Environment 16 January / February 2023 Koehler Group has strengthened its commitment to the environment by entering into a new partnership for funding innovations from the paper and renewable energy segments with non-profit UnternehmerTUM. Based in Munich, Germany, UnternehmerTUM is responsible for 50 highgrowth tech start-ups each year. The partnership will establish Koehler as part of the FamilienunternehmerTUM initiative, allowing it to collaborate with start-ups and also commit funding and investment to new technologies. “With this partnership with UnternehmerTUM, we are investing in the Koehler Group’s innovative capacity,” Koehler chief executive Kai Furler says, adding: “The family business can look back on a 200-year history, in which the continual development of innovations always secured the success of future generations. “Providing support for start-ups also contributes to the ongoing development of entrepreneurship in Germany.” Christian Mohr, chief customer officer of UnternehmerTUM and also the founder of the initiative, adds: “Companies alone can no longer solve the many challenges of our time.” Kyocera highlights need for sustainable printing practice Martin Fairman, group sales and marketing director of Kyocera Document Solutions, says changing printing habits can significantly enhance sustainability UnternehmerTUM has been supporting start-ups since 2002 Tharstern launches ‘The Sustainability Show’ Software provider Tharstern has launched ‘The Sustainability Show’ as the latest instalment in its TharsternTV series, which focuses on carbon footprinting for printers and converters. In the new chat show style series, Tharstern's customer enrolment manager Ross Edwards talks to Dominic Harris, the co-founder of carbon measurement experts CarbonQuota, about how printers can reduce emissions, how they are measured, and how to follow international standards on carbon footprinting. Edwards also talks to Chris Bottomley, managing director at Leeds-based direct mail and digital print provider Gecko, about its own journey to becoming carbon neutral. In addition, the series delves into an integration between CarbonQuota and Tharstern’s MIS solution, which was first developed from an introduction by Gecko’s managing director who wanted to add the carbon footprint of each job onto his quotes and orders – offering further insight to viewers. This integration has allowed Gecko to measure carbon emissions in real-time and provides both a monetary cost and a climate cost on each quote produced. Koehler details investment Tharstern worked with CarbonQuota and print provider Gecko on the series Manufacturer Kyocera has issued a plea to organisations around the world to address their printing methods to ensure they are operating in the most sustainable manner possible. Many industries are seeking to reduce their environmental impact through more sustainable business practices, supply chains, and procurement, with Kyocera saying a switch in printing methods could help companies become greener. This, the company says, could include using the correct print methods, incorporating devices that possess long-life components, switching consumables, and reduced energy consumption. Martin Fairman, group sales and marketing director of Kyocera Document Solutions, says: “Print devices are the workhorses of document processes and consume electricity even when resting idle. “Most older models were not designed with energy efficiency in mind. Even among newer machines of equivalent performance, there can be a wide range of energy consumption ratings. “Reduced energy consumption across a large print estate can equate to cost savings and a positive environmental impact. Organisations should select print devices with sleep modes which directly reduce energy consumption.” In terms of its own environmental efforts, Kyocera Group UK is to begin offering its whole printer and MFP portfolio as carbon neutral for transactional and managed print service customers. Through the new offering, two carbon neutral printing solutions for the UK and Irish market will offset the carbon footprint of customers’ devices and consumables. These will be in the form of Carbon Neutral Printers & MFPs (CNP) and Carbon Neutral MPS (CN-MPS), both of which will be made available to channel partners and end-customers. CNP will carbon offset both the device and the consumables it uses over the lifetime of the product via a bolt-on to the device, covering all elements of production, packaging, transportation, consumables, plus toner and device recycling. With, CN-MPS Kyocera says this extends CNP to include engineer mileage for customers taking a Kyocera service and is targeted to their channel partners. To close the loop, both solutions include Kyocera’s Toner Take Back and Device Recycling services. Fairman says: “A huge amount of work has gone into making this possible. We see it as the strongest indicator yet of Kyocera’s commitment to sustainability and our carbon-neutral company status.” “Now we wish to share this with our channel partners and all our customers; that’s why we developed two green printing offers – Carbon Neutral Devices and Carbon Neutral Managed Print Services.” By Rob Fletcher Lead contributor @pmrobfletcher Kyocera partnered with PrintReleaf June 2022 By Rob Fletcher By Rob Fletcher
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