Environmental Sustainability Statement
The UN defines sustainability as
“meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
At IBS Office Solutions, we are committed to this in every aspect of our business and strive to incorporate sustainable practices and behaviours in all that we do. As part of our responsibility to our community and the environment, we work to high standards; our policy is to deliver the best possible service and solutions with minimal environmental impact.
OUR COMMITMENT
Our goal is to improve our environmental performance and contribute to a more sustainable future for all.
We will comply with all relevant environmental legislation and commit to:
Implementing energy-efficient technologies and practices across our operations to minimise energy consumption and reduce our carbon footprint;
Working with manufacturers and suppliers who share our sustainability principles and values;
Embracing technologies and innovative approaches to optimise production, increase efficiencies and reduce costs, whilst also minimising the impact on the environment;
Striving to minimise waste generation by promoting the use of recyclable materials and implementing comprehensive waste management procedures;
Fostering a culture of environmental responsibility by actively encouraging recycling and other sustainable practices amongst employees and customers;
Continue supporting local environmental initiatives.
We take our environmental responsibility seriously: we understand that our business activities have an environmental impact and we have put measures in place to reduce this.
CURRENT ACTIONS
Sustainable equipment and consumables
We will only work with manufacturers and suppliers who adhere to RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) rules and have an Energy Star rating. They must also provide a sustainability commitment from their products.
Our approved suppliers are RISO, Sharp, Konica and Lexmark. The equipment we offer can optimise production, increase inefficiencies and reduce costs, whilst also minimising the impact on the environment. All our devices utilise the latest technology to reduce energy consumption through:
– Reduced heating time before performance;
– Use of the eco timer facility, encouraging low power or sleep mode;
– Deactivation of the fuser used to print, if scanning only;
– Duplex printing, blank page avoidance and the ability to combine a few documents onto one page if space permits.
In addition, our suppliers have specific products and initiatives that are driving sustainability:
– RISO print systems use up to 91% less energy than comparable toner devices, produce zero ozone and toner emissions and have lower recorded noise levels of around 62dB. With fewer components to replace there is up to 96% less waste plus reduced transportation, material waste and packaging.
– Sharp has a range of Green Products including the BP range, which produces 68% less ozone and has up to 27% lower power consumption. The company also runs an extensive toner recycling scheme.
– Konica’s toner bottles are made from up to 61% recycled HDPE (high density polyethylene), which is produced from empty milk bottles and its toner loop mechanism collects, circulates and reuses any particles of unused toner as it goes.
– Lexmark offers the highest number of printer models with significant PCR (post-consumer recycled) content in the industry and its B3442dw and MC3326i devices are certified CarbonNeutral by Climate Impact Partners.
We supply green toners (biomass) where possible and paper from responsibly managed forests.
Waste reduction and recycling
We recognise the importance of waste reduction and responsible recycling practices in minimising our environmental impact. As part of our commitment to sustainability, we have implemented comprehensive strategies to address waste throughout the business including:
In the IBS office, we discourage unnecessary printing and waste. Our fully automated back-office CRM system reduces paper use, wastepaper bins have been removed and paper waste is shredded and recycled.
Equipment and consumables
All our suppliers run toner recycling schemes to divert used toners from landfill and where customers are not provided with toner recycling bins directly, these can be obtained from our head office. We offer a take back service for unused toners.
Machines returned to us are either refurbished, used as donor devices for parts or recycled via International Copiers, experts in the disposal of end-of-life copiers. International Copiers export to over 35 countries, thereby extending the life of pre-existing resources.
Packaging
We actively work to reduce the amount of waste we produce and regularly advise manufacturers and suppliers on more sustainable ways to pack their products. Each supplier is responsible for the removal of their pallets and we insist they only use pallets that are reusable. Packaging and all materials collected from a customer’s site after installation are repurposed or, if this is not possible, recycled via trusted partners.
– Any polystyrene is collected every fortnight by a registered carrier, Select Environmental Services Ltd, which is stored and then broken down in order to maximise recycling.
– Cardboard is collected weekly by FCC Recycling (UK) Ltd.
Carbon reduction and transport minimisation
We understand the critical role transportation and carbon emissions play in the overall environmental impact of our operations. To mitigate our carbon footprint, we have taken the following actions:
Transport efficiency
We operate a mixed fleet of leased electric, diesel and petrol vehicles dependent on the engineer’s territory. Using leased vehicles allows us to be able to react quickly to new improvements in technology and guidance on fleet vehicle implementation.
