Sustainable Times Magazine Issue 3 As the environment becomes more important in purchasing decisions and in product marketing, the risks of failing to tackle areas of weakness or publicise environmental strengths become greater.

1. SPRING 2009
Natural selection
Why it makes sense to
Print Less, Save More
with Lexmark
Green Stationery
Eco-labels
bels
Sustainable Computing
nable
Videoconferencing
conferencing
Business Travel Plans
ss
Remanufactured
ufactured
u ed
cartridges
ges
Office Lighting
Catering &
ng
Vending
g

2. A greener business
with
Philips Green Products can help reduce costs,
energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
How?
They offer customers, users and society a significant
environmental improvement in one or more of the Philips
Green Focal Areas - Energy efficiency, Packaging, Hazardous
substances, Weight, Recycling and disposal, and Lifetime reliability.
Low energy consumption
Up to 47% better on energy efficiency
compared to the average of the competitors
LaserMFD 6000 series
Toner Save function
Simplify your daily business
40%
Toner Save
Visit www.fax.philips.com and www.asimpleswitch.com for further information.
47%
Energy
Savings

3. CONTENTS
Avex 2009 being held at the NEC, Birmingham on June
10-11 provides a golden opportunity to see what measures
the catering and vending industry has taken to green up
its act.
As in other industries, these tend to revolve around energy
efficiency and waste minimisation, but because it is catering,
there is also greater support for fairtrade ingredients (see page
29 and 30 for further details). Publicising these initiatives is
important not just for customers who have their own waste
reduction and CSR obligations, but for the industry itself.
As the environment becomes more important in purchasing
decisions and in product marketing, the risks of failing to
tackle areas of weakness or publicise environmental strengths
become greater. For evidence you need look no further than
the paper industry.
Although the paper industry is, in the words of Jonathan
Porritt, “inherently sustainable”, failure to adequately address
its environmental record or publicise its achievements have
made it an easy target both for climate campaigners and the
marketing department of any company with a non paperbased product to sell.
Carbon offset company Carbonica is typical. It has launched
a campaign for a ‘paperless future’ and is encouraging people
to avoid purchasing newspapers, magazines and paper books as
part of its vision to prevent deforestation. Shamelessly, it even
suggests that “if you must read a magazine in paper form, read
it at a bookstore café”.
The paper industry must realise its potential to become
genuinely sustainable, not only to put more pressure on
the computer industry, but also to save us from a future in
which bookshops only exist to provide reading material for
freeloaders to enjoy with a cup of fairtrade coffee.
James Goulding, Editor
Editor
James Goulding 01962 771862 jamesg@binfo.co.uk
Advertising Director
Ethan White 01474 824711 ethan@binfo.co.uk
Publishing Director
Neil Trim 07803 087229 dd 01737 249408 neil@binfo.co.uk
Sustainable Times is a supplement of Business Info Magazine.
It is published by Kingswood Media Ltd., 4 New Cottages,
Green Farm Lane, Shorne, Kent DA12 3HQ.
Tel: 01474 824711. Email: info@binfo.co.uk
No part of Sustainable Times can be reproduced without prior written
permission of the publisher. © 2009 Kingswood Media Ltd.
The paper used in this magazine is obtained from manufacturers who
operate within internationally recognized standards.
The paper is made from Elementary Chlorine Free (ECF) pulp, which is
sourced from sustainable, properly managed forestation.
04 Agenda
New developments in
sustainable purchasing
20 Videoconferencing
WWF report highlights the
potential and limitations of
videoconferencing
21 Business Travel Plans
Planes, trains and automobiles:
the importance of planning
23 Remanufactured
cartridges
11 Green
Stationery
Which is better,
recycling
or remanufacturing?
Sustainable
Times reviews
April’s
Stationery and
Office Products
Show
14 Eco-labels
Paper by Nature
is a new ecolabel for notebooks, envelopes
and other converted paper
products
24 Office Lighting
The easy way to recycle
gas discharge lamps
26 What’s New
Our round-up
of the best
new green
products
16 Sustainable Computing
Our pick of 10 of the best
alternatives to desktop PCs
18 Survival of the Fittest
Why it makes sense to
Print Less, Save More with
Lexmark
29 Catering & Vending
What operators are doing
to reduce the impact
of hot and cold drinks
vending
CONTENTS
PEFC/16-33-595
CU-CoC-810614

4. greenAgenda
Dell is leading green brand
– but not for everyone
Dell is regarded as the leading green technology
brand among IT buyers, but not by Greenpeace, which
criticises the PC manufacturer for its continued use of
PVC and BFRs in the March 2009 edition of the
Guide to Greener Electronics.
New toner bottle recycling service
Users of Canon MFPs are being invited to recycle their
used toner bottles – but they will have to pay £30
plus VAT for the privilege of doing so, unlike Canon’s
printer customers who continue to enjoy a free
cartridge recycling service.
The service is run in partnership with recycling
specialist eReco, which will recycle the toner, plastics
and metal parts according to a zero landfill policy.
Materials recovered in the process are used to
manufacture a variety of products including washing
machine parts, traffic cones, building materials, fire
alarm casings and games consoles.
Canon is asking customers who want to take
advantage of the fully audited service to contact
eReco to order a £30 bag, which, when full, will be
collected for recycling.
Depending on the MFP model, toner bottles last
for between 6,000 and 20,000 pages
(at 5% toner coverage).
01342 833033
www.ereco.co.uk
In an international Green Factor study
of 3,500 enterprise IT decision makers
conducted by Strategic Oxygen and
Cohn & Wolfe, Dell was the highest
ranked of 26 brands thanks largely to
its recycling programme – the most
important attribute sought by IT
professionals.
HP, IBM and Microsoft were rated
for their energy efficient products and
use of sustainable materials, while Apple
held its position in the top five for
designing products perceived to have a
green look and feel.
The survey looked at the key
attributes buyers look for in a product
or supplier. It found that buyers
attached greatest importance to the
qualities of a brand’s products, but that
they also considered the sustainability
of a company’s operations.
The first category includes the use
of biodegradable/recyclable materials;
products or packaging that appears to
be green because the design is clean;
recycling programs for old hardware;
energy efficiency; and products that
help businesses promote a green image
of themselves.
The second category includes
green facilities (manufacturing and/or
datacentres), green shipping methods
(e.g. non-wasteful packaging, efficient
transportation), and leadership in
developing new green technologies.
The Top 10 green brands according
to IT professionals in the US are Dell,
HP, IBM, Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Google,
Cisco, Sun and Sony.
The top 10 for British respondents
are IBM, Microsoft, Dell, Apple, HP,
Google, Intel, Sony, Nokia and Cisco.
The latest edition of Greenpeace’s
Guide to Greener Electronics provides
an interesting counterpoint to the Green
Factor study, which tends to reflect the
marketing muscle of American computer
manufacturers.
Now in its 11th edition,
Greenpeace’s guide is designed
to encourage leading electronics
companies to reduce the volume and
toxicity of e-waste and address climate
change through improved energy
efficiency.
Researchers assess and rank 17
leading electronics brands based on
their record in a number of key areas,
including: the elimination of harmful
substances notably vinyl plastic (PVC)
and brominated flame retardants
(BFRs), but also all phthalates, beryllium
(including alloys and compounds)
and antimony/antimony compounds;
worldwide producer take-back and
recycling programmes; the use of
recycled materials including plastic; a
commitment to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions; and the development of
energy efficient products.
Judged on these criteria, US
computer manufacturers appear to be
lagging behind European and Far Eastern
companies.
Greenpeace’s lastest ranking
has Nokia in first place, followed by
Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Philips, Sony,
LG Electronics, Toshiba, Motorola, Sharp,
Apple, Acer, Panasonic, Dell, Lenovo,
Microsoft, HP and Nintendo.
www.greenfactorstudy.com
www.greenpeace.org/
greenerelectronics
Stone starts on-site PC recycling
The Stone Group has become the first UK PC manufacturer to open its own
on-site computer recycling facility.
The £500,000 plant was constructed in Germany and shipped to the UK on
four vehicles before being assembled at a newly acquired facility near the Group’s
Staffordshire head office.
It is capable of crunching half a tonne of equipment per hour and
reducing it to pieces smaller than 30mm, from which all precious metals
and iron are then extracted.
According to James Bird, CEO of Stone Group, the new plant will enable
the company to provide customers with a complete cradle-to-grave service.
He said: “Stone has always been prized by our customers for the
wraparound services we offer, including our extended warranties and
in-house service and support teams. Now we are extending that cradle-tograve service by looking after our customers’ equipment when it reaches its
end of life.”
01785 812100 www.stonegroup.co.uk
04 sustainabletimes
0870 903 9500

5. Rag and bone van for
digital age
A twenty-first century version of the
rag and bone cart, Midex’s distinctive
WEEECollect.IT van has started
visiting the UK’s town and cities as
part of the UK’s first household WEEE
and battery collection service.
The house-to-house service will
collect old TVs, computers, printers and
other everyday electrical and electronic
goods from people’s front doorsteps
and driveways at no charge (with the
exception of fridges and freezers).
Philips calls on business to cut lighting costs
Philips Fortimo
LED downlighters
like those used
in the Heineken
store in Amsterdam
consume 50% less
energy than CFL
lighters; provide
instant light; are
dimmable; have
a long lifetime
(50,000 hours); and
are maintenance
free.
Philips is calling on businesses,
landlords and local authorities to
switch to energy-efficient lighting
and reduce electricity consumption
from lighting by 40%.
The call coincides with the publication
of Transforming the Market: Energy
Efficiency in Buildings, the final report
from the four-year Energy Efficiency in
Buildings research project, which argues
that energy consumption in buildings
could be cut by 60% by 2050.
Philips executive Kaj den Daas said
that a significant proportion of that
reduction could be achieved sooner by
adopting energy-saving lighting.
“If all the lighting in the world were
switched to energy efficient solutions,
€120 billion could be saved on
electricity, as well as 630 million tonnes
of CO2. That is the equivalent output
of 600 power plants or 1,800 million oil
barrels in a year,” he said.
Lighting currently accounts for 19%
of the world’s electricity use. Threequarters of all lighting is based on old,
energy inefficient solutions.
Last month Philips Color Kinetics
received an award from the US
Department of Energy for its progress
in developing an LED replacement for
halogen or HID-based PAR 38 bulbs
used in recessed can lights and track
lighting systems.
Tests show that the bulbs due to be
launched towards the end of this year
are significantly more energy efficient
than existing LED PAR 38 lamps and
almost five times more efficient than
incandescent lamps.
www.asimpleswitch.com
www.colorkinetics.com.
In addition, householders will be
encouraged to hand over spent batteries
for recycling in accordance with the
European Battery Directive, helping to
boost non-lead battery recycling in the
UK from its current rate of 4%.
The national roll-out by Midex
follows successful trials in Aldershot,
Farnborough and Guildford late
last year. Householders will receive
advance notification of when the
distinctive WEEECollect.IT van is in their
neighbourhood.
www.weeecollect.it
Recycling still best for
paper
The European Recovered Paper
Council (ERPC) has responded to
doubts about the efficacy of recycling
by re-stating the environmental
benefits of recycling compared to
alternatives such as landfill and
incineration.
ERPC chairman Phil Mogel said:
“Every piece of paper in your recycling
bin counts for a better environment and
society…Consumers can be assured that
their efforts in sorting continue to serve
a real purpose.”
The ERPC has calculated that if
every EU citizen achieved best practice
in recycling, another 10 million tonnes
www.binfo.co.uk
of paper would be recycled, taking the
total to more than 70 million tonnes per
annum. This would save an additional
14 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
WRAP studies in the UK conclude
that recycling 1 tonne of paper and
cardboard produces 1.4 tonnes less of
carbon dioxide equivalent than landfill,
and 0.62 tonnes of CO2 equivalent less
than incineration.
In 2007, paper was recycled at a rate
of 64.5% in Europe, with less than 15%
being exported to other countries for
recycling. The industry has a voluntary
target of a 66% recycling rate by the
end of 2010.
www.paperrecovery.eu
One in four Philips products
is ‘green’
Last year Green Products accounted for 25%
of all Philips’ sales revenue, up from 20% in
2007, putting the electronics company well
on the way to meeting its target of 30%
green sales by 2012.
Philips categorises Green Products as those
that are at least 10% better than previous
or competitor models in at least one of the
following areas: energy efficiency; packaging;
hazardous substances; weight; recycling and
disposal; and lifetime reliability.
www.philips.com
greenAgenda…
sustainabletimes 05

