Kyocera Mita's environmental survey shows major drop in print volumes

Kyocera Mita’s annual environmental survey has shown a sharp reduction in the average annual number of pages printed by office-based staff for the first time since the survey started in 2007. Annual print volumes have dropped 40% from approximately 10,000 sheets per year to around 6,000. Despite this drop in the number of pages printed, the proportion wasted each year remains high, at 62%. Wasted pages include those that could have been printed double-sided, those printed in error, and those printed but never collected from the device. 

Commenting on the survey, Tracey Rawling Church, Director of Brand and Reputation at Kyocera Mita said: “We’ve been hearing about the “paperless office” for decades, but this is the first concrete evidence we’ve seen that shows office-based workers’ love affair with the printed page is beginning to wane. There is far greater confidence in mobile technology and electronic information, meaning that there is less demand for the comfort of a piece of paper. It’s surprising to see that the proportion of unnecessary printing has remained the same, however, indicating that there is still a long way to go before we reach that paperless nirvana.” 

While 72% of users felt that their printing efficiency would improve if they simply made more effort, there is an increasing trend towards automated systems such as mandatory duplex (up 5% from 2010) and card-controlled access (up 8% from 2010). Despite this, however, IT managers still feel that there is an important role in educating users around the environmental and cost benefits of reducing print volumes, with 68% believing that user education around cost benefits is the best way to promote printing best practice. 

Tracey Rawling Church comments: “As more organisations begin to deploy managed document services, we are seeing an increase in the use of print policy software and card-based access systems, which mandate improvements in print efficiency. What’s interesting to see is that IT Managers still place strong emphasis on the softer aspects of user education around cost and environmental benefits of good print practice. It’s important that the scope of managed document services deployments includes this kind of user education to ensure ultimate success.” 

To read the full research report please visit www.kyoceramita.co.uk/survey2011