Denmaur's recycled "Revive" paper delivers performance with purpose

Denmaur Independent Papers, one of the largest paper merchants in the UK, launched Revive, a comprehensive range of recycled papers in April 2016. This was in response to companies and organisations seeking to embrace a sustainable solution for their printed media and communications and perhaps, demonstrate their willingness to go beyond just doing enough. Many were indeed becoming advocates.  

 

For a number of years Denmaur have been working closely with a number of forward thinking companies with regard to their CSR strategy and policy. It was clear that many were way ahead of government policy, and this further encouraged Denmaur to invest in Revive.

 

With many key businesses already shaping and driving policy, the need to move towards a circular, low carbon economy was becoming more apparent. The historic Paris climate change agreement (COP21) in December 2015 was the official rubber stamp of global climate change policy, with the target of limiting global climate change to 2.0ºc ratified at Marrakech (COP22) in 2016. 

 

Although the political scene has been subject to some change since, Denmaur Independent Papers Marketing Director, Peter Sommerville, commented, “We retain the belief that it is inevitable that companies and individuals alike will have to face facts and be more particular about their use of finite resources and energy.”

 

Most of the emphasis in the paper industry, in the last decade or so, has related to the sustainable forest certification standards - namely FSC® and PEFC, and we have reached the point now where most, if not all, virgin fibre paper grades sold in the UK are certified as sustainably sourced.

 

The next environmental step in the industry was to demonstrate paper as a circular product in action, and it was against this background that Denmaur took the decision to launch their range of recycled papers, Revive. 

 

Available in a number of coated and uncoated options, Revive had already been well received in the corporate and educational sectors, having done particularly well within the university prospectus arena.

 

Key to Revive’s success was its ability to match the printing and visual performance of premium virgin fibre products in the graphical sector.  Denmaur, through the efforts of its Sustainability Manager, Danny Doogan, verified the scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions associated with the manufacture and distribution of the Revive range, and in collaboration with the World Land Trust, successfully offset these emissions through their Carbon Balanced Paper project. Hence Revive delivers a double benefit in the form of a certified recycled product that is Carbon Balanced, free of charge! 

 

Carbon Balancing also entitles the users of Revive to the use of the World Land Trust’s Carbon Balanced Paper logo on their artwork - enabling them to provide a demonstration of their environmental commitment, and receive an official World Land Trust certificate that will endorse the amount of carbon emissions balanced through their purchase of Revive – and this serves as a valid record for the purposes of environmental reporting. 

 

Revive Carbon Balanced Papers was launched in April 2016 at the London Hippodrome, where Denmaur Independent Papers were delighted to host a climate change seminar with a number of eminent speakers in attendance led by renowned environmentalist and former senior advisor to HM Government, Jonathon Porritt.

 

To support the launch, more options were added to the Revive range, namely Revive 100 Media, which is designed specifically for the magazine and catalogue market. The Revive 100 Media addition also benefits from the free Carbon Balance solution.

 

Enter one of those companies which Denmaur had been discussing the use of recycled papers from as early as 2013, namely UBM, a global events organiser and magazine publisher.

 

The unique double of Revive’s recycled profile combined with its carbon balanced solution was immediately appealing to a top FT250 company, UBM EMEA, who are part of the UBM plc group. They initially chose to use Revive 100 Silk supplied by Denmaur for their printed marketing requirements. From the outset, UBM’s decision making had been driven by the requirements of their broader corporate strategy which places sustainability at the very core of their operations. 

 

UBM were one of the earliest global event management companies to be awarded the coveted ISO20121 standard for Sustainable Event Management. Thereafter they have continued to work closely with their entire supply base to ensure the highest standards of sourcing and on achieving verifiable certification to support this.