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Cardiff Met has a carbon net zero solution in partnership with HP. Using a proprietary tool, HP are able to measure university print and estimate total carbon emissions. These include manufacturing of printers and consumables, transport, actual printing activities and recycling used car parts. All of this is verified by an independent third-party and provides a net zero solution for the lifetime of the device.
Our print policy ensures print on campus is sustainable and efficient. Print is provided by a small number of total devices, accessible by all students and staff. Power usage is low, with devices using only 0.8W in standby. Printers default to double-sided, grayscale print to encourage users to minimise paper and consumable usage.
All of this is managed by Papercut software, which also encourages sustainable practices by informing every user of their carbon footprint. Each user has their own environmental dashboard providing CO2 figures as well as equivalent hours running a lightbulb.
Print itself requires a 'secure release', a feature which further saves on waste versus standard desktop printers. This works by adding another confirmation step in the process, dramatically reducing user errors. In practice this save the University around 200kg of CO2 per month, or 2 tress worth of paper, by simply adding another step to produce printed pages.
Our Sustainable Paper and Print Partners
All paper is ordered and held centrally by the university print team. This is a simple way to reduce the number of deliveries, reducing our scope 3 emissions from transportation.
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
Paper is FSC accredited, sourced from sustainably managed forests. FSC is one of the most recognised schemes to ensure forests are responsible managed, conserving the natural habits of planets and animals, while respecting the rights of forestry workers and local communities. It provides an independently verified standard that tracks wood and wood fibre through every step of the supply chain, from forest to end user.
Well managed sustainable forests give multiple benefits to society, such as livelihoods, ecosystem services and biodiversity, while helping to tackle climate change. It's a common misconception that European forests are shrinking - in fact, they are actually growing by the equivalent of 1,500 football pitches every day.
Carbon Capture Scheme
Cardiff Met is also committed to the Carbon Capture Scheme. This scheme is offered in conjunction with the Woodland Trust and calculates the carbon emitted from the manufacture and distribution of paper. As of June 2023, this scheme had raised over £1.71 million for the Woodland Trust and funded the planting of over 457,000 trees!
All packaging is plastic free, using cardboard boxes and paper stickers from responsibly sourced woodland. All products carry the FSC certification and can be fully recycled.
Since 2024, all University-branded clothing sold on campus, at graduation, or via our online store, is Fairtrade accredited. Clothing is printed in-house at our Llandaff Studio.