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According to Lexmark, the biggest step that customers can take to reduce the environmental impact of printing is to reduce the overall number of pages output.

The printer manufacturer recently conducted a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of its printers and found that paper accounts for up to 80% of a business printer’s global warming impact compared to 8% for energy consumption and 6% for consumables used. Plastics, metals and electronics in the manufacturing phase account for 7% of the carbon footprint and distribution 0.4%. Recycling at end of life has a positive environmental impact of 1.4%. This calculation is based on a Lexmark X646dte printing 8,000 pages per month over 5 years, with just one page per sheet of paper (i.e. no two-sided printing) and toner density set at maximum.

Clearly, paper’s impact will fall considerably and that of other elements rise proportionately as organisations implement simple paper-saving measures, such as two-sided and n-up printing (the printing of more than one page per side of paper). Paper’s impact will also be proportionately smaller for individuals and organisations with lower print volumes. This is reflected in a second lifecycle assessment Lexmark has produced for one of its small office/ home office inkjet all-in-ones, the Lexmark X7675 Professional. Based on a user printing 228 single-sided pages per month over 3 years,

Lexmark found that the usage phase of an X7675 Professional accounted for 68% of the printer’s global warming impact, manufacturing 34% and distribution 4%. Recycling at end-of-life decreases global warming’s potential by 6%.

In the usage phase, paper was responsible for 47% of the carbon impact, ink cartridges for 11% and energy consumption for 10%.

Low waste technologies

Clearly, businesses should attempt to minimise paper consumption regardless of the type of printer used. But what else can they do to reduce the impact of other aspects of printer use? One option is to choose a printing technology that generates less waste. This will help reduce the carbon footprint of consumables, which in Lexmark’s LCAs accounted for 6% and 11% of the total impact, assuming that high capacity cartridges are used (standard cartridges that need to be replaced sooner would have a higher carbon footprint).

Most laser printers use all-in-one cartridges containing both the toner and drum, which have to be replaced as soon as the toner runs out. As each cartridge contains as many as 60 separate elements, including OPC drums, springs,

metal pins, cogs and plastic toner reservoirs, this represents a significant source of waste – especially when you consider that most of these elements will have plenty of life left in them when the toner runs out.

Laser/LED printers with separate toner and long-life drum units are potentially less wasteful as the drum is replaced at the end of its life and not just when the toner runs out. The drawback of this arrangement is that it requires more intervention by users – especially on colour devices with four colours and therefore four sets of consumables.

Kyocera has taken a different approach with its ECOSYS printing technology. This uses drums and components that are designed to last for the lifetime of the machine, so that for most users the only consumable that needs to be replaced is the toner cassette, made up of just four recyclable plastic parts. This results in very little waste and the industry’s lowest cost per page.

Xerox’s solid ink printers and MFPs are based on a completely different printing technology, using solid wax blocks rather than toner, but they too benefit from the use of printheads designed to last for the lifetime of the machine. Because the wax blocks are the only consumable, waste is kept to a minimum. Xerox claims that its new ColorQube solid ink MFPs generate 90% less waste than comparable laser MFPs. Another low-waste option worth investigating is HP’s Edgeline technology used in a couple of high-speed departmental MFPs (the HP CM8050 and HP CM8060). These inkjet devices are also claimed to generate less waste, but what really sets them apart from similarly specced laser devices is lower energy consumption.

If waste reduction is your focus, it is worth considering Kyocera devices, alternatives to laser/LED technology such as solid ink and HP’s Edgeline technology or even remanufactured toner cartridges which, as reported in the last issue of Sustainable Times, have a 25-60% smaller carbon footprint than virgin consumables.

But if your priority is energy efficiency, traditional options may be the best bet, as manufacturers of conventional laser devices continue to make improvements in energy consumption that can’t be matched by solid ink, say. To find out more, see the next issue of Sustainable Times.

Printing without the waste

Xerox solid ink MFPs generate 90% less waste than comparable laser devices

Kyocera consumables are made up of just four parts compared to 60 in an all-in-one laser cartridge

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