OPI: You threatened to leave them in the jungle if they didn’t vote ‘yes’?

BP: (laughs) No, we actually had the vote back at the hotel in Cayenne; it was all very democratic.

The next thing was to determine what action to take, and that was when we decided to offer our customers the ability to choose a product with a better environmental score. From that we invented our scoring system, based on the A-E visual that consumers were already familiar with from products such as electronics.

OPI: How did your suppliers respond?

BP: A lot of them thought it was a good idea and readily agreed to fill in all the questionnaires, etc. A few of them were opposed to the idea and refused to cooperate. We had to impose it upon them under the threat of withdrawing their products from our stores.

OPI: You threatened to de-list them?

BP: They didn’t think we would actually do that, but we sent out notice letters saying we were dropping them. A week later, we had their completed questionnaires back. But that was really a small minority; most suppliers, large and small, took part, and then it was a mutual learning experience as we developed the system.

For example, some suppliers would complain when they had a low score. We’d point out they had left blanks on the questionnaire and when they’d say they didn’t know the answer, we’d tell them to go and find it!

buying are environmentally friendly. We are working on updating our systems so that invoices show the environmental grading.

In fact, we are now preparing to update the environmental scoring process itself. We are working with a new third-party organisation that will extend the criteria to include a product’s carbon footprint in the different stages of its lifecycle. It will include questions on transportation and where the product is made for example, all criteria that have an impact on carbon emissions.

It is more complicated than the current system, but we are now a bigger company and we have a more mature view of the issues and what our responsibilities should be. It's on track to be released at the end of this year.

OPI: Is it a completely new grading system?

BP: It will be the same A-E system, but the questionnaire will evolve. More weighting will be given to the carbon footprint and less to other criteria.

What is interesting is that, with this new organisation, we are evolving towards a system that by definition is or could become a ‘community’ project. Once we have established the

“WE SENT OUT NOTICE LETTERS SAYING WE WERE DROPPING THEM. A WEEK LATER, WE HAD THEIR COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRES BACK”

OPI: How is the scoring validated?

BP: The manufacturer contacts AFNOR [the French national organisation for standardisation] by internet, answers the questionnaire, provides proof where required and details of certifications and norms, etc.

The system is efficient, it is ‘shared’ and it gives all our customers a choice to select between products that are noted between A-D. We don’t stock products that have an E score).

OPI: To what extent do customers look at environmental labelling?

BP: More and more of them do and most of them are happy that we do this and that we don’t stock products that are poorly graded. In fact, we are seeing an increasing number of proactive clients in the public sector that ask us for proof that the products they are

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BIG INTERVIEW environmental impact of a product, everyone can have their own way of grading that, or weighting the criteria.

This means we can bring together other industry participants or stakeholders that will be able to benefit from the work that has already been done.

OPI: It sounds similar to what SOFEA [Sustainable Office European Association] is trying to achieve…

BP: It was my wish that SOFEA would play that role.

But after three years SOFEA is still a long way from developing a system that covers the full range of products in the marketplace.

OPI: You were closely involved in the creation of SOFEA. What happened?

BP: It’s quite straightforward. To give you a bit of background, a few years ago, the UFIPA [French office products trade association] President approached me to try and develop a system in France for the environmental labelling of products, inspired by the concept we had already introduced at Bureau Vallée.

Manufacturers said it would be preferable to do this on a European scale so that there could be a level of harmony in different markets. I devoted a lot of time and effort – including learning to speak English, or at least being able to run meetings in English – to this, working closely with Marcel Ringeard from Pilot, who was also the UFIPA President. To cut a long story short, this eventually led to the creation of SOFEA, but shortly afterwards Marcel retired from Pilot and from our industry.

Then, there suddenly appeared an executive committee at SOFEA composed entirely of manufacturers. The original concept was that the Executive Committee would be equal between vendors and resellers, if anything with a bit more weight in favour of resellers.

In my view, the operating model became complicated and slow and, more seriously, a year later SOFEA announced that it was pulling out of the European PEF [Product Environmental Footprint] project. For me that was the final straw and I no longer felt aligned to the project.

I was looking for results, but I was asking myself if it was leading, bit by bit, to the whole project being buried. Out of solidarity, I stayed for two years and we contributed financially to SOFEA, but we left at the end of 2015 and decided to take charge of our own system, to re-energise that and take it further.

OPI: Could you envisage a return to SOFEA? BP: It’s possible, yes. But I would have to see a real commitment to action and a balance of power between vendors and resellers.

OPI: We’ve talked a lot about ‘green’ products. How do you view the wider issues of the environment and sustainable development?

BP: Last year Bureau Vallée celebrated its 25th anniversary; I was also 60 years old. It was a time for

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Green Thinking 2016

“IN MY VIEW, THE [SOFEA] OPERATING MODEL BECAME COMPLICATED AND SLOW”

me to take a step back and reflect, and read up on a number of issues.

One conclusion I came to was that global problems cannot be solved at a national level.

I believe that success in the 21st century will be achieved through organisations that transcend borders such as NGOs and private companies; even a company like Bureau Vallée can make a difference.

I think it comes down to the role of private companies in society. Yes, they are there to make money, but they can, and should, play a role in the environment and social ethics. It's called a ‘hybrid organisation’ – that is what I hope we will become.

When I talk to our people about this – and not just younger generations – they agree that this is what they want to be a part of. But if I hadn’t said anything, they would not have acted. That’s the power of a company – to be able to put things into action.

OPI: And have you been able to do anything yet?

BP: We have started on the journey. We have hundreds of stores that are located on the edge of towns, very often near areas where young people are ‘trapped’ and not integrated into society or the labour market. Our customers are mainly small business owners who often need to recruit local people, so there is potential to work with local associations to bring these people together.