6. greenAgenda
Switch to biomass and
watch your savings grow
Credit-crunched consumers still
want to buy green
New research from the Carbon Trust Standard shows
that consumers still want to buy green despite the
current economic climate, with 62% of respondents
saying environmental concerns influence their
purchasing decisions as much as a year ago and just
over a quarter saying they influence them ‘even more’
than in 2008.
The research shows that a business’s green credentials
have a significant impact on consumer buying choices.
Two thirds (66%) of consumers say it’s important to
buy from environmentally responsible companies, with
one in seven (14%) saying they have voted with their
feet by deciding not to buy from a company based on
its environmental reputation: almost a quarter have
boycotted a company’s products because of its ethical
reputation.
The YouGov survey of nearly 2,000 UK adults found
support for clearer, more credible information on what
companies are doing to reduce their environmental
impact, with 70% admitting that they found it hard to
identify which companies are environmentally responsible.
Six in ten consumers (59%) are sceptical about the
environmental claims companies make, and 44% would
like more information on what companies are actually
doing to be environmentally responsible.
The Carbon Trust Standard is the world’s first carbon
award that requires an organisation to measure, manage
and reduce its carbon footprint and
make real reductions year-on-year.
Among the first companies to
have achieved the Carbon Trust
Standard are printer suppliers
Kyocera, Ricoh and HP.
www.carbontruststandard.com.
06 sustainabletimes
Businesses and public sector
organisations could benefit by
switching from oil, gas and electric
heating to renewable biomass,
according to Biomass Heating,
A Practical Guide, published by the
Carbon Trust.
The guide claims that biomass
heating offers the greatest cost savings
in parts of the UK which are not
currently on the gas grid, as using wood
or straw can provide cost savings of
2-4 p/kWh (pence per kilowatt hour)
relative to use of heating oil.
A biomass system generating
1,600MWh of heat (the annual heating
requirements of a typical school) could
save up to £50,000 per year on fuel
costs compared to an existing oil-based
heating system and be subject to less
price volatility.
Mark Williamson, Director of
Innovations at the Carbon Trust, said:
“We’ve become so reliant on oil, gas
and electricity that many businesses
just aren’t aware of the cost and carbon
benefits of turning to biomass for their
heating supply. Renewable heating will
need to play a key role in meeting the
UK’s renewable energy targets and
biomass offers the greatest potential
to contribute to this. Growing the
UK biomass industry can offer other
positive impacts, such as creating new
green jobs in the UK and making use
of certain waste products that would
otherwise go to landfill.”
Biomass typically offers carbon
reductions of around 90% relative to
fossil fuel heating systems. Burning
biomass does release carbon dioxide to
the atmosphere, but this is offset by the
carbon dioxide absorbed in the original
growth of the biomass, or captured in
the growth of new biomass to replace
the materials used.
In its Renewable Energy Strategy
consultation, the Government said
that if the UK is to meet its 2020
renewable energy targets, renewable
sources may need to provide 14% of
the UK’s heating requirements (up from
the current level of 1%). Biomass is
expected to account for a significant
proportion of this increase.
According to the Carbon Trust, the
most cost-effective carbon savings
can be achieved with small to medium
scale biomass applications (100 kWth3MWth).
Two organisations that have recently
made the switch to biomass are Cwm
Taff NHS Trust, which is expecting to
save £35,000 per year by replacing
an oil-fired boiler with one burning
woodchips, and Bell Bros Nurseries
Ltd which will be using woodchip to
provide 60-70% of the heat needed for
its 50,000m2 of glasshouses, cutting
annual heating costs by 40-50%.
The Carbon Trust provides interestfree loans of up to £200,000 to help
small businesses upgrade to more
energy efficient equipment, including
biomass boilers.
To find out more about biomass
heating systems and download the
report, visit www.carbontrust.co.uk/
biomass or call 0800 085 2005.
East Midlands keeps track of savings
East Midlands Trains has
implemented a recycling scheme at
its Neville Hill Depot in Leeds that
is expected to deliver annual cost
savings of £150,000 and prevent
90% of train waste from going to
landfill.
Instead of compacting waste
from trains and sending it to landfill,
the company is employing a waste
contractor to collect the waste on
a daily basis and take it away to be
recycled at a nearby recycling depot.
Most of the 480 tonnes of waste
collected from the trains and depot
each year is recyclable, including
newspapers, magazines, glass and
plastic bottles, packaging and paper.
Ted Ingle, Safety & Quality Manager
at the depot, said: “By putting this
scheme in place we’re not only helping
to meet our franchise target to recycle
15% of waste across the whole of our
As part of the scheme, East Midlands Trains
has invested in 30 bespoke wheelie bins,
designed and supplied by Sellers Engineering.
company, we’re also making business
cost savings. Another benefit has been
the elimination of previous compactor
maintenance costs and vermin
problems that were associated with
compacting waste for landfill.”
0870 903 9500

7. Give your customers
a cup of the best
quality Fairtrade
coffee, on us.
We’re giving away FREE sample boxes of NESCAFÉ® PARTNERS’ BLEND®
for you to try yourself and share. Claim yours while stocks last.
Visit www.nescafe-beveragesolutions.co.uk/fairtrade or call 0800 745 845.
Open to customers aged 18 and over only. Offer closes on 30th June 2009 or while stocks last. 1,000 boxes of 16 x stick sachets available.
Only one sample box per registered address. For full terms and conditions, please see website for details.
® Reg. Trademark of Société des Produits Nestlé S.A.

8. Did you know?
greenAgenda
• Software downloads are eight times more
carbon efficient than producing, shipping
and selling a DVD through traditional
retail distribution channels, according
to a new study by WSP Environment
and Energy and Accenture.
The study commissioned by
Microsoft following its introduction of
digital downloads for Microsoft Office
2007 compares the carbon footprint
of a digital download with that of a
fully packaged software product sold
through traditional retail stores.
Researchers compared carbon emissions
from the raw materials, production,
distribution, customer purchase and end
of life processes for 10 million off-theshelf retail units to those from the online
delivery of 10 million downloads, taking
into account the datacentres used for
hosting downloads, the transfer of the
software through the web and the energy
used by a customer’s PC.
When all these factors are taken into
account, digital software delivery reduces
total carbon emissions by 88%.
The biggest sources of carbon
emissions from packaged software are
packaging and transport. The former is the
largest contributor (almost 10,000 tonnes
of CO2 equivalent emissions for 10 million
products) until the customer’s journey to
and from the retail store was included. This
increases CO2 equivalent emissions from
distribution to more than 60,000 tonnes.
www.wspenvironmental.com/usa
• Google has refuted the recent suggestion
that a typical Google search produces
7 grams of CO2 and uses half as much
energy as boiling a kettle of water.
According to its calculation, an average
Google search query consumes
0.0003 kWh of energy. In terms of
greenhouse gas emissions, it claims that
each search produces the equivalent of
0.2 grams of CO2, the same as driving
1 metre in an average car.
Credit crunch
drives demand for
remanufactured MFPs
Ricoh has officially launched its R
series of recycled multifunction
products (MFPs), just as Océ
reports a surge in demand for its
remanufactured printing systems as
a result of the credit crunch.
Built to be as good as new, Ricoh
R series MFPs cost 25% less and have
a 40% lower carbon footprint than a
newly manufactured device.
The pre-owned MFPs are remanufactured at Ricoh’s facility in
Telford, where workers strip each
machine to its chassis, replace all
‘lifetime’ parts, fit modifications or
firmware upgrades, re-spray all external
panels and re-set counters to zero.
The devices are then re-badged and
re-branded to identify them as Ricohapproved recycled machines.
The range comes with full warranties
and includes both mono and colour
devices. The former offer print speeds
from 22 (R222) to 75 (R175) ppm and
Universal charger for mobile phones
three years away
The GSMA and 17 leading mobile operators and manufacturers have
responded to concerns about e-waste by announcing plans to introduce a
universal charger for mobile phones by January 1, 2012.
It is hoped that the introduction of a common format for mobile phone
chargers will remove the need to give consumers a new charger with each phone
upgrade, helping the industry to eliminate up to 51,000 tonnes of duplicate
chargers.
The GSMA predicts that with 50% fewer chargers being manufactured each
year (assuming 50% of phones are replacement devices), the industry can expect
to cut greenhouse gases from the manufacture and transport of replacement
chargers by 13.6 million tonnes to 21.8 million tonnes a year.
Another benefit is an estimated 50% reduction in standby energy consumption,
as the universal chargers will have a 4-star or higher efficiency rating and be up to
three times more energy-efficient than an un-rated charger.
The GSM hopes that by January 1, 2012 a mojority of new mobile phones will
support the universal charging connector.
www.gsmworld.com
Oce services go green
Following a successful trial with
pharmaceutical company Pfizer,
Océ UK has launched a range of
eco-friendly print and mailroom
management services for medium
and large companies that want to
reduce their environmental footprint.
An add-on to Oce’s managed on-site
document services, Océ Green Services
is currently available for the printroom,
office fleet printers, mailroom, records
management, creative services and
08 sustainabletimes
the latter 8-10 ppm in colour and 24
(R024c) to 32 (R032c) ppm in mono.
Last year Océ increased sales of
remanufactured devices by 66%, from
3,000 in 2007 to 5,000 in 2008.
Océ Prémia Class printers are
re-manufactured at Océ’s Asset
Recovery plants in Venlo, Chicago,
Munich and Prague. In addition to
renovated printing systems, the plants
recovered 130,000 components and
modules that Océ re-uses.
www.oce.com
www.ricoh.co.uk
print management.
Under the scheme, Oce conducts an
energy audit, including the calculation
of CO2 emissions; recommends
sustainable improvements; implements
instruments to enhance energy
efficiency; and supplies environmentally
friendly consumables.
The Océ Green Services package
also includes the option to offset
carbon emissions through Shining
Earth, the sustainability division of
environmental consultants DeltaSimons. www.oce.com
0870 903 9500