We employ engineers that live near our customers, rather than near the office, to reduce commuting distances and the engineers’ routes are carefully planned through Ram Tracker to balance call out time and shortest route. In London, we have walking engineers with specified pick-up points for spare parts.
Technology-based solutions
All the machines we manage have remote monitoring software fitted. TeamViewer allows us to access a customer’s networks and devices to either fix faults remotely or ensure the engineer has all the information required, reducing the need for return visits.
OneStop software monitors our customers’ toner usage and autogenerates an order when levels are low. Toners distributed from our Head Office are picked up daily by a national courier company to reduce the number of collections per day. Remote EDI links with manufacturers allow toners to be sent directly to some customers, reducing the number of steps in the supply chain.
Resource management
Our ordering process for hardware and consumables is done on a weekly basis to minimise vehicles onto our premises and deliveries are grouped into postcode areas for efficiency.
We use light sensors throughout our office and warehouse to reduce our electricity consumption.
Sustainable equipment and consumables
We will only work with manufacturers and suppliers who adhere to RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) rules and have an Energy Star rating. They must also provide a sustainability commitment from their products.
Our approved suppliers are RISO, Sharp, Konica and Lexmark. The equipment we offer can optimise production, increase inefficiencies and reduce costs, whilst also minimising the impact on the environment. All our devices utilise the latest technology to reduce energy consumption through:
– Reduced heating time before performance;
– Use of the eco timer facility, encouraging low power or sleep mode;
– Deactivation of the fuser used to print, if scanning only;
– Duplex printing, blank page avoidance and the ability to combine a few documents onto one page if space permits.
In addition, our suppliers have specific products and initiatives that are driving sustainability:
– RISO print systems use up to 91% less energy than comparable toner devices, produce zero ozone and toner emissions and have lower recorded noise levels of around 62dB. With fewer components to replace there is up to 96% less waste plus reduced transportation, material waste and packaging.
– Sharp has a range of Green Products including the BP range, which produces 68% less ozone and has up to 27% lower power consumption. The company also runs an extensive toner recycling scheme.
– Konica’s toner bottles are made from up to 61% recycled HDPE (high density polyethylene), which is produced from empty milk bottles and its toner loop mechanism collects, circulates and reuses any particles of unused toner as it goes.
– Lexmark offers the highest number of printer models with significant PCR (post-consumer recycled) content in the industry and its B3442dw and MC3326i devices are certified CarbonNeutral by Climate Impact Partners.
We supply green toners (biomass) where possible and paper from responsibly managed forests.
Customer education
We believe that environmental responsibility is a collective effort and we are committed to empowering our customers to make environmentally conscious choices. We aim to raise awareness amongst our customers about the environmental impact of photocopier and printer usage and provide practical guidance on how our customers can contribute to sustainability.
We recommend all our customers use PaperCut Hive & MF, a print management system that helps to reduce print output by 17-30%, cutting paper, toner and energy usage. Features include:
– Reducing energy and paper usage with reports to help identify excess printing;
– Saving paper by prompting users to print double-sided or configuring double-sided printing on all or selected printers;
– Saving energy by guiding users to print in black and white or restricting colour printing to selected users;
– Preventing accidental printing by disabling automatic printing.
PaperCut Grows is a sustainability programme included on all devices to make business printing Forest Positive. It calculates how many pieces of paper a print job uses and then converts that into a figure of trees to plant. PaperCut’s non-profit tree planting partners then plant that number of trees in a global reforestation tree planting project.
Community initiatives
Our commitment to sustainability extends beyond our operational practices to include initiatives that benefit the communities where we live and work. Our community-focused environmental efforts include the sponsorship of 10,000 recycled and re-useable glasses at last year’s Henley Festival, which enabled the organisers to remove single use plastic from the site.
FUTURE GOALS
Our efforts to improve energy efficiency and reduce waste go a long way towards achieving our objectives, but we have longer term goals in place to ensure we continue to drive forward with our sustainability mission. These are:
To eradicate single use plastic from our warehouse
To invest in more hybrid and electric vehicles as leases expire
To implement water conservation measures in the IBS offices and warehouse
To support more environmental initiatives in the local community
We understand that our commitment to sustainability is integral to both our business success and the well-being of the planet.
This Environmental Sustainability Statement signals our intent to operate sustainably and responsibly to meet current and future obligations. We look forward to working with customers, employees and partners to create a sustainable future for the benefit of all.