We have also recently started a partnership with a French association called Planet ADAM to help young people create their own businesses. We are using our Beev’up co-working area at our flagship store near Paris as a place where young people living in underprivileged areas can present their projects, get ideas and financial help, etc. It’s early days yet, but we’ll do things like award a prize for the best project, offer some financial incentive or give them free use of our Beev’up area. Of course, we hope these young entrepreneurs will then become loyal Bureau Vallée customers, so it’s a win-win.

CATEGORY UPDATE

Setting the record straight

The paper industry continues to struggle with a poor environmental image – but that’s based on misconceptions and myths according to leading industry protagonists

For

many members of the public, paper production conjures up images of decimated forests and paper mills consuming huge amounts of energy and water, while pumping out irresponsible levels of greenhouse gases. But that couldn’t be further from the truth say the industry experts that OPI spoke to. They’re keen to get their side of the story across and set the record straight.

“As an industry, we actually have a very positive story to tell,” says Matthew Botfield, CSR Manager at European paper distributor Antalis. “Paper is, after all, one of the few truly sustainable products. In the past we’ve struggled to get that message across, but we’re now much more proactive in dispelling many of the myths about the environmental impact of paper production.”

“There’s a gap between the progress made by the paper industry and the awareness of the general public,” agrees Cristina Taboada, Senior Manager of Marketing & Innovation at International Paper. “There’s

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Green Thinking 2016

still a sense that paper is not good for the environment, even though forests are sustainably managed, manufacturing processes are increasingly efficient, and paper is actually one of the most recycled products on earth. The industry as a whole is now working together to change public perception.”

The environmental impact of electronic communication products is also often overlooked according to Daniel Pointner, Junior Category Manager of Environmental Papers at Mondi: “Be it during the manufacturing process, while actually using electronic products or the problematic issue of e-waste, non-paper communication has an effect.

Messages such as ‘Go green – Go paperless’ or ‘Save a tree by e-billing’ are misleading, because the European print and paper industry is world-leading in terms of using sustainably-managed materials coupled with a 72% recycling rate.”

So, assuming you use paper, which is the best type to buy? The debate around whether recycling

PAPER paper or using virgin fibre from sustainable sources is the ‘greenest’ way to produce paper continues to rage, but it’s not a binary decision according to the experts in the industry.

“Virgin and recycled fibres just can’t be compared in terms of their environmental performance,” reports Taboada. “The products complement each other and should not be viewed as competitors. It’s an end-user choice based on application and desired product characteristics.”

VIRGIN FIBRE OR RECYCLED? “To be honest, you can’t have recycled paper if you don’t begin with virgin-fibre paper,” says Taylor Bandzul, Category Marketing Manager at Georgia Pacific. “Paper can only be recycled a maximum of seven times before all the fibre in the original sheet is reduced to unusable lengths and has to go into industrial landfill. So it’s important to have robust virgin-fibre streams to support the production of recycled products.”

She adds: “Some products are more suited to the use of recycled fibre than others. We use high quantities in our corrugated packaging and commercial tissue and paper towel products.

However, while we also offer recycled home and office copy paper, the higher brightness most users expect from these papers make the use of recycled fibre a less preferable choice.”

Darren Clargo, a Market Analyst at EMGE Paper Industry Consultants, comes down firmly in favour of virgin fibre: “As long as fibre production is fully sustained by replanting, recycled paper is probably the less environmentally-friendly option because the process is quite dirty due to the de-inking required and the carbon footprint involved. The only advantage of recycled paper is that fewer trees are used, but that’s irrelevant if those trees are being replaced, and as long as those cut down are not old growth or rainforest-based.”

It’s also important to keep harvesting fibre to prevent forests being lost to other uses, according to Seth Kursman, VP Corporate Communications, Sustainability and Government Affairs at Canadian manufacturer Resolute Forest Products. “Recycling and going paperless won’t help save trees. There’s mounting evidence that the loss of a market for paper and other wood products actually increases the risk of forest loss. If there’s no market for their trees, many forest owners would consider converting the land to agriculture and urban development.

“Location also matters. Raw materials ideally should be close to the mill in order to minimise fossil fuel emissions inherent in truck or rail transportation. Production of recycled grades tends to be concentrated near urban areas with ready access to supplies of recovered paper, while grades requiring virgin fibre are produced at mills in more remote regions adjacent to forests.”

"PAPER CAN ONLY BE RECYCLED A MAXIMUM OF SEVEN TIMES BEFORE ALL THE FIBRE IN THE ORIGINAL SHEET IS REDUCED TO UNUSABLE LENGTHS”

GREEN DEMAND?

But is there actually consumer demand for green paper products? The views are mixed.

“There’s definitely a growing demand for green paper,” says Kursman. “Between 2013 and 2015, the proportion of sales from our family of eco-friendly paper products increased from 4% to 21%.”

Georgia Pacific’s Bandzul is less convinced: “We’ve not really seen an impact on sales from having more environmentallyfriendly products. Research tells us that consumers and business users will state that recycled content is important, but actual sales of these products do not correlate with those responses. Recycled paper is more expensive than virgin paper due to handling, transporting and processing costs, and most end users are not willing to pay more for it. Where we do see most demand is in federal and state government paper bids where mandates exist to purchase recycled copy paper.”

Botfield disagrees with this cost analysis: “There’s a widespread perception that recycled paper is significantly more expensive, but research shows that it only increases the total cost of a communications project by an average of 2-3%.”

As covered in previous Green Thinking publications, there is a plethora of different

Europe recycles 72% of its paper

Between 2005 and 2015, European forests grew by an area the size of Switzerland – that's 1,500 football pitches every day

84% of the industry’s raw materials come from Europe

56% of the industry’s total primary annual energy consumption is biomass-based

Between 2005 and 2013, the CO2 emissions of the European pulp and paper industry were reduced by 22%

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PAPER environmental labels that are applied to paper products. The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) are the most prominent.

And these labelling schemes do matter to consumers, says Bandzul: “We view competition among these programmes as vital to continually improve the practice of sustainable forestry. In our experience there is little difference between them – all support sustainable forest management well – but we do have customers that will request FSC over SFI, for example.

