Print Buyers Push Sustainability From Ideal to Expectation

Print Buyers Push Sustainability From Ideal to Expectation

Sustainability has stopped being a “nice-to-have” and is now squarely a business requirement for organisations investing in print technology. That’s the clear message from Quocirca’s Sustainability Trends Report 2025, which shows companies tightening their environmental commitments even as political attention to green regulation fluctuates.

A strong majority—69%—expect sustainability to be extremely important to business performance by 2026. Nearly half say these goals directly shape which print suppliers they trust. In other words, a vendor’s environmental story is no longer brochure fluff; it’s a deal-maker or deal-breaker.

Quocirca surveyed 560 IT decision-makers across the UK, France, Germany and the US. Most organisations (77%) now have a company-wide sustainability practice, and 82% plan to accelerate their initiatives in the coming year. Progress, however, comes with tension. Concerns about greenwashing are growing for the second year in a row, tied with frustrations over insufficient environmental device data. It’s a polite but pointed hint that the industry must communicate more clearly—and maybe drop the vague “eco-friendly” slogans.

Corporate reputation is climbing the ranks as a driver of sustainability strategy, now sitting in the top three motivators. Cost pressures still exist, but decision-makers are increasingly looking at the long game: energy-efficient devices, longer product lifecycles and consumables that don’t quietly sabotage sustainability claims.

On-the-ground action is rising too. Paper reduction and digital workflows are now the most common measures, adopted by 53% of organisations. Recycling programmes for ink and toner are close behind, and more than half have formal sustainable print policies. Software-based controls are gaining real traction, with print management deployment jumping from 32% to 45% and rules-based printing from 26% to 40%. It seems the easiest waste to cut is the waste you can actually see on a dashboard.

Use of second-life devices—refurbished or remanufactured—is also increasing, though hesitations remain. Concerns about guarantees, hidden maintenance costs and long-term value still discourage wider adoption. Quocirca notes that many vendors already offer stronger refurbishment standards than buyers realise, but the burden now is on suppliers to prove it convincingly.

For now, the message is simple: sustainability is no longer a side project in the print sector—it’s a performance metric, a purchasing filter, and, increasingly, a test of credibility.

Related:

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• Five 2025 Trends Defining the Printing Industry
• AI & Environmental Regulations to Reshape Print Industry
• UK Government Awards £900 Million to Printing Suppliers
• Romanian Ministry Faces Criticism Over Toner Procurement

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