Two Sides has written to German retailer group REWE informing them of their misleading statements regarding the environmental impact printed communications.
Two Sides, the global organisation dedicated to promotion of the sustainability of print, paper and paper packaging, has written to REWE following the German retail group’s published decision to cease production of its weekly promotional paper flyers from 1st July 2023. REWE announced in a July 2022 press release that:
“This will have a huge impact on the environment, climate, and the sustainable use of resources, saving more than 73,000 tonnes of paper, 70,000 tonnes of CO2, 1.1 million tonnes of water, and 380 million kWh of energy per year.”
Two Sides considers these statements to be sensationalistic and misleading, both in terms of the environmental claims made and the statistics employed. Its communication with REWE also points out that the retail company’s press release includes no acknowledgement that digital media has a measurable impact on the environment. Two Sides requests that REWE refrain from making such misleading statements and provide details to support the claimed environmental benefits.
Two Sides, in their communication with REWE, points out that before a company can make these claims they must have conducted a detailed life cycle assessment of the impact of digital over paper. The perception is that digital communication has zero impact on the environment. It is important to consider the impact that a personal computer, mobile phone, or any other device used for receiving and downloading data, along with infrastructure necessary to deliver this information. Many recipients of REWE’s digital communications go on to print the information they receive, especially in store vouchers. This can have a greater impact on a home-based printer. In any statement about the environmental benefits that come from removing paper and printing, the digital impact must be considered and assessed. It is all too common for environmental impacts to be simply shifted, as well as the costs and inconveniences, to customers.
Digital technologies require more energy each year. The share of digital technology in global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) increased from 2.5% in 2013 to 3.7% by 2019. ICT footprint may reach 14% by 2040, if unchecked. Comparatively, paper and printed products are the lowest emitters of greenhouse gases at 0.8%3.
Two Sides also refutes the claim that “1.1 million tonnes of water” are used in the production of the flyers. The water used in manufacturing is called process water. It does not go away. Surface water such as rivers and lakes makes up 87.3% in Europe. However, intake does not equal usage. In the European paper sector, around 90% of water is recycled after treatment4.
Brands should consider not only the effectiveness and cost of their marketing strategies, but also how their consumers (consumers), want to receive and read information. WELT conducted a survey and interviewed other retailers. Aldi Sud Edeka and Lidl responded that customers want paper communications5. We must also remember that some people cannot access digital communication due to their lack of digital devices, or because they are disabled. It is important to remember that the most vulnerable members of society are often those who have the greatest need.
Customers understand that companies who make misleading statements about switching to digital communication in order to save money are really trying to cut costs. Two Sides conducted a survey in 2023 of more than 10 000 consumers by Toluna.
75% German consumers believe that they should be able choose between digital and print communications (European 76%)
German consumers are 57% sure that when they hear a provider ask me to switch to digital and claim it’s better for the environment they really mean to cut costs. (Europe 55%)
Two Sides demands that REWE provides Two Sides with facts-based information. This includes a detailed life cycle assessment of the digital communications and the paper leaflets it replaces. Two Sides requests that REWE refrain from making further statements that digital communications are better for the environment if it is unable to provide substantiation of their sensational claims.
Jonathan Tame, Managing Director of Two Sides, said: “REWE’s actions and its justifications on environmental grounds are really disappointing. We accept that companies are looking to save money, but these statements are not just misleading but hugely damaging to an industry that employs more than 640,000 people in 7,400 businesses in Europe.”
The Shift Project, 2019
2European Commission, 2020.
3European Environment Agency, Annual European Union Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990-2018, 2020
4CEPI Key Statistic, 2022
5https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article246054880/Rewe-Nachhaltigkeit-derLebensmittelhaendler-will-seine-Kunden-umerziehen.html