However, supply of FSC fibre is limited as less than 10% of all US forest land is actually certified under this programme, and we need to educate customers that other schemes are equally acceptable. All that said, we haven’t found that consumers are willing to pay more for any certification scheme.”

Botfield agrees: “Environmental labelling is without doubt important to customers. However, FSC and PEFC are now seen as minimum standards rather than a premium that customers are prepared to pay for.”

Clargo adds: “FSC seems to be the most well-known scheme by consumers, but others such as Blue Angel (particularly in Germany), Nordic Swan and Euro Flower are becoming increasingly common in Europe.”

For Georgia Pacific, its key sustainability marketing label is ‘Made in the USA’. Says Bandzul: “It means we support jobs and communities in and around our paper mills, responsibly secure our fibre from North American forests and manage our manufacturing processes in an environmentally-friendly way.”

GREEN PRODUCTION It’s not just how and where the raw materials of paper production are sourced that has undergone a sea change over recent decades. Great strides have also been made in the way paper is produced with, for example, nearly two thirds of the energy used by US paper mills now self-generated from renewable, carbon neutral biomass.

International Paper reports a 5% improvement in energy efficiency and a 16% reduction in greenhouse gases since 2010. There’s also been a 30% improvement in effluent water quality at its Saillat mill in France since completion of an oxygen delignification project in 2015.

Asia Pulp and Paper has often been attacked for alleged unsound environmental practices. But it too launched a host of conservation initiatives across the region that focus on preventing deforestation. These include a community-led bio-fuel pilot initiative in West Kalimantan that aims to reduce the use of fossil fuels and has committed to the restoration of one million hectares of forest.

As Pointner concludes: “Sustainability is an infinite journey, not just a destination. Governmental regulations and increasingly better-educated and environmentallyaware consumers now make it impossible for any paper manufacturer to neglect sustainability.”

CHALLENGING MISCONCEPTIONS The forest products industry continues to be unfairly targeted according to Canadian manufacturer Resolute Forest Products. OPI spoke to its VP of Corporate Communications, Sustainability and Government Affairs, Seth Kursman, about its battle with environmental campaigners Greenpeace and others. They accuse Resolute of being responsible for the destruction of vast areas of Canada’s Boreal forest, damaging critical caribou habitat and logging without the consent of ‘First Nation’ indigenous aboriginal communities. Resolute has recently hit back by filing a US federal lawsuit against Greenpeace to refute these claims and seek compensatory damages.

vs

OPI: What effect have these accusations had on the firm and its suppliers?

Seth Kursman: Greenpeace’s unfounded attacks are not only directly impacting Resolute but also hurting Boreal and First Nations communities in northern Ontario and Quebec. These communities depend on the forest for their livelihoods.

OPI: What has been the response to these attacks from the public at large?

SK: Fortunately, Resolute has received overwhelming third-party support. First Nations community representatives and unions have challenged the misinformation campaign against us, and the provincial governments of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the federal government of Canada, have been meeting with customers and stakeholders from across the world to set the record straight.

Additionally, a large contingency of local mayors held a press conference in Ottawa, Canada's capital city, expressing their outrage at the continued misrepresentations of the on-the-ground reality by activist groups like STAND (formerly ForestEthics) and Greenpeace, and over 500 municipalities have passed their own resolutions or signed on to municipal association resolutions condemning misinformed attacks.

OPI: How would you describe Resolute’s environmental credentials today?

SK: We have a strong track record when it comes to stakeholder engagement and sustainability. This ranges from responsible forestmanagement practices, industry-leading greenhouse gas reductions and world-class health and safety performance to progressive, innovative commercial partnerships with First Nations communities, transparent sustainability reporting and our growing line of eco-friendly products.

Our sustainability leadership has been recognised by over 20 regional, national and international organisations such as Canada’s Clean 50 and Ethical Corporation’s Responsible Business Awards in the past few years.

Sustainability is front and centre of our corporate culture and is integral to the way we do business every day. We’re immensely proud of how far we’ve come and, we’re ready and willing to defend our reputation, as well as the image and reputation of the forest products industry.

www.opi.net | OPI Magazine

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GREEN JAN/SAN

Once viewed as a fringe idea, green jan/san products are now becoming more mainstream.

But what’s preventing their wider adoption?

The

concept of green jan/san is now an established trend that’s gathering pace.

While it initially took hold in cleaning formulations, the green ethos now crosses into many other product areas within this diverse category. But not everybody buys into the idea and its wider adoption faces some significant barriers. For a balanced view OPI talked to a cross section of some of the main jan/san players in our industry.

GREEN JAN/SAN IN DEMAND A recent survey by worldwide cleaning industry association ISSA indicates that 28% of firms insist on the use of eco-friendly products for their janitorial needs. Additionally, 40% of household consumers prefer green cleaning products, with the majority prepared to dig deeper into their wallets to buy them. So clearly the demand exists from both the B2B and B2C sector.

Jeff Bobroff, VP of Merchandising Business and Facility Essentials at US wholesaler Essendant, confirms that the sector has seen steady growth over the past few years: “The trend is in line with the overall growth of the jan/san category. It’s at least partially due to the increase in millennial workers who identify with social responsibility and prefer products with greener credentials. But that’s not the only audience.

Many business consumers and institutions favour environmentally-responsible products as much as the younger millennials, and some government contracts specifically require the inclusion of products with ecofriendly credentials.”

John Molidor, Merchandising Manager for Facility and Safety at fellow wholesaler SP Richards, adds: “Sustainable products are becoming more and more relevant every year,” he says. “There’s constant pressure to ensure green products perform up to the same standards as the conventional products we’re used to, while keeping the price points as close as possible.”

