By Emanuel Oluebube, Correspondent UK

Canon Europe is celebrating its successful ten-year long partnership with international climate protection solutions provider, ClimatePartner, enabling Canon to offer carbon-neutral papers to its office and cut-sheet customers.

As part of its global responsibility to provide the highest quality products and to conduct business in an environmentally-friendly and socially engaged manner, Canon and ClimatePartner help customers reduce greenhouse gases and make an important contribution to fighting global warming. Since collaborating on the first project, around 34 million kg of CO2 have been offset through Canon’s carbon neutral paper. Last year alone, Canon Europe counterbalanced nearly 6 million kg of CO2.

Thanks to the partnership, Canon Europe Imaging Supplies, the division of Canon that provides print media and other consumables for all applications in the market, is able to offer its customers zero carbon footprint office and cut-sheet paper products. This is made possible through balancing carbon emissions with carbon reduction or avoidance measures as well as by offsetting remaining emissions. These carbon-neutral paper products cover a wide variety of print applications:

–     Black Label Zero – for everyday use

–     Top Colour Zero – for high quality prints

Recycled White Zero – for environmentally friendly customers who want both recycled paper and CO2 compensation in one

Orange Label Zero – introduced in 2018, this is the neutral choice for selected Canon’s resellers and their customers

Carbon emissions from the entire lifecycle of these media options, from forest to paper mill to delivery, are fully offset through a combination of efficient resource use at the paper mill in which they are manufactured through the replacement of fossil fuels, and with the support of a certified carbon offset project. And this concept is complemented by measures, such as offering reused or recycled materials, to minimise the need for new resources.

Climate-conscious customers can make a demonstrable and measurable contribution to climate protection. How? By purchasing products that have a ClimatePartner ID ensuring climate neutrality and certified carbon offsetting. This ID can be found on Canon´s Zero paper products. So if you buy Canon Zero paper, you get access to up-to-date calculations of the product´s CO2 emissions as well as details about the certified projects that are supported by the offsetting of unavoidable emissions.

Canon also helps with sustainable development in countries involved in carbon offset projects, for example, by improving clean drinking water supplies, expanding local infrastructures, creating jobs or protecting biodiversity. Among the many projects Canon has been supporting, forest preservation in Para, Brasilia, has compensated for almost 24 million kg of CO2 emissions alone to date. The project protects 90,000 hectares of forest and prohibits commercial logging, helping to create alternative sources of income for the 94 resident families.

 Director Product Line Management, Canon Europe Imaging Supplies, Maurice Pardoel explains the benefits of such a successful long-standing partnership, “ClimatePartner is one of the pioneers and international market leaders in corporate climate protection and, through this partnership, we’re able to offer our customers a certified solution to help minimise their carbon footprint while supporting valuable development projects that make a difference for many people. Using the ID code on the packaging of our Zero paper products provides a visible reminder of our carbon offsetting efforts. And it is this transparency – one of the foundations of our partnership – that is very important to Canon as it allows us to demonstrate to our customers our commitment to sustainability.”

Canon first introduced carbon-neutral office paper products to its customer base in Austria in 2010. The initial aim was to expand its activities and measures for climate protection and sustainability in the context of Canon’s overall climate strategy and to complement its “sustainable” product portfolio of printers and other office equipment, in addition to its initiatives in responsible forestry.

Pardoel continues, “At Canon, we operate according to the philosophy of Kyosei, a Japanese word which means ‘living and working together for the common good’. ‘Common good’ is defined by the UN

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which provide a framework for Canon to manage our social and environmental impact. Climate neutrality has been a vital part of our comprehensive sustainability strategy for over a decade now. As we look to the future and the development of more sustainable practices, climate neutrality will continue to play a key role in our corporate strategy.”

Founder and CEO, ClimatePartner, Moritz Lehmkuhl adds to this, “We are very happy to celebrate this long-standing partnership with Canon and are looking forward to continuing to be the best possible partner in climate protection, providing our support, counsel and expertise to Canon and its customers. Our tenth anniversary demonstrates how climate protection still remains a top priority for Canon’s business and we will work collaboratively with the team to continue this success, positively impacting both the environment and the climate.”