Book Industry Environmental Council to Launch Eco-Labeling Program
With last week's 40th anniversary of Earth Day and the continuing coverage of the effects of the Icelandish volcanaic ash cloud, the environment has been front and center in news headlines recently. In the book publishing world, another significant environmental-themed story has emerged: The Book Industry Environmental Council (BIEC) is devising—with plans to launch mid-year—an eco-labeling program for books to identify publishers that are leading the way in reducing environmental impacts.
Todd Pollak, program manager of the Green Press Initiative, which coordinates the BIEC, spoke with Book Business Extra on the details of the eco-labeling program, which also was recently the focus of the “Green Publisher Eco-Label and the Industry's Climate Reduction Pathways” session at this year's Publishing Business Conference & Expo in New York City in March.
Book Business Extra: What does the eco-labeling program entail?
Todd Pollak: The eco-label is being developed by BIEC, which is a group of about 40 industry stakeholders, including publishers, printers, paper manufacturers, retailers and environmental organizations. BIEC's eco-label takes a holistic approach to evaluating a publisher's environmental performance across five broad categories. The certification uses a scorecard, which awards points to publishers for using environmentally responsible paper, decreasing paper consumption and waste, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, minimizing the use of toxic compounds, and having strong and transparent environmental policies.
There are three tiers of certification that will be awarded, each requiring an increasing number of points from the scorecard. In addition to meeting minimum points requirements for each tier of certification, publishers will have to meet a set of criteria to verify that the paper they're using isn't resulting in damage to endangered forests.
Extra: How many points do publishers need to qualify for the program?
Pollak: For the lowest tier of certification, publishers need to obtain a minimum score of 400 points. Since points may be awarded from 22 metrics of environmental performance, there are many different ways this point threshold can be achieved. However, the scorecard is weighted such that actions that result in the largest environmental benefits are awarded the most points.
A likely scenario for a publisher achieving the lowest tier of certification would be one that averages 30-percent post-consumer recycled fiber and 20-percent [Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)]-certified paper; has reduced its return rate to 20 percent (compared to a 27-percent average for the industry); and has taken a range of additional steps to minimize climate impacts, such as using efficient lighting and heating/cooling systems in its offices. Endangered forest criteria—which are still being finalized—also need to be met.
Extra: Do e-books factor into the eco-labeling program?
Pollak: At this point, we don't feel we have enough information to make a conclusive determination as to whether e-books are ''greener'' than paper books. While e-books reduce impacts associated with harvesting trees, they have their own impacts associated with extracting raw materials, energy used to manufacture the devices, energy used to power e-readers and the servers that host the books, and issues of electronic waste. User behavior, including the number of books and magazines that are read on each device, also plays into the equation. Since there are so many unknowns at this point, we didn't attempt to calculate the impacts/benefits of e-books. The scorecard for the BIEC eco-label doesn't have any points associated directly with e-books; however, if a publisher is able to reduce their overall return rate by selling more e-books, they'd be eligible to receive points associated with reducing returns.
Extra: How and where are publishers to put these labels on their books?
Pollak: Publishers that are verified to meet the certification criteria will have the right to place the label on their books, as well as websites, catalogs and other places they feel are appropriate. The BIEC will not prescribe the exact placement of the logo, but recommendations about placement … may be suggested, so there's at least some degree of standardization, and so consumers will be used to seeing it in a particular location, such as the back cover or title page.
Extra: What value can publishers expect to gain from being a part of the eco-labeling program?
Pollak: A number of publishers have put a lot of time, effort and resources into developing and implementing meaningful environmental policies. Eco-labels are one way these publishers can get the credit they deserve for their efforts, while at the same time providing an incentive for publishers that have yet to take action.
Many have criticized the idea of a publisher eco-label, saying consumers are unlikely to purchase one book over another simply because one book has an eco-label on it. While this is probably true in most circumstances, there are other reasons why eco-labels could be beneficial to publishers. For example, eco-labels may improve the overall reputation of the company and help in attracting … employees and authors. … In cases where there's a modest price increase resulting from an increased use of recycled or FSC-certified fiber, the label may make that slight increase in price easier for the consumer to swallow. Surveys have shown that most consumers are willing to pay more for books printed on environmentally responsible paper.
Extra: What are some of the major challenges for book publishers looking to reduce their environmental impacts?
Pollak: Concerns about cost, specifically premiums charged for recycled and FSC-certified papers, are the most frequent challenges. The good news is that price premiums, when they do exist, have come way down from where they were a few years ago. Many publishers have been able to take huge strides in increasing recycled fiber and/or FSC-certified papers with little or no additional cost.
Extra: How else can publishers overcome these challenges?
Pollak: There are a number of different approaches publishers have taken to deal with the cost issue. Some have had success in minimizing or eliminating premiums for environmentally responsible papers by casting a wide net when getting quotes from suppliers, then negotiating the best price. Such tactics are often more successful when publishers have formal environmental policies in place with specific recycled and FSC targets. This lets suppliers know that a certain level of environmental performance is required to obtain the publisher’s business.
Leveraging a larger volume can also help reduce cost. On a per book basis, it's almost always cheaper to raise the recycled content across the board than to do it for a few books here and there. Some publishers have offset increases in paper costs with savings from other areas of operations, including savings derived for other endeavors that have environmental benefits—improved energy efficiency, lower return rates or reduced basis weights.
There are also a number of publishers that make the choice upfront that they only want to do business as an environmentally responsible company. If there's a price premium associated with recycled or FSC-certified paper, these companies budget for it and deal with it the same way they'd deal with any cost increase that's necessary for their business (e.g., an increase in energy prices). As more publishers implement strong environmental policies—there are over 225 publishers with environmental commitments in place, representing about 50 percent of market share—and as more recycled and FSC-certified grades of book papers are developed, we expect the premiums that do still exist will continue to drop.
Editor's Note: Publishers can learn more about the BIEC's eco-labeling program here.
- Companies:
- Green Press Initiative
- People:
- Todd Pollak