Making your printing practices more sustainable

Organisations are being forced to consider the environmental impact of all parts of their operations – from how they manufacture and package products, to how their lights are powered and what they might be producing as waste. This raises the question, shouldn’t we just use less?

Whilst ‘using less’ can appear to be an effective way to mitigate a technology’s environmental impact, social and economic factors mean that implementing this is not always as straightforward. Organisations need to remain efficient and commercial operations must be competitive to survive and therefore need to avoid a situation where ‘using less’ results in a drop in productivity. For example, an employee might be more efficient in proofreading a document that has been printed off rather than viewing it on a screen.

The environmental impact of any technology can be broken down into three broad areas:

1. The environmental cost
What was the environmental impact of manufacturing the technology? Were any harmful chemicals used or produced in the manufacturing process? How much energy was needed to manufacture and deliver the technology? What is the carbon footprint of the technology at the point of installation?

2. The environmental impact
How long will this technology last (and therefore what was the impact of implementation divided by its useful life)? Are there any steps you can take to extend this technology’s life? How much energy does this technology need when it is – or is not – being used? Does the technology require any consumables or spare parts to reach its useful life and what is the environmental impact of these?

3. The waste generated
At the end of a technology’s useful life, how will it be disposed of? Is it constructed of recyclable materials? Are its materials easily separated, or are they bonded together in a way which makes them difficult/impossible to recycle? Does the technology produce waste during its useful life? How is this waste dealt with?

We work in partnership with our clients to educate them on smarter printing practices to reduce print waste, lower power consumption and reduce their overall carbon footprint, whilst at the same time becoming more efficient in their business operations.

Small changes can make a big difference and we can advise on best practice that helps generate results which will have a significant impact on your carbon footprint.
If you want to find out more, contact the team at 0207 101 0096 contact@itdocumentsolutions.com