Environment

Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases must level off at their current level and be reduced in the longer term in order to curb the change taking place in the Earth’s climate. 

For climate-related reasons it is best to use the forests actively. 

Wood is becoming an ever more important product in the sustainable society, as wood captures carbon. Growing forest stores the carbon dioxide from the air in trees and soil in the form of carbon. When the trees are harvested and used for wood products, these products continue to capture carbon throughout the product's life.

The paperboard used exclusively for our environmentally friendly Green Gift Cards range is made for us by our partner, Iggesund in Sweden. This is in part what sets us apart from any other card producers. Over the past 10 years we have tried and tested many other ‘green’ materials including chalk, wood and bio plastics. They have all come up short in terms of their green credentials and are either too energy hungry to make in the first place or are too difficult to recycle at their end of life. This took us full circle and back to paperboard and in our search for the highest quality material we were totally convinced by the Iggesund board. Iggesund make 2 versions of Invercote paperboard for us, a coated smooth surface and unique to us, an uncoated, natural, earthy feeling card that is proving very popular with our customers including the likes of Selfridges and Seasalt Cornwall.  

The story behind our environmentally friendly cards is so compelling and unrivalled and the brands we work with love the fact that they are being as environmentally responsible as possible by choosing our recyclable gift cards. Holeman who own Iggesund, manage their own forests which gives them a 360 degree view of the supply chain and ensures the highest quality products at all times. From harvesting the genetically perfect seeds that grow into the best saplings and big strong trees; there’s a science to it. Iggesund plant 40m trees each year but only harvest one third of that amount which in effect means they expand the forest every year – what we call more than sustainable – so they plant at least 3 for every tree they harvest. The trees take 80 - 100 years to grow,  during that time they absorb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses to help keep our air clear.

The lignin that remains in the cooking water is burned to produce bioenergy – both thermal and electric – which can supply the entire mill’s energy needs.

The paperboard made at Iggesund is made solely from chemically produced cellulose fibres. They are freed by cooking the timber in lye until the timber is dissolved. Wood is comprised of 50 per cent cellulose fibres, with the other 50 per cent being a binding agent, whose most important and largest component is a substance called lignin. The carefully freed fibres are rinsed and bleached before they are ready to be used to make paperboard.

Today the mill has only a minimal impact on the local environment. For example, thanks to the purification system that is in place to take care of air-and water-borne emissions, it is impossible to differentiate by chemical analysis between fish caught immediately outside the mill site from fish caught in reference areas unaffected by the mill.

This is what makes the Invercote green story so compelling and why Holmen Group who own Iggesund are listed in the the UN Global Compact 100 (GC100) and according to EcoVadis statistics the Iggesund mill we use is among the top one percent of all companies assessed, and among the two top percent of paper industries that have been assessed on their Corporate Social Responsibility data.  

Clarifoil^® is a world leading product range of cellulose diacetate films. Celanese, who own Clarifoil, is the world’s largest commercial manufacturer of cellulose diacetate films and we are working with their products, normally used for a wide range of applications including anti-fog windows, window cartons and even ski goggles. 

The Clarifoil^® film is made from a renewable sources, PEFC certified wood pulp, and are both biodegradable and compostable to EN13432, ASTMD6400 and Vincotte OK Compost Home. Their film is the ideal way to both embellish our cards and add improved water resistance. 

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