The Copier Program helps foster UCSC’s culture of sustainability in the following ways:
- Energy savings: All new Copier Program devices conform to the US EPA’s Energy Star efficiency standards; as of 7/1/2025 only 1 of our older devices does not conform (meaning more than 99% of our devices are Energy Star compliant!). As well, all new Copier Program devices satisfy the EPEAT silver or gold standards (the newer the devices, the more likely they will meet the gold standard). Finally, we actively work with our customers to reduce their printing footprint, replacing multiple printers with one or more multifunctional devices. This saves on measurable total energy consumption (TEC), as single-function devices tend to have higher resting energy use than MFDs, and newer MFDs typically have lower TEC than newer single-function printers. For example, in 2014 when the Humanities Division switched from managing more than 25 printers they replaced them with 8 new Copier Program Ricoh MFDs and pushing printing out to another 10 shared Copier Program MFDs using Pharos’s Secure Printing process.
- Toner tube/cartridge reuse/recycling: The Copier Program asks our customers to return to us empty toner cartridges/tubes through Campus Mail. We then package them up and ship them back to the vendor for reuse (toner/print cartridges) or recycling (toner tubes). Reuse and recycling of these tubes saves energy, conserves natural resources, and reduces UCSC’s carbon footprint.
- Multifunctional device recycling: When a Copier Program device reaches the end of its life (5-15 years after it entered the program) we return it to whichever vendor is providing us with its replacement. Both Ricoh and Canon have “zero waste to landfill” policies that lead them to recover 100% of the device, whether as parts for new or refurbished units, or via material recovery that directs recycled materials back into the creation of new devices.
- Recycled paper use: The Copier Program provides paper for customer use as part of our per-copy charge. Since July, 2013 we have provided either 30% or 100% PCW (post-consumer waste), 20 lb. white bond paper (8.5” x 11”). Copier Program customers use, on average, 35 tons of paper/year; each FY since July 2013 the change to recycled paper has saved the following:
- 245 million BTUs net energy (at 11,000 kwh/avg. household/year in the United States, this is enough to power more than 5 households for a year!)
- 25.3 tons CO2 equivalent (converted to lb. C02 per mile driven, that’s 58,930 miles…like driving from UCSC to Jack’s Hamburgers and back more than 13,000 times!)
- 35 lb. NO2 (converted to lb. CO2/mile driven, thats…like driving from UCSC to Jack’s and back *another* 2,500 times!)
- 274,855 gallons of water (enough to make 13,743 pints of beer…) and
- removed 9.2 tons of solid waste from the UCSC campus waste stream
- Waste reduction: Our multifunctional devices all scan to color PDFs, which enables a paperless workflow…and it’s still free to scan on Copier Program devices! Pharos’s Secure Printing process gives the user multiple stop points where the decision *not* to print can be made; if the job is not released within 48 hours, the job is deleted. As well, allowing the user to control whent the print is output reduces waste due to “print and forget” jobs (otherwise found in ouput trays campuswide!). Finally, because our devices that print can all print on both sides of the paper, customers can help reduce waste by duplex printing where possible.
- Saving money through saved time: UCSC can spend upwards of $25 per invoice in time, energy, computing, and other costs. The Copier Program has about 95% of the multifunctional devices on campus (we have 180 devices as of 7/1/25), which means there are about 10 MFDs that we do not manage. As of now, the Copier Program pays 4 invoices per month (2 lease and 2 maintenance) for 180 machines, which calculates out to $1200 of annual Accounts Payable invoicing costs. If all units did their own leasing/maintenance payments that would mean as many as 360 invoices submitted to Accounts Payable every month; across the year that amounts to more than $100,000!
- Saving money directly: Most people don’t think of sustainability this way, but the UCSC Copier Program does. During 2015-16 we participated in a UCOP team to make new contracts with vendors of MFDs and laser printers. Due to the negotiated costs of MFDs and their maintenance, UCSC saved more than $800,000, and UCOP saved nearly $23 million, over the 5-year life of the contracts. We participated in the same contract process in 2020, saving at least as much as under the previous contracts; these have now been extended to 2030. Saving money through participation in this type of contract process creates a “sustainability of effort” that allows the Copier Program to continue the sustainability programs listed above, and enables us to continue to serve our customers into the future. It also gives us a means to keep your per-copy rates the same as they’ve been since 2006!