U.S. Government Wastes $440M on Printing

May 14, 2009

Email this story Print this post Add your comments

The U.S. federal government wastes $440.4 million on printing annually, or more than $1 million each day, according to a new study from Lexmark International and O’Keeffe & Company. In total, U.S. agencies spend $1.3 billion each year on employee printing.

According to the study, this amount of waste is more than four times the amount President Obama recently called upon agency chiefs to eliminate from their administrative budgets.

The report finds, on average, each federal employee prints 30 pages each work day, totaling 7,200 pages per employee per year, of which federal employees estimate that they immediately discard 35 percent of those pages the same day they are printed. In addition, 54 percent of federal employees admit to being unaware of cost considerations when printing.

A key finding reveals that all generations share the same printing habits. Despite perceptions of environmental priorities, Gen Y employees (29 pages) print nearly the same average number of pages per day as Boomer employees (31 pages). Both generations also throw away or immediately recycle nearly the same daily percentages of pages printed — 31 percent vs. 34 percent, respectively.

Other key findings show that 89 percent of federal employees report that their agencies do not have formal printing policies in place, and 69 percent of federal employees believe that their agencies’ documentation processes could be converted from paper trails to digital trails. Sixty-four percent of respondents also admit that it would be possible for them to print less.

The key reasons for printing paper according to federal employees include the need to have signatures on paper documents, review/share documents in meetings, share hard copies of documents, and edit hard copies of documents.

The study also makes several recommendations for agencies to reduce paper printing. These include implementing a clear printing strategy, converting to digital formats, and using identification cards to monitor, track and report employee printing.

Email this story Print this post Add your comments

Advertisers

Enhance Sustainability. Improve Profitability.

Learn how at the SAP Sustainability Resource Center. >>

EFFECTIVELY MANAGE WATER COMPLIANCE

Understand how increased enforcement may affect your company. Find out more >>

EPA mandatory emissions reporting starts Jan 1st

CSA Standards can help your organization get ready for compliance. Find out how. >>

Join the Discussion

Reader Comments

i wasnot sure above i got a reprot as well
Plastic card and plastic card printing spending hits £371.6bn

A report by APACS, The total amount of UK consumer spending via plastic cards reached £371.6bn during 2008
in a 6.8 per cent rise from 2007, according to the UK payments industry.the association founded by banks, printed plastic card issuers for the payments industry, shows a marked increase in plastic card spending from £347.8bn in 2007 and that automated payments by consumers increased £21.5bn (6.9 per cent) to £333.1bn last year, from £311.6bn in 2007. Debit card spending grew by £21.4bn (9.5 per cent) to reach £245.4bn.

The steady drop in consumer spending with cheques is also shown with figures showing a £13.5bn fall from £194.1bn in 2007 to £180.6bn in 2008. Cheques accounted for less than three quarters of the amount spent by UK consumers on their debit cards.

“Most notably consumers are increasingly choosing to use their debit cards in preference to cash or cheques and also, it seems, their credit cards.”
She added: “The rise to dominance of the debit card both on and off the high street has been meteoric – it was only back in December 2004 that combined total credit and debit card spending overtook total cash spending for the first time. This year we expect debit card spending alone will outstrip cash spending for the first time.”
The figures also show that plastic cards accounted for 66 per cent of all UK retail spending last year, rising 4.2 per cent from £169.8bn in 2007 to £176.8bn in 2008. And membership card , loyalty cards , Smart cards are rised £21.5bn (6.9 per cent) APACS, said: “Despite what started to happen across the economy last year these latest figures don’t reveal any marked changes from the annual trends we’ve seen over the past few years and plastic card. Smart card holograms will be used widely.

plasticcard | May 14th, 2009