Here’s an organization you can hold up as a model of efficient paper and toner use — a bad model.

Despite all the federal government’s resources and repeated waste-reduction directives, your business can definitely do better when it comes to out-of-control office printing costs.

According to a new report by Lexmark, the federal government spends an estimated $1.3 billion each year on employee printing — of which $440.4 million could easily be saved, Lexmark says.

That’s more than four times the $100 million Obama recently asked federal agencies to trim from their budgets.

How are the feds managing to waste so much cash? It’s largely a lack of policies and education, the report suggests. A large majority (89%) of federal employees say their agencies have no formal printing policy in place. As a result of the lack of communication:

• The average federal employee prints 7,200 pages a year — throwing about 2,500 in the trash the same day they’re printed
• Most (92%) employees admit they don’t need everything they print, and
• 64% say it would be possible to print significantly fewer documents.

Employees in the private sector would probably report similar numbers. Like the feds, many companies could do a better job keeping expensive, unnecessary printing under control.

Steps to take

Why do employees print so much? In the survey, employees cited:

• the need for physical sign-off on reviewed documents
• the ease of sharing and distributing documents on paper, and
• a preference for editing hard copies.

To cut paper use, Lexmark advises agencies to use automating double-sided printing, ID cards to track individuals’ printing habits, and electronic signatures for documents whenever possible.

It may be a while before the government implements any of those changes, but it sounds like advice that could apply to any business.