#316 - The Sustainable Print Manifesto

What if a single set of shared principles could align printers, brands, material suppliers, and recyclers on a faster path to low‑carbon, circular print? We sit with HP’s Carlos Lahoz to map a practical route from belief to measurable change, grounded in a nine‑principle Sustainable Print Manifesto that is already reshaping how companies brief suppliers, plan R&D, and report progress.

Carlos explains why the industry needed a common language instead of another compliance badge, and how principles create clarity without constraining innovation across publishing, large format, labels, and packaging. We break down what “sustainable print” actually means to different stakeholders—consumers seeking recyclability, brands asking for compostability, suppliers focused on certified fibre—and why carbon footprint and circularity must sit at the core. Then we move into phase two, where smaller working groups turn the manifesto into playbooks: decision guides for material choices, data fields for job‑level carbon accounting, and workflow tweaks that slash waste while protecting throughput and quality.

You’ll hear how collaboration between nominal competitors can lower costs for better materials, standardise measurement, and bring carbon transparency into prepress and MIS. We talk about scaling pledges to build momentum, the value of using the principles in RFPs and customer conversations, and early adopters who already frame corporate reporting around the manifesto. The aim is simple and bold: decarbonise print and improve circularity without sacrificing margins, using shared tools, shared data, and shared ambition.

Ready to help set the standard for sustainable print? Read the principles at Manifesto for Sustainable Print, sign the pledge, share it with your network, and if you have deep expertise—from fibre science to recycling logistics—join a working group to shape the next wave of practical guidance. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us which principle you want to action first.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to the Future Print Podcast, celebrating print technology and the people behind it.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

So hello everybody, good afternoon. This is Eleanor Knight with this week's podcast. We're talking about sustainability. And with me today, I have Carlos Laos from HP. Welcome, Carlos. Lovely to have you with us today.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Thank you, Elena, and thanks for having me.

Defining Sustainability In Industrial Print

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Fantastic. No, it's great. So could you briefly introduce yourself, your role, and the organization you represent? So you obviously work for HP. So what do you do for them? And just a little bit about you.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

Yes. So I work on HP as a responsible for sustainability and environment for the industrial print business, including from large format to publishing to labels and packaging applications. I have been with the company for a lot of years and but also involved in sustainability for also quite a long period, doing design for sustainability, doing marketing for sustainability, innovating on sustainability, and recently with this strategy role, trying to define how we can progress at HP, but also not only at HP, but also with with the overall industry.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Fantastic. Thank you for that. So how does sustainability currently feature in your day-to-day work? So in terms of decision making?

SPEAKER_02 1:29

Yeah, so I'm responsible of the of the overall strategy of the business. So this means deciding what are the goals, what are the metrics, and then making sure that we align all our efforts and the different programs into achieving these goals, which ultimately intend to decarbonize the print industry and improve circularity of print.

What “Sustainable Print” Means To Stakeholders

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Okay. And you've mentioned the word sustainability quite a few times. So when people hear the phrase sustainable print, what do you think they actually assume that means?

SPEAKER_02 2:08

Well, this is part of the pro of the problem, no, because everyone assumes something different. If you talk to a material supplier, then sustainable a sustainable print is uh something that is made from um FSC certified paper. But if you if you talk to a consumer, then it's something that it can be recycled. And if you are talking with a packaging brand, they may want to have something that is compostable. So sustainability has many dimensions or angles, and then everyone looks at uh sustainability from a different perspective. So this is part of the challenge. When I think about sustainability, in the end, carbon footprint is one of the big um ways of looking into it, but also circularity, no, on the concept of using better materials that can be then uh reused over and over and maintain the maximum value of the material.

Why A Shared Manifesto Was Needed

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Okay, fantastic. And um I'm assuming um when you say everybody sort of thinks slightly differently about it, there's that means the approach to it is then slightly inconsistent or can be inconsistent. And I think that sort of um leads me on to the next topic, which is the sustainable print manifesto. And I've been working on this with you for a while now, it's coming up for a year, I think, and we're just sort of going into the second phase. But before we touch on that, can you sort of talk about what the sustainable print manifesto is? If someone's never heard of it, what would you say to them? How would you explain it?

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Yes, it's I would define it as a set of agreed uh principles and basic framework uh to align on on which is a better way of producing print, a more sustainable print uh way of producing print. And and this framework is not um developed only with one perspective of sustainability, but it's trying to get the perspective of all the value chain of print, from materials to uh printer manufacturers to printing companies to uh retailers to brands to recyclers. So getting all the perspectives together into a single framework that represents uh all the knowledge of the industry of how to make print more sustainable. So this is the manifesto. Again, a set of basic principles developed by the industry of print and for the industry of print to align uh on to onto the same the same goals.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Okay, so these nine principles, there are nine of them, um they um have been developed um uh across the year. I think sort of we started off as I mentioned earlier, back in April, and there were meetings, so people sat together from all the different parts of the supply chain, and we now have these nine principles. Why are we focusing on these nine principles rather than on rules or targets?

Nine Principles Over Rules And Targets

SPEAKER_02 5:13

Yes, uh we we wanted to have a common frame that that served everyone, no, that added value to everyone. Um there are existing standards and and certifications and e-comarks that that people can continue applying to it. What we wanted to address is it's this need of having this common language, this commonality. And and for that, um the principles are high level, they are not getting into the detail. These are the basic truths that we all agree. So we we needed to get to this common denominator, no, this common uh understanding that aligns everyone. The idea is that this is what we have. We got everyone together, get to this common basic understanding, these are these nine principles. We want now to move to the next phase. So this is uh the first agreement, but then the next agreement is okay, how we measure. Can we put some metrics? Can we put some reference of what is better or worse? So now it's just the foundation what we've what we've developed.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Okay, so just uh summarizing that really quickly from what I've understood is that um you don't want this to be like a compliance scheme or a certification, it's basically just um a set of set of principles that sort of encourage behavior to be more sustainable.

Pledging And Behaviour Change

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Yeah, and behavior and change. Exactly, and and change, no, it's it's this we all believe in this, no, and these are the founding companies and the people that are pledging online. Uh, they believe that this is a better way of producing print. And and it's high level and it sets kind of a north start, no, it's a direction. Um then to make it more explicit or more specific, this is where regulations and law uh come come into play. But the idea is that also these regulator bodies are are inspired or are uh or are um supported or can can get value of this frame, no? Because it helps the the whole conversation or the whole direction to to align.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Yeah, understood. And um you talk about signing this pledge or putting your name against this pledge. Um what does signing the pledge actually represent in practice on a day-to-day basis?

SPEAKER_02 7:53

Yeah, I I yeah, I I like to refer to to another initiative, which is the Agile Manifesto that was for software, and this is something back from 2011, um, where the software development gurus at that point developed a set of in that case were 12 principles on how to make software better. And and these um these principles were developed by uh 12 or 15 uh individuals that then opened to the rest to pledge. And then the rest were pledging because they believed on the same things, no, they believed on the same things, and they believed that if following those principles, the industry and their business will improve. So then pledging, uh so in our case, the the objective is the same. So pledging to the sustainable manifesto, what you are saying is you are sharing your belief, and then you are seeing also joining the community of companies that believe the same, and that as such, if you are believing on those principles, you are intenting or trying to use them to guide your decisions. No, your buying decisions, your innovation decisions, your RD efforts, all of these decisions are guided towards following these principles that again are principles that are developed by the industry and that are shared by all the people that are pledging. So joining the pledge creates the community and mobilizes action or everyone in the same direction.

Moving Into Phase Two: Practical Guidelines

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Okay, fantastic. And you mentioned about the project moving into phase two. Um, why is this stage important?

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Yes, as as we mentioned, no. So we mentioned that the the principles today are are high level and um we're missing a bit how to how to put them in practice with some kind of guidelines or more more actionable um principles, um, not principles, guidelines. No, uh so this is what we want to do as a group. No, we we set the foundations, we agreed on this minimum denominator. Now we want to do is is develop the next step, which is okay, I want uh I we want to help the industry uh with a more practical um guide on how to implement those principles. So this is the job is not done, this is a moving initiative. Uh, and we are we are continuing working uh with this with this foundational working group.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

Okay, so um we're basically going to take these nine principles and then look um at sort of evolving those a bit deeper, making them maybe a bit more practical. Um so the key phase uh the sorry, the key part of phase two is is creating smaller working groups. Um can you explain a little bit more about that?

Working Groups And Industry Collaboration

SPEAKER_02 10:44

Yes, as as you can imagine, um getting the input from 12 founding partners plus yeah, I don't know how many, maybe 40 other companies participating, uh and uh agreeing everyone on to onto a set of principles uh has taken a lot of work um with these foundational principles. Now, what we want is to articulate the conversation um through through smaller working groups that develop each principle to the next level, to the next level of of uh practicality, let's say, uh and then share with the group, receive all the input from the group, but having some dedicated uh smaller groups that uh that can develop in detail, no, because yeah, we we want to go uh from the high level into into more specific, requiring more focus.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Yes, and I think you're right though, because I've obviously also been on the calls, and it it it's it, I mean it's amazing how far we've come, and um it's just been quite a long process, I think, and breaking it down into smaller working groups will make it a lot easier, and I think the the engagement will be a lot higher. Um, but how do you see these working groups helping the industry move from intention to real change? So move you know, creating that change, how's it gonna help?

Who Should Join And How To Engage

SPEAKER_02 12:06

Yeah, in in the end, it's uh so once one we knew uh we need to have this shared uh ambition, no? And uh this is the first thing. We want to make print more sustainable. So this is the foundation, and we believe this can be done, and we believe that this can be done without penalizing the business results, no? So without losing revenue, without losing profit, we will still believe there's margin to improve uh the sustainability of print. So this is first, we we need to start with this belief. Uh but then the principle set the foundation. But then if we are able to articulate it into some more something more practical, then when people come, read the principles, agree on the beliefs, agree on the frame, and then get some specific guidelines uh on what to do next, I think this is the first step to start moving. Um we are talking about this phase two to include even uh working groups, no, where companies could join together and partner to advance together. And and in fact, in HP we are doing something similar. We just launch a program where our um customers start to collaborate, no, and and we created a program with cohorts, no? So you have a cohort, and and I think we are closing now the first cohort with uh around 10 customers, 10 companies working together to improve sustainability of print. So 10 competitors a priori that are collaborating, yes, collaborating to to help each other to advance um sustainability of print. So this is something that I that I love about sustainability, that it's that it's a topic where where companies are more willing to collaborate than in other areas.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Totally, to work together towards a towards one goal um and not be sort of just to be more transparent about everything, really, even though they're competitors. Um so who needs to be involved in this manifesto to have a real impact, do you think? In an idea situation?

Ambition, Urgency, And Scaling Pledges

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Exactly. There are there are two ways of involvement in the in the manifesto. No, one is yeah, developing the principles and and developing these uh guidelines, and so uh and and for that what we want is is to develop something that has value and that is the state the state of the art of uh of uh making print more sustainable. So for that we need the leaders, no, the leaders that know sustainability in print end-to-end, the leaders in paper, the leaders in uh printer manufacturing, printing companies, so having the brands uh engage. And when we have these leading uh companies sitting together, we will be developing um the most advanced uh principles and and guidelines for for making Primo sustainable. So this is one way of engagement. If you are a leader in sustainability, you want to help define the industry in the next uh decade, engage with us and and help us have this um this manifesto as solid as we can. On the other hand, if you are uh if you are a company that uh that wants to do print more sustainable, that believes that uh that the print can be made more sustainable, uh then you can you can engage through through accessing the content to pledging your support. This is important. So the more uh we give awareness to this project, the more you know, but also you help distribute and and communicate and generate awareness about the project, the the bigger the impact will be, and and more and more the industry will be aligned to those principles. So the second way of engagement is go on the web, sign the pledge, show your commitment, and share it with others. This is the the best way to really support the initiative, but also in the end to to make uh the industry more sustainable.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

Yeah, and I I believe it's very much about you know sharing experiences and learning from each other as well, because I don't think everyone is fully aware of what is available out there. How can you become more sustainable in your own business? Um, and if we've got lots of people from different businesses, there'll be lots of lots of different areas in the supply chain that can help each other and work together. And you're talking about signing the pledge. Um, we're looking at getting around a thousand pledges, which is ambitious here. We're ambitious, but I love that. I think we we should be. Um, why do you think it's so important to get so many people on board with this?

Toward Standards, Reporting, And Adoption

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Yeah, because the climate urgency is a reality. So um the world needs to rethink how we do things. And again, we are from I I am uh from HP, it's a company that is uh it's doing business with print. So we don't want to to do crazy things. But we believe that if we collaborate together, if we all work in the same direction, there is opportunity to really significantly reduce the the impact of print and make print uh better, produce a more efficient uh print. So uh the planet asking us for taking action, uh having now a foundation on of how this could be improved, uh considering the overall value chain, not just a tiny perspective of of the of the value chain. So we have now the assets, the urgency is here. So, yes, we want to be ambitious, we want to reach as many people as we can now, and as many people as we can, um, once we have more detailed guidelines to really accelerate the transformation.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Yes, and I guess the more people, the more visibility, it gives the industry more confidence.

SPEAKER_02 18:06

Um yeah, and then it becomes a standard, no, and then we will see brands, brands requiring this, and we're seeing it's amazing in in even in the working group, people are adopting already these principles. And we have uh, as you know, one of the founding uh companies that it's also a customer of ours, it's uh it's uh using the principles as the as the frame for the uh corporate sustainability reporting. In my case, we have a customer program where we're using the same principles to to uh guide our customers into improving sustainability. So now this is what I would ideally want to see. No, this becoming a standard and and this is there's no royalty, so anyone can use these nine principles. So people that pledge can can also use those to to take decisions, to communicate how about their about their performance.

Addressing Hesitation And Community Support

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Totally. And I think um if someone was um a bit hesitant, so they obviously support the idea, but they feel maybe a bit hesitant about signing the pledge, what would you say to them?

SPEAKER_02 19:10

Yeah, that it's not yeah, they are not committing to anything. Um what they are uh just uh sharing is their public support that the direction that we are uh setting is correct.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

So it's it's saying it's just reaffirming that what we are trying to do makes sense. Yeah, and so exactly, and and I and I think yeah, it doesn't in in theory it doesn't it doesn't um uh commit to uh it doesn't uh forces you to do a lot. Ideally, I would like that it it changes your behavior. This would be the ideal scenario, no. So yeah, you're committing to that because you believe it's the right direction, but then you are adopting it, and then you are trying to follow those principles, of course, adapt it to your reality, or of course at your own pace and your own business reality, but it helps you advance yourself, communicate with your customers, with your suppliers, uh, because again, it has the perspective of of everyone.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

Yeah, but I guess the beauty of it is that if there's anything that people are in doubt about, they can just tap into the community of of all of us, all the people who are sort of committed to it, because any question can probably be answered by one of the people on there. So it's a great resource to have as well. And um, if phase two is successful, which it will be obviously, but what will the next phase look like? So let's say beyond 2026, what does 2027 and beyond look like?

Beyond 2026: Metrics And Joint Innovation

SPEAKER_02 20:45

Yeah, I think I I think uh having the framework and the guidelines is good. I think what would come next is okay, uh how we collaborate together with this with this uh same objective. So once we set the foundation, we get more clarity about how to do it, then we will find that it's hard to do it in some cases. And we will find, for example, that in some cases the the uh the more sustainable materials are maybe more expensive. But then if you if we collaborate and then we buy a big larger quantity, then maybe the prices go down. So this is an example of collaboration to address some of the limitations that that the that it exists today. This is a very basic collaboration. But what if we collaborate and say, okay, the software solutions are now able to measure carbon footprint, and then we can take better decisions and generate reports and be more transparent overall, and and this uh promotes more sustainable solutions uh happening more and more now. So I see this this next step of collaboration and innovating using the framework that that we built between last year. And easier.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Brilliant. So we're talking maybe statistics, measurable results, that type of thing, which which is brilliant because that's what you need really to just measure and say, okay, we're here, we need to be here, or you know, and this is how we get this is how we get there.

SPEAKER_02 22:14

Um sharing, sharing and collaboration.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

I I am uh a big believer of of this.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Yeah. Brilliant. So um what would you encourage people listening to do next? So if someone or one of our listeners has has listened to this podcast, what would you say to them? How do they move forward with this?

SPEAKER_02 22:33

Well, first read the principles, easy. Yeah. Uh sustainableprintmanifesto.com, you find it there.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

Uh I will also share the link and on the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

So if you think these principles make sense, uh sign the pledge, share with others, use the pledge, uh use the principles as your reference when you talk to your suppliers, when you talk to your customers, it will really help. And then if you if you think, okay, I can uh I am a leader, I I know a lot about this specific thing, I want to contribute to define the next step, uh contact us. So we are we are looking for for knowledge, we're looking for expertise, we need to deep dive on recycling, we need to deep dive on materials, we need to do deep dive on on design, uh, for uh for uh optimal design, all the regulations that are coming in the different parts of the world. So if you want to contribute uh in exploring deeper these areas, contact us for more active involvement and being a development partner.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Fantastic. Thank you, Carlos. I will share our contact details um below as well so that our listeners can get in touch and can look at the website, read the principles. And um but it was great to have you here today. And um I will speak to you soon. And if anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 24:02

Thank you, Elena.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Okay, bye-bye.

Closing And Where To Learn More

SPEAKER_00 24:04

Bye. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, you can subscribe now for more great audio content coming up and visit futureprint.tech for the latest news, partner interviews, in depth industry research, and to catch up on content from future print events. We'll see you next time on the Future Print Podcast.