Environmental Policy

Bloomsbury is a leading independent publishing house.  We are known worldwide as a home for award-winning authors and illustrators as well as our quality, diverse and creative publishing.  We aim to bring that innovation to our sustainability efforts.  We care about the planet and we know that the process of creating books is reliant on our natural resources. We are putting changes in place to become better at publishing sustainably. 

We have set ourselves goals to reduce the environmental impact of our operations, to source our paper responsibly and to reduce our carbon emissions. We are mapping our footprint to serve as a baseline for all future improvements.  Our intention is to be carbon neutral.  We’re working on an appropriate timetable which we will announce in due course. 

We believe in being open and honest in the way we do business throughout our supply chain and operating in a fair and sustainable way. 

The choices we make as a business impact the planet and we are dedicated to reducing the footprint we leave in bringing books to today’s readers.  We want to future-proof the Earth so tomorrow’s readers can enjoy it too.

 

FSC PAPER SOURCING

We believe in protecting the world’s forests and we are committed to ensuring the paper we use is responsibly sourced.  A keystone of our global print purchasing strategy is the requirement for Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) accreditation to act as a print supplier to Bloomsbury, and we direct the printers buying paper on our behalf to use FSC-accredited materials in the manufacture of our products. Where FSC-accredited materials are not available we specify alternatives from known and reputable sources. As a result, over 90% of our output is made from FSC-certified materials.

CARBON FOOTPRINT

We work with Trucost, to monitor our impact on the environment.  They measure our waste, carbon emissions and water consumption across our offices.  We aim to reduce our waste to landfill and we’re working on an appropriate timetable which we will announce in due course. We are in the process of switching to renewable energy across all our controlled sites.

The Bloomsbury Sustainability Working Group was established in 2019. The in-house group’s aim is to drive our sustainable efforts across three areas of the business:

Corporate

  • We have modified our print purchasing strategy to reduce our net impact on the environment as follows, and we continue to investigate new ways of managing our supply chain responsibly.
    • Increased use of print on demand models to cut down on the wastage of materials and CO2 generated in the manufacture, transportation, storage, and pulping of unwanted units.
    • Shift towards local printing (at the point of demand) to reduce the carbon emissions resulting from transportation, in particular air freight.  
    • Extended schedules for global publications to allow for the use of sea over air freight.   We feel this is particularly relevant in light of the IMO 2020 Global Sulphur Limit.*
  • We work only with Forestry Stewardship Council (“FSC”) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (“PEFC”) accredited suppliers, and we use FSC materials to manufacture over 90% of our products.  
  • We work only with print suppliers who can demonstrate a commitment to the preserving the environment.
  • We embrace digital publishing and all the potential benefits this may bring to the environment. 
  • We have agreed to reduce business travel significantly based on lessons learned through revised patterns of working during the Covid-19 lockdown.

In our offices:

  • We only use energy-efficient light bulbs. We are rolling out a program to upgrade lots of these to LED. The modern sections of the building have motion sensors and timers controlling the lighting systems which turn the lights off after a period of inactivity.
  • We recycle paper and card and have mixed recycling points in all kitchens 
  • We use cardboard packaging for all shipments going out from our Bedford Square office.  All cardboard packaging is 100% recyclable.
  • We use virtual meeting technology where possible and assess the need for all international business travel
  • We are currently looking to switch our energy supply to 100% renewable energy. 
  • In the light of remote working during Covid 19, we have launched a Future Working Practices project to change the way we work going forward and improving sustainability will be a key consideration. 

Collaborative

  • We are joining the Book Chain Project in order to drive a more sustainable supply chain across the industry.
  • We are constantly working with our suppliers and distributors to find innovative ways to reduce packaging and streamline distribution to lower emissions.

Individual

  • In the UK we provide secure bike lock areas and participate in the ride to work scheme to encourage cycling
  • Meeting rooms are equipped with facilities to show documents on a large screen to reduce paper consumption
  • Signs encourage lights to be turned off as staff leave a meeting room
  • Keep Cups and reusable cutlery are available in all staff kitchens
  • Staff are encouraged to use the water coolers throughout our offices instead of plastic bottled water 
  • We have an ‘opt in’ policy on all food provided by the company for events, i.e. you have to opt in if you want fish or meat

 

Publishing:

Bloomsbury is committed to achieving a carbon neutral world through the leveraged power it has to influence to the debate through the books it publishes. Our editorial policies ensure that we publish actively in this area. Titles published include: Tim Smedley’s Clearing The Air Mary Robinson’s Climate Justice, Jen Gale’s The Sustainable (ish) Living Guide, Al Gore’s ground breaking An Inconvenient Truth.

* http://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/HotTopics/Pages/Sulphur-2020.aspx