Veronica Heaven, corporate responsibility director of PaperCo, said that by joining the Prince's Mayday Network, the company can share its methods of measuring, monitoring and reducing its carbon footprint with like-minded organisations.

She said: "PaperCo is already working in conjunction with Defra and other key government departments.

"We were identified in 2008 as one of 20 key suppliers to participate in the Carbon Disclosure Project – Supply Chain Leadership Collaborator (SCLC) project - and have made a submission annually since then."

The company is also on the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group at the House of Commons.

In 2007, PaperCo's CO2 emissions were put at 14,791 tonnes per annum, and by 2020 it is committed to lowering that figure to 10,410 tonnes.

It is reducing energy used by heating, cooling and lighting and by having responsible company car and distribution policies.

Heaven said: "We continue to support our customers wishing to progress to a more sustainable future and in September and October will run a series of environmental matters seminars around the UK.

"Already we are PEFC and FSC certified and over 80% of the products we supply are Chain of Custody approved."