Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

August 24, 2025

Augusta packaging maker offsets paper usage with tree-planting program

A person works with machinery. PHOTO / COURTESY J.S. MCCARTHY J.S. McCarthy’s sustainability measures include press technology that reduces waste. Here, Brian Childs operates a folder/gluer machine.
By Laurie Schreiber

J.S. McCarthy Packaging + Print in Augusta has partnered with a technology platform that allows the company to offset paper consumption through certified global reforestation projects.

The platform, called PrintReleaf, collects paper consumption data via automated integrations or by streamlined manual monthly data transfers.

The paper consumption is analyzed to calculate how many trees were harvested and how much greenhouse gas was emitted for the paper consumed.

PrintReleaf then plants trees in certified global reforestation projects.

“We don’t just print on paper — we give it back,” said Jon Tardiff, president and CEO of J.S. McCarthy. “By expanding our PrintReleaf partnership to encompass every single job, we’re doubling down on our responsibility to future generations.”

Optional add-on

Founded in 1947, J.S. McCarthy is an employee-owned company that produces folding carton packaging for the food, pharmaceutical, beauty and consumer goods markets. 

The exterior of a building has black siding.
PHOTO / COURTESY J.S. MCCARTHY
J.S. McCarthy is using a tech platform called PrintReleaf to offset paper consumption through certified global reforestation projects.

Headquartered in Boulder, Colo., PrintReleaf has planted 9.75 million trees since its founding in 2011.

McCarthy began using the PrintReleaf platform in 2022, offering reforestation as an optional add-on for customers who wanted to offset the fiber usage of their packaging or commercial projects. 

Customers could pay a small fee to have trees replanted in certified reforestation sites around the world, equivalent to the paper consumed in their jobs. 

PrintReleaf later expanded to offer carbon offsetting, and both McCarthy and some of its clients have taken advantage of that option as well.

8,570 trees

For example, McCarthy offset all of its “scope 1” emissions for 2024. Scope 1 is a term for direct emissions that are owned or controlled by a company, such as fuel consumption.

A person is working with big rolls of paper.
PHOTO / COURTESY J.S. MCCARTHY
Ed Peaslee guides two rolls of paper through a sheeter.

McCarthy said his sustainability measures include offering warehousing and fulfillment that reduces carbon-heavy transportation, investing in press technology that reduces waste and a mill-direct supply chain designed to reduce environmental impact. The company’s sustainability certifications include the Forest Stewardship Council, which requires products to come from responsibly managed forests.

To date, PrintReleaf’s program has allowed McCarthy to offset the equivalent of 712,252 pounds of paper consumption by reforesting 8,570 trees, along with offsetting a certain level of carbon emissions.

Expansion

Until recently, PrintReleaf’s services were used only when individual customers opted in. That changed last month when PrintReleaf approached the company with the opportunity to automatically reforest every job that comes through the plant at no added cost.

The expansion means that every job printed now contributes to certified reforestation.

Clients receive access to their own PrintReleaf dashboard, where they can see lifetime usage, track how many trees were planted as a result of their projects and download traceable QR codes to print directly on their packaging.

A lot of big machinery.
PHOTO / COURTESY J.S. MCCARTHY
A press sheet feeds into a blanker, which removes waste material from die-cut pieces.

Reporting is automatic: Each month the company and its customers receive metrics showing total paper usage and the equivalent number of trees reforested.

The company pays a flat fee to PrintReleaf for a baseline yearly measurement of paper to be offset with reforesting, Lisa Oakes, McCarthy’s marketing and business development manager, told Mainebiz. 

“There is no extra cost to our clients for reforesting any of their jobs,” she said. “It will now be included as a benefit to every client.”

Sign up for Enews

Mainebiz web partners

Most Recent

Most Recent

Related Content

Thumbnail Augusta printer’s high-tech press pays off with world record for carton production

1 Comments

Anonymous
September 3, 2025

Very interesting article about a unique program!

Order a PDF