We recognise that all our business activities have the potential to affect the environment and we endeavour to manage these in a responsible manner. This Policy sets out our commitments in relation to the main areas where the company has significant environmental impacts:

This Policy has been adopted by the board of Trinity Mirror, who will ensure that it is progressively implemented through a programme of annual targets and action plans. Progress against policy commitments will be regularly audited and reported publicly using appropriate performance indicators.

Trinity Mirror is a major purchaser of paper for newspapers and magazines, and we recognise the potential impact that timber extraction for paper-making may have on forest conservation.

We are committed to ensuring that the wood fibre used to produce our paper comes from reputable sources. This means that we will seek to use either recycled fibre, or “virgin” wood fibre that comes from well-managed forests. Trinity Mirror supports the concept of independent third-party certification as a means of promoting good forest management practice and we will use our buying power to support certification schemes wherever possible.

It is Trinity Mirror’s policy to:

1.   Maximise the proportion of recycled fibre in the paper we use, within the technical constraints of obtaining paper that is fit-for-purpose.

2.   Work with our paper suppliers to trace the forests of origin of the virgin wood fibre that goes into the paper we use.

3.   Work with our suppliers to identify any forest sources of wood fibre that are unacceptable, either on environmental or social grounds, and seek to eliminate these from our supply chain.

4.   Wherever possible, purchase paper where the virgin fibre content has been independently certified as coming from well-managed forests.

Trinity Mirror recognises that climate change, triggered by greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, poses a significant threat to the world’s environment. We contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases through the energy we use for printing, for running our offices, distributing our publications and in business travel.

We are committed to measuring and wherever possible reducing the energy consumption associated with all of the operational activities where we have direct management control.

It is Trinity Mirror’s policy to:

1.   Measure and report the energy consumption of our printing works and offices.

2.   Measure and report the energy consumption of our in-house vehicle fleet.

3.   Identify opportunities for energy saving and set defined action plans for achieving these savings.

4.   Identify and report business risks and opportunities presented by climate change and greenhouse gas emissions data, through internationally recognised schemes such as the Carbon Disclosure Project.

5.   Collaborate in industry-wide initiatives to better understand the carbon foot-print of printed media.

The emission to the atmosphere of solvent vapours – known as “Volatile Organic Compounds” (VOCs) – has traditionally been a major concern for the printing industry. VOCs have been typically associated with the solvent content of important raw materials such as inks and cleaning materials used in printing processes. We have made considerable progress in recent years in reducing the consumption of raw materials that contain VOCs. In particular, most of our print sites have now moved to low-VOC inks and blanket washes. This means that all of our own print works fall below the threshold limits for VOC emissions that would require authorisation under European environmental legislation. We are committed however to finding alternatives to our remaining uses of VOC-containing materials.

It is Trinity Mirror’s policy to:

1.   Measure and report the consumption of VOCs at our printing works.

2.   Wherever possible substitute raw materials that contain VOCs with alternatives that contain either reduced or no VOCs.

Trinity Mirror generates significant amounts of waste that require treatment or disposal. Major sources of waste from our operations include: paper from printing, packaging materials, office waste, end-of-life equipment and hazardous materials such as waste oils and chemicals. 

We are committed to maximising the amount of waste we re-cycle or re-use. Where disposal is the only option, we will do this in a legal and responsible manner.

It is Trinity Mirror’s policy to:

1.   Identify all of the waste streams from our premises.

2.   Identify opportunities for recycling or reusing wastes and realise these through defined action plans.

3.   Measure and report the quantities of all of our major waste streams and the proportion of each waste stream that is recycled or re-used.

4.   Progressively reduce and eventually eliminate waste that is sent to landfill.

Trinity Mirror recognises that certain operations which are contracted out - notably the printing of magazine supplements and the distribution by road of printed products – may have significant environmental impacts.  Potential impacts include energy consumption from printing and road transport and VOC emissions and wastes arising from printing processes.

We expect our major print and distribution contractors to have environmental policies and programmes which are equivalent to our own.

It is Trinity Mirror’s policy to:

1.   Do business only with print and distribution suppliers who have effective environmental policies and programmes and, wherever possible, are certified to either the ISO14001 or EMAS environmental management system standards.

2.   Work with our suppliers to measure and report the energy associated with contracted printing, contracted product distribution and business travel.

3.   Work with our suppliers to measure and report the consumption of VOCs attributable to Trinity Mirror publications that are printed externally.

4.   Work with our suppliers to measure and report the generation of wastes attributable to Trinity Mirror publications that are printed externally.

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