You may have read that we had 318.54 tonnes of carbon emissions in financial year 2021. We’re upfront about it because our staff and customers want to know where we stand and what we are doing to reduce our carbon emissions.
You can read more about this in our disclosure statement here. Disclosure is important and we encourage all businesses and organisations in New Zealand to do the same – measure your carbon footprint and let everyone know what your plans are to reduce your carbon emissions. We’re committed to reducing our carbon footprint as an organisation. As a Toitū carbonzero certified organisation we’re required to publish an Emissions Management Reduction Plan which we think is a great way of documenting our plans and projects to reduce emissions.
How we’re planning to reduce our emissions
Our main emissions as a business come from paper (after all we are a commercial printing company!), electricity, fuel and air travel. The largest areas for emissions reduction at Excel Digital are in electricity and fuel as these are significant sources where we can make an impact. The emissions from electricity and fuel make up the majority of what is known as our ‘scope 1 and scope 2 emissions.’ We have set a public target to reduce these. Our target is:
A 15% intensity reduction for both revenue and clicks in Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG [Greenhouse Gas] combined emissions to be completed by 31 March 2026.
When we say ‘intensity’ we mean that we are basing our targets relative to the intensity of the work we do, measured by our annual revenue and our printed throughput measured by machine ‘clicks.’ For more of a technical rundown or to know more about our plans to reduce our emissions please do reach out!
How we’re offsetting our emissions
While we are reducing our emissions, the reality is that most organisations will never reach zero emissions. This then calls for carbon offsetting. Once an organisation has measured their carbon emissions and this has been independently verified, the balance of carbon emissions can be ‘offset’ by investing in carbon credits. One carbon credit purchased effectively balances one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) emitted. Carbon credits and trading underpin global emissions reduction. They are a way of incentivising emissions reduction and sustainable development in Aotearoa and around the world. We have purchased our carbon credits through our sustainability partner Toitū Envirocare.
Mt Pleasant, Marlborough Sounds
Our carbon emissions are broken down into three ‘scopes.’ Scopes one and two are emissions that we have a high degree of control over such as electricity usage and fuel. We have chosen to offset our scope 1 and 2 emissions through a sustainable development project based right here in Aotearoa, New Zealand. We’re investing in Mt Pleasant, a native bush regeneration project designed to be a carbon sink project in the Marlborough Sounds. Mt Pleasant is a privately owned land block with trees including mānuka, kānuka, tree ferns, tōtara and beech trees.
The forest shelters many native birds including kererū, fantail, ruru, tauhou, tūi and bellbird. The kārearea (New Zealand falcon), one of New Zealand’s threatened, nationally vulnerable birds, can often be seen around Mt Pleasant at dusk and dawn. We are thankful that we can contribute to the Mt Pleasant project.