Indeed, as manufacturers have become more efficient and demand for eco-friendly products has increased, the pricing gap has closed significantly. “These savings are now being passed onto the end consumers,” explains Bobroff. “In the past, there was a high premium to be paid for being green, but today many products are priced within a few percentage points of the standard alternatives and some even cost less.”

Price does remain a barrier, however, as both US dealer groups

"PRICING LEVELS ARE STILL BIASED IN FAVOUR OF THE STANDARD PRODUCTS WHICH CAN BE A STUMBLING BLOCK FOR CUSTOMERS ”

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GREEN JAN/SAN

LEGISLATIVE CHANGES To further tighten the controls on the emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases), the European Union has introduced new legislation (EU No: 517/2014) that goes further than the original 2006 scheme. It affects anyone who manufactures, uses or services equipment that contains these gases.

F-gases are employed in a variety of applications, including the use as blowing agents for foams and aerosol propellants. However, they have a global warming potential (GWP) over 150 times greater than CO2.

The new regulation aims to phase them out in steps, down to one fifth of 2014 sales by 2030.

This will be achieved primarily by banning their use where less harmful alternatives are available.

Existing equipment that contains F-gases will also require regular servicing to ensure against leaks, and ultimately the gases must be recovered at the end of the equipment’s life.

At UK manufacturer HK Wentworth, Group Marketing Manager Julia Vorley says this is forcing the pace of product change: “The demand for environmentally-responsible products is definitely growing, with a burgeoning awareness of the forthcoming F-gas legislative changes. Many canned ‘spray dusters’ used for cleaning sensitive electronic equipment contain these gases and consumers are beginning to realise that change is afoot regarding these propellants. We’ve released a series of articles, blogs and news pieces to highlight this and it’s paying dividends, with increased demand for our Sprayduster Zero product.

“This product has a GWP of just one compared to an F-gas alternative with a GWP of over 150. When we initially launched the product consumers couldn’t understand our rationale, but now awareness is steadily growing along with sales and the product will really gain traction as we near the 31 December 2017 deadline.”

"THE DEMAND FOR ENVIRONMENTALLYRESPONSIBLE PRODUCTS IS DEFINITELY GROWING, WITH A BURGEONING AWARENESS OF THE FORTHCOMING F-GAS LEGISLATIVE CHANGES”

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point out. Another hurdle to be overcome is ‘performance’. “We’re not seeing a lot of growth in green products,” says Mike Foster, Director of Merchandising at Independent Stationers. “Green cleaning products generally don’t disinfect and this is a big concern for end users looking to prevent the spread of colds, flu and other viruses. They’re still priced higher too, which is also a deterrent to sales.”

Tom Hoffman, Director of Purchasing at fellow dealer group TriMega, concurs with that view and also cites price as an obstacle: “The demand for ecofriendly cleaning products is not as great as we’d like to see. We push these solutions as much as possible, but pricing levels are still biased in favour of the standard products which can be a stumbling block for customers operating close to their budgetary limits.”

PRODUCT PROGRESS All that said, consistent progress in product improvement is at least in part responsible for pushing the green jan/san sector forward. “In recent years the market has seen a steady increase in innovative products,” says Bobroff, “particularly in the area of portion-control for the laundry and chemical product categories. These highly-concentrated goods require less packaging and limit the amount of waste going to landfill. They also offer consumers the convenience of pre-measured dosage, taking the guesswork out of getting the right amount of cleaning power each time they’re used and potentially saving them time and money.”

Paper and tissue-based products are another subsegment where a significant ‘greening’ of the raw materials and production processes is taking place.

At global reseller Lyreco, Group Marketing Executive Pascal Mitchell says this trend is vital: “In the B2B market we find that a product’s environmental attributes are key and, particularly within the tissue industry, are essential. Many customers now expect products to be sourced from sustainable and traceable sources. We make this compulsory in our choice of supplier, thereby ensuring that the environment is respected in all parts of production and also in the transportation of the goods we sell.”

He adds: “Interestingly, we’ve found that different countries, even within Europe, have varying attitudes to recycled products, particularly with regard to using bleached and non-bleached tissue products.

Southern European countries, for example, are far more favourable to non-bleached products where the beige colour of the tissue doesn’t put customers off.”

The main challenge, says Giorgia Giove, Marketing Manager at Sofidel America, is to educate consumers so that they can make an informed decision and properly evaluate the often competing as well as confusing environmental claims of products: “Recycled paper can be environmentally friendly, but you still need to clean it with lots of chemical agents to create

GREEN JAN/SAN remanufactured products. Virgin "RECYCLED fibre only requires the addition PAPER CAN BE of water and can be the better option as long as it comes from ENVIRONMENTALLY certifiable sources. We have FRIENDLY, BUT YOU an agreement with the WWF STILL NEED TO CLEAN IT to reduce CO emissions and WITH LOTS OF CHEMICAL waste water, and use energy generated by the biomass.

AGENTS TO CREATE “Our Dissolve Tech hand towels are a good REMANUFACTURED example of a product where PRODUCTS” significant R&D has unlocked 2

a new production process that brings environmental advantages. By modifying the resin that holds the fibres together we’ve produced a product that won’t block the toilet, reducing call-outs to unclog pipes and the need to pour powerful unblocking chemicals into the drainage system.”

SP Richards’ Genuine Joe range, meanwhile, has just launched a new roll towel and bath tissue dispenser where the refills are made from sustainable, rapidly-renewable virgin fibres, while another line contains compostable plates, cups and cutlery that are designed to break down safely and quickly back to the raw materials of the environment that they came from.

Clearly, increasing environmental concerns – as well as awareness – among both the domestic and business communities coupled with the launch of innovative new products and a tighter regulatory environment (see 'Legislative changes', page 32) are driving the green jan/san sector forward and its products are increasingly now viewed as consumer essentials.

www.opi.net | OPI Magazine

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FINAL MILE

The future mile

Finding ways to lessen the cost of the ‘final mile’ while simultaneously trying to be environmentally friendly can be difficult. But new emerging technologies coupled with government backing could see all this change

The

importance of finding alternative and more environmentally-friendly modes of transport, particularly with respect to the final mile, is gathering speed. Cities around the world are planning and/or implementing major green transport infrastructures that will ultimately have an impact on the way final mile deliveries are made.

