50 Shades of Green 💚: A first-class look at the (eco) impact of your orders, green energy, and more…

Is sustainable business a hot topic in your company, but you’re finding it tricky to navigate through the green jungle? You’re certainly not alone. In this very first edition of 50 Shades of Green – our regular update on sustainability at Print.com – we’re giving you a peek behind the curtain at what the crew’s been up to during the first part of the year to make our print journey (and yours) a whole lot greener.

Are we now the greenest company in the world? Probably not. But this quarter, we’ve made some brilliant strides in the right (green?) direction.

Fasten your seatbelt and skip to:

• 5 Leaf Score: know what you choose
• CO₂-monitor: insight into the environmental impact of your order
• Green energy in our print and office hubs
• Sustainability report 2024

Or read more about our mission and vision for sustainability and corporate social responsibility

🍃 5 Leaf Score: See just how green your material really is

We want to make choosing sustainable materials as easy as a short-haul flight. So, we developed the 5 Leaf Score – a simple rating system that shows you, at a glance, how green your material is. You guessed it: the more leaves, the more sustainable. That means quicker, conscious choices without endless Googling.

We score materials based on three key factors:

• Bio-based content: How much of it comes from renewable sources like plants or trees?
• Recycled content: How much is made from previously used materials?
• Recyclability: How easy is it to give the material a second life?

Right now, you’ll find the 5 Leaf Score on our most popular materials and substrates. Just head to the product configurator under ‘Materials’ and click on the green info bubble to take a look.

Below you can see what the different ratings mean for the durability of the material you choose:

Score	Sustainability level	Description
No rating	Give the material a second chance	Materials without a leaf do not contain bio-based or recycled raw materials and are not recyclable. Give them a second chance by reusing them.
	A newcomer	These materials contain no recycled content, are non-renewable and contain little or no bio-based raw materials. Recycle them? You can, but it’s not easy.
	A touch greener	Materials with two green leaves either consist exclusively of bio-based or recycled raw materials, a mix of both, or score high on recyclability.
	Sustainable winner	These materials are made from many recycled or bio-based raw materials and are highly recyclable.
	A tip-top green choice	These materials are mostly recycled or bio-based and almost universally recyclable.
	Sustainable winner	These materials are almost entirely recycled and bio-based, 100% recyclable or compostable and free of harmful substances.

🌍 New on board: Track your CO₂ emissions per order

Did you know you can now see the carbon footprint of each order in the app? That’s right – instant insight into the impact of your print choices.

We calculate CO₂ emissions for our high flyers – the materials we sell the most – covering the entire supply chain from production to delivery.

It’s a bit of a puzzle, we won’t lie, but we’re not flying solo here. We use the Carbon Footprint Guide from Intergraf, based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol – a globally recognised standard. To ensure accuracy, we also compare our results with a certified tool from Klimainitiative.

A quick note: when it comes to the final delivery leg (to you or your customer), we’re currently making estimates based on average delivery distances. So, while the CO₂ Monitor isn’t pinpoint precise yet, it gives you a solid overview of the relative environmental impact between product options.

Also good to know: our CO₂ calculation model was developed in-house at Print.com using industry data from CEPI’s Ten Toes, a recognised method in the paper industry.

Curious? You’ll find CO₂ data for a large portion of our products in the web app.

☀️ Green energy from print hub to office desk

Green energy is a key part of our sustainability flight plan. That’s why our print hubs and headquarters are powered by 100% renewable energy.

At our Westerbroek print hub, a fleet of 5,700 solar panels transforms sunlight into clean energy – generating around 1.6 million kWh per year, enough to power 586 households. We also reuse residual heat from our Komori offset presses, paper feed systems, and energy-efficient air compressors to heat the building. Any surplus power? We send it back into the grid. No energy goes to waste.

Let’s not forget our Deventer HQ, where 430 solar panels produced a sunny 111,000 kWh of electricity in 2024 alone.

📊 Sustainability update 2024

From small wins to big leaps, we kept the engines running in 2024. Our Sustainability Report lays it all out – what we achieved and what’s still on the radar. Want to dive into the details by business unit? You’ll find CO₂ emissions broken down per entity in the report.

💡 Got a brilliant recycling idea?

As you can see, we’re well on our way to greater transparency and a greener print industry. But there’s always room for growth – and we’d love your input! Got a clever recycling idea that could give our green journey a boost?

Want some green samples?

We’re creating our 50 Shades of Green sample box, a curated collection that lets you see, touch, and feel a wide range of our more sustainable product options. Complete this form and you’ll be among the first to receive our green sample box when it’s ready. In the meantime, we’ll send you some green goodies to get you started.

Want to know more about our green print journey?

Check out 50 Shades of Green 💚 for all our current news and updates Or drop us a line on your thoughts, your idea might just make it into the next edition!