As managed print services gain popularity around the world, customers frequently focus upon the efficiency and the cost-savings benefits they obtain. Yet did you know, using the assistance offered by an experienced MPS firm also indirectly promotes sustainability? This brief article addresses why many environmentally responsible organizations have embraced this business model.
Enhanced Efficiency Translates into Reduced Paper Usage
Simply hiring an MPS company reportedly enables many busy companies to reduce printer usage significantly. The effort to coordinate and monitor printing leads to a drop in wasteful, unnecessary, and duplicative printing. Some experts maintain companies may enjoy cost savings approaching 30% as a result.
In practical terms, the effort to limit printing to absolutely essential situations translates into a reduction in the use of paper. Conserving office paper ultimately means the consumption of less timber for paper production purposes. Although everyone agrees calculating this savings on a per tree basis proves challenging indeed (most manufacturers today preferentially use sawdust, wood chip scraps, or recycled materials in office paper rather than new timber), the effort to conserve does hold value. The Sierra Club estimates people in the United States utilize the equivalent of 55 to 110 million trees annually in the production of paper goods alone. Many, many trees die every year in order to support the consumer economy.
Focusing More Attention on Recycling Paper
Managed printing enables businesses to contribute to sustainability in another, perhaps more direct, way. When companies carefully track the use of printers in their offices, they enjoy a better opportunity to promote recycling efforts, also. The quantity of paper waste generated in every location with printers should become more predictable. This trend, in turn, may encourage the use of paper recycling services as a potential revenue stream by the firm.
Managers account for the use of “hard copies” of documents more effectively with the assistance of MPS. Although some of these pages may depart with customers (e.g. as sales literature, printed receipts, forms, etc.,…) a certain percentage of printed matter will remain in the office and ultimately wind up shredded and consigned to trash receptacles. If managers gain a better ability to predict the volume of this paper waste, they may succeed in establishing effective recycling campaigns. This effort may offset some of the costs of trash collection. It represents a “win-win” for both businesses and the environment!