In Switzerland, for example, global reseller Lyreco is finding solutions to the banning of motorised vehicles and lorries at certain times (see 'Taking the high road'). London is planning the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone whereby all vehicles in the UK capital will be required to comply with stringent environmental standards or face a daily fee. This is expected to launch in September 2020.

In the US, programmes such as Supertruck II are aimed at developing next-generation technologies that will increase the freight efficiency of 18-wheelers.

Other actions include the funding of projects to reduce carbon emissions in passenger cars and light trucks.

Undoubtedly, initiatives and projects such as these will be pushed to the forefront as countries progress to

NEW WAYS TO TRANSPORT GOODS The European Union (EU) is looking at the car industry and transportation closely. Billions of euros are going into investments such as the European Green Vehicles Initiative, a public-private partnership that focuses on delivering green vehicles and on the research, development and demonstration of technologies for the efficient use of clean energies in road transport.

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FINAL MILE TAKING THE HIGH ROAD

reducing greenhouse gas emissions to reach targets for the Paris Agreement (see 'New world order', page 10).

But greening the transport system isn’t all about reducing the reliance on fossil fuels and minimising CO2 emissions. It’s about finding entirely new ways to transport goods that have as little environmental impact as possible from the outset. Hence the increasing use of electric vehicles including light trucks, or those powered by hydrogen.

It’s also about cutting-edge modes of transport such as drones which could potentially be used for small package deliveries, for example. Or how about batterypowered autonomous delivery robots such as those from Starship Technologies? The robots can deliver packages of up to 10 kg, pinpointing their location through a mix of GPS and computer vision. Both drones and autonomous robots could be the perfect solution for a small stationery delivery in a local neighbourhood.

Perhaps even more pioneering than either the drones or the robots is the Hyperloop One, which bills itself as “a new way to move people or things anywhere in the world quickly, safely, efficiently, on-demand and with minimal impact to the environment”. The basic premise is that people and/or cargo are transported in autonomous vehicles through a tube at high speed by electric propulsion. A number of countries, such as the UK and Australia are already looking at the Hyperloop as a potential transportation system.

What’s exciting is that while all of the above may seem futuristic, much of it is already happening right now. What’s more, in addition to the environmental benefits, these potential last mile delivery systems (long-distance in the case of Hyperloop) should also provide cost benefits to those using them.

Lyreco Switzerland takes its environmental credentials seriously. To the reseller, innovation in the way it tackles deliveries not only makes sense in terms of reducing CO2 emissions, but also helps it deal with restrictions imposed on delivery windows throughout the country.

Lyreco has been testing the use of electric rickshaws since the summer in the capital Bern, as motorised vehicles in the city centre are only permitted until 11am. Using the rickshaws, the reseller can now deliver to customers beyond that time.

The company said that it wanted to test how the rickshaws handle the Swiss winter before considering a roll-out to other cities. The motor vehicle ban in Bern is not the only restriction that businesses there need to contend with: there is also a night-time ban on lorries in Switzerland.

To understand how the reseller deals with these challenges and find out more about its environmental stance on transportation, OPI spoke to Lyreco Switzerland Quality Security Sustainability Manager Stephan Nüesch.

OPI: What is Lyreco’s stance on green delivery?

Stephan Nüesch: As part of our ‘Eco Future’ environmental strategy, we are committed to constantly improving all our processes, including those relating to transportation. Lyreco has a commitment to sustainability and also wants to prove it in its delivery processes.

OPI: Does customer demand for same-day/next-day delivery complicate the delivery process?

SN: Various activities, such as the electronic rickshaw deliveries, enable us to better maintain a central principle: what is ordered today will be delivered tomorrow. We believe this to be a significant benefit to our clients. All this is done in the context of the one-stop-shopping strategy and with the aim of guaranteeing an fulfilment figure close to 100%.

The logistics process is planned down to the finest detail and allows us, in turn, to maintain a high level of service. The macro-distribution of orders takes place by rail; the micro-distribution is then carried out by our in-house driver. As such, we have the entire value chain in our hands and can substantially reduce CO2 emissions for deliveries in Switzerland.

OPI: Could you provide more details on the use of rail for the bulk transportation of goods?

SN: Beside the benefits in terms of environmental protection, rail has the big advantage for our customers of us being able to deliver the next day, even to distant areas in Switzerland.

Since there is a night driving ban for lorries in Switzerland and our deliveries are only ready at around 8pm, without the rail link a next-day delivery service to all Swiss customers would be very difficult.

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Green Thinking 2016

FINAL MILE THE JEWEL IN THE DELIVERY CROWN Earlier this year, US sustainable products manufacturer Emerald Brand announced its conversion to Penske Truck Leasing's compressed natural gas (CNG)-fuelled trucks for its New Yorkbased fleet. The use of CNG-fuelled trucks helps the environment by reducing the amount of harmful gas emissions released into the atmosphere as they emit significantly less carbon than conventional trucks, thereby also lowering Emerald’s environmental footprint.

OPI asked Emerald Brand's Managing Director Ralph Bianculli Jr a few questions to find out more about the company’s green delivery ethos.

OPI: What impact has a green delivery service had on your business?

Ralph Bianculli Jr: Our mission is to make environmental options achievable for all consumers and businesses, so incorporating green practices in our everyday operations is paramount to living up to that mission.

We recently transitioned our fleet of trucks to natural gas fuel, reducing our emissions dramatically. We’ve also focused our R&D on the production of US-made Tree-Free packaging alternatives, allowing us to package items without contributing to cutting down trees. There is so much that goes into green delivery beyond just transportation and we are excited to be on the cutting edge of that curve.