9. advertorial
Greener by Design
Samsung’s Eco Design Evaluation System keeps the environmental
impact of its printers and MFPs to a minimum.
Samsung printers and MFPs are not just highly productive,
reliable and economical devices. They have also been
designed with the environment in mind.
Samsung’s Eco Design Evaluation System requires product
designers to take into account the environmental impact of
their choices at every stage of the product’s lifecycle, from
design and distribution to use by the customer and disposal
at end of life.
Thanks to this approach Samsung is taking a lead in
eliminating potentially harmful substances from its products
and increasing the use of recycled materials, whilst improving
energy efficiency and reducing waste.
These efforts have earned plaudits from discriminating
judges, notably Greenpeace, and ensured that Samsung
products meet the most exacting environmental standards.
All Samsung printers and MFPs are Energy Star accredited
and many exceed Germany’s demanding Blue Angel standard.
Indeed, with 34 accredited printers and MFPs, Samsung has
more Blue Angel-certified products than any other printer
manufacturer.
Design & Distribution
Samsung’s focus on lifecycle assessments is evident in the
design of its printers and MFPs, which continue to set new
standards for space-efficiency, most recently with the
CLX-3175FW, the world’s smallest wireless four-in-one colour
laser MFP.
Its small size and whisper-quiet operation make the
CLX-3175FW ideal for businesses and home users with limited
space. But there is also an environmental benefit, as fewer
resources are needed to manufacture and transport small and
light devices.
Further evidence of Samsung’s commitment to minimise
unnecessary use of resources is its strategy to launch high
speed A4 MFPs as alternatives to large departmental A3 copiers.
Independent research commissioned by Samsung shows
that more than 97% of documents printed in offices are A4.
Yet, if you look around any workplace, you will see a multitude
of A3 copiers that are needed for less than 3% of a company’s
daily output.
Samsung believes that businesses are being sold the
wrong devices by organisations that have a vested interest in
persuading their customers
to buy bigger, more
expensive A3
devices that require
more resources to
manufacture, transport
and dispose of at end
of life.
High speed A4 MFPs like the
53 pages per minute Samsung
SCX-6555N or 38ppm colour
MultiXpress CLX-8380ND have all
the functionality and productivity
features of A3 devices but without
the expense or unnecessary use of
resources that A3 devices entail.
Active Phase
The greatest environmental impact
from printer use occurs during the
usage phase, which is why Samsung
devices include a number of features to help customers
reduce paper and electricity consumption.
Toner Save buttons on our printers (and in our drivers)
cut toner consumption by up to 30%; automatic doublesided printing reduces paper consumption; and high
capacity toner cartridges keep waste to a minimum.
Power consumption is minimised through an ‘e-standby’
mode that reduces energy consumption to less than 3wh.
A timed power shut-off mode on devices like the new Samsung
SCX-5635FN 33ppm mono MFP lets you adjust timings
between 5 and 120 minutes.
Further savings can be made by using printer drivers and
software applications to control toner and paper use through
quotas, restrictions and rules-based printing. These include
Samsung’s own solutions as well as popular third party
applications. Support for our open Jscribe platform allows
many of these to run on the devices themselves, removing
the need to install a separate server with its own embedded
carbon and power requirements.
A programmable
e-standby mode
reduces power
consumption on
the SCX-5635FN
to 3wh
Who needs A3?
The MultiXpress
CLX-8380ND
colour A4 MFP
End of life
Samsung is WEEE-compliant and
has implemented the S.T.A.R.
cartridge take-back and
recycling program to prevent
waste from going to landfill.
Thanks to these features and
initiatives, customers attracted by the
print quality, reliability, functionality or
low total cost of ownership of Samsung
printers and MFPs can be confident
that their choice also meets the
highest environmental standards.
www.samsung.com
The world’s smallest
wireless colour laser MFP
www.samsung.com
sustainabletimes 11

10. SOLVING A
WEEE ISSUE
J
une 2009 will mark the second anniversary of the WEEE Regulations, and since
they were implemented in 2007 we have already seen many encouraging statistics
about awareness levels amongst businesses and overall increasing levels of
recycling. In fact, the latest figures show that the average WEEE recycling rate in
the UK is over 7kg per person each year which is well above the EU target of 4kg.
However, nearly two million tonnes of WEEE is produced every year in the UK and,
according to a recent survey by environmental guidance providers Netregs, only
12% of SMEs could name the regulations provided in the WEEE legislation and
many were unsure of their responsibilities.
Peter Lees, Commercial Manager of Recolight, answers your questions on the
WEEE Regulations and how Recolight can help businesses recycle their old lamps.
Q. WHY SHOULD I CONSIDER THE WEEE
REGULATIONS WHEN DISPOSING OF END-OFLIFE LAMPS?
A. The WEEE Regulations were introduced in 2007
to reduce the impact that end-of-life electrical waste
has on the environment, by encouraging the reuse
or recycling of these items rather then sending them
to landfill sites. Under the regulations the financing
and treatment of many types of electrical equipment
purchased after 13th August 2005 is now the
responsibility of the producer, and such waste includes
compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and other gas
discharge lamps (GDLs).
Q. WHO ARE RECOLIGHT?
A. We are a not-for-profit, producer-led compliance
scheme specialising in the recycling of gas discharge
lamps. Recolight was established by the UK lamp
producers who account for a significant share of the
UK market. Our members are producers and importers
of WEEE who put new lamps on the UK market for the
first time and are therefore obliged to comply with the
WEEE Regulations.
We take on the legal responsibility of our members
to put in place a system to collect and recycle their
customers’ end-of-life lamps. Their membership funds
the cost of collection and recycling services from
which any qualifying organisation can benefit.
Our priority is to recycle as many lamps as possible
on behalf of our members and to increase overall
recycling rates for waste lamps.
Q. HOW DOES THE RECOLIGHT SCHEME WORK?
A. Recolight works by providing a collection system of
WEEE lamps through a network of collection points
(called RecoNet). Recolight gives businesses the
ability to dispose of their end-of-life lamps easily by
arranging/financing collection from the sites, ensuring
the lamps are recycled effectively. As a registered
compliance scheme, we take on our members’
responsibilities and provide the interface with all the
elements in the compliance process.
10 sustainabletimes
Q. HOW CAN I JOIN THE RECONET SYSTEM?
A. Recolight always welcomes enquiries from
businesses interested in becoming collection points
and if you would like to participate, please register
your interest in the RecoNet system on our website
www.recolight.co.uk.
Q. WHAT DO I DO IF I HAVE A SMALL VOLUME OF
END-OF-LIFE LAMPS?
A. If it takes you over a month to accumulate
1,000 lamps, which is the case for a lot of smaller
businesses, we can organise a one-off collection of
the waste. Under these circumstances, you must store
the waste in a safe place where the lamps will not get
broken, and which is easily accessible for a one-off
collection to take place.
If you have very few lamps (1,000 or less) then you
can locate your nearest open collection point by using
the mapping tool available on our website. Please
ensure you contact the site before you visit to check
they still have space available in their container. If
you do not have access to the internet please call
RecoLine on 0845 601 7749 and a member of the
Recolight team will be able to help you.
Q. HOW CAN I FIND MY NEAREST RECOLIGHT
COLLECTION POINT?
A. You can log on to our website (www.recolight.
co.uk) and click on our mapping tool. Alternatively,
you can call the team on the RecoLine - 0845 601
7749 and they will be able to advise you of your
nearest open collection point.
Q. HOW CAN I FIND OUT FURTHER
INFORMATION ABOUT RECOLIGHT?
A. You can call us on RecoLine - 0845 601 7749 and
speak to a member of the Recolight team. They are
always happy to provide advice and support to help
you recycle your lamps as efficiently as possible.
You can also subscribe to our regular newsletter at
newsletter@recolight.co.uk.
Please quote ST when you contact us.
0870 903 9500

11. Exhibition Review : SOPX 2009
File Under Green
The Stationery and Office Products
Show (SOPX) held in April at the
Business Design Centre, Islington
underlined the importance of offering
sustainable alternatives to traditional
stationery products.
It is a measure of the impact that
sustainable procurement is having on
stationery purchases that almost every
supplier at SOPX now includes recycled
or biodegradable options within its
portfolio. These are more than just ‘metoo’ products, but are a key element of
manufacturers’ line-ups and the focus of
continued investment and development
by suppliers.
Zebra, for example, is re-branding
its Care for Nature pens made from
recycled plastic. Now known as ‘Eco
Pens’, the expanded range of writing
instruments is being promoted on a redesigned website.
Bic, too, has a line of recycled writing
instruments. Its recently launched
Ecolutions range includes products with
a minimum of 50% recycled material,
predominantly pre-consumer waste
from the manufacturing process.
Unlike the recycled pen ranges
of other manufacturers that tend to
Bic has introduced
the Ecolutions
range of recycled
stationery
products
feature the same designs as standard
products, Bic ecolutions pens have
an unadorned, basic design. The only
exceptions are the Bic ecolutions
Orange and Tipp-Ex products that look
the same as standard Bic products.
Although not included in the
ecolutions range, the latest TippEx launch, the Easy Refill, is more
environmentally friendly than some
other products in the correction range,
as it can be refilled.
Remarkable Pens has been creating
stationery products from recycled
post-consumer materials longer than
most. It has recently taken advantage
of the greater availability of rPET plastic
from recycled plastic drinks bottles to
produce bendy plastic rulers
and clear covers for its
recycled
notepads. Later this
year, it will be launching
geometry sets made from
recycled car headlights.
Filing is an obvious area for
more sustainable options –
indeed manilla files and folders
have had a high recycled
content for years. Today, there
are greener options to suit all
filing needs.
Herlitz was showing a green version
of its wide-opening One Tip lever arch
file, which opens at the press of a
button and allows files to be inserted
on either side of the mechanism. The
Blue-Angel certified model uses recycled
paper and board and is non-laminated
for simple recycling at end of life.
The Colop ‘identity
cancelling stamp’
removes the need for
shredders by blocking
out personal details on
paper documents
Herlitz’s wide-opening
One Tip lever arch
file comes in recycled
versions.
The filing specialist also unveiled the
Herlitz Green range of 100% recycled,
Blue Angel-certified notebooks, pads,
files and document wallets.
Sinclairs, famous for its Silvine brand,
launched a 100% recycled range that is
also FSC-certified and soon to be made
carbon neutral. Despite the ‘Made with
Care in the UK’ tagline, these notepads
use M-real’s Evolve 100% recycled
paper, which is now made at the Alizay
mill in Northern France, albeit from
recycled fibre made in Kent from UK
waste: the notebooks themselves are
made in West Yorkshire.
Green angles
Any marketing department worth its
salt will look for a green angle with
which to promote its products.
Typical is Mark C Brown, which is
advertising the environmental benefits
of its new security dye stamp. The
stamp uses a complex pattern to
make sensitive details unreadable and
therefore safe to put in the recycling
bin. Small businesses and home users
might find this an attractive alternative
to shredding, especially if their local
council is one of those that refuses to
collect shredded paper for recycling.
Philips is committed to reducing
the environmental impact of its own
products and has set up a labelling
programme to help consumers choose
its most sustainable models.
On the business machine front,
it has a number of sustainable
options with reduced packaging
and cost/waste-saving features,
including inkjet faxes that
consume 40% less energy
and laser MFPs with toner
save mode to reduce toner
consumption by 40%.
continued on page 12…
Sinclairs
GREENinitiative
award
Sustainable TIMES
Sinclairs has added
sustainable options to its
Silvine range of notebooks
SPRING 09
www.binfo.co.uk
sustainabletimes 11

