We are certainly aware that we leave a carbon footprint on the world with our services. That’s why we already advocate for better segmented mailings that are only sent when they are truly relevant to the customer. We’re also enabling hyper-personalized content on smaller formats to reduce paper waste. But now we’re doing a bigger part to help the environment.

Starting in 2021, every print mailing from optilyz will be carbon-neutral!

We now work with ClimatePartner to determine our carbon footprint each year and offset it by supporting various climate projects. 

ClimatePartner determines the annual carbon balance from various assets of a company and adds a safety margin of 10% to it. This sum of emissions is equated with a sum of money, which is invested in climate protection projects to make up for the amount of emissions. Since we have made it our goal to offset our emissions, we have decided to support two different climate protection projects. On the one hand, we invest in a regional project planting trees in Germany and on the other hand in the project forest protection in Pará, Brazil. Based on these initiatives, every print mailing at optilyz becomes carbon-neutral. 

Calculation of our carbon footprint

To determine the specific carbon footprint, ClimatePartner calculates CO2 emissions according to international standards. To do this, all consumption data is collected by having the companies fill out an online questionnaire. In addition, ClimatePartner researches the relevant emission factors and then calculates the emissions. This results in a detailed evaluation and documentation of the CO2 footprint. This balance enables companies to implement various measures and monitor them in order to avoid and reduce further CO2 emissions.

ClimatePartner has, after taking our data into account, created a carbon footprint following the guidelines of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (GHG Protocol).

For 2019, our company generated a carbon footprint of 433.45 tons of CO2. This is equivalent to driving 1,346,134 km in a passenger car, the annual carbon footprint of 52 European citizens or the annual CO2 sequestration of 34,676 beeches.

The majority of our emissions are due to our direct mail service.  The item of production and consumables, as well as outbound logistics, achieve about 81.6% of our total emissions.

To ensure that all emissions are offset within the system boundary and to compensate for potential uncertainties, a safety margin of 10% is added to the calculated footprint. Thus, the total amount of CO2 emissions to be offset is 478.8 tons of CO2.

Climate protection projects that we support

The project Trees Planting in Germany supports the reforestation and conversion of German forests. Due to forest fires, but also due to drought and heat, German forests are shrinking, triggered by climate change. Tree species such as spruce have problems reaching deeper, watery layers of soil due to their shallow roots and are also more susceptible to storms. For this reason, forests are being converted to so-called mixed forests, consisting of oaks and pines, for example. These are more resistant to climate change and tolerate heat and drought better. 

The Forest Conservation Project in Pará, Brazil protects the 90,000-hectare forest and prohibits commercial logging. It also creates alternative sources of income for the 94 local families, for example through trade in the açaí fruit. The project is not only certified with the Verified Carbon Standard, but also with the Social Carbon Standard, as the project promotes development in one of the poorest regions in northeastern Brazil. 

You can find even more about ClimatePartner and its various projects here.