Sustainability remains a business imperative for print technology buyers

November 11, 2025
Sustainability, Press Release

Quocirca Sustainability Trends Report 2025 reveals drivers in IT Decision-Making as corporate reputations and greenwashing concerns shape the sector.

London, UK, 11 November 2025: Companies are accelerating their sustainability plans as they seek to achieve operational efficiencies, meet industry standards, and build their corporate reputation, finds Quocirca’s Sustainability Trends Report 2025. Sixty-nine percent say that sustainability will be extremely important to their company’s business performance by 2026, and 49% say that their sustainability goals strongly influence their choice of print supplier.

Quocirca’ annual study was conducted among 560 IT decision-makers (ITDMs) from the UK, France, Germany and the US responsible for print infrastructure and with knowledge of, or responsibility for, sustainability initiatives within their organisation. It found that 77% of organisations now have a company-wide sustainability practice in place, up from 68% in 2024. 82% are accelerating their sustainability plans in the coming year.

Louella Fernandes, CEO, Quocirca, comments: “Despite political changes affecting broader focus on government sustainability programmes and regulation, the drive to improve corporate sustainability continues to accelerate. However, decision-makers are growing more sceptical about unproven green claims, citing greenwashing and a lack of data as major challenges to improving print sustainability. This is a clear call to action for manufacturers – many of whom have strong device and print infrastructure environmental data solutions – to better communicate with decision-makers and build trust about the performance of their products and services.”

Further key findings include:

• “Corporate reputation” is a growing driver in sustainable strategy: Building or improving corporate reputation is now among the top three reasons for pursuing sustainability initiatives, up from ninth position in 2024.
• Cost, greenwashing concerns, and a lack of environmental device data lead print sustainability challenges: Worries about greenwashing have risen for the second consecutive year, now occupying joint second place alongside a lack of data on the environmental impact of printers/MFPs.
• Energy efficiency, sustainable consumables and device longevity remain key selection factors: When decision-makers invest in their print infrastructure they are keener on the benefits of new devices than on deploying remanufactured or refurbished devices.
• Paper reduction and digital workflow adoption are the most common sustainability measures: There was an increase in adoption across all print-related sustainability measures in 2025, with 53% now reducing paper and adopting digital workflows for sustainability reason. 52% are using ink and toner recycling programmes and 51% have sustainable print policies in place.

Louella continues: “There has been a marked increase in adoption of print sustainability measures across the board this year, aligning with the acceleration of sustainability plans. Notably, print management tool adoption has risen from 32% to 45% and rules-based printing has increased from 26% to 40%, indicating that organisations are seeking software solutions to drive improvements alongside using more efficient devices and paper sources.”

Second-life device use increases, but concerns remain

Thirty-six percent of organisations report that they use refurbished print hardware and 31% say they use remanufactured hardware, an increase from 27% and 26% respectively in 2024. However, concerns remain. The leading blocker to more remanufactured or refurbished device deployment is concerns about device guarantees, followed by worries about hidden costs such as increased breakdowns, downtime or servicing needs. Respondents are also concerned about value for money.

Louella adds: “Many vendors have robust remanufacturing and refurbishing programmes in place, with products being elevated to as-new and in some cases better-than-new status, backed by firm performance and servicing guarantees. Educating the market is key to increase adoption rates of second-life devices and this should be a focus area for vendors and the channel in the coming year.”

Quocirca’s Sustainability Trends Report 2025 contains buyer and supplier recommendations. Quocirca will shortly publish its Sustainability Leaders Report, examining the progress of major vendors in developing sustainable products and operating sustainably.