Dec. 5, 2007 InfoPrint, a joint venture between IBM and Ricoh, has hired its first-ever sustainability officer in an effort to meet customers' increasing demand for greener printing solutions.

New chief sustainability officer Joe Czyszczewski is tasked with jumpstarting InfoPrint's green programs and offerings. "As a solutions company we can look beyond the printer at the end-to-end supply chain and full life cycle, focusing on helping customers print less, print for less, and print with less as well as understanding the difference in impact between digital and printed output," says Czyszczewski.

A recent survey commissioned by the company found that 80% of InfoPrint customers anticipate more requests from their own management and clients to operate more sustainably.

InfoPrint says it is focusing on developing print production processes that reduce paper waste, particularly in direct mailings. The company's TransPromo service, for example, combines transactional and promotional information into a single document to cut down on the amount of paper needed for client communications.