Abstract
The carbon footprint is a system for displaying the CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gases emitted during the entire lifecycle of products and services. Product Category Rule (PCR) for calculating the carbon footprint of printed matter, packaging and printing inks are in the drafting stages. Toyo Ink preliminary calculation values indicate that CO2 emissions for printing ink are around 2 to 3 kg for every 1 kg of product. Printing ink accounts for 1% or less of CO2 emissions for printed matter as a whole, indicating that cutting back on the amount and weight of paper and reducing the environmental burden in the printing process are the most important steps in curtailing CO2 emissions for printed matter. In terms of packaging, CO2 emissions are 7 to 12 g per bag, but differences were observed depending on the printing and the method of conversion.
