Addressing customers’ environmental concerns

IN THE COURSE OF DOING RESEARCH into the efficiency of office airconditioning units to filter out so-called Ultra-Fine Particles (UFPs), a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researcher working in conjunction with the Queensland State Government Department of Works in Brisbane discovered higher concentrations of UFPs inside the office than outside.

At first it presented a puzzle until the researchers figured out the rather alarming culprit was the humble office laser printer. Investigating further, the researchers tested a number of printers from Hewlett Packard, Canon, Ricoh and Toshiba. The results revealed that some of the printers spewed out large quantities of these minute particles, presumably from the toner cartridges.
The research results rocked the media with the story racing quickly around the world, gaining coverage in the technology, scientific and consumer press.

Accounting for nearly 80 percent of the brands tested but nearly 100 percent of the worst offenders, HP bore the brunt of the media glare. The company defended itself saying it was not entirely clear what these particles were and whether or not they pose any real or significant health hazard.

While the QUT study did not identify the particles emitted, it is widely accepted that UFPs in general pose a serious health risk due to their ability to penetrate deep into the lung. hence the parallels drawn between cigarette smoke, car exhausts and now printers. The QUT researcher, Lidia Morawska, Ph.D. and colleagues found that the high particle emitters spewed out higher concentrations when the toner cartridges were new, or when the printers were printing pages with comparatively more text or image.

“The health effects from inhaling ultra-fine particles depend on particle composition, but the results can range from respiratory irritation to more severe illness such as cardiovascular problems or cancer,” the report said. In response, a HP US vice president named Tuan Tran issued a statement saying the company stands behind the safety of its products.

“Testing of ultra-fine particles is a very new scientific discipline,” Tran said in the report, “and UFPs cannot yet be accurately analysed. However, many experts believe that many of the UFPs found in common household and office products are not discrete solid particles, but may be condensation products or small droplets created during thermal processes.

“HP does not see an association between printer use by customers and negative health effects for volatile organic compounds, ozone or dust,” Tran said in the statement.

“While we recognise ultra-fine, fine, and coarse particles are emitted from printing systems, these levels are consistently below recognised occupational exposure limits.”

The emissions issue is just the latest in a series of environmental challenges the laser and inkjet printer market has had to tackle as the devices become mainstream, being deployed in greater and greater numbers not only in the workplace, but in the home as well.

Despite being fingered as the main offender in this research, HP has quite a good environmental track record with a history of recycling programs stretching back to 1987.
The company has a goal to recycle 450,000 tonnes world-wide by this year and has specific programs for large enterprise as well as an ongoing consumer/SMB promotion called ‘Trade In Trade Up’. Under that program customers can claim cash back when they trade in any old laser printer and purchase selected new HP printers. The equipment is then sent for recycling. In Victoria, HP also partners with state and local government in a program called Byteback.

Also, like a number of laser printer manufacturers, HP supports what is probably the highest profile environmental program in the printer industry — Cartridges For Planet Ark.

Australians throw away more than 18 million cartridges each year and the Planet Ark program attempts to divert this from landfill. It’s more than 5000 tonnes of material, including laser toner cartridges, inkjet cartridges, photocopier toner bottles and drums. Almost 60 percent of the toner cartridges are sent for re-manufacturing or component recovery programs, while the other material recovered include aluminium, steel, plastic, toner, ink and foam, all of which is recycled or reused. Even residue toner is reused as pigment for colouring plastic products.

Eve Chen, marketing communications manager at Konica Minolta stressed her company’s environmental credentials which include participation in the Planet Ark program. Konica Minolta is one of the many vendors that holds an ISO 14001 accreditation, the International Standard for Environmental practices and Chen said there is an increasing awareness of environmental issues in government and business. The environment, she argued is no longer a side issue, leading vendors to look beyond cartridge recycling to other environmental programs such as zero waste manufacturing, extensive component recycling, reductions in greenhouse gas emission and water usage, as well as decreased usage of hazardous chemicals.

In Australia the photocopier division already has a device recycling program it is trialling with a partner. This is likely to be rolled out across the printer division in due course said Chen.

Konica Minolta has a long history of green awareness with its first Environmental Control Department established in 1972 — the same year Konica Minolta’s products were first sold in Australia.

Another is Kyocera, a company which prides itself on its environmental credentials and has always put significant effort and resources