Environmental Policy
The Group’s environmental policy is to ensure that every aspect of our activities is conducted in accordance with sound environmental practices. We aim to ensure that we continually minimise the environmental impact of our activities.
Energy and Climate Change
Johnston Press achieved the Carbon Trust Standard for the second time in July 2012. It is recognition for our achievements in carbon reduction and demonstrates our commitment to reducing carbon emissions year-on-year.
Inroads were made into the Group’s energy use last year with one initiative reducing lighting in the press hall at Dinnington by 50% and the mailroom lighting by 80%. The Group, in conjunction with its energy management consultants, is investigating a process which would allow the main plant to be shut down when printing does not take place. This would reduce site energy consumption by an estimated 5%. If successful this would be rolled out to our Portsmouth plant. Discussions are also continuing with respect to the potential installation of wind and solar power at Dinnington.
We continued to make progress on reducing the Group’s car and van fleet and CO2 ratings. Replacement vehicles introduced to our fleet generally had lower CO2 ratings, giving an average reduction of 6.0%. Full details are shown in table 1 on page 28 of the Annual Report.
The Group has no emissions to air from its printing presses.
Carbon Footprint
The Group established its Carbon Footprint Taskforce in 2008. It developed our environmental policy and is responsible for co-ordinating activities in this area. Among its objectives are promoting energy efficiency and recycling, co-ordinating Group-wide energy efficiency initiatives, agreeing measurement standards for carbon footprint and running the Group’s Environmental Award.
After a review, the Taskforce recommended that we seek reductions in total energy consumption of 10% against 2011 levels for our printing and publishing centres by the end of 2013. We were pleased with initial indications of achieving a 7.7% reduction in 2012, but our efforts in this area continue.
The Group continued to work in partnership with Dell, its principal supplier of IT equipment, to develop a disposal channel for redundant IT equipment.
Consumption of Energy
| 2012* | 2011* | % | 2010 | % | |
| Electricity | |||||
| – kWh | 32,029,307 | 38,190,798 | (16.1) | 41,966,457 | (23.7) |
| – Print centres kWh/tonne | 155.9 | 157 | (0.7) | 143.1 | 8.9 |
| Gas | |||||
| – kWh | 18,763,185 | 16,844,809 | 11.4 | 21,014,147 | (10.7) |
| – Print centres kWh/tonne | 35.9 | 30 | 19.7 | 37.0 | (3.0) |
| Water | |||||
| – m3 | 66,744 | 77,027 | (13.3) | 73,896 | 9.7) |
| – Print centres m3/tonne | 0.24 | 0.22 | 9.1 | 0.19 | 26.3 |
* 2011 has been restated to reflect actual final usage. 2012 reflects estimated usage.
Waste Management
The Group continued its long-standing partnership with industry-leading environmental services companies and both paper and non-paper waste products are now segregated into more than 20 different streams to maximise their recycling potential.
All our newsprint waste products are returned to paper mills in the UK to be used in the manufacture of virgin paper. Figures show that in 2011, 78.9% of British newsprint was produced from recycled fibre, nearly 9% above the target agreed with the Government.
The Group adheres to the requirements of the Producer Responsibility Obligations Regulations 1997.
Non-paper based waste from the printing press is separated and collected for recycling in line with the Environmental Protection Act and Hazardous Waste Regulations. This is an audited and ISO 14001 accredited process carried out by our environmental partners. Some 90% of all material collected is recycled and re-used in the manufacture of a diverse range of products.
Car Fleet
The programme of changing our car fleet from wholly owned to leasing continued through 2012 and allowed us to move to lower emission vehicles where possible.
Driver licensing records and driving risk assessments were updated and employees driving on Company business were issued in 2012 with a new, updated comprehensive driver’s handbook incorporating road safety advice and guidance. We are now conducting a comprehensive driver training course in conjunction with our motor fleet insurers.
Motor Vehicle Data
| 2012 | 2011* | % | 2010 | % | |
| Total Fleet (number of vehicles) | 1,209 | 1,561 | (22.5) | 1,701 | (28.9) |
| Total Fleet CO2 rating | 172,162 | 235,021 | (26.7) | 267,715 | (35.7) |
| Average CO2 rating | 42 | 151 | (6.0) | 157 | (9.6) |