Hachette announces 30/30 emissions reduction plan
Hachette Australia parent company Hachette Livre has announced its intention to reduce overall carbon emissions tied to its business by 30% by 2030—a 2.5% annual reduction, reports Publishers Weekly.
The company’s 30/30 plan, based on the Science-Based Targets Initiative, includes targets developed with independent benchmark and energy use consulting firm Carbone 4. These include a 30% reduction in the proportion of books that are shredded, a 26% reduction in carbon intensity of paper manufacturing, an 18% reduction in carbon intensity of book printing and binding, ‘and 1% and 1.5% annual reductions in upstream and downstream freight respectively’.
The company said in a statement that it had reduced its French emissions by 2% over a 12 year period since 2009.
Hachette Australia New Zealand CEO Louise Stark told Books+Publishing the local arm of the publisher was working with Hachette UK and Hachette Livre worldwide on the emissions reduction plan, ‘with AU and NZ data being collected to inform the plan globally and locally’.
‘Locally we have invested in solar power at Alliance Distribution Services which is already reducing our reliance on the grid and we have switched to 100% renewable for our power supply,’ said Stark. ‘We are also moving to electric vehicles (EV) with our first EV in NZ and more to come.’
In its statement Hachette Livre said the company’s scope 3 emissions, including paper manufacturing, printing and binding, upstream and downstream transportation and ‘end of life’ products sold, accounted for 97% of its total emissions—hence its key targets in these areas. It said that its commitment to reduce the number of books shredded ‘demands considerable effort’ and would involve developing tools ‘to optimize stock visibility throughout the value chain’, while the move to less intensive printing would involve ‘consistently favouring papermakers with the lowest emissions’. In freight, the company said its reduction goal ‘could be amplified via structural changes aimed at replacing air freight with maritime or road freight’.
Category: International news
