The Leicester-based print procurement specialist said that the feature now comes as standard when using the company’s system, with all of the jobs that have been flowing through the system since 1 March made carbon neutral.

Haybrooke chief executive John Roche told Printweek: “We had a think about providing the option for users to opt out of carbon neutrality but it had been successful in the areas where we’d applied it before, following a couple of years ago when we decided to use carbon neutrality as part of the USP of our system.

“The uptake then was pretty good. It’s not just about the kudos of having the box ticked, it’s actually about the care for the environment as well. Here we have an environmental conscience, and we just think it’s the right thing to do, to do everything that is possible to contribute to the reduction of CO2.”

The carbon offsetting is carried out in collaboration with Haybrooke’s corporate environmental partner ClimateCare.

“We know that the better option [than carbon offsetting] is carbon reduction, which is ultimately what’s going to save the planet,” said Roche.

“But if you can offset your emissions with a project such as those administered by ClimateCare in Sub-Saharan Africa – the work they are doing in Kenya, Ghana and places like that is absolutely amazing – you’re helping third-world communities as well as reducing CO2 in those parts of the world.

“So there are benefits to it, but ultimately the CO2 emissions that are being offset are just being effectively neutralised with balancing.”

He added: “So with printing as a service, we decided that for all of the right reasons, we were going to make all of the jobs carbon neutral, included within the margins that we add as part of the commercial mechanisms that are in place there.”

The customer will see no additional cost, as the move will not affect pricing within the firm’s PDQ system, and will have only “a minor impact” on the operational cost of PaaS according to Roche.

“Effectively, we’re taking the hit on that, but the customer benefits because it has that good news story to pass onto its customers in turn, and so on.

“What we’re finding is that when we’re having conversations with organisations that we’re trying to attract to use printing as a service, the concept of having work flowing through the portal that is made carbon neutral is very attractive to a number of them.”

He added: “Carbon balancing is very cost-effective, and that’s why for us it was a no-brainer to incorporate it as part of the mechanism rather than making it an option.

“We’re perfectly happy to take the hit on our small margin – for us it was essential that that service embodied the principles of the business, which were that we are trying to do the best for the environment, and from a commercial perspective we want to be successful as well.”

Roche said the uptake for PaaS in the last few weeks has been “very encouraging”, with the service growing by 50% month-on-month.

“We’re now having good, positive conversations with organisations who are sourcing millions of pounds worth of work, so there is a potential soon for large volumes of work to be pouring through the portal, which is an amazing start for something this new to the marketplace.”

Haybrooke has recently made two new senior hires, Nick Lee as director of strategic growth and Austin Coyne as head of print services, to support the growth of PaaS.