Oce shines light on benefits of world-first carbon positive offset scheme

A world-first, the CarbonPositivePlus+ programme from Océ and Shining Earth™ for the printing industry has created a big step forward in environmental benefits awareness for Océ's customers.

The two companies, who joined forces in a long-term strategic alliance eight months ago, launched a series of eco initiatives that are boosting the green credentials for commercial printers throughout Britain.

The groundbreaking CarbonPositivePlus+ initiative involves benchmarking the Océ VarioPrint 6000 series printing systems' energy consumption and operational CO2 emissions. Customers investing in the 6000 series get a printing system that is proven to have lower energy needs than its nearest competitor's equivalent.

In addition, thanks to Océ partnership with Shining Earth™, the 6000 series is operationally better than carbon neutral. Under the unique offering, Océ has committed to offsetting 200% of the CO2 generated from the operation of each of its Océ VarioPrint 6000 machines sold until at least November 2008.

Shining Earth™, part of Lincoln-based Delta-Simons Environmental Consultants Limited, have been working with Océ on a wide range of environmental stewardship issues including CarbonPositivePlus+ since summer 2007 and have other high profile customers in the public and private sectors globally.

Since forming the strategic alliance in 2007, Shining Earth™ has also helped Océ assess its own energy consumption, water use, waste production and other areas of corporate environmental performance and has identified significant opportunities to improve environmental performance and deliver additional profits to the business. It is now working with Océ to implement the savings and become a more sustainable business.

Under the CarbonPositivePlus+ scheme, Océ will provide carbon offsetting for every customer who purchases or leases one of the Océ VarioPrint 6000 family of systems for a minimum of 12 months. There is also the opportunity for customers to benefit from an environmental stewardship appraisal. Paid for Océ this is carried out by Shining Earth™ at the customer's premises, and specifically aims to help identify how customers can improve their environmental performance, and make potentially significant cost savings.

Since the CarbonPositivePlus+ programme began in October, on average Shining Earth™ has identified potential annual savings per customer of 33 tonnes of CO2, more than 500 cubic metres of water and an average of £7,000 on energy bills. Put into context that's enough CO2 to fill 160 double decker buses, 2,000 bathtubs of water and enough energy to run ten 100 watt light bulbs for 23 years for each customer.

Driven by climate change and demands for more support on environmental issues from Océ's customers, the CarbonPositivePlus+ initiative is part of Océ UK further strengthening its world-leading environmental credentials.

Other 'green' credentials from Océ include further recognition through its selection as a Climate Action industry partner. Climate Action is produced in partnership with Sustainable Development International and the United nations Environment Programme (UNEP). A 'Climate Leaders' video interview with Rokus van Iperen, CEO of Océ Group, will be broadcast on http://www.climateactionprogramme.org in support of the UN's World Environment Day on 5 June, 2008.

But before that, visitors to drupa starting tomorrow (May 29) in Dusseldorf, Germany, will discover that the CPP+ scheme involves international 'eco-friendly' schemes, subject to stringent, independent verification. Under the scheme, greenhouse gases will be reduced before they are even emitted.

The CO2 emissions calculated under the scheme will be offset in three initial schemes:-

· Renewable energy in China

· Methane capture in Germany

· Tree-planting in the UK.

Gareth Pickles, managing director at Delta-Simons, said: "Together with Océ, we've gone far beyond the ordinary and obtained detailed measurements of energy consumption from the machine over many functions and selected offset schemes that we think provide a good balance of environmental benefit. There's real science to back up Océ's unique offering to the market. With the potential global impacts threatened by climate change, everybody has an ethical duty to do their bit towards sustainability and reducing carbon emissions. The consumer is looking for business as well as governments to lead the way. Traditionally the print industry hasn't had a great reputation for environmental stewardship, but with this scheme Shining Earth™ and Océ are certainly leading the way and we hope other manufacturers follow our example. Collectively we really could make a significant and tangible difference."

Ed Hudson, marketing manager for Océ UK Ltd's Digital Document Systems, said: "The initial results from the scheme have been overwhelmingly positive. Although there are significant variances between individual companies, we know that on average companies are able to save £7,000 in energy costs, 33 tonnes of carbon dioxide and more than 500 cubic metres of water. Océ has always taken a stance that when it develops its technology the environment is always taken into account – the energy efficient VP6000 is a prime example of this. Buyers in the graphic arts industry are very aware of the green issues and do invest in our technology on the basis that it is environmentally friendly.

"The Shining Earth™ CarbonPositivePlus+ scheme is the first of its kind in the world. It's a serious piece of work and is already proving to have far-reaching benefits for our customers and the environment. We sincerely hope that has enhanced our customers' ability to win work with their own customers. CarbonPositivePlus+ also builds on some of the other successful environment initiatives delivered by Océ Group at the head office in Venlo."