Suppliers join publishers in sustainability push revealed in GCA’s Market Report
The publishers’ sustainability push revealed in the just-released GCA Market Report 2024 is reflected across the whole greeting card industry as suppliers are also determined to offer eco-friendly products and services.
And it’s an important move as the report shows 70% of the association’s publisher members who responded have already completed their review of the supply chain for more sustainable alternatives, or are in the process of doing so – with another 14% planning to complete this in the next two years.
Envelope and stationery company Enveco has reinforced its commitment by looking set to achieve carbon neutral status across its sites in Milton Keynes and Dewsbury for the second year running along with offering a range of recycled products.
Director Dhruman Shah explained the company works with Carbon Neutral Britain, and added: “We can calculate our entire company carbon footprint and then we invest in various projects that eliminate that same amount of footprint, whether it’s in reforestation projects or tree planting projects.
“It’s quite detailed. The most obvious is electricity and gas consumption across the sites. But also give them figures such as total weight of all the goods coming in, all the goods going out, where it’s going out to, and that’s split across paper, board, packaging, wooden pallets, glue.
“It’s pretty much every component and even includes the staff journeys. How many miles does every single staff member travel both to and from work as well as for work? What means of transport? Walk, cycle, car, is it a two-litre diesel, four-litre petrol, whatever. Even things like exhibitions, train journeys. They want to know everything.
“They then calculate what the footprint is, and have various projects going on around the world, which we invest in per carbon ton.
“As an industry leader on the greeting card envelope manufacturing side, I think it’s important that we reduce our footprint, and we first step is to neutralise it and then work on ways to reduce our footprint overall as well.”
With electric cars already a firm fixture at the business – sales director John Jones has had his for three years – one of the next steps is solar panels to help produce renewable energy at the sites, to go with the low wattage motion-activated lighting and other efficiencies already installed.
“The installation of the solar panels will reduce our energy costs eventually, but it’s a five to seven-year return on investment. At the end of year one, there is no benefit as such to us, other than doing the right thing.
“At some point in the future, we’ll replace any gas forklifts with electric, but that’s something for the future, not immediately as they’re still working, there’s no point replacing something that’s still working.”
On the paper side, all supplies are FSC-certified and sustainable, and some products using recycled materials are on offer, as John explained: “We do buy some paper from Croppers in the Lake District, and the furthest the field our paper comes from is Europe – Italy, Spain, Sweden, it’s all European. So, it’s all FSC and sustainable.
“With the business carbon neutral, there is certification available for the product to be carbon neutral as well and that’s the next thing.”
Another supplier going down the sustainable route is Jacksons CRS, where the greetings, party and stationery wholesaler has just completed the installation of solar panels on the roof of its Sheffield base.
And The Art File is one of the latest publishers to join in the tree-planting schemes, with sales and marketing manager James Mace pleased that over 1,000 trees had been planted with Ecologi in the first few weeks of the partnership.
He added: “We want to do more to protect the planet, so we’re extremely excited to have partnered with Ecologi. For every £20 spent through our shop, we’re funding tree planting all over the world. Not only do Ecologi stand by responsible tree planting, they’re B Corp Certified and fully transparent about their projects.
“We’ve already planted hundreds of trees in the first month, and we’re excited to fund more. Here’s to doing more to protect our planet, one card at a time!”
There’s also research that shows 30% of Brits are willing to pay up to 10% more for a sustainable product compared to the non-sustainable equivalent, even amidst the cost-of-living crisis.
The study of 2,000 respondents, compiled by OnePoll for out-of-home media and infrastructure company Clear Channel UK also revealed an astonishing 10% of older Gen Z and younger Millennials are willing to pay up to 50% extra for a sustainable product, while 6% would pay up to 60% extra.,
This all ties in with the Market Report’s data, where 50% of publishers have completed or are currently undertaking reducing their business’ carbon footprint, with 27% planning to do so in the next two years – and it’s 55% and 14% on investing in more sustainable processes, automation and machinery, with 70% and 5% for reshoring manufacturing back to the UK where possible.
Making cards fully recyclable has already been done by 84% of publishers, with another 5% set to do so, while it’s 82% and 5% for reducing or removing cellophane sleeves and plastic packaging from cards where possible.
The annual GCA Market Report, which provides an invaluable benchmark into the health and the wealth of the UK greeting card sector, covering sales of everyday, Christmas, and spring seasons events as well as relations, occasions and age cards, tracked both by value and volume, also includes various measures on the sustainable front.
The report, which covers the period January to December 2023, is compiled from feedback provided directly by GCA publisher members, which is managed independently, confidentially and securely by award-winning market data company Echo Research.
It is available free to download for most GCA members, while non-members can purchase it for £750 by clicking here.
