Responsible Printing Increasingly Important for SMBs in 2008
Functionality, cost and reliability remain primary purchase considerations
HP today published survey findings that show small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs)1 across Europe are yet to make environmental awareness their number one priority when purchasing printers.
The survey of 1,200 decision makers across Europe2 revealed that while 75 percent of purchasers were affected to some extent by environmental factors, less than one in ten (8 percent) placed it as their top criteria when purchasing a new printer and less than a third of those surveyed would be happy to pay a premium for more environmentally responsible products.
"We are all aware that we have to take better care of the environment, but many SMBs face commercial pressures that make it difficult for them to be as green as they would like," said Alberto Bozzo, vice president and general manager, Commercial Core (SMB), Imaging & Printing Group, HP EMEA. "That’s why it is important that HP makes it easy for our customers to be more environmentally responsible through schemes such as HP’s Planet Partners recycling service3 or through purchasing products with the Energy Star or Blue Angel label. It is reassuring that 45 percent of respondents were influenced by vendor recycling schemes when it came to making the final decision about buying a printer."
Across Europe, 46 percent of businesses surveyed have some form of environmental policy in place but almost as many companies – 43 percent – do not have a policy at all. About a third do not intend to actively purchase more products with environmental features in the next two years.
Encouragingly, 90 percent have some form of environmental paper programmes, such as double-sided printing (49 percent), or a re-use and recycling programme (53 percent), although only 20 percent had a green paper purchase policy in place.
The biggest incentive to becoming a more responsible organisation would be competitive pricing for products with environmental features, with 60 percent saying that would make a difference to their current purchasing habits. Although almost a third (28 percent) would also respond to better information or training.
Bozzo continued: "There are a number of ways that HP can help SMBs become more environmentally aware of their printing – such as helping them understand the right technology or product for their business. This can help enormously in reducing the amount of paper, ink and toner that is being used."
The survey results also revealed that there is increasing awareness of various energy rating programmes, such as EPEAT and Blue Angel, with Energy Star being recognised by a third of businesses.
(1) SMB is defined by HP as a business with between 10 and 999 employees.
(2) Online survey of 1,200 decision makers and influencers in small and medium-sized companies carried out by BRBM Omnibus across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
(3) HP’s Planet Partners recycling service provides an easy way to recycle computer equipment or HP printing supplies. HP’s state-of-the-art processes ensure that unwanted hardware or empty HP printing supplies are recycled responsibly. For more information please see http://tinyurl.com/2rdt6m.
