Boxes of printer cartridges

December 12, 2013, by sustainablenottingham

Getting print-ready

Chris Carter, from IT Services, explains the University’s managed print service.

In 2012 The University of Nottingham signed a contract with Xerox UK to provide a centralised managed print service, we called it the “Sustainable Print Service”.

The project to transition to the new service is reaching completion and already the University is starting to realise the benefits. One of the drivers for the change was the waste in evidence across the organisation. In the past:

  • printers were usually never switched off, thus using electricity 24/7,
  • network printers invariably had piles of prints alongside them which were never collected,
  • printing was often done without much thought to the most effective use of paper,
  • when a printer was replaced, stocks of toner and ink cartridges became obsolete and were left on shelves.

The University now has:

  • devices which are ‘Energy Star’ rated, go into a low power mode after 20 minutes of inactivity and to sleep overnight automatically,
  • print jobs released only when present at the print device, thereby eliminating numerous uncollected prints,
  • printing on both sides of paper set by default,
  • paper with 75% recycled content,
  • consumables provided just in time and stocks are reduced across the University,
  • a ‘closed loop system’ where waste products are collected by Xerox, remanufactured or recycled, and put back into the supply chain.

The benefits of these changes are evident in the first 10 months of 2013 with:

  • a saving in excess of 26,000 Kg of CO2
  • more than 2 million sheets of paper – equivalent to 132 trees – being saved by purging print jobs not released for print
  • 76% of all print jobs now printed duplex

There have also been many fewer deliveries by third party suppliers to University campuses, the on-site team use an electric vehicle to deliver paper and consumables and the on-site engineer walks to many jobs rather than having field engineers visiting campus by car.

Xerox are managing out of the University all waste ink and toner cartridges through their reprocessing streams and will be working with us to ensure appropriate recycling or further use of any unused consumables. If you have any obsolete ink or toner cartridges, please contact the Print Service team to arrange collection.

Stack of laser printers

Used printers awaiting redeployment within the University

As the rationalisation of desktop devices is completed over the coming weeks, the impact of these savings and increased sustainability of The University of Nottingham will only increase.

Posted in ITprocurementwaste