12. …continued from page 11
February’s Paperworld exhibition
saw further green product launches.
Exhibition Review : SOPX 2009
Philips is established as a consumer
brand, but with the launch of its
first generation of Philips-branded
multifunction laser faxes, it is now
addressing the business-to-business
market.
Another way to reduce the
environmental impact of printer use, say
suppliers of third party products, is to
use recycled printer supplies, which are
cheaper than the manufacturers’ own
offerings, extend the life of inkjet/toner
cartridges and provide a valuable source
of income for charities that collect and
sell on used cartridges.
Printer manufacturers dismiss these
compatibles as inferior to original
supplies, yet when it suits them, several
are more than happy to play in that
market. At SOPX, for example, Ricoh
subsidiary Infotec was promoting its
ImageJet brand of compatible supplies,
including the T range of recycled
cartridges.
New build third party compatibles
like Media Sciences’ toner cartridges
and solid ink sticks, shown on the Beta
Distribution stand, may not provide the
environmental savings of a recycled
cartridge, but they do give customers
a tempting 30% price reduction
compared to original supplies from
Brother, Dell, Epson, Konica Minolta, Oki,
Ricoh, Samsung, Tektronix and Xerox.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Compost
The development of bioplastics
gives consumers an additional
option to the three Rs, viz. to
compost.
A number of manufacturers
were showing products that
are claimed to biodegrade if
composted, among them Postsafe,
which is promoting its ExtraStrong
Biodegradable Envelopes by giving
away free books of First Class Stamps
to qualifying customers, and Atlanta,
which was formed by an MBO of Smead
Europe in September 2008.
It was previewing its as yet unnamed green range of desk accessories
made from a mix of 40% wood and
60% PLA (a plastic derived from corn
starch). This combination is compostable
(Atlanta is currently running tests to
see how long it takes to degrade), but
may be hard to recycle as the different
components will need to be separated.
Atlanta was also showing Resolution
filing trays that are made from 100%
12 sustainabletimes
Among the highlights were new additions to
Fellowes’ 100% recycled and recyclable Earth Series
of desktop accessories, including a monitor and
laptop riser (1); a new range of FSC-certified
pencils and dry highlighters from Stabilo
(2); Evolve 75, a 75gsm and 75% recycled
addition to M-real’s recycled paper range,
specially developed for cost-conscious
buyers (3); lighter 60 and 70gsm papers
from Mondi that give consumers a less
wasteful alternative to 80gsm grades
(4); and Mitsubishi Pencil Company’s
Powertank Eco featuring a barrel made
from recycled polycarbonate plastic
and a grip made from resin and
sawdust from the company’s
pencil factory (5).
1
2
3
4
5
The 100% recycled
Green range Herlitz
Biodegradable envelopes
from Postsafe
Shuttlepost’s re-usable
envelopes reduce paper waste
post consumer waste but priced at the
same level as a virgin product.
These are not the only ways in
which Atlanta is aiming to improve
the environmental performance of
its products. This year it plans to
standardise on FSC-certified paper for
all its business forms and paper products
and it has already re-designed its plastic
letter trays to reduce packaging and
shipping requirements. Taking a small
notch out of the back of the tray has
allowed Atlanta to stack trays top to tail
and so fit 10 units in a box that would
once have carried six.
Another way to minimise the
environmental impact of
stationery is to re-use items
as much as possible
before they are recycled.
This is the major selling
point of Shuttlepost’s
re-usable
polypropylene
envelopes. The
envelopes are 100%
recyclable and there
are plans to introduce a
100% recycled version in
the future.
…continued on page 14
0870 903 9500

14. …continued from page 12
Exhibition Review : SOPX 2009
When quality matters
Despite concerns about carbon
neutrality, offsetting is still
a popular strategy in the
stationery market. Sinclairs is
considering it for its recycled
range, giving buyers a Royal
Flush of green credentials
(100% recycled, FSC-certified
and Carbon Neutral). Others
use carbon neutrality as a way
of meeting the environmental
concerns of buyers for whom a
recycled grade is unsuitable or
too expensive.
The latter includes The Aims
Group, which has followed
the lead of ArjoWiggins by
launching a carbon neutral
paper. Report Carbon Neutral
is a multipurpose, FSC-certified virgin
office paper made by Suzano at an
integrated paper mill in Brazil. Under a
process audited by Brazilian NGO The
Green Initiative, all carbon emissions
associated with the paper’s
production and shipping
to Europe have been offset
through the reforestation of a
river valley with trees native
to Brazil’s Atlantic Coastal Rain
Forests.
Report Carbon Neutral,
which also incorporates Colorlok
technology for improved colour
reproduction and faster drying
times, is available in 80gsm.
Portucel Soporcel, which
like Suzano makes paper from
eucalyptus pulp, also argues
that recycled paper is not the
only ‘sustainable’ option. At the
end of last year the Portuguese
manufacturer stopped selling
Explorer Premium Recycled made from
50% post consumer waste and 50%
mill offcuts and decided to focus on the
supply of premium white paper.
It now offers two ‘sustainable’
options for customers that want to
reduce their carbon footprint whilst
continuing to use the best quality office
paper. These are Navigator Hybrid made
from 30% post consumer recycled fibre
and 70% virgin fibre, which has the
whiteness and strength demanded by
office users; and lighter 75gsm grades
that use fewer resources than 80gsm
papers but thanks to the properties of
eucalyptus pulp feel and perform just
like an 80gsm paper stock.
The approach taken by Portucel
Soporcel and Suzano means that there
are now sustainable options even for
those who require the very best quality,
giving businesses even less reason not
to consider the environmental impact of
stationery purchases.
European eco-label launched
Nothing reflects the growing importance of
sustainability better than the proliferation of
environmental accreditation schemes like the
new Paper by Nature eco-label
This autumn during the critical
Back to School sales period, ecoconscious consumers will notice
a new eco-label vying for
pride of place with the
established – but still little
understood – PEFC, FSC,
NAPM Recycled, Nordic
Swan and EU Flower logos.
Called Paper by Nature,
it has been introduced for
converted paper products, such
as envelopes, exercise books, pads,
drawing paper sheets, drawing pads,
albums, diaries, binders, folders, manila
products, suspension files and lever
arch files.
At the time of going to press about
10 companies’ product lines were
being audited by Bureau Veritas as part
of the accreditation process.
The pan-European standard is the
brainchild of the European Envelope
Manufacturers Association (FEPE) and
the Manufacturers of Educational
and Commercial Stationery European
Association (MECSEA) and is supported
by paper manufacturers Stora Enso,
14 sustainabletimes
Arjowiggins and UPM and paper
converters Bong, Ljungdahl AB, La
Couronne, Groupe GPV and Hamelin.
The Paper by Nature Association
told Sustainable Times that a panEuropean scheme for converted paper
products was necessary because
existing labels were either countryspecific, e.g. NF, Blue Angel and Nordic
Swan; only concerned with certain
paper products, such as the EU Flower,
which currently covers copying paper,
graphic paper and tissue paper; or
limited in scope, such as FSC and PEFC,
which deal with forests, wood and
substrate (paper or paperboard) only.
In contrast, Paper by Nature
addresses all aspects of converted
paper products, including substrates,
printing and conversion.
In order to be certified, products
must contain at least 30% of either
post consumer recycled fibre or virgin
fibre from sustainably managed forests
certified by independent, third party
forest certification schemes (e.g. PEFC
and FSC), rising to 40% in 2010 and
50% in 2011.
The other virgin wood fibres must
be audited by an independent third
party to ensure they are not derived
from controversial sources.
In addition, any paper substrate
used must meet mandatory
requirements relating to emissions to
air and water (COD, sulphur, Nox, AOX
and CO20); use of hazardous chemicals
(chlorine, APEOs, surfactant in de-inking
formulations for recycled fibres and
biocides); and waste management.
There are also mandatory
requirements for the converting
and printing processes used for
manufacturing the final product. These
cover chemicals, emissions to water
and waste management.
On top of these are a number of
voluntary criteria, for which scores
are given. In order to qualify for the
standard, a product must achieve a
minimum score. Certification lasts for
three years, subject to compliance with
escalating substrate requirements, after
which a product must be re-evaluated.
Any producer-derived eco-label is
likely to attract charges of greenwash.
Perhaps mindful of this The Paper
by Nature Association stressed
that products would be audited by
accredited certification bodies; that
criteria would be upgraded as the ecolabel evolved; and that there would be
a process to ensure that members were
appraised of feedback from NGOs and
consumer organisations.
www.paperbynature.com
0870 903 9500

15. New range
available
now.
Changing
for the future
Evolve has had a makeover
and now offers even more:
• Evolve Business with more weights and sizes.
• Evolve 75, a new 75% recycled, 75 g/m2 grade.
• QuickEcoBox for efficient volume use and
reduced packaging.
• All papers made to ColorLok® standard.
• Still made using UK genuine waste paper.
For more information email info@evolve-papers.com
www.evolve-papers.com
NEW
PROD
UCT

