Sustainability’s importance in consumers’ lives continues to grow. Some 57% of respondents to Pro Carton’s 2025 Consumer Packaging Perception Survey, released for Earth Day (22 April), said that it had become even more important to them to lead a sustainable lifestyle over the past year.

This pressure is leading to pressure on consumers’ buying decisions, with 65% prioritising easy-to-recycle packaging – and 89% saying they would choose cartonboard over plastic when given the option.

Business-to-business print is coming under similar pressure, according to Nathan Tiller, co-founder of Carbon Quota, a specialist carbon accounting service for the print industry.

He told Printweek that since the company’s foundation in 2020, print businesses have increasingly had to learn how to field queries about their climate credentials – and provide proof of their sustainability activity. Large clients, he said, are particularly keen on print sustainability data, thanks to their own reporting requirements.

“There is now a cohort of people feeling pressure from their customers and legislation to provide more transparency around the supply chain, and report on their sustainability metrics,” he said.

“There are a lot of people starting to calculate their carbon as a result of that customer pressure, and starting to ask what they can do differently.”

Tiller added that a few years ago, most businesses had focused on understanding their impact: now, that focus has shifted to cutting emissions and making more sustainable choices, thanks to that customer pressure.

“[People are asking:] ‘How can I source lower-carbon materials’? If they’re a print buyer, how can they source a lower-carbon factory that uses more renewables, or a paper supply chain that uses more renewable energy in the milling and distribution processes? 

“We’re helping people change and reimagine how their supply chains work. There’s been quite a change in the last few years, and Earth Day brings that into light – because we’re getting through [the Earth’s] resources in a very, very quick way.”

Earth Day 2025 marks the 55th iteration of the annual event, under the theme “Our power, our planet”, which advocates for the adoption of renewable energy sources.

A major potential source of renewable power for printers is rooftop solar, which until March 2026 will be tax-advantaged under a 50% First Year Allowance, effectively allowing printers to write half the cost of their solar panels off their corporation tax bill.

Print factories’ need for a wide floorspace, and high daytime demand for electricity make them ideal candidates for solar. Abingdon’s Thomas Leach Colour, which signed up to a solar panel financing scheme from Electron Green, will cut its grid electricity usage 45%; Micropress invested £500,000 in a significant expansion to its own array in mid-2024.

Now covering the firm’s 9,600sqm factory’s northern roof, the firm generates around a MWh of green electricity annually.

“We’ve been really pleased with the results from our solar investment so far,” Rob Cross, co-managing director of Micropress, told Printweek.

“We now have a Solar Array of just over a megawatt installed and when the sun is shining our entire factory is powered by solar. From both an environmental and commercial point of view, I’d absolutely recommend it to other businesses looking to reduce their carbon footprint and long-term energy costs.”

“As we celebrate Earth Day it's good to remember that print, paper and paper packaging have a great sustainability story to tell,” added Josh Birch, campaign manager at print and paper advocacy group Two Sides, which has campaigned against ‘greenwashing’ in advertising.

He told Printweek: “Paper is made from wood, a natural and sustainable resource. Far from causing deforestation, forests in Europe have been growing. Managed sustainably they play an indispensable role in climate and biodiversity protection.

“Paper is also one of the most highly recycled materials with a 79% recycling rate in Europe. The industry must continue to focus on managing its impact and the coming EUDR legislation will only further ensure it originates from legal and managed sources.”