BULLETIN
10
PRINT.IT
01732 759725
Lexmark partner
markets carbon
neutral bundle
Toshiba is not the only
supplier to offer carbon
neutral printing. Lexmark
recently introduced a
programme of its own in
conjunction with channel
partner Dalton Ellis.
Lexmark’s Carbon Neutral programme combines three
elements: recycled Woodland Trust paper; a Lexmark printer/
multifunctional device; and access to Lexmark’s Cartridge
Collection Programme (LCCP) for the collection, recycling
and remanufacturing of all toner cartridges with 100% landfill
avoidance.
With each purchase, a donation is made to The Woodland Trust
conservation charity to offset carbon emissions.
Nick Munton, managing director of Dalton Ellis, said: “We
created the Carbon Neutral Programme specifically with our
customers in mind. We’ve worked to create this initiative
exclusively in partnership with Lexmark, who through established
initiatives such as LCCP recognise the importance of having a
first-rate CSR scheme in place. Not only are we offsetting the
output of carbon into the environment through the Carbon Neutral
Programme, we’re also saving our customers time and money.”
•
Commercial Group social enterprise explores
3D printing
We Do. Print, the social
enterprise established by
Commercial Group in 2015,
has installed an advanced 3D
printer as part of a long-term
goal to set up a 3D Academy
for schools, colleges and
universities. The Makerbot
Replicator+ 3D printer was
funded by The Printing Charity
and supplied by printer and
paper specialist Antalis.
We Do. Print, a viable print
business in its own right,
provides young people with
training and support to help
them develop the personal
and professional skills needed
to find employment. In its
first year, it opened its doors
to 40 disadvantaged young
people, 82% of whom went on
to secure paid work or further
training.
Commercial Group claims
that every £1 customers spend
with We Do. Print generates
the equivalent of £4.87 in
social value.
print/we-do-print
Apogee success
Apogee’s IS0 9001:2008 (quality management) and ISO
14001:2004 (environmental management) accreditations have
been renewed following successful audits in 2016. The printer
and document solutions provider’s operations were first assessed
externally in 2008. Apogee Group Marketing Director Gary Downey
said: “The awards are part of our commitment to constantly
monitor the quality of the services we provide ensuring that the
needs of our clients are met through our day-to-day processes.
We look forward to making the transition to the new ISO
9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 in 2017.”
Printers contribute to Earth’s 30 trillion ton
technosphere
The combined weight of all
man-made structures and
objects, including printers
and consumables, amounts
to more than 30 trillion tons,
according to a new paper
1
by
Professors Jan Zalasiewicz,
Mark Williams and Colin
Waters from the University
of Leicester Department of
Geology. This works out at 50
kilos for every square metre
of the Earth’s surface.
Professor Zalasiewicz said:
“The technosphere is all of
the structures that humans
have constructed to keep them
alive on the planet: houses,
factories, farms, mines, roads,
airports and shipping ports,
computer systems, together
with its discarded waste.
“The technosphere can
be said to have budded off
the biosphere and arguably is
now at least partly parasitic
on it. At its current scale,
the technosphere is a
major new phenomenon of
this planet and one that is
evolving extraordinarily rapidly.
Compared with the biosphere,
though, it is remarkably poor
at recycling its own materials,
as our burgeoning landfill sites
show.”
Professor Waters added:
“There is more to the
technosphere than just its
mass. It has enabled the
production of an enormous
array of material objects,
from simple tools and coins
to ballpoint pens, books and
CDs, to the most sophisticated
computers and smartphones.
Many of these, if entombed in
strata, can be preserved into
the distant geological future
as ‘technofossils’ that will
help characterise and date the
Anthropocene.”
The Anthropocene is a
proposed epoch highlighting
the impact humans have had
on the planet.
The paper published in
The
Anthropocene Review
suggests
that if technofossils were to be
classified in the same way as
normal fossils, i.e. based on
their shape, form and texture,
the number of individual types
of ‘technofossil’ is likely
to be a billion or more, far
outnumbering the numbers of
biotic species now living.
1 The paper
Scale and diversity
of the physical technosphere: A
geological perspective
is published
in
The Anthropocene Review
.
Toshiba TEC UK is
celebrating after reaching
100,000 tonnes of carbon
dioxide (CO2) offset through
its Carbon Zero Scheme.
Introduced in 2009, the
scheme offsets carbon
emissions generated by the
procurement, manufacture
and delivery of Toshiba TEC
printers, multifunction products
and auto-ID devices through a
range of Gold Standard carbon
reduction projects co-ordinated
by carbon management
company CO2balance.
These include a project in
Kenya to replace open fires
with highly efficient stoves
that consume less fuel and
produce less smoke; the fixing
of broken boreholes in rural
Uganda so that villagers have
a clean, safe water supply;
and rainforest protection
programmes in Brazil.
One hundred thousand
tonnes of CO2 is the
equivalent of 46,874 return
flights from London to New
York, the electricity used
in 73,542 houses over the
course of a year or the CO2
generated in making 2.5 billion
cups of coffee.
Toshiba Carbon Zero Scheme
passes 100,000 tonne
milestone
