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PRINT.IT
01732 759725
Sustainable Printing
PrintIT
highlights two very different print solutions both of which have sustainable printing at their core
Featured in the Summer
issue of
PrintIT
, Toshiba’s
Eco MFP is a standard 30
page per minute office MFP
in every respect bar one:
instead of black toner, it
uses a special blue toner
that can be erased in a
separate erasing unit.
Pages can be erased and
then re-used as many as 15
times, though due to a waxy
residue, Toshiba recommends
people re-use each sheet a
maximum of five times.
Toshiba’s solution has
a number of advantages
over other erasable toner/
reusable paper technologies:
it is not merely a concept
but a commercially available
product – Toshiba has
already taken orders for the
product and installed it at a
number of sites; and it works
with normal copier paper
rather than requiring special
plastic-coated media as other
solutions do. This makes life
much simpler for the customer
and maximises the Eco MFP’s
environmental benefits.
Re-using paper doesn’t just
enable businesses to save
money on paper and reduce
printer-related waste; according
Paper savings are also a major
benefit of the MegaNews
print-on-demand news stand
developed by MegaNews
Sweden AB.
Each MegaNews kiosk
houses a Ricoh Pro C751
colour printer and an EFI server
connected to the internet. Users
select the magazine they want
via a touchscreen display, pay
for it with a credit/debit card
and wait two minutes while their
selection is printed bound and
output on the spot.
Like Toshiba’s Eco MFP, this
print-on-demand model enables
users to enjoy the benefits of the
printed page with considerably
less waste and expense. In
particular, it eliminates the cost
of over-supplying printed copies
and the expense of transporting
publications to retailers, which,
according to Stefan Melesko,
associate professor at Jönköping
International Business School,
can account for 10% of a
magazine’s entire cost structure.
Melesko says that because
publishers don’t know where
consumers will buy their
magazines, they tend to print
and distribute many more copies
than are sold, often 30-40%
more than is necessary. This
adds significantly to printing,
to Toshiba TEC marketing
director Jeremy Spencer, it also
lets them shrink their carbon
footprint. “If the same piece of
paper is used five times, total
CO2 emissions can be reduced
by 60% compared to printing
once per sheet,” he said.
To highlight the savings in
wood and water that come
from re-using paper, Toshiba
is supporting the launch of
the Eco MFP with sponsorship
of a mangrove reforestation
programme in Kenya.
The Eco MFP is not
just interesting from an
environmental viewpoint.
Toshiba says that with 80% of
internal print and copy jobs
binned within half an hour of
being produced, it also makes
sound business sense. The
combination of erasable toner
and a scanner that creates
an electronic record of erased
pages gives it real appeal for
businesses that want to reduce
the amount of paper circulating
around an organisation without
sacrificing the convenience
of paper as a medium for
creating, reviewing, sharing and
communicating information.
www.toshibatec.co.uk
01932 580190
paper, distribution/collection
and recycling costs – and to
the overall carbon footprint of
printed media.
Analysis by Innventia
shows that a single copy of a
Swedish magazine printed at
a MegaNews kiosk produces
60% fewer GHG emissions in its
lifecycle than one printed and
distributed in the traditional
way.
For publishers, one of the
most exciting aspects of this
system is that it gives them an
additional sales channel for
no extra cost. All they have to
do is supply print-ready PDFs
that will already have been
produced as part of the normal
production process. MegaNews
then pays a commission for
every copy printed. This is
particularly beneficial for niche
publishers who can’t afford
mass distribution, but who might
have large numbers of potential
readers.
The first MegaNews kiosks
are already up and running in
the MOOD Stockholm shopping
centre and in Landvetter Airport,
Gothenburg, where customers
can choose from more than
100 Swedish and American
magazines. All going well, there
will be a full roll-out next year.
Print without the guilt
Toshiba Eco Copier
MegaNews magazine kiosk