Carbon Calculator

The Griffin Press Carbon Calculator, the first of its kind in the Australian book manufacturing industry, was designed by Griffin Press and parent company PMP Limited to better understand the carbon footprint of manufacturing and printing books and to demonstrate how Griffin Press, PMP Limited and clients can improve the environmental impact of this process.

Feedback from the industry highlighted that publishers were looking for carbon emission information that was specific to the manufacturing methodology that Griffin Press uses in its printing presses, not simply an industry average or a calculation sourced from manufacturing in other countries. The resulting Griffin Press Carbon Calculator was developed in line with the ISO 14040 and ISO 14064 life cycle analysis and greenhouse gas measurement standards, ensuring that all emission sources were captured.
 
At Griffin we actively work towards reducing our footprint and want to encourage our customers to do the same. The Carbon Calculator provides Griffin-specific calculations to enable our customers to reduce the footprint of manufacturing their book by calculating the number of carbon offsets that can be purchased should they choose to do so.

These carbon offsets can be purchased in the marketplace, or we can provide a quote from certified carbon offset suppliers.

Our Carbon Calculator takes into consideration Griffin's energy use, coldset web presses and the inputs, recycling and waste management programs that are specifically relevant to our printing mechanisms and our operations in South Australia.

In order to ensure that the Carbon Calculator was certified for use by its clients, Griffin Press engaged Perenia Carbon, a specialist firm in this area, to perform a complete greenhouse gas inventory assessment of their book printing facility. Perenia has previously worked with parent company PMP Limited across their print sites in Australia and New Zealand.

The Carbon Calculator includes the following components to provide as much detail as possible on the carbon emissions generated throughout the book manufacturing process:
• Manufacturing of raw materials (e.g. pulp and paper)
• Manufacture of the book (not the publishing or retailing)
• Energy consumed on site in the production of the book
• Transport of raw materials to the production site, and transport of books and waste from the site
• Waste disposal of excess material from the manufacturing process

Greehouse Gas Emissions Disclaimer

The greenhouse gas emissions attributed to the books identified in our invoice have been determined based on the results of a greenhouse gas assessment undertaken by a specialist consultancy that provides carbon management services. The assessment was prepared in accordance with the general framework and principles for documenting and reporting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies, as outlined in the current AS/ISO 14040 series of standards. The calculation methods, and the emissions reported using those methods, are based on the specific process used by PMP to print the books (i.e., cold set or digital printing, as the case may be).
An assessment boundary was drawn to establish all reasonably identifiable inclusions and exclusions to the assessment. The greenhouse gas assessment that these figures are based on includes the emissions attributed to the manufacture of material inputs to the printing process; transportation of materials to the site; energy consumption used at the print site; waste produced on site; and transportation of books to the distributor (cold set books only). Where information has not been available from the supplier or marketplace for minor inputs PMP has taken a conservative estimate.
PMP has not included greenhouse gas emissions arising after the point when the books leave a distributor's premises. For example, the stated volume of emissions does not include emissions arising from transportation of the books from the distribution warehouse to retailers or to the end user, nor does it include emissions arising from the end of life disposal of the books. Emissions from transportation of digitally-printed books from PMP to distributors are also not included. Finally, the stated estimate of emissions relates to PMP's production of the physical books only and does not include any emissions arising from the creation or publication of the content of the book.
Further details regarding what has been included and excluded from the assessment can be obtained from PMP on request.