16. 10
TOP
GREEN PCs
Apple Mac Mini
Sustainable Times presents 10 of the
greenest alternatives to desktop PCs
Apple is one of the most improved PC
manufacturers in Greenpeace’s Greener
Guide to Electronics, which assesses
manufacturers for their use of materials,
recycling and energy efficiency. The latter
is one of the main selling points of the new
Mac mini, which draws less than 13 watts
of power when idle and consumes 10 times
less power than a typical desktop PC. Like
Apple’s iMac line-up, the tiny computer is
EPEAT Gold certified and already complies
with Energy Star 5.0 requirements due to
become effective later this year. It contains
no brominated flame retardants
(BFRs) and uses PVC-free
internal components and
cables.
www.apple.com/uk
Cloud Engines
PogoPlug
Plug Computing
is a new concept
developed by Marvell
as an alternative to PCs
for managing digital media
on home networks. Small enough
to plug directly into a wall socket, a
Plug Computer incorporates a gigahertz class
processor, FLASH and DRAM memory and a
USB 2.0 port for connecting peripherals. It
connects to the home network via Gigabit
Ethernet and is designed to draw less than
one tenth of the power of a typical PC used
as a home server. Marvell’s SheevaPlug
development platform is already being
used by Cloud Engines, which unveiled
the Pogoplug at the Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas earlier this year. The
$99 device connects external hard drives
to the internet enabling users to view and
share files and digital media remotely
from any computer or mobile device.
www.pogoplug.com
www.marvell.com
16 sustainabletimes
Linutop 2.4
Internet kiosks, network monitoring
and point of sale advertising are
some of the possible applications
for this tiny Linux PC, but the £280
computer might also suit superconsumers looking for a simple
solution that provides Internet
access and supports basic office
applications. Having no hard disk,
the Linutop 2.4 is almost completely
silent, robust and energy efficient.
www.linutop.com
Chip PC Jack PC
Pano Logic Virtual Desktop
Winner of a red dot design award, the supremely
stylish Pano Logic Virtual Desktop is a key
component of Pano Logic’s server-based
virtualized desktop solution. The sleek, all-metal
silver box has no CPU, no memory, no operating
system, no drivers, no software and no moving
parts and consumes less than 5 watts - 3% of the
energy of a standard desktop. Instead it connects
the user’s keyboard, mouse, display, audio and USB
peripherals over an existing IP network to an instance
of Windows XP or Vista running on a virtualized
server. Moving all software off the desktop and onto
the server is claimed to reduce TCO by up to 70%,
enhance security and reduce downtime.
www.panologic.com
Another company to explore the
possibilities of combining plugs and
computers (see PogoPlug) is Chip PC.
Its Jack PC converts a standard LAN
jack into a thin client offering VDI
support and connectivity to any type
of popular Terminal, Citrix or legacy
server. The Jack PC thin client
can be fitted into walls, floors
and furniture and is powered by
standard Power over Ethernet (PoE).
With an average power consumption
of 3.5W at full working mode, it is
an economical alternative to PCs
and other thin clients. The Jack PC’s
small size and 10-year lifespan mean
that it consumes far fewer resources
and generates less waste than larger
computers that must be replaced
every three years.
www.chippc.com
0870 903 9500

17. Fujitsu Siemens
GREENinitiative
award
Sustainable TIMES
SPRING 09
NComputing X350
One way to reduce the environmental
impact of PCs is to make maximum
use of their capabilities by sharing one
device amongst several users. This can
be done with desktop virtualisation
kits from companies like Userful and
NComputing that enable from four
to 11 users (depending on the kit)
to share the computing power of a
single PC. With the NComputing X350
kit, for example, up to four users can
share a single PC by connecting their
own monitor, keyboard and mouse
to an access device connected to the
PC. Doing so saves energy, as each
access device uses 1 watt of electricity
compared to 110 for a standalone PC,
and reduces the volume of electronic
waste by up to 80%.
Fujitsu Siemens 0-Watt PC
At CeBIT, Fujitsu Siemens unveiled the world’s
first Zero Watt PC. Unlike other computers, the
Esprimo E7935 and Esprimo P7935 0-Watt PCs
consume absolutely no power when hibernating or
in off-mode, yet can still receive software updates
(frequently used as an excuse for not turning off
PCs). This is enabled by a special device that goes
into 0-Watt standby automatically without the user
having to use the hard off switch on the PC or at the
power outlet. Should the PC need to be administered
outside usual working hours – for example to update
software – the administrator has the option to
define a time slot in which the PC automatically
wakes up. Once the time slot is over, it goes back
into 0-Watt standby.
www.fujitsu-siemens.com/0watt
Samsung N120
Originally targeted at children and then promoted as
a secondary device for an existing computer user
(not very green), netbooks or mini-notebooks have
evolved to the point where they could be the only
computer a light user requires. Because they are so
small and require fewer resources to manufacture,
transport, power and recycle they are inherently
‘greener’ than a desktop PC or larger notebook.
Samsung’s new N120 mini notebook has a 10.1in
screen; 12in notebook-style keyboard; 1.3 megapixel
motion video camera and 10.5-hour battery life,
yet weighs just 1.28kg.
www.samsung.com
www.ncomputing.com
www.userful.com
The Virtual Open Desktop
Dell Studio Hybrid
Another way to reduce the impact of desktop
PCs is to make them smaller – and make cases out
of renewable materials. This is just what Dell has
done with the Studio Hybrid, which was described
as the company’s greenest consumer desktop PC
when it was launched last year. To ram home the
point, Dell gave customers the option of bamboo
casing. Based on Intel Core Duo Mobile processors,
the Dell Studio Hybrid is about 80% smaller and
uses about 70% less power than a standard desktop
PC. It has 75% less printed documentation (by
weight) than typical tower desktops and comes with
a system-recycling kit.
www.dell.com
www.binfo.co.uk
Alchmey Systems
GREENinitiative
award
Sustainable TIMES
SPRING 09
For smaller businesses, software
as a service solutions offer low
impact computing in relation to the
environment and maintenance. The
hosted Virtual Open Desktop from
Alchemy Systems gives customers a
complete solution based on the Open
Office productivity suite, a choice of
email clients (Zimbra and Thunderbird)
and the Firefox web browser, all
accessed online using an energyefficient IGEL thin client included in
the £9.99 monthly subscription. Open
Office gives customers all the basic
functionality they need, including
support for Microsoft document
formats. Additional corporate
applications such as SAP, Sage, Netsuite
or Salesforce.com can be accessed via
the Firefox web browser.
www.virtualopendesktop.com
sustainabletimes 17

18. cover story
Natural selection
In a world geared towards the survival of the fittest can you
afford to pay the financial and environmental cost of a bloated
and wasteful printing infrastructure?
There’s a good chance you have
already seen Lexmark’s Print Less,
Save More campaign, as visualised
by a pig, cheetah and frog. Since the
end of March, the origami animals
have featured in online and press
advertising and been displayed
prominently on poster sites in the
UK’s national railway stations, retail
parks and the London Underground.
The three characters represent
the savings in money, time and the
environment that can be achieved by
taking control of office printing and
implementing the waste reduction
measures that underpin Lexmark’s
Print Less, Save More initiative.
The fact that the pig, cheetah
and frog are made out of paper is
appropriate. Not just because Lexmark
is a printer company. But also because
it demonstrates the versatility of
paper, which remains unsurpassed as
a medium for publishing, sharing and
absorbing information.
Growing concern about the
environmental impact of the
production and disposal of paper
and the high levels of consumption
in developed nations should not
obscure paper’s many qualities and its
continued importance to consumers
and businesses of
all sizes.
However, it is
equally true that people
have been cavalier in their
printing habits and that
many pages are printed
unnecessarily, adding to an
organisation’s costs, administrative
burden and carbon footprint.
Developments in office printing
technologies mean that it is now
relatively easy to reduce paper
consumption by up to 30-40% whilst
still using paper to develop and
communicate ideas, build relationships
and process information.
This is what Lexmark’s Print Less,
Save More initiative is all about. We
are not advocating printing less just
18 sustainabletimes
sustainabl
abletimes
for the sake of it,
but rather printing
more intelligently –
using the capabilities of
today’s printers to give
employees and customers
the information they need in a
flexible, versatile medium that they
like and are familiar with, but without
the waste associated with conventional
printing practices.
First steps
There are dozens of steps that anyone
can take to reduce the environmental
and financial cost of printing, starting
with automatic two-sided (duplex)
printing, which on its own will help
reduce paper consumption by up to
30-40%. This will have the greatest
environmental benefit, as paper use is
by far the largest element of a printer’s
carbon footprint, accounting for up to
80% of the climate change impact of a
high volume workgroup device (see box).
Our microsite, www.printless.co.uk,
lists many other ways to cut paper
consumption, make consumables
last longer and
save energy. It is
well worth a visit,
not least because
everyone who
registers will be entered into
a prize draw to win an Apple
MacBook. Business users can register
to receive a free How to Print Less,
Save More guide.
Old habits
Websites and guides are a great way
of prompting people to adopt more
sustainable printing practices, but good
intentions are rarely enough to effect a
revolution in office printing and without
a clear printing strategy organisations
soon find that old habits return.
s
Lexmark has developed a number of
tools to help customers make sure that
t
this doesn’t happen. These range from
t
print drivers that can be used to restrict
p
access to printer features, enforce printer
a
settings (e.g. duplex) or apply print
s
quotas; to secure print solutions that
only output prints when a user is at the
device to pick them up.
In our experience of working with the
world’s leading businesses, implementing
a Secure Print strategy has the second
greatest impact on print volumes after
setting two-sided printing as the default.
This is because busy offices workers
often press Print and then forget to
pick up the output, or find that when
they go to the printer their pages have
been removed or become mixed up,
necessitating re-printing.
With Secure Print, a print job is sent
from the user’s PC to a server, where
it is held until the user has identified
himself at any printer on the network
(by swipecard, proximity card or PIN),
at which point it is released and printed.
This eliminates waste from repeat and
unnecessary printing, whilst preserving
the confidentiality of documents.
In-house colour
Another example of how using the
latest print technologies to tackle waste
can bring real improvements to business
efficiency is in-house colour printing.
The ability to print marketing
material in vibrant, eye-catching colour
on a wide variety of materials, including
environmentally friendly options, such
as 100% recycled paper or lighter (65 or
70gsm) paper stocks, allows businesses
to respond more quickly to business
opportunities and minimises the need
to pre-print material that can become
out of date and need to be thrown away
before use. This is most relevant in retail
where today’s climate is one where the
ability to react quickly to a competitive
situation is key (e.g. price movements).
Due to the way offset print is
charged – a high upfront cost, with
small increments for additional volume
– there is a tendency to order longer
print runs than is necessary, creating
more waste and increasing the demand
0870 903 9500