OPI: How important is same-day/next-day delivery?

RB: With the rapid development of technology in today’s world, every industry must constantly work to improve turnaround time for customers. A quick turnaround is not just a perk anymore nor is it a differentiator; it is a necessity if you want to stay competitive.

For Emerald, operations and logistics all come down to having great communications among your employees, the right technology and the right equipment. If you have those three in line, you will have fewer complications in your delivery process, and your customers will not have to deal with hiccups in your operation.

OPI: How can dealers make themselves more environmentally friendly in terms of delivery?

RB: Going green doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. There are small and inexpensive changes dealers can make to be more environmentally conscious. For instance, you can coordinate your delivery schedule to require fewer trucks and less freight time to save on gas and decrease carbon emissions.

We allow our dealers to mix and match over 200 SKUs to fill one truck, as opposed to filling several SKUs for full truckload pricing.

This significantly cuts down on the number of trucks on the road, and also helps our dealers turn inventory faster. It's a true win-win.

The next big step we see in environmental delivery is environmental packaging. Our R&D division is working on exciting projects with protective packaging that will have a huge influence on environmental footprint reduction for all companies that move goods.

www.opi.net | OPI Magazine

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VENDOR INTERVIEW

Offering a solid sustainable footprint Faber-Castell is an all-rounder in terms of sustainability and social responsibility – and completely carbon neutral to boot

There

are few manufacturers in our industry that wholeheartedly embody tradition and modernity, quality and the whole gamut of social as well as environmental responsibility. Faber-Castell is one of them. The only completely carbon neutral company in the stationery sector, it has managed to create, drive, foster and enforce a huge range of values and hands-on initiatives.

At the same, it has announced the best ever financial year in its 255-year history. No mean feat. OPI spoke to Dr Mathias Makowski, Head of Sustainability, Process & Quality Improvement, to find out more about Faber-Castell and its reputation for high quality as well as incredibly high standards.

OPI: Broadly speaking, what is Faber-Castell’s philosophy on sustainability?

Mathias Makowski: Social and ecological commitment is one of the four so-called Brand Essentials for Faber-Castell. We have Dr Mathias a consistent obligation and commitment Makowski towards people and the environment. It’s a huge priority for our organisation to

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Green Thinking 2016

continuously search for environmentally-friendly processes and materials.

Over three decades ago, we began planting trees as a source of eco-friendly raw materials in Brazil. Today, these 10,000 hectares of sustainable forests absorb far more CO2 than Faber-Castell’s factories emit on a global scale, making us the only true carbon neutral company in the industry.

OPI: What are the specific cornerstones of the sustainability programme you have in place?

MM: They revolve around a number of topics. The first one is ecology. Under that umbrella fall reforestation, biodiversity and renewable energy.

In terms of reforestation, like I said, we own 10,000 hectares of FSC-certified forests in Brazil. They absorb all the CO2 emissions of our factories. Another sustainable reforesting cooperation with local farmers started in Colombia in 2011.

The next sub-topic is biodiversity. Scientists from local universities observe and document the everincreasing biodiversity in Faber-Castell's forests.

Almost 450 animal species are currently living in the

FABER-CASTELL untouched native areas of our forests. Of these, 13 species are classified as at risk from extinction – like the coati or the whistling heron.

The third theme under the ecology umbrella is renewable energy. Faber-Castell strives to use renewable energy in its manufacturing sites wherever possible.

In our headquarters in Stein, Germany, for example, 30% of energy is provided by our own water turbine and from burning wood residues; in Austria the plant that manufactures highlighters and inks is entirely run using geothermal energy; in Brazil renewable and carbon neutral energies are in use, while in Peru our own wastewater system ensures the best water quality. These are just some examples of what we do.

The second core initiative is CSR and under this umbrella too are several sub-categories.

The first one is our Social Charter which was signed in 2000 by Faber-Castell and German trade union IG Metall. This charter sets out our commitment to uphold – throughout Faber-Castell's international group of companies – the employment and working conditions recommended by the International Labour Organization.

Through this charter, the same social and labour standards are applied worldwide. These include a ban on child labour; equal opportunities and equal treatment regardless of race, religion, gender or nationality; safe and hygienic working conditions; fair pay and humane working conditions. In terms of its scope, it was the first agreement of its kind in our industry. Regular internal and external audits are performed to make sure the standards set out in the Social Charter are adhered to.

The next sub-theme is social benefits. In Brazil or Indonesia, for example, these include free meals, free medical services, professional development and child care. We are also very involved in community support. A range of volunteering programmes motivate employees to engage with their local communities and support institutions such as orphanages, child care institutes, refugees, etc.

Graf von Faber-Castell “WE HAVE AN Foundation.

OBLIGATION TO ACT Children’s This was set up in 2001 charitable trust IN A RESPONSIBLE asforachildren to support MANNER, NO MATTER the work of various humanitarian children‘s WHAT THE LOCAL aid projects in order to them a fair chance CHARACTERISTICS give in life. The foundation AND PERCEPTIONS specifically supports kindergartens, schools, OF SINGLE children‘s hospitals, orphanages and verifiablyMARKETS ARE” organised groups devoted to Lastly, we have the

the care of young people.

The final core topic in our programme falls under the overall economy theme. Within that, there are two sub-categories – generation thinking and profitability.

Being a family-owned company allows for strategic decisions to be taken with a far-sighted view – from generation to generation without having to report quarterly earnings per share. The company seeks long-term profitability rather than short-sighted sales growth. The goal is to earn money “decently” – both in the monetary and moral meaning.

Faber-Castell is currently having its best financial year in history, both in terms of sales and profitability, so we feel well prepared for the future.

From left: Faber-Castell's forestry project in Colombia, a tree seedling, and the Prata forestry project in Brazil

OPI: What type of challenges do you encounter with regards to your sustainability and wider CSR policies?

MM: The main challenge remains that sustainability is not a key priority in some emerging markets for customers and does not necessarily contribute to the purchasing decision.

