Océ and Shining Earth ™ help printers turn more ‘eco-friendly’ through pioneering carbon reduction and offsetting scheme

Brentwood, England – 27 November 2008– Nearly 2,500 tonnes of carbon has been offset by Océ UK, and its strategic partner, Shining Earth™, in the first year of a pioneering carbon offsetting programme, whereby Océ UK committed to offsetting 200% of the CO2 for each of its VarioPrint 6000 machines.

Carbon Positive Plus+, a world first in the printing industry, benchmarks Océ’s VarioPrint 6000 series printing systems’ energy consumption and operational Co2 emissions. The carbon is offset in the UK via the Woodland Trust and globally in partnership with The CarbonNeutral Company. 

Through Shining Earth™, Océ UK is supporting woodland creation by the Woodland Trust, which is planting new trees at Goltho Wood, in Lincolnshire, a new wood, which will extend and protect the nearby Lincolnshire Limewoods, an important nature reserve. Latest figures show that 275 tonnes of Co2 have been offset, resulting in the planting of more than 1,200 trees.

The international projects organised through The CarbonNeutral Company and supported through Carbon Positive Plus+ are electricity-generating wind turbines and hydro power stations in China, as well as methane capture systems in the Rhine and Ruhr valleys in Germany. The guaranteed savings from The CarbonNeutral Company is more than 2,000 tonnes of Co2..  Together with the woodland creation, total accumulative savings of Co2 are calculated by Shining Earth™ to be 2,491 tonnes.

In addition to being able to use a machine operationally better than carbon neutral, Océ’s customers have also benefited from environmental stewardship appraisals, whereby Océ paid for two days’ consultancy, with the specific intention of helping improve environmental performance.  Océ UK has also undergone a rigorous audit by Shining Earth™, resulting in numerous opportunities identified to reduce carbon emissions and environmental impact.

Gareth Pickles, Managing Director at Shining Earth, part Delta-Simons environmental consultants, said: “The industry-acclaimed Carbon Positive Plus+ programme has been driven by climate change and demands for more advice on environmental issues from Océ’s customers.  It has been running as part of wide-ranging environmental stewardship initiatives that have now delivered tangible results. All the schemes being supported are real projects with real benefits.”

He added: “Even though there are challenging times for the printing industry, the customers have welcomed the chance to be part of what is an extremely proactive step in improving environmental performance.  We look forward to a continued long-term alliance with Océ and the Carbon Positive Plus+ programme.”Océ Marketing Manager Ed Hudson, who devised Carbon Positive Plus+ in conjunction with Pickles, said: “Océ’s printing systems are designed with re-use and recycling in mind – and we, as a company, have some of the lowest energy-consuming systems in the marketplace. The printers’ reaction to our ‘carbon positive’ programme, which was initially for the Océ VarioPrint 6000 systems and is now planned to be extended further, has been extremely favourable.”

Bron Curley, Managing Director of Océ UK, said: “Everybody has an ethical responsibility to do their bit towards sustainability and reducing carbon emissions, and we, at Océ, take that very seriously.

For further information, please contact:      

Océ (UK) Ltd: Colin Harding (Shaw Communications)
+44 7730 435400, pressoffice@oce.com 

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