19. cover story
for storage space. Printing the same
documents on demand at point of use
means that you only print what you
need, when you need it.
One Lexmark customer, a
leading electrical retailer, is saving a
considerable amount of money by
printing point of sale material, such
as price tags, posters and banners, in
each outlet. Previously this material
was output centrally and shipped to
individual stores, which was slow,
expensive and wasteful as each store
received the same number of prints
regardless of its size. Material quickly
became out of date and as much as
50% ended up being thrown away.
Managed print
Paper reduction is just one aspect
of Lexmark’s Print Less, Save More
strategy. It also encompasses device
consolidation to reduce the number
of printers within an organisation; the
implementation of electronic workflows
to drive paper out of business processes;
and remote device management to
maximise machine uptime and simplify
the supply of consumables.
Businesses can choose to implement
some or all of these elements
themselves or as part of a managed
print service, under which a Lexmark
channel partner takes on responsibility
for the day-to-day management of
a customer’s printer fleet for a fixed
cost per page that includes hardware,
consumables, servicing and support.
One of the benefits of choosing
an MPS is Lexmark’s commitment to
deliver savings throughout the term
of the contract and to continue to
reduce the cost and environmental
impact of a customer’s printing through
the implementation of more efficient
printing practices and solutions.
To find out more about how
Lexmark can help your office printing
evolve so that it is fit to meet the
challenges of the future, please visit
www.printless.co.uk or call
Printer footprints
Life cycle assessments for Lexmark
printers reveal the true impact of
printers and printing.
As part of its commitment
to environmental responsibility,
Lexmark recently commissioned Bio
Intelligence Services to conduct a
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of its
products. The results highlight the
significance of paper to a printer’s
overall carbon footprint and the value
of implementing paper reduction
measures to reduce it.
Paper’s contribution was greatest
on high volume business machines. On
the Lexmark X646dte MFP, for example,
Bio Intelligence Services found that
paper use accounted for 80% of its
global warming impact, compared to
8% for energy use, 6% for cartridge
consumption, 7% for manufacturing
and 0.4% for distribution. Disposal/
recycling at end of life reduced the
printer’s carbon impact by 1.4%.
This calculation is based on a
worst case scenario, i.e. a print volume
of 8,000 pages per month for 60
months (5 years), high yield cartridges
(21,000 pages), one page per sheet
and a toner density at the darkest
setting. Nonetheless, it does provide a
compelling case for implementing basic
paper-saving practices, such as twosided printing.
Inevitably paper contributes less
and manufacturing more to the carbon
footprint of a consumer device with
lower print volumes, but its impact
is still substantial. According to Bio
Intelligence Services, manufacturing
accounts for 34% of the carbon impact
of a Lexmark X7675 Professional inkjet
MFP, compared to 68%
from the usage phase
(paper impact 47%,
cartridge impact 11%,
energy impact 10%) and
4% from distribution.
Recycling at end of life
decreases the potential
for global warming
by 6%.
This calculation is
based on an assumed print
volume of 228 pages per
month for 36 months
(3 years), one page per sheet
and the use of Lexmark high
yield cartridges.
www.lexmark.co.uk
Printing the Lexmark Way
Top Tips for greener printing
1. Avoid printing emails and drafts.
2. Scan and distribute documents
electronically instead of as paper copies.
3. Use print preview to avoid printing
mistakes.
4. Print only the page you need, not the
whole document.
5. Use 2-sided and multi-up printing.
6. Use certified paper and recycle it (FSC
or PEFC certification and the EU Flower
08704 44 00 44.
eco-label). This helps
preserve natural resources.
7. Use workgroup printers
rather than individual
For your chance to win an Apple MacBook and learn
desktop printers to save
how you can cut print costs and reduce your carbon
energy.
footprint, please visit www.printless.co.uk.
A major part of the Print Less Save More campaign,
Lexmark’s new microsite offers valuable advice to
consumers and businesses.
As an added incentive to visit www.printless.co.uk,
every business user who registers on the site will
receive a free guide explaining how to Print Less,
Save More.
Win a new MacBook
www.binfo.co.uk
8. Share personal printers via Wi-Fi or
Ethernet. Sharing printers requires less
equipment, uses less power and reduces
waste and recycling at the end of life.
9. Print in draft mode. It uses less ink
or toner and reduces the number of
cartridges to be recycled.
10. Use genuine Lexmark high yield
cartridges to reduce transport and waste.
11. Set up collection and sorting of used
paper and cartridges.
12. Send used cartridges to Lexmark
for recycling and environmentally
responsible reuse.
13. Consumers should return unwanted
printers to their nearest Lexmark
dealer or municipal waste collection
site. Business customers should
return them to an authorised Lexmark
collection site for legally compliant
recycling.
14. Activate the laser printer’s energy saver
mode to reduce energy consumption.
15. Turn off personal printers when they
are not in use to save energy.
sustainabletimes 19

20. Time to clip your wings
Technological advances, notably
telepresence, mean that
videoconferencing is now a viable
alternative to face-to-face meetings
(see caption). With employee travel
accounting for 50% or more of
a non-manufacturing company’s
carbon footprint, many businesses
are already achieving substantial
cost savings as a result of its use.
Yet, according to a new report by
World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Virtual
Meetings and Climate Innovation in
the 21st Century, “substitution from
air travel to videoconferencing is
happening relatively slowly”.
Ever eager to see signs of a tipping
point in videoconferencing usage, its
exponents have seized on new figures
from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
as evidence that habits are changing.
In March, the CAA announced that
last year UK airports handled 1.9%
fewer passengers than in 2007, the first
fall in passenger numbers since 1991.
Figures published in May show that
business travel has declined even more
steeply, with a fall of 6% in passenger
numbers at the major London airports.
This decline has coincided with
greater use of audio, video and
webconferencing – WebEx saw
customer numbers rise by 42% in 2008.
However, the same period also saw a
rise in train bookings between domestic
cities served by airports, perhaps
indicating that people are still travelling
to meetings but choosing to do so via
greener modes of transport.
According to online ticket retailer
thetrainline.com, the last 12 months
have seen a 13% increase in the
number of business passengers
booking rail tickets between London
and Scotland and a 10% increase in
business bookings between London and
Manchester.
The big question is whether the
decline in airline passenger numbers
and growing use of videoconferencing
are happening for financial reasons
or because of greater interest in
sustainable travel.
The fact that air travel for business
purposes at UK airports continued
to grow during a period of mounting
concern about the environment, rising
20 sustainabletimes
Virtual meetings are essential if we are to meet global
carbon reduction targets
from 20 million passengers in 1996 to
63 million in 2007, and only faltered
when the recession started to bite
suggests that the changes have largely
been undertaken for financial reasons.
This assumption is supported by the
latest npower Business Energy Index.
The annual survey of 300 businesses
found that 97% of respondents are
more concerned with reducing costs
than emissions.
A step change
No wonder the authors of WWF’s
report are sceptical about the ability of
‘virtual meetings’ to influence the way
business meetings are conducted.
The executive summary states
that barriers to the take-up of
the technology are such that
“videoconferencing is expected to have
little impact on air travel, which is
projected to grow by 4% a year for the
foreseeable future.”
It continues: “Growth will be even
greater in developing economies, such
as China and India, which currently
have only 60 and 20 air trips per 1,000
people respectively, compared to 2,300
in the USA”.
The report’s authors argue that
if climate change targets are to be
met and Asia is not to adopt Western
patterns of business mobility, there
needs to be “a step change in the
prevalence of virtual meetings”.
Tandberg says customers can reduce the need to travel by
up to 30% by using videoconferencing systems for:
1. Telecommuting. Enable people to work from home
while still being fully engaged in the workplace.
2. Access to Remote Experts. Connect customers and
employees to experts and advisors face-to-face
through video communications.
3. Global Meetings. Whether meeting with the board
or your global team, there’s no need for everyone
to take a long flight.
4. Customer Briefing Centres. Video communication
unites purchasers, clients, sales staff and engineers in
real time without travel to facilitate instant decision
making.
5. Work/life Balance. Video removes the need
to travel, increasing morale, productivity, and
collaboration.
6. Distance Learning. Schools, hospitals and other
training facilities can connect to remote institutions
to enhance learning opportunities and share recorded
content for future lessons.
7. Research and Development. Designers and
researchers around the globe can hold live face-toface discussions to advance development timelines
without increasing their carbon footprint.
8. Team Building. Multiple offices don’t have to mean
isolated teams. Videoconferencing allows remote
teammates to see each other, enhancing collaboration
and building camaraderie without associated wastes of
travel.
9. HR Recruiting. Initial face-to-face screenings of
out-of-town candidates cut costs and carbon
emissions by eliminating the need to travel to
interviews.
10. Real-time Collaboration. Organisations can deal with
large amounts of rich data and collaborate in real-time
from multiple locations.
www.seegreennow.com
0870 903 9500

