Cutting the waste: EMR upgrade printers to allow half a million tickets to be recycled

East Midlands Railway (EMR) will now issue customers who buy tickets on board its train a paper version - meaning more than 600,000 a tickets a year can be recycled. 

EMR's train managers, senior conductors and revenue protection officers use a small machine to issue tickets, excess fares and sundries to its customers. 

Previously, these machines used the traditional magnetic stripe solution which was costly and non-recyclable due to their composition and the use of the data strip across the back of the ticket.

In a project costing £116,000, almost 300 of these devices have now been converted to paper roll ticketing - meaning a more sustainable approach to EMR's day-to-day operations. 

Tom Gunton, Environment and Sustainability Manager at East Midlands Railway, said: "We have an important role to play in helping people live more sustainably by offering a practical alternative to taking the car. ​But, on top of that, it’s our responsibility to minimise the environmental impact of our services.

"In 2022, EMR issued 662,000 magnetic-stripe tickets using onboard machines - unfortunately these tickets ultimately ended up in landfill.  

"Thanks to this investment, on board tickets can now be recycled - which is great for sustainability and another important step in reducing our impact on the environment." 

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