Sony Tackles Print's Environmental Impact

The importance of addressing the environmental impact of print has been endorsed by Sony, which has adopted Charterhouse's Carbon Neutral Print Production Programme for two print-based campaigns.

Charterhouse, which has been Sony's contracted print manager since 2004, said it worked closely with the electronic goods firm's marketing and environmental departments to offset the emissions from producing all the marketing print for a Spiderman 3 preview event, along with the spring edition of its European-wide product brochure.

On a wider scale, Sony has also pledged to make the next two production runs of its main European product catalogue carbon neutral, which is a move sponsored by the company's environmental department.

The consumer publication is distributed to Sony centres and other resellers across Europe via Sony's marketing departments, and it features the range of Sony brands, including Vaio, Bravia, and Walkman.

At over 100 pages in length the catalogue is adapted and translated for all Sony's European markets, with an average production run of around one million copies.

The Spiderman preview was an event to showcase the film's special effects and Sony's new 4k projector that is claimed to offer a picture resolution four times that of standard high definition.

Sony utilised Charterhouse's service to measure and neutralise all CO2 emissions associated with dressing the venue, including the exterior and interior banners, door surrounds, popcorn buckets, ticket machine surrounds, waste bin covers and light-box posters.

Four hundred people (from Sony Pictures, Sony Business Europe and Odeon) attended the showing that was scheduled three days before the film's official UK launch.

In addition, the promotional materials that supported the preview were also made carbon neutral, including souvenir ticket holders, posters and leaflets that were used to advertise the film around Guildford (UK) town centre after the official opening.

Carl Pring, Sony marketing manager PSE UK and project manager for the Spiderman event, said: "We are delighted to make such a high profile event carbon neutral and support Charterhouse's proactive approach to environmental print issues." Matthew Stevens, the Charterhouse director responsible for the Sony business, commented: "It is a great accolade for Charterhouse that one of our top clients and indeed one of the world's leading brands is supporting our Carbon Neutral Print Production initiative in this way.

With Sony on board we hope to continue pushing the importance of carbon management within the print industry." By making its print production carbon neutral, Sony has backed the Charterhouse initiative at a central level, with Sony's environmental affairs Europe funding the offset.

Dave West, Sony Communications Europe's senior manager, commented: "Charterhouse has raised the profile of carbon emissions in the printing industry, we are keen to explore carbon neutral print production when addressing our environmental impact in Europe.".

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