Cutting down paper waste along with all other waste is a major issue.
Out of the 17 billion cubic feet of trees deforested each year, over 60% are used to make paper. This deforestation is responsible for nearly a fifth of the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.
As businesses, we need to do more to be greener, but that doesn’t mean we should operate in the red. It’s a common misconception to assume that acting on environmental issues always costs money, even on a micro scale. By making small changes to a common issue – the costly, unmanaged reliance on paper – we can all help the environment without hurting our quarterly reports.
We believe in cutting down paper, not trees.
Here are some tangible ways in which a Managed Print Service (MPS) can reduce your office’s print volume and overall energy consumption. The bonus? They also reduce costs.
Reducing print volume
But we only print what we need in hard copy anyway! I hear you protest. Although that might be your company policy, up to half of all print jobs remain unclaimed at the printer. That’s half of your money down the drain, and it’s just as many trees cut down for no reason. Moreover, 30% of prints are read and discarded shortly afterwards, which wastes paper and money.
The challenge, then, is how to reduce your print volume, cutting down on this unnecessary paper waste?
The right technology can help by enforcing and automating company printing rules at the point of print. For example, some print management technology can:
- Enforce rules for colour or duplex printing
- Redirect print jobs to the most appropriate, cost-effective device
- Allocate costs to individual users, departments, or clients
- Continuously review and optimise your account
- Delay printing until the user approves it at the printer
Making savings means tailoring the mix of technology and policy to your office setup. A state-of-the-art print management platform might be overkill if only one department tends to run print jobs, whereas turning down the print quality for a large professional services enterprise could affect your brand perception. That’s where the right MPS partner can really demonstrate their value. Our MPS customers, for example, save around a third on their print costs.
Reducing energy consumption
Reducing an office’s energy consumption isn’t always complicated, but it isn’t always straightforward either, especially in old, poorly insulated buildings. Overreliance on the office radiator isn’t what most businesses need to worry about, however. Copiers and printers use more energy per unit than any other piece of office equipment.
To tackle the issue, you should only be running as many printers as you need – regularly pruning back to the fewest possible machines. Offices can also identify specific areas of print waste, from individuals to entire departments, allowing the office to enforce new regulations on how (Should I print this in black and white?) and when (Do I really need to print this email?) printing should be done.
Again, your MPS provider should be able to demonstrate value here. By having all your devices as part of a unified fleet, your MPS provider can rationalise down (or up, if necessary) the number of devices across your offices – and you’ll have the analysis reports to forecast these savings in advance.
It’s not just trees you’ll save here, either. It takes a gallon of fossil fuel to produce a single laser cartridge and 2.5 ounces of oil to manufacture a new inkjet cartridge. Cutting down an individual office’s paper use results in a calculable reduction in energy consumption, on both the micro and macro level.
Save up to 30% on print costs by cutting down paper use
Businesses of all sizes live and die by the quarterly report, so by carefully managing your print services, you’ll be able to cut down paper and costs.
At Capital, we focus on long-term solutions, not just short-term savings. Our MPS provides the strategic consultancy to our partners to help them reduce their costs as well as their carbon footprint.
Need help cutting down paper, not trees? Want to find out more about Capital? Get in touch to find out how we can save up to 30% on print costs for your business.
