South Africa’s load shedding crisis, following hard on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, has inspired enterprises to reimagine their printing environments, reduce their printing volumes and embrace greener office automation technologies. This, in turn, is enabling companies to advance their net-zero goals.
That’s the word from Coenraad Van Heerden, business unit manager at Nashua Kopano. He says that medium-sized to larger organisations in South Africa are turning their gaze to office automation as an area of the business where they can achieve quick wins in reducing their environmental impact.
Van Heerden says: “During the pandemic, organisations accelerated the digitisation of their businesses. Companies across sectors such as financial services and retail stripped large volumes of paper out of their processes as the world moved towards remote work under lockdown. While print volumes have increased from the pandemic lows, they haven’t reverted to the pre-pandemic norm.
“One South African bank, for example, has reduced its traditional monthly printing volumes by 71%. In addition to the cost savings they have achieved by reducing print volumes, this shift has had an enormous impact on its carbon footprint. Print remains an important service.”
Adapting to load shedding: digitisation and energy efficiency
According to Nashua Kopano’s calculations, a new tree needs to be planted to compensate for every 8,333 pages that are printed. There are also other carbon impacts to consider, such as the energy that printers and copiers consume, as well as the waste and pollution associated with print cartridges.
Persistent load shedding is also reshaping how businesses run their office automation environments, he adds. Many companies are looking to digitise processes, so that they don’t need to run printers and copiers when the lights are out. Others are adopting more energy efficient printers that they can run off a small UPS or power bank during load shedding.
ESG concerns rise on the agenda
Says Van Heerden: “With environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) concerns high on the corporate agenda, office automation manufacturers and solutions providers are needing to evolve. Our business, for example, is transitioning towards helping companies to automate and digitise paper as well as transform the environmental impact of printing and copying into a trigger for ecological renewal.”
New printing technologies such as low-energy multifunctional printers and heat-free inkjet printers are changing the game, vastly reducing print’s impact on the environment. Recyclable ink packs, shorter wake-up times and high-speed printhead units reduce printing’s footprint without sacrificing performance or quality.
Print management initiatives need to move beyond reducing paper usage and waste. It’s estimated that manufacturing of paper requires the felling of 30% of the world’s trees. Investing in reforestation mitigates the impact. Nashua has been reducing print volumes for decades by implementing print management solutions but is taking its commitment to sustainability to the next level with a Forest Positive philosophy.
Says Van Heerden: “With the regulatory environment moving so fast, and a growing sense of urgency about climate change in society, sustainability is a strategic priority. The printing and copying environment offer businesses an actionable way to move closer to their carbon-neutral and net-zero targets, while also reducing costs, enhancing resilience, and improving efficiency.”