Printing errors stack up costing North West businesses reams

With more than half of office workers admitting to wastefully printing documents and up to 120 billion pages printed every year¹, sustainable business experts at Envirowise are urging people in the North West to think twice about the cost and environmental impact of ‘trigger happy’ printing.

Paper has become one of the biggest waste challenges facing UK offices with around half of all office waste being paper-based². As it stands, 4.7 million tonnes of paper and board is entering the waste stream each year in the UK³. And contrary to the expected trend towards the ‘paperless office’, the UK currently consumes around 12.5 million tonnes of paper and board per annum⁴.

Envirowise is calling on office workers, who on average can get through more than 22 pages of paper every day⁵, to do more to combat paper wastage.

"Unnecessary printing of emails, multiple copies, single-sided printing and the sending of massive documents to the printer which are unlikely to be read, are just some of the regular scenarios lived out by businesses every day as a result of 'accidental printing'," says Nick Ward, North West Regional Manager for Envirowise, a government-funded programme that offers practical environmental advice for businesses.

The cost of generating office waste to businesses can be as much as four per cent of turnover. Envirowise says that the true cost of waste can actually be between five and 10 times the cost to a business of disposing of it⁶.

Nick adds: "Most offices will find they can reduce waste costs by around 20 per cent⁷ through simple no or low cost actions. Measures such as double sided or multiple page printing and recycling instead of paying for disposal can really help."

The Green Officiency Toolkit, issued by Envirowise, helps office workers identify no and low-cost ways to make significant savings, as well as improving their company’s environmental credentials. The toolkit is available to order for free from the Envirowise website - http://www.envirowise.gov.uk/greenofficiency .

So, what kind of printing culprits are in your office…?

• The Pointless Printer - prints everything just because they like to have a hard copy of all documents, even emails.
• The Competitive Printer - the bigger the pile of what they perceive to be "crucial" documents, the more important they think they look.
• The 'Old School' Printer – feels they can’t possibly comment on an email request without printing it off to read it, and thinks it is impossible to edit documents by looking at them on screen – can only do so by printing off and writing amends on the paper copy.
• The Hasty Printer - presses the 'P' button before checking quantity or length of document, seeing 20 copies of a 200-page document come out of the printer in the middle of the office while they stand and roll their eyes at it, like it’s the printer’s fault!
• The Sneaky Printer - acutely aware they are over-printing but can’t live without their paper – makes pre and post-work dashes to the printer to grab copious amounts of what is possibly personal printing before anyone sees them.
• The Pedestal Printer – double-sided, recycled paper. Only prints what is essential and likes to share their documents with the rest of their team.

Businesses interested in finding out what they can do to make a difference to their business and the environment can download the free Green Officiency Toolkit at http://www.envirowise.gov.uk/greenofficiency or call the Envirowise Advice Line on 0800 585794 www.envirowise.gov.uk

ENDS

Media Enquiries:

Please contact: Caroline Charles or Harriet Jones at Bray Leino PR
Telephone: 0117 973 1173 Email: ccharles@brayleino.co.uk or hjones@brayleino.co.uk

Notes to Editors

About Envirowise

Envirowise is a Government-funded programme dedicated to putting the sustainable use of resources at the heart of UK business practice.

Since 1994 Envirowise has helped UK businesses save over £1bn by enabling them to significantly reduce their environmental footprints.

Envirowise offers businesses of all sizes and sectors a wide range of free, independent and practical advice designed to genuinely improve their processes, profitability and competitiveness. Services include:

• The Envirowise Advice Line on 0800 585794
• An encyclopaedic website (www.envirowise.gov.uk) of valuable and relevant information
• Over 200 events each year, from Product Design Workshops to major exhibitions

1. Fujitsu Siemens Computers Survey Oct 2007
2. Green Officiency Toolkit: Envirowise in collaboration with Environment Agency
3. WRAP Recycled Waste and the Environment 05/07
4. Green Officiency Toolkit: Envirowise in collaboration with Environment Agency
5. Fujitsu Siemens Computers Survey Oct 2007
6. Green Officiency Toolkit: Envirowise in collaboration with Environment Agency
7. Green Officiency Toolkit: Envirowise in collaboration with Environment Agency