Nevertheless, we uphold our policies on a worldwide basis. Sustainability should be a global concern and we believe that we have an obligation to act in a responsible manner, no matter what the local characteristics and perceptions of single markets are.

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41

VENDOR INTERVIEW

OPI: How do you create and foster a ‘green’ attitude among your employees?

MM: Sustainability and environmental protection are deeply embedded in our company Brand Essentials.

All staff at Faber-Castell are familiar with our four core values of competence and tradition, outstanding quality, innovation and creativity, and social and environmental responsibility.

These principles are implemented into our business and every person at Faber-Castell plays a part in upholding the company values on a daily basis. We strongly believe that one of the greatest assets of our company is motivated employees who are proud of our brand and products. We strive to do our business in a way that is minimising environmental impact while maximising value in terms of both social and economic criteria.

OPI: What are your views on supplier compliance?

MM: In this era of globalisation, the sources of materials and goods are interwoven in a complex network. It is therefore more important than ever before to ensure quality and sustainability standards within our supply chain.

A trusting relationship with our suppliers that ensures and constantly increases the quality, environmental and social demands as well as the delivery reliability is an essential component and central concern of Faber-Castell. Our suppliers are an important part of the value chain which is why we always aims for long-term relationships and cooperation to continuously improve performance.

Raw materials, components and products have to fulfill high-quality standards. All wood we use in our worldwide pencil production, for example, comes from FSC or PEFC-certified plantations and as such from sustainable forestry. Regular supplier evaluation, including visits to production sites we work with. ensures suppliers meet our requirements regarding quality, delivery service, environmental as well as social standards.

OPI: You’ve already mentioned it, but please tell me a bit more about your carbon neutral certification.

MM: Like I said before, more than 30 years ago Faber-Castell launched a unique sustainable forestry

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Green Thinking 2016

Local workers in Colombia's forestry project

project encompassing some 10,000 hectares of land in south-eastern Brazil that had become desolate due to excessive cattle farming. Continuous replanting after cropping generates an ecological cycle. The fastgrowing, FSC-certified pine from the forests of Brazil now supplies the world's biggest pencil production plant in São Carlos, which produces more than two billion wood-cased pencils per year.

Long before the term sustainability became a buzzword, Faber-Castell strived to treat nature respectfully. As early as the 1980s, we attributed prime importance not only to criteria such as environmentally-sound, socially-responsible and economically-sustainable forestry, but also to the preservation of biodiversity and the resettlement of endangered plant and animal species.

An extensive study by German certification service TÜV Rheinland in 2015 showed that our Brazilian forests absorb more than 900,000 tonnes of carbon over the course of a decade. This means that this forest area sequestrates considerably more CO2 than the company’s own operations emit worldwide, making Faber-Castell the first carbon neutral company in the stationery sector.

OPI: What effect do your sustainability and CSR policies and actions have on your customer base in your opinion?

MM: Our Brand Essentials are the foundation for all of our company policies and are reflected in our products.

Faber-Castell was awarded most trusted stationery brand in Germany in 2014, 2015 and 2016, confirming the importance of our sustainability principles.

I truly believe that when customers purchase FaberCastell products, they associate the brand not only with top product quality, but also the exceptionally high standards in the area of corporate social responsibility.

OPI: What overall, in sustainability terms, makes FaberCastell stand out from the competition?

MM: Unlike some companies that merely offset their carbon footprints by purchasing carbon credits, we take matters into our own hands. We manage the forestation projects and ensure that not only are trees planted, but also managed sustainably according to the highest standards.

This is a genuine contribution to climate protection, as well as protecting biodiversity, soil and the rights of local communities. In addition, we have higher transparency and influence in our supply chain.

In summary, all our projects are long-term initiatives that pay respect to social and ecological issues and consider the generations to come.

“ALL OUR PROJECTS ARE LONG-TERM INITIATIVES THAT PAY RESPECT TO SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL ISSUES AND CONSIDER THE GENERATIONS TO COME”

THE WORKPLACE

Cleansing the office Workplace expert Leigh Stringer looks at five ways to create a healthy, sustainable work environment

By

2020, millennials will make up 50% of the global workforce. Like their parents' generation – the baby boomers – this cohort is highly influential. What they think, what they care about and how they see the world is shaping every facet of our lives today. Though there is variation across this sizable group, there are some common themes.

Some of the latest research on millennials by US consultancy Gallup shows that more than a pay cheque motivates them; they also want to work with purpose and in a way that supports their wellbeing.

Millennials want to work in a place that taps into their personal passion and allows them to flourish, while also supporting a greater social mission.

And they are not alone. Studies show that the rest of us, who have been in the workforce a while, are realising we want this too.

So how can organisations create an ‘uberimpactful’ work environment that supports the greater good – going beyond just provisioning employees with the basics, and instead taking sustainability to the next level? Here are five strategies which do just that.

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1. DESIGN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT TO SUPPORT AUTONOMY AND ‘CHOICE’ Studies show that people who feel more ‘control’ in their work and work environment are less likely to suffer from stress and illness and see an increase in productivity. This is particularly true for millennials – part of flourishing means managing how, when and where employees work.

• Change where employees work. Many people can work effectively and efficiently at home, in a satellite office, co-working facility, a park or a coffee shop. Working in this way requires good mobile technology and the right protocols to pull off (so everyone knows how to reach each other), but it can be incredibly empowering.

• Adopt a more flexible schedule. Flexible work schedules are an alternative to the traditional 9-5, 40-hour work week. They allow employees to vary arrival and departure times and include programmes like job sharing or a compressed work week.

• Reconfigure the work area. Take a look at how employees work and explore alternatives to sitting in one position all day. For example, the FluidStance

THE WORKPLACE motion platform looks like a skateboard with a frame below it that is bowshaped. It's a desk accessory that could work well with a standing desk or next to a high-top table.

I've also seen folks try Bosu balls and other "core strengthening" exercise equipment when they are standing and working.

• Even if an organisation does not provide desks that move up and down with fancy accessories, it may be possible for workers to regularly change or move more often by standing at a table in the breakroom, or walking during conference calls. Making small adjustments, such as moving or adding a computer monitor, turning on a task light or re-orienting furniture can make a major difference to posture and productivity.

Interestingly, many of the strategies that support individual autonomy and choice at work can also positively impact the environment by reducing real estate and/or carbon emissions (from commuting).

2. NURTURE ‘BIOPHILIA’ We have a strong desire to be in and among nature.

It’s only natural – for most of human history we spent our entire time outdoors. This preference, often referred to as biophilia, was introduced and popularised by Edward Osborne Wilson, who suggested that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems.

The most obvious way to integrate natural elements into the workplace is to incorporate real plants, water and views to nature into buildings.

Another is to create features in the workplace that mimic nature, such as artwork, photographs or the use of natural materials. I particularly like the Philips Leaf Lamp which looks like either a tree or clouds, depending on which one you use. It can be shipped flat (which minimises carbon footprint and shipping costs) and is made of felt and wood.

of 30% more steps per day and were four times more likely to walk 10,000 steps per day than car commuters.

Of course, locating an office by a park or near public transport also positively impacts air quality – for employees and the rest of the planet.

4. GIVE A WORKPLACE A ‘GREEN’ OR ‘HEALTHY’ STAMP OF APPROVAL There are a number of healthy building standards emerging, many of which are drawing on excellent research. Applying them to a building is a meaningful way to measure whether a workplace is meeting the goals set out for it.

Two tools that have received a great deal of buzz lately on the health and wellness front are the WELL Building Standard by Delos, and the FITWEL Standard developed by the Centers for Disease Control and US General Services Administration, and administered by the Center for Active Design.

Just like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, using tools such as these send a strong message to employees, but also to the marketplace that green and healthy buildings are good for business.

“ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL TOOLS TO ENCOURAGE GREEN OR HEALTHY BEHAVIOUR IN AN ORGANISATION IS YOU”

5. LEAD BY EXAMPLE

3. LOCATE A BUSINESS BY A PARK OR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

One of the most influential tools to encourage green or healthy behaviour in an organisation is you. Adopting changes into your own life will give you the knowledge you need to convince others to change. If you take on reducing paper use, recycling, biking to work, eating better and rethinking your work patterns with the environment and your health in mind, you are more likely to understand the changes required to behave and work in a different way. You are also more likely to be listened to by the people you are trying to convince. Practice what you preach.

The proximity of a home or office to parks and other recreational facilities is consistently associated with higher levels of physical activity and healthier weight status. The same goes for proximity to public transport – there is a link between access to public transportation and physical activity, since transport use typically involves walking to a bus or subway stop.

In one study, A Morning Stroll: Levels of Physical Activity in Car and Mass Transit Commuting by Richard Wener, train commuters walked an average

Leigh Stringer is a Senior Workplace Expert for EYP Architecture & Engineering and is researching employee health and productivity in conjunction with the Harvard School of Public Health, the Center for Active Design, and other leading organisations.

She is the author of 'The Healthy Workplace: How to Improve the Well-Being of Your Employees – and Boost Your Company's Bottom Line' and 'The Green Workplace'. Learn more at www.leighstringer.com.

www.opi.net | OPI Magazine

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SPONSORED PROFILE

On course for success An organisation with sustainability at its very core, German manufacturer edding makes further progress in its green journey

At

edding, sustainable business practices have nothing to do with the latest green fads or trends – they have been an integral part of the company’s philosophy right from the beginning.

Based in Ahrensburg, near Hamburg in the north of Germany, edding is a medium-sized enterprise that operates globally. As such, it is very much aware of its responsibility towards the environment which is why it consistently uses recycled materials and renewable resources for its EcoLine series of markers.

Indeed, edding has been using predominantly post-consumer recycled materials since the beginning of 2016.

R&D PROGRESS This process of incorporating post-consumer recycled materials into the production process began last year and was the result of ongoing R&D at the manufacturer. Post-consumer plastics are obtained from plastic waste derived from both households and industry. Ongoing developments at edding have resulted in 83% of the total plastic parts used in permanent, whiteboard and flipchart markers in the edding EcoLine range now being made from postconsumer plastics. 90% of the total plastic used is made from recycled material.

As well as using sustainable materials, the company is also reducing its consumption of virgin material, thereby avoiding up to 83 tonnes of C02 emissions every year.

SUCCESSFUL NEW LAUNCH In response to customer demand and in line with the progress made with post-consumer plastics, edding introduced its new fine-nibbed edding 25 EcoLine permanent marker at the beginning of 2016. This marker is ideal for writing, marking and labelling on almost any surface, and its fine nib is excellent for producing precise lines.

The 'green' marker is available in four different colours and, as with all other EcoLine products, is supplied in environmentally-friendly packaging

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that is made entirely of cardboard. With numerous listings already secured after less than a year, edding is confident about the success of this new product.

Also available is the edding 24 EcoLine highlighter, made predominantly from renewable resources and with the same trusted edding quality. This eco-friendly classic, with its 2-5 mm chisel tip and water-based ink in a range of brilliant neon colours, is ideal for marking and highlighting passages of text.

GREEN BRAND SEAL AWARD In 2015, EcoLine was the only marker series to be honoured with the GREEN BRANDS SEAL. In late 2016, this was extended for a further 12 months. The GREEN BRANDS organisation recognises brand commitment to climate protection, sustainability and environmental responsibility.

In addition, edding has been awarded another prestigious prize in Germany – the Sustainable Brand of the Year award by the German Design Council. This award is given by an independent jury of brand experts from industry, higher education, brand agencies, consultancies and the media. Edding was singled out as a strong brand, in particular for its combination of design, product quality, innovative spirit and sustainable business practices.