Van Houtum inspires winner of the Innovation PrizeWhat do pale blue toilet paper, lower postage costs, Limburg tart and Doctors without Borders have in common? A Facility Service Desk Coordinator called Patrick Souren. He won the Province of Limburg Innovation Prize with an idea that was inspired by Van Houtum.
We need to go back in time by six months to find the link between all these different things. That was when the provincial authorities of Limburg became the first Dutch government body to purchase hygienic paper that is guaranteed to be totally harmless for people and the environment: Cradle to Cradle certified paper from Van Houtum. A delegation from the provincial government, which included Patrick Souren, visited our mill. Souren: “After a return visit to the provincial government offices, a trial was performed to see if our writing paper could be recycled and converted to hygienic paper. The reverse side of our writing paper is blue, which gave the toilet paper a pale blue colour. So our writing paper turned out not to be suitable for re-use in this way. This prompted me to put forward the idea of converting to sustainable writing paper that did not have a coloured reverse side.”
Souren's idea won him 3000 Euros gross. Part of the money was used to treat the entire department to Limburg tart and he also donated some of the prize money to Tour for Life, a cycling event with a number of participants from the provincial authorities that raises funds for Doctors without Borders. “But the most satisfying thing is that my idea has been adopted”, says Souren. “As soon as the existing stock has been exhausted, we will convert to paper that can be recycled. We can also print on both sides of the new paper. That not only reduces paper consumption, it also saves postage.”
Tangible actionThe Province of Limburg Innovation Prize was introduced in 2008 in order to encourage employees of the provincial authorities to put forward ideas for improvements within the organisation. The ideas are judged on sustainability, feasibility and degree of innovation. This is the provincial authorities' way of showing the public that the government does not just talk about sustainability, it also takes tangible action.
This was another good reason for changing to Cradle to Cradle paper. “It's great to see that one organisation can inspire others to adopt sustainable practices”, says Bas Gehlen, Van Houtum's operations director. He drove to Maastricht with a bouquet of flowers to personally congratulate the winner. In addition to the flowers, he also gave Souren a sustainable gift: a stapler that doesn't use staples. “Who knows, maybe we will be back again with flowers next year when your idea for saving thousands of staples wins you the 2010 Innovation Prize”, says Bas jokingly.