21. Among the report’s recommended
steps is the establishment of a global
network of more than 4,000 high
quality videoconferencing studios in
cities around the world, bringing the
benefits of the technology to a much
wider audience including small and
medium-sized businesses that can’t
afford their own facilities.
One in five
In the meantime, Western businesses
should maximise the potential of
virtual meetings to reduce carbon
emissions by implementing business
travel plans (see box) that encourage
sustainable travel choices, including
videoconferencing.
The report cites a number of
schemes that have been set up to
facilitate this approach, including
Project Icarus from the Institute of
Travel Management (ITM), which
provides information, events and
toolkits to help businesses reduce their
travel and meetings management
emissions by at least 80% from 1990
levels by 2050; and the ‘One in Five
Challenge’ from WWF-UK, a new
initiative to encourage public and
private sector organisations to
reduce business flights by 20% within
five years.
To date videoconferencing has
been a niche technology. If it is not
to remain so, and if businesses are to
reap the benefits of the technology, it
is essential to have a comprehensive
business travel plan.
FURTHER INFORMATION
• Virtual Meetings and Climate
Innovation in the 21st Century is
available at www.worldwildlife.org/
climate/videoconferencing
• A second WWF report on
telecommuting, From Workplace to
Anyplace, can be downloaded from
www.worldwildlife.org/climate/
teleworking
• WWF has developed a carbon
calculator for policymakers and
businesses available online at www.
worldwildlife.org/carbonprojector
• Project Icarus’s website is at
http://icarus.itm.org.uk
• For more details of One in Five,
please visit www.wwf.org.uk/
oneinfive
www.binfo.co.uk
A BETTER PLAN
The daily commute is still largely
undertaken by car, contributing to road
congestion, delays and pollution.
According to the AA, the UK’s 18 million
driving commuters drive an average of 2,740
miles each year spending £10 billion each year
on fuel alone.
More than one third (37%) of all traffic on
the roads is the result of people travelling to
and from work and business meetings; seven
out of 10 cars carry no passengers; and there
are an estimated 38 million empty car seats on
the road every day.
Heather McInroy, programme director of
The National Business Travel Network (NBTN),
is urging businesses to help transform people’s
travelling habits by implementing smart travel
plans for staff.
Currently just 6% of businesses facilitate
sustainable travel for employees, according to a
British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) survey.
However, a YouGov survey commissioned
by NBTN suggests that a work travel
plan encompassing car sharing, cycle
schemes, flexible or home working and
videoconferencing would be welcomed by
almost two thirds of workers.
More than 1 in 4 (28%) of those surveyed
stated that flexible working would increase
their loyalty to an employer and over one
fifth (24%) felt it would significantly improve
productivity.
McInroy believes that the breadth and scale
of travel plans is one reason why so few
private sector organisations have implemented
them to date.
“One of the obstacles to successful travel
plans is not knowing where they fit in an
organisation and who has responsibility for
them. The most logical is HR because it’s all
about people and their access to work and
meetings, and there are productivity and health
benefits. But sometimes it is the responsibility
of CSR and sometimes estates,” she said.
This confusion has two unfortunate
consequences: travel plans are still viewed as a
bolt-on activity and are not being integrated
into companies’ core strategies; and the
responsibility for devising them tends to be
given to people just because they have some
spare time.
Yet, as McInroy points out, to do it properly
requires diverse skills. “You need to be a people
person, but you also need to be good with
data and you need change management skills,”
she said.
Complex as it is, there is an established
methodology for implementing travel plans
and businesses that have done so have reaped
considerable rewards, ranging from good PR
and community relations to financial savings
through reduced travel costs and real estate
requirements.
To find out more about travel plans and
how to implement them, visit
www.nbtn.org.uk
Sometimes all it takes is leadership to
change people’s travelling habits.
Paul Rutt, managing director of b2 business
systems in Bangor and Deeside, took up cycling
four years ago when he was 40. He now cycles
the 40-mile round trip to and from work three
days a week and in his spare time competes in
some of Europe’s most gruelling races including
the La Marmotte Sportive in the French Alps.
Paul’s example has inspired four colleagues
to take up cycling to work, with a further 20
registering with the company’s cycle to work
scheme, which offers a contribution to the cost
of buying a bicycle.
London businesses are being encouraged to
demonstrate their green credentials by entering
the third London Workplace Cycle Challenge,
taking place from June 1-30, 2009. To take part
all you need to do is log the trips your team
makes by bike on the cycle challenge website.
For more details and to register your team,
please visit www.tfl.gov.uk/cyclechallenge
sustainabletimes 21

22. NEW Eco & Nature
Mid Year Diaries
The Collins Mid Year & Academic Collection has
two new recycled ranges for 2009/10, ideal for
those environmentally conscious consumers!
NATURE
Printed on 100% recycled paper, the New Nature
range has a more colourful look for students and
academics alike!
For more information please call
0141 300 8500
ECO
or email info@collins-debden.co.uk
Offering a more professional look, the Collins Eco has
100% recycled paper and a unique cover material,
produced using 100% solvent free, water-based coatings.
www.collinsdebden.com
COMMITTED TO ALL THINGS GREEN
Established 25 years ago and based in Boston Lincolnshire, DCI/Jet Tec is
Europe’s number one manufacturer of compatible inkjet cartridges. However,
the company does much more than produce ink for printers in homes and
businesses around the world. Behind the scenes of the DCI/Jet Tec factory,
is one of the most comprehensive green operations in the country.
The company has always had a very strong eco-friendly ethos and as a result
has implemented practical and sustainable green strategies across most aspects
of its business.
DCI/Jet Tec is currently in the process of reducing its packaging by up to 40%.
The packing materials used will all be recyclable and made up of up to 80%
recycled matter, dramatically reducing the amount of harmful plastics involved in
the packaging process.
Encouraging businesses and consumers to recycle has always been high on
the company’s agenda. Focusing on the ultimate goal of “Zero
Landfill”, DCI launched The Recycling Factory (TRF) - a dedicated
worldwide collection scheme through which an impressive
350,000 empty cartridges are returned each month. TRF donates
money to a variety of charities for every cartridge received and has
www.jettec.com
so far raised over £660,000 for its charity partners since its launch in 2005.
In addition, DCI/Jet Tec recently launched a new scheme to promote recycling
to its customers and consumers. The aim of the scheme is to take the hassle out
of recycling by providing an easy-to-use freepost and collection service, as well as
offering up to £5 for every usable cartridge returned. All the empty inkjet cartridges
the company receives are remanufactured for re-sale, meaning that fewer cartridges
end up in landfill sites, where it could take as long as 1,000 years to biodegrade
– a huge burden on the environment.
DCI/Jet Tec has even addressed the longevity of its inkjet cartridges by installing
Smart Chip technology called Extralife on its compatibles. The patented technology
gives users a cartridge with a longer lifespan, enabling up to 100% more pages to be
printed, an instant cost saver that also presents wider environmental benefits.
With green issues at the heart of everything DCI/Jet Tec does, every year that
passes sees the company introducing more innovative and
eco-friendly policies. These green initiatives both ensure that
the company is doing everything it can to help the environment
while educating and inspiring consumers and customers to
do their bit too.
t: +44 (0)1205 360 03

23. A smaller footprint
Which is best: to recycle or to remanufacture?
Printer users are being encouraged
to pay more attention to the
environmental impact of printing,
for example by printing on both
sides of the page to reduce paper
consumption (see cover story on
pages 18 and 19). But should we
also be using remanufactured
toner cartridges, which as well as
being cheaper have a lower carbon
footprint than manufacturers’ own
cartridges?
The United Kingdom Cartridge
Recyclers Association (UKCRA) clearly
believes so. In December, it released
a new study conducted by Xanfeon
Energy & Environmental Services,
which found that the carbon footprint
of a remanufactured cartridge
was 25-40% smaller for short life
cartridges (SLCs) that can be re-used
up to 3 times and 60% smaller for
long life cartridges (LLCs) that can be
remanufactured up to 15 times.
The report, Carbon Footprints and
Ecodesign of Toner Printer Cartridges,
underlines the potential benefits
(both to the environment and remanufacturers) of compelling OEMs to
adopt eco-design principles that extend
the after-life of consumables and is
likely to form the basis of the UKCRA’s
campaign against anti re-use devices
(ARUDs), such as smart chips and
sonic or zig-zag welding, that make it
increasingly difficult to remanufacture
OEM cartridges.
Even if a cartridge is remanufactured
for the average of 3.5 times, the
benefits are considerable.
According to a recent study by
Best Foot Forward for the Centre
for Remanufacturing and Reuse,
remanufacturing in the UK produces
46% fewer CO2 emissions than
manufacturing a new cartridge
based on raw materials used, energy
consumption, transport and disposal.
Best Foot Forward based its
study, The Carbon Footprint of
Remanufactured Versus New
Mono Toner Printer Cartridges,
on cartridge remanufacturing at
Cartridge World in Aylesbury, on
the assumption that a mono toner
cartridge can be re-manufactured
an average of 3.5 times.
The main reason that
remanufacturing has a lower
footprint is that a large number
of components are re-used in the
remanufacturing process, notably the
High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) outer
cases, which account for 45% of the
material in a new cartridge. Overall,
Best Foot Forward found that a new
cartridge requires 16 times as much
material by weight as a cartridge refill.
Incomplete results
The OEMs themselves argue that such
studies are flawed because they fail
to take into account variable factors
such as the toner used; the quality
of the recycling at end of life (i.e. are
materials recovered and used to make
other things or incinerated);
and most importantly the
quality of the remanufactured
cartridges themselves,
including yield and performance.
Lexmark quotes a Buyers Laboratory
Inc (BLI)/Lexmark study from 2005,
which found that three out of 10
remanufactured cartridges failed to
print the expected number of pages.
Market leader HewlettPackard regularly compares the
performance of its toner cartridges
to remanufactured ones. In a May
2008 study, Quality Logic compared
the quality and reliability of HP
LaserJet toner cartridges to 7 brands
of remanufactured ones. Of the 168
remanufactured cartridges tested
(24 for each brand), 51 failed to
perform adequately: 4 were dead on
arrival and 47 had 50% or more pages
of limited or no use.
Overall, the HP LaserJet toner
cartridges printed an average of 96.1%
of pages to an acceptable standard
for all uses, compared to an average
of 69% for the seven remanufactured
toner brands.
Despite these findings,
remanufactured cartridges are
used by a huge number of printer
users – the UKCRA estimates that
they now account for 20-30% of all
toner cartridge sales. As well as
preventing cartridges from going
to landfill and providing schools
and charities with a valuable
source of revenue (from the
empties), remanufacturing
delays the need to manufacture
a new cartridge, helping to
preserve resources.
Not all remanufactured
cartridges meet the highest
standards, but if you choose well
the evidence suggests that they
can help you reduce your carbon
footprint. Choose badly and you
may find that carbon savings from
remanufacturing are dissipated through
the need to replace cartridges sooner
than anticipated.
Smarter driving saves money
Even if you do take the car to work or
business meetings (see page 21 to find out
why you shouldn’t), there is still much that
you can do to reduce the negative effects
of doing so.
Robbie McKinnon of the Energy Saving Trust
(EST) told Sustainable Times that there were
four things drivers should do to reduce fuel
consumption:
1) Change up gears earlier;
2) Remain in high gears as much as possible,
even at low speed;
3) Improve powers of observation so you can
keep the car moving at an optimum speed;
www.binfo.co.uk
4) Drive for free – when going downhill
remain in a higher gear and take your foot
off the accelerator.
“Just through these four principles you can
save 15% of your fuel costs. This equates
to £250 per year for an average driver and company car drivers are doing a lot of
mileage,” he said.
The potential benefits for business are even
greater. EST claims that companies with car
fleets of 100 vehicles could save £90,000 a
year through a combination of smarter driving
and the use of teleconferencing to reduce the
six trips that the average company car driver
makes each week.
Further savings in reduced fuel and
national insurance costs are possible by
choosing eco-friendly cars.
EST offers a free Green Fleet Review for
businesses with fleets of 50 or more vehicles
(20 in Scotland). For smaller fleets, it offers
free advice over the phone and by email.
It also runs the Motorvate accreditation
scheme which sets measurable carbon
reduction targets for companies that wish to
demonstrate their commitment to lowering
carbon dioxide emissions.
www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/fleet
sustainabletimes 23

24. Switch
on to
recycling
This year we will see the second anniversary of
the waste electrical and electronic equipment
(WEEE) regulations which came into effect in
the UK in July 2007. Peter Lees, Commercial
Manager of not-for-profit lamp recycling
specialist Recolight, looks back at the progress
made so far and suggests what the next steps
are for improving recycling rates.
Nearly two million tonnes of waste
electrical and electronic equipment
(WEEE) is produced every year in
the UK, and until recently much of it
still ended up in landfill. In July 2007
the 2002 EU Directive on WEEE –
designed to minimise the amount of
hazardous waste going to landfill and
encourage re-use and recycling – was
introduced into UK law.
Since then, all producers of electrical
and electronic equipment have
been legally obliged to finance the
safe disposal, reuse and/or recycling
of their products when they reach
end-of-life. They do this by joining a
compliance scheme, like Recolight,
which manages the legal responsibility
for the producer and puts a mechanism
in place for the collection and recycling
of WEEE from the end user on their
behalf. The regulations apply to a
variety of products including IT &
telecommunications equipment,
electrical tools, sports equipment,
medical devices and lighting equipment
(lamps).
Lamp recycling
In the lamp sector, roughly 120 million
Gas Discharge lamps sold in the UK
each year are affected by the WEEE
Regulations. Gas Discharge Lamps
(GDLs) are classed as hazardous waste
24 sustainabletimes
and therefore need to be dealt with in
accordance with strict safety guidelines
as they could cause a risk to human
health and the environment if sent to
landfill sites or otherwise not disposed
of properly.
Recolight has established itself as a
specialist WEEE compliance scheme for
lamps. We are collecting significant and
increasing numbers of B2B GDLs via
our network of commercial collection
points (RecoNet), and are constantly
seeking to extend this collection
network, where it adds value to users
or to improve our geographical cover.
Ultimately we expect the commercial
collection network to stabilise at 1,500
sites (or higher, as the demand requires)
– and to date we have registered over
1,000. One third of these commercial
collection points are open, which means
businesses (and householders) may
take along small quantities of end-oflife lamps and dispose of them in an
environmentally sound way.
However, recent changes to the
WEEE Regulations include higher
targets for the collection and recycling
of lamps, and we will need greater
engagement from both businesses and
consumers in order to meet these.
Although awareness of the
WEEE Regulations is growing, many
companies are still not aware of the
options available to them in order to
safely dispose of their WEEE lamps.
End users can have easy access to
Recolight’s collection points; there is a
mapping tool on the Recolight website,
which anyone can use to locate their
nearest open commercial collection
point. Alternatively, for companies
that are eligible, becoming a Recolight
supported collection point themselves
might be the most cost effective
solution.
Raising awareness
Now that the foundations of a robust
recycling mechanism are in place, the
most important task is to increase the
levels of awareness about the hazards
of waste electrical and electronic
equipment. In the lamps industry in
particular, B2B end user awareness is
high, but consumer awareness is still
below where it should be and there
needs to be greater public awareness
of sustainable recycling options.
Unlike televisions and computers, gas
discharge lamps used at home, such
as the new low energy types, can be
more easily discarded with everyday
household waste going to landfill, so
raising awareness is vital to encouraging
end users to separate and recycle their
waste lamps.
Businesses can be proactive in
ensuring their organisations rethink
their waste disposal. Those paying for
their recycling could save a significant
amount of money, whilst at the same
time benefit the environment, by
sourcing better recycling solutions.
Recolight recommends that
organisations specify the compliance
scheme within their procurement
procedures, so that when buying
new gas discharge lamps they
know that the producer is legally
registered and already conforming
to the WEEE Regulations. In doing so,
the management of end-of-life gas
discharge lamps will be easier, whilst
also improving the green credentials of
the organisation.
For Recolight our priority is to ensure
as many lamps as possible are collected
and recycled and that no lamps go to
landfill where they could cause risk to
the environment and human health.
We are committed to raising awareness
of the importance of recycling and to
continue to build our collection point
network to provide a robust recycling
scheme, meeting the needs of all
businesses and consumers alike.
www.recolight.co.uk
0870 903 9500

26. Keep it simple
The font with holes in
Introduced in November 2008,
Ecofont cuts toner and ink
consumption by 20% by replacing
solid lines with ones that contain
numerous small holes. Dutch design
agency Spranq, which developed
the green font, is now applying this
principle to enterprises’ own fonts.
Ecofont Professional provides an
Ecofont version of the customer’s
corporate typeface and an Ecofont
button for Microsoft Office
applications so that users can reduce
toner consumption at the press of a
button. www.ecofont.eu
What’s
New…
A simple way for businesses to reduce the environmental impact of their
activities is to forgo mobile phone contracts that offer automatic handset
upgrades and sign up for a SIM-only deal instead. This new breed of contract
gives the customer a SIM card that can be used with an existing phone,
preventing unnecessary waste and enabling users to get maximum value from
existing products. T-Mobile has just launched its Business SIM-Plan for small
businesses that don’t want to be tied to long contracts. Available on a 30-day,
six month or 12 month rolling plan, Business SIM-Plan provides up to 30 users
with 2,000 minutes each of inclusive calls to UK landlines and mobile phones
and unlimited UK texts for £30 per month, with the option of unlimited mobile
email and internet access for an extra £5 per month.
www.t-mobile.co.uk/business
Inks without the stink
The HP Designjet L65500 has been named ‘Environmental Digital Printer 2009’
by the European Digital Press Association (EDP). Developed for the graphic
arts market, the L65500 is the first printer to use HP Latex Inks which provide
many of the benefits of solvent-ink technology but without the environmental
drawbacks: prints are odourless; emit extremely low levels of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs); produce no ozone; and require no special ventilation.
The Nordic Swan-certified inks can also be used with recycled substrates.
www.hp.com
Red dot award
The Onzo Smart Energy Kit has won a ‘red
dot’ design award ahead of its launch in the
summer. The home energy management
system consists of two parts: a sensor
that attaches to a cable running from the
electricity meter; and a portable display that
can be placed anywhere in the home. Data
sent wirelessly from the sensor to the display
can be viewed in real-time or downloaded to a
PC and fed into Onzo’s supporting web service,
which provides graphical visualisations of
electricity use. www.onzo.co.uk
26 sustainabletimes
100% Recycled
Office furniture disposal
service Green-Works has
launched its first range of 100%
recycled furniture. Made from furniture
that is too damaged to be sold-on in its
original condition, the L-shaped desks cost just £55
(ex VAT). Green-Works is a social enterprise that
collects, re-uses and recycles furniture on behalf of
corporate customers. It has a zero landfill policy and
provides employment and training opportunities to
disadvantaged people. www.green-works.co.uk
0870 903 9500

27. Made in the UK
KI 800 SERIES
GREENinitiative
KI has reduced the carbon footprint of its KI 800 Series
of filing cabinets by licensing them to be manufactured
in the UK. Instead of being shipped in from overseas, KI
800 lateral drawer, receding door, cupboard, locker and
shelving units will now be made under license by Metal
Office Equipment in Mildenhall, Suffolk. Other benefits
of UK manufacturing include lower prices, shorter lead
times and a 25-year warranty (extendable to lifetime).
KI already manufactures its metric pedestal, personal
storage and locker ranges in the UK.
www.ki.com/europe
award
Sustainable TIMES
SPRING 09
Wise up to energy
savings
From four to two
The NEC MultiSync EA221WMe is
an energy-efficient version of NEC’s
successful EA221WM widescreen display.
A newly developed backlighting system
has enabled NEC to reduce the number
of backlight lamps from four to two,
reducing energy consumption by 30%.
Other useful features are an NEC One
Touch Eco Button on the front of the
display that enables the user to dim the
screen at the press of a button; and a
Carbon Footprint Meter that displays
CO2 emissions resulting from use of
the display. The black version of the
EA221WMe is EPEAT Gold-certified;
the silver-white version is EPEAT
Silver-certified.
www.nec-display-solutions.com
Businesses that have implemented
flexible working times are among those
likely to welcome the new version of
Modus Interactive’s Powerwise PC energy
management solution. An Adaptive
Wakeup feature learns when each PC is
switched on and adjusts its wake-up time
accordingly, ensuring that energy-savings
are maximised regardless of employee
start times. Powerwise lets administrators
configure power-saving settings and on/
off schedules for individual or groups
of PCs, and view power consumption
statistics in real-time.
www.modus-interactive.co.uk
Step in the right direction
Samsung’s Blue Earth phone is crammed full of features designed to appeal to
eco-conscious buyers. Not only is it the world’s first solar-powered touch-screen
phone, it is also made with plastic from recycled water bottles; is free from
harmful substances, such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs), beryllium and
phthalate; has an ’Eco mode’ that makes it easy to change to energy
saving settings; and comes with a 5 star energy-efficient charger.
Last but not least, there is an integrated pedometer that shows
the CO2 savings from walking not driving.
www.samsungmwc.com
Show some
bottle
Lightening the load
Replacing fluorescent tubes with LED (light emitting diode) tubes,
won’t just save you money. According to NE Technology, it will also
reduce the maintenance burden. The Cambridge company claims
that its NET LED Lighting tubes last up to three times longer than
conventional fluorescent tubes and because failure occurs gradually
they can be changed when it is most convenient to do so. They
provide the same amount of light as fluorescents but consume
65% less energy and are easier to recycle as they contain no
mercury, phosphor or lead.
0845 021 5432 www.netledlighting.co.uk
www.binfo.co.uk
What’s
New…
The latest addition to Pilot’s BeGreeN
range of recycled pens is designed
to look just like its source material
– recycled plastic drinks bottles.
The Bottle to Pen (B2P) retractable,
refillable gel ink rollerball is 89%
recycled (excluding the ink and refill)
and comes in a choice of three ink
colours (black, blue or red) and two tip
sizes, fine and extra fine.
01628 537100
sustainabletimes 27

28. We don’t like our customers
having to waste energy
boiling water.
[It’s not our cup of tea.]
The FLAVIA Creation 400™ is so energy efficient it saves
customers £££s. It is:
• 14% more energy efficient than the
average result for the leading bean to
cup machines tested
• 12% more energy efficient than the
average for a range of leading
household kettles tested
See how it compares against other sources:
Energy Consumption Comparison
Standby Mode
100
Watt hours/Hour
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
80
60
40
20
iler
s
Bo
00
Sin
g
Co le Se
mp r ve
etit
or
Bea
n2
ave Cup
rag
e
C4
es
Ket
tl
iler
s
Bo
via
Fla
v
ia C
40
0
Sin
gle
Co
mp Ser ve
etit
Bea or
n2
ave Cup
rag
e
0
Fla
Watt hours per litre
120
Testing carried out by an independent energy testing facility using the European Vending Association Energy Measurement Protocol
Mars Drinks’ Thirsty for Change programme helps your
workplace become more sustainable:
• Use the N-viro cup: the first hot drinks vending eco-friendly
cup to be manufactured in the UK
• Recycle our Filterpacks, stirrers, cups and milk pots via
Save-a-Cup
• Help others by choosing our Rainforest Alliance Certified
drinks, and much, much more…
Order your FLAVIA C400 machine before 30th June 2009
and receive 298 drinks FREE...just Quote ST05
For more information on how FLAVIA can help you with your
sustainability goals: Tel: 0800 10 40 40
Web: www.marsdrinks.com / www.myflavia.co.uk