Climate Change Forum heralds McNaughton’s green pledge

Paper merchant James McNaughton Group’s commitment to leading in environmental best practice was demonstrated at its recent Climate Change Forum.

Speaking at James McNaughton Group’s first Climate Change Forum in Birmingham this year, McNaughton’s director for corporate responsibility Howard Browning explained that within the company corporate responsibility means actions rather than words: “In our view, being responsible means taking active responsibility for our individual business processes and their impact on the environment and the community around us.”

The Climate Change Forum is part of James McNaughton Group’s Sustainable Solutions programme, and is in keeping with the Group’s determination to be at the forefront of environmental initiatives, attracting an audience of Europe’s leading paper manufacturers, clients, print company representatives, staff and leading environmentalists.

The Forum followed on from the Prince of Wales May Day Business Summit on Climate Change, hosted by His Royal Highness in June this year, at which the 800 companies who attended pledged to take positive action to reduce their business CO2 emissions before reconvening again in 2008 with a particular focus on suppliers’ activities. McNaughton’s even received a letter of support from the Prince of Wales, congratulating it on its decision to stage the event and on seeking to do something to combat climate change.

Following a number of questions on the environment, emissions and climate change, Browning outlined to the Forum what McNaughton’s has been actively doing to reduce its own carbon footprint over the past two years.

The Group has appointed Carbon Trust consultants to produce the group’s first energy review, which had then resulted in establishing a group energy policy, whilst raising awareness across McNaughton’s and its respective business units.

“We have converted our electricity supply over to 100% renewable energy for the majority of our sites thus reducing our Group’s total carbon emissions by approximately 28%, which is the equivalent of 1,800 tonnes per annum. In addition renewable energy supplier Ecotricity will supply massive 58 metre, 2mW wind turbines to McNaughton’s CDC warehouse sites, which will then supply all of the company’s electricity. Gas consumption at these sites has also been reduced by 67%,” Browning explained.

“In conjunction with The Energy Saving Trust, we commissioned a fleet review and as a result our fleet car policy has been changed to ‘diesel and hybrid only’ for all car purchases from 1st April 2007. This will reduce carbon emissions and will in time reduce our total fuel usage by 23%,” stated Browning.

He also announced that the group had installed and introduced both telephone and video conferencing facilities around its UK sites aimed at reducing ‘meeting miles’.

In working with the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), James McNaughton has been one of the most proactive merchants, converting 70,000 tonnes over to recycled grades since 2005.

At the same time Browning pointed out that a dedicated “Green Team” had also been established along with a dedicated email address called FORLIFE, which enables colleagues to send ideas and suggestions that will improve McNaughton’s environmental and social responsibilities. This includes the group’s own Environmental Executive, Lee Henderson who is responsible for maintaining all of the company’s accreditations, namely ISO 9001, 14001, FSC, PEFC and Chain of Custody. As Henderson is a trained lead auditor, McNaughton Paper can now offer its customers personalised Quality and Environmental consultancy support, which is an industry first.

He then went on to explain about M-real’s Recycle initiative, effectively a “Close the Loop” waste paper programme, in which McNaughton offers a free of charge service to collect printers’ waste from within London and the south-east, returning it to M-real’s Kent-based RCF plant to help produce Evolve and EP4 100% de-inked recycled grades.

Browning revealed the initiatives undertaken by McNaughton’s logistics company gm2. This has included the trialing of an all-electric commercial truck built in Britain. McNaughton’s is planning to use this type of vehicle for its central London deliveries and it will offer customers the unique opportunity of having both silent and zero CO2 emission deliveries.

Over the last five years gm2 has managed through better route planning to reduce its fleet by 36 vehicles, thus reducing road mileage by over one million miles per year, and reducing carbon emissions by 975 tonnes per year.

At the beginning of 2007 McNaughton’s also had its application to join The Corporate Responsibility Group, or CRG, approved, becoming the first company within the paper or print industry to do so. CRG is made up of 94 of the UK’s leading companies and corporations, all of whom are committed to adopting a social, ethical, and environmentally responsible approach to business practice and have a strong track record in developing corporate social responsibility initiatives.

“All of the company’s activities that Howard highlighted are contained within our Sustainable Solutions brochure,” says Tony Porter, group marketing director. “We have also included details of our extensive environmental product offering along with other environmental information and a glossary of terms. These have been exceptionally popular with customers,” Porter adds. Each delegate was given a copy to take away. The document can be viewed on www.jmcpaper.com.

Other speakers at the event included climate expert Sir Crispin Tickell, who spoke about the scientific realities of Climate Change, and Alan Knight from the Sustainable Development Commission, who gave a punchy insight on the subject of the Impacts and Opportunities of Climate Change for business, citing examples such as Virgin Group’s £3 billion investment in biofuels and highlighting how companies do not want to be environmentally embarrassed by their brands and their activities to guard against it.

Anthony Rowell from Polar Print, a leading print company which has taken the environment to the forefront of its business agenda, explained about environmental responsibility in print and how it can benefit end users.

Andy Seal explained how the Government Recycled Paper Framework operates with some 250,000 tonnes of printing paper specified and procured from the market place by the public sector, of which just 5% is already recycled. McNaughton’s is just one of six major merchants contracted to supply recycled paper under the agreement, and will be working with the Framework to help it achieve the government’s targets.

Anna Jenkins of WWF’s Forest Trade Network enlightened the audience as to how sustainability in the paper supply operates and what it means to the industry. The forum was concluded by James McNaughton’s group purchasing director, Philippe Gibson, who discussed the firm’s procurement policy and its supply chain opportunities and objectives.

In what has been a landmark year for McNaughton’s environmentally, its achievements were acknowledged in July after the national paper merchant group was crowned “Environmental Supplier of the Year”, at the Quality in Print Media (QIP) Awards 2007.

Held at the London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square on 2 July, the QIP Awards are designed to reward excellence across the print media supply chain and recognise companies, such as the James McNaughton Group, that have risen to this fast-changing industry’s unique challenges. The ‘Environmental Supplier of the Year’ award also recognises the growing and critical importance of environmental issues within the supply chain.

McNaughton’s was recognised for not only its exceptional commitment to the environment and on-growing improvements, but also for educating its customers and suppliers in how they can take action to reduce their own environmental impact. Tony Porter reported that “the Group were delighted to be recognised for a lot of hard work that had gone on throughout the company in a relatively short period of time”.

The Group looks set to continue to build on its platform as the leading paper merchant group when it comes to environmental issues with plans to erect a wind turbine on its gm2 logistics site at Hilltop in Leicester, and to soon take delivery of its first electric truck for deliveries into central London.

About The James McNaughton Group

The James McNaughton Group is a major supplier of graphic and office paper, board, plastics and other substrates to the graphic arts and printing markets in the UK and Ireland with a turnover in excess of £260 million.

Companies within the Group are: McNaughton Paper Merchants, McNaughton Graphical Papers, McNaughton Paper Ireland, McNaughton Paper NI, McNaughton Publishing Papers, McNaughton Printall, Paper Management Services, Talk Paper, GM2 Logistics

It is part of the Map Merchant Group, with merchants in 23 European countries and owned by Sequana Capital.