In an energy-conscious world, a business’ carbon impact is becoming more and more important. Businesses that refuse to effectively review their energy consumption and seek more sustainable practices may run the risk of damaging their reputation and harming relationships with existing clients.

Printing is just one element of everyday business than can have a huge strain on the environment. Our experts have looked at the facts and have found a few surprises in relation to the amount printing may be costing a business and the environment. Let’s take a look...

The Rise of Unnecessary Printing

It should come as no shock to hear that the number one problem when it comes to printing is waste. A study by Loudhouse found that the average office worker prints 10,000 sheets of paper a year, and 6,800 of those are considered to be wasted.

When you break this data down into what is means in terms of expenditure, this volume of printing per person is cited to cost a company a staggering £544 annually. For businesses that operate on a large scale with hundreds of employees, this figure quickly adds up. Translate this spending into environmental terms and you’re talking about one whole tree, per person, per year. In fact, it’s believed that 50% of a business’ waste comes from paper alone.

The stats really do speak for themselves. A lot of the materials that are printed are done so unnecessarily, without a second thought. Furthermore, many businesses are guilty of having no process in place to monitor or regulate printing tasks, meaning that there’s a free-for-all approach to printing. This doesn’t need to be the case though. Regardless of the size of your business, there is much that can be done to reduce the volume of your printing and prevent unnecessary wastage.

So, what can your business do to adopt sustainable printing practices and reach greener business goals? This is where print management can help. Having an external company taking care of your printing offers an efficient way to monitor expenditure, prioritise the printing tasks you actually need, and cut down on wastage.

Prioritising Printing Tasks

We can’t deny the facts when it comes to unnecessary printing. But, what if you had the ability to make wiser decisions in terms of what needed to be printed and when?

Research suggests that as much as 40% of an office’s printing is done out of convenience or habit. Print management companies cut through these old-school habits, allowing you to choose what you need to print, selecting the exact quantity required and the timeframe that suits your business. This instantly eliminates all of those minor print jobs that slip through the cracks due to a lack of monitoring.

Printing Right, the First Time

If you’ve ever encountered quality errors when it comes to printing, you’re not alone. Much of a business’ wasted print jobs are the result of poor or faulty equipment and materials. If you are repeatedly printing the same documents until you are happy with the quality, all those botched prints will soon start to add up when it comes to paper, ink, and energy.

Print management companies give you peace of mind that you are receiving consistent high quality, first time round. You can benefit from a company’s years of experience in the industry in relation to selecting the right paper, the best printing technique, and the perfect finish to suit your project. This waves goodbye to waste from sub-par printing, as well as all those trials and drafts along the way, letting you move closer towards your business’ sustainability goals.

Closely Monitoring Stock

It’s easy to overestimate the volume of materials you need to print, and conversely it can be difficult to effectively manage your existing stock of print collateral. As many as 7 percent of business documents are reportedly lost and 3 percent misfiled. In the grand scheme of things, that’s a large amount of wasted print purely based on poor stock management.

Having real-time access to your stock through a digital portal can help you to closely monitor existing stock and make better decisions when it comes to printing volume. You’ll also have a centralised storage location, so nothing is ever lost.

This kind of reporting software and storage facilities are things a print management company can provide. Having an effective management system in place and live data on your stock around-the-clock can allow you to cut down on excess printing, reduce the amount of unused stock left to stack shelves, and solve the problem of missing stock.

There are numerous ways a print management company can help your business reduce its carbon footprint and implement a more sustainable approach to printing. By improving quality and introducing a solid stock management framework, your business can instantly reduce the amount of print that is wasted.

Want to find out how print management can provide a sustainable printing structure for your business? Download our free eBook, Print Management: How to Reduce Costs, Save Time, and Improve Quality, to learn more.