SUSTAINABLE PRINTING & PRINTERS
Prioritising sustainability Sustainability is a priority for many businesses now, with many looking to cut their carbon footprint and exploring all aspects of the business to make it more sustainable. Printers increasingly need to be more sustainable, in terms of power usage, ink usage and more, with manufacturers and resellers responding to this.
accredited e.g. ISO 14001, B Corp etc., or not, there is a strong sense of moral and commercial emphasis in tenders and general product and service selection to fully understand the origin of product, the energy consumption and overall CO2 impact where possible. Customers are fully aware of the energy intensive processes that go into manufacturing paper and toner let alone the energy consumed by the machine and the contribution to their environmental impact. Therefore, they are seeking ways to create long lasting cultural changes within their organisation, through digitisation, education and more focused cost attribution to those producing print. It is important for our customers to have clarity over what is being printed, when it is being printed and by whom. What innovations has the company made and/or are in the pipeline to make printers more sustainable? SP: Kyocera doesn’t rest on its laurels when it comes to environmental innovation. But it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Last August we announced that our UK business operation had achieved carbon neutrality and was taking extra steps in support of the UK’s 2050 net zero target. In December we proudly offered our UK customers the option to carbon offset their printers and MFPs, or for those taking a Kyocera service the option to fully offset both the devices and services as a managed print service. And every printing product in our portfolio is included. We offsset the devices, plus the consumables they use over their standard rated five-year lifetime through a simple bolt-on at purchase. This covers all elements of production, packaging, transportation, consumables. We also offer eco- conscious toner and device recycling programmes close the loop. But from January 2023, I’m pleased to confirm our intention for all new printers and MFPs to be carbon neutral as standard, starting with the newly launched PA6000x series.
Print in the Channel spoke to Steve Pearce (SP), Head of Marketing at Kyocera Document Solutions UK and to Ian Jones (IJ), Managing Director at Right Digital Solutions to understand how important sustainability is to customers looking for new ‘green’ print solutions. Is demand for sustainable printing solutions growing from customers? What sort of demands are they making? SP: Absolutely. Since we launched Carbon Neutral Printing and Carbon Neutral MPS in December we’ve seen unparalleled interest from both dealers and resellers. Most of that demand has come from the public sector, but we’re starting to see green shoots of interest from other verticals now. What demands are they making? Well, they’re looking to fulfil their own green agendas and demonstrate to their stakeholders how they’re
Steven Pearce, head of marketing, Kyocera Document Solutions UK
reducing their environmental impact. We know that end-customers ask how
companies like Kyocera offset their carbon. We wanted to get this right from the start. We carbon offset the printers and MFPs through Myclimate, the same partner we use to offset our own UK business operations’ carbon footprint. Myclimate invest in ‘Gold Standard’ international projects aligned to the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals. What does this mean? They are real life projects and with an identified need for sustainable development that helps local communities – for example in Madagascar, Kenya and Nepal. Customers can demonstrate their carbon neutrality with a certificate of authenticity from Kyocera certified by Myclimate. Essentially it evidences their investment and commitment to climate action. IJ: Within the industry, the drive to becoming more sustainable is growing. Those working in the channel are seeing a drastic increase in customers asking about printing, especially those working in public sector, blue light, and the education industry. The carbon impact of any process, product or service is now very much in the top three issues raised by customers. Whether the customer is
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