The environmental MPS service has teamed up with the University of Colorado.
The PrintReleaf system measures use of paper by automatically sending “device and fleet data” from printers to the company, allowing end-users to “help neutralise paper waste, improve efficiency and certifiably participate in sustaining our global forests”. New trees are planted “equivalent to [customer] paper use”, through integration with Global Forest Watch, and heat map technology can show “forest loss and gains” worldwide, with areas “that most need reforestation” highlighted”.
After selecting where they want their paper releafed, customers can use their online portal to track the evolution, growth, and survival of their trees over an approximate eight-year time frame for each tree. Aftermarket companies working with PrintReleaf include Clover’s West Point Products, ECi and TonerCycle/InkCycle, and since launch, the company has reached milestones of 2,500 customers and 1.5 billion pages by September.
The latest announcement saw the company partner with the University of Colorado’s Masters of the Environment Programme (CU-MENV), in order to “facilitate Capstone Projects” for Masters students “interested in working in the private sector to contribute to current global environmental problems”. The programme is a Master’s degree “administered by the Environmental Studies Programme”, partnering with units and disciplines across the campus in Boulder.
These include the Environmental Design Programme, Colorado Law, the Leeds School of Business and the Department of Economics, with the 17-month “cohort-based” professional degree designed for “new and early career professionals”, and focusing on “leadership, applications, and problem-solving”. It also features five “primary components” including the “core” curriculum, a choice of “topical specialisations” supported by skills and techniques courses, electives, and a Capstone project.
The last of these will see the students work with PrintReleaf and SGS International to “further refine and evolve the field audit process for quantifying forest density (biomass) in relation to paper consumption” measured by PrintReleaf’s PrintReleaf Exchange (PRX), which it calls the “world’s first platform for automating measurement and reforestation of paper-based products”.
Jordan Darragh, CEO of PrintReleaf, commented: “We couldn’t be more excited to join forces with the University of Colorado to introduce their bright and enthusiastic Masters students to our company. Our partnership forms at a time when PrintReleaf’s rate of reforestation is beginning to compound and accelerate year over year. We are developing new projects around the world – in India, Ireland, and the US – in addition to our existing projects in Central and South America, and Africa.
“With the emergence and adoption of new technologies in GIS, we’re very interested in the thinking stemming from today’s Master’s students to impact our company and the environment and… we believe the Masters students at the University of Colorado are on the leading edge of the curve that can positively contribute to our business and our industry.”