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The Independent Publishers Guild (IPG) has published the results of new research into environmental impacts on the supply chain, setting five key targets, including eliminating single-use plastics from packaging and shifting colour printing from Asia to Europe by 2050.
Its Sustainability Action Group, led by Boldwood Books founder Amanda Ridout, unveiled the research and targets during the IPG Autumn Conference at Shaw Theatre in London, coinciding with COP26 in Glasgow.
Five areas have been highlighted as major areas for improvement, with specific goals set. More efficient transportation and having fewer stops in a book's journey has been cited as a priority, with a target of having 75% and 90% full-load deliveries by 2030 and 2050 respectively.
Adopting the use of Euro Six engines (a standard to reduce the level of nitrogen oxide emissions) across all delivery vehicles will be a target for 2025, with the aim of 50% of vehicles running off electrical energy by 2030, followed by 100% by 2050. The move to "greener logistics" will be a gradual process, as the electrification of vehicles tends to be prominent in domestic transport, such as cars, rather than commercial haulage. Colin James, m.d. of distribution at Penguin Random House said an alternative would be to look into biofuels in the short term, while more vehicles shift to electrification.
In addition to transport, implementing more efficient packaging and eliminating single-use plastics is also being targeted, with 75% of the latter hoped to be eliminated by 2030, followed by 100% in 2050. Finding an alternative to shrink wrap plastic is high on the agenda for the taskforce.
The group is aiming to pivot the industry towards localising printing, by moving 75% of colour printing for the UK and European markets from Asia to Europe by 2030, aiming for 100% by 2050, and either ending air freight or creating a carbon-offset model by 2030. By 2040, the industry-wide ideal would be for companies to be carbon net zero.
Conducted by the Carnstone consultancy and steered by a cross-industry group, the project analysed greenhouse gas emissions and waste at different stages of the supply chain. The study mapped the journeys of six different book scenarios, from the point of ordering, to delivery, to the end consumer, considering variables including format, sector, print method and volumes and methods of transportation. The report found 98% of all emissions in the chain were accounted for by transportation, while the total waste accrued through packaging was minimal.
The group includes Clays sales director Vicky Ellis, Booksellers Association m.d. Meryl Halls, James, IPG c.e.o. Bridget Shine, Blackwell's head of operations Kate Stilborn, and Nigel Wyman, sales and marketing director at Gardners.
Commenting on the report, Ridout said: "We are very grateful for the input and support of the taskforce members, who genuinely represented every part of the supply chain and gave their time and data so willingly. Together we have come up with proposed targets as a starting point for further industry collaboration and agreement. It is vital that the publishing industry sets some clear goals to ensure its net-zero future and works together to achieve them.”
Daniel Witte, sustainability consultant at Carnstone, added: "No sector or business will be exempt for change - no company can close its eyes to the emissions it produces."
The group is now starting work on a toolkit to support independent publishers’ journeys towards net-zero status and is planning a cross-industry event to discuss the targets in early 2022.
Addressing delegates ahead of the IPG's presentation, Mike Berners-Lee, environmental researcher and author of There is No Planet B (Cambridge University Press) and How Bad Are Bananas: The Carbon Footprint of Everything (Profile), said it was a publishers' responsibility to think about the message they deliver through the books they print, in addition to their "company message".
"if you're consistently publishing books on virgin paper, needlessly glossy, you're sending out a message we don't care about [climate change]," he said.
He added that publishers should think carefully about the content they publish, to shift the conversation about the planet's future."I would put it to you that it is a moral imperative to address the need to imagine things a bit differently - to envisage a future that is a better one, and a much more sustainable one," he said.
"We're talking about a lot of change. sustainability has been this thing we bang on about, but broadly speaking ignored - that's the deep habit our society is in. That has absolutely got to change really right now."