Environmental impact assessment of scientific publishing: a life cycle analysis (LCA) of print and digital books by editions Quae

Abstract

In response to the growing rle of digital publishing in the scientific sector (41,5% of sales in 2021), Editions Quae set out to objectively assess the environmental impacts of producing both print and digital books. Printed books, though still dominant, depend heavily on the papier industry, which exerts significant environmental pressure: water use, CO2 emissions (2% of global industrial emissions), effluent discharge, and partial deforestation (Granger et al., 2019; UEA, 2022; Pacheco et al., 2021). Digital books, often seen as “dematerialized” rely on very real infrastructures such as devices and data centers, ith equally significant energy-related impacts.
In this context, Quae conducted a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to identify the main impact sources and define ecodesign strategies to reduce their environmental footprint. The study notably compares print and digital versions of the same book to determine, based on number of readings, which format becomes more advantageous. It also includes a comparison of different print collections, aiming to improve editorial and production practices. Conducted according to ISO 14040 and 14044 standards using SimaPro software, the study models several environmental indicators (climate change, acidification, human toxicity, etc). The inventory combines specific data (from Editions Quae) with generic data, depending on the processes’ environmental weight.
This exploratory work, supported by the “Pépinière RSE”, aims to test an ecodesign approach tailored to the scientific publishing sector, despite the current lack of an external critical review.