New rating of Swiss pocket books on environmental performance
© WWF Switzerland
To protect forests and our climate, pocket book publishers should use primarily recycled papers.
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The ecological performance of German language pocketbooks was investigated by the independent, Zurich-based rating agency INrate, commissioned by WWF Switzerland. The agency evaluated the ecological quality of printing papers, but also the overall strategy and transparency of the environmental management of suppliers.
Winner of the rating is Reclams Universal-Bibliothek, reaching 558 out of 800 possible points. Around 470 points were reached by the publisher Random House: btb, Goldmann, Heyne and Mosaik. These pocketbook brands only use FSC certified paper which provides an assurance for forest management to highest environmental and social standards.
Steps in the right direction regarding ecological paper choices have been taken by Piper pocketbooks, List and Reclam pocketbooks. Slightly above average rating but with some need for improvement are BvT, dtv and Diogenes. Even more need for improvement have the publishers Ullstein und Bastei Luebbe which are below average grade. Further 8 publishers did not provide information about their ecological performance: Fischer, Insel, KIWI, Knaur, rororo, Suhrkamp Taschenbuch, Suhrkamp Wissenschaft und Unionsverlag.
The results for environmental strategies was overall disappointing, showing room for improvement for all publishers.
"In order to protect forests and our climate, pocketbook publishers should use primarily recycled papers" recommends Simone Stammbach, WWF project manager. "With each ton of recycling paper instead of virgin fibres, 1 ton of climate change emissions, 17 trees and 46 000 liter water can be saved. If virgin fibres are used these should be FSC certified."
Kontakt:
Simone Stammbach, Project Manager Business & Consumption, Mobil: 0044 79 407 35 67 simone.stammbach@wwf.ch