Heidelberg Marks World Environment Day by Offsetting Carbon Footprint of Drupa Products

DÜSSELDORF, GERMAN—June 5, 2008—World Environment Day - Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) will be offsetting the environmental effects of all print products created in the course of the day at the drupa industry trade show. This includes prepress, press, and postpress. All CO2 emissions generated indirectly on this day will be offset by investing in a climate protection project complying with the internationally recognized Gold Standard through the Swiss charitable foundation myclimate. This will ensure that unavoidable emissions are offset by climate protection measures elsewhere. In concrete terms, in a region of India, electricity and heat will be generated from biomass that was previously burned on the fields as waste. This will benefit the environment and boost the income of local farmers.

The level of CO2 emissions calculated on World Environment Day will be based on the amount of paper printed for demonstration purposes (over 70 tons), the total electrical power required by the equipment used (three MWh), printing plates, ink, coatings, alcohol, dampening solution additive, and cleaning agents.

Model for calculating the carbon footprint of a press - carbon offsetting now an option for presses, too

Every print product has a carbon footprint, but so does each press manufactured. This is determined by the raw materials used and all the production and assembly processes, plus any transport required. Delivery of the press to the end customer also plays a minor role.

Heidelberg is setting an example and has joined forces with a specialist in the field to develop a model to calculate the carbon footprint of a Speedmaster XL 105-6+L. For the first time, Heidelberg customers can now produce carbon offset print products on a carbon offset press.

HEI ECO tours at drupa
This year’s drupa is the first time Heidelberg has offered daily HEI ECO tours for visitors to demonstrate environmentally friendly solutions for commercial printing, in Hall 1, and packaging printing, in Hall 2. The two halls have a total of seven large model stags to indicate environmentally friendly applications.

Invitation to submit entries for the Heidelberg ECO Printing Award 2008.

To encourage printing companies from around the globe to do more for the environment, Heidelberg is using drupa 2008 to invite them to submit entries for the first international environmental award for sustainable sheetfed offset printing. The company is setting aside a total prize fund of 50,000 Euro, and printshops can compete in the “Sustainable companies” and “Forward-looking solutions” categories. The environmental award is focused on the sustainable use of resources and energy, climate protection, and environmentally aware business practices.

Further details can be found at www.drupa-heidelberg.com or www.heidelberg.com.

Environment Day
To mark the start of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment on June 5, 1972 in Stockholm, both the United Nations and Germany have declared June 5 to be “Environment Day”. The motto this year is “One Nature - One World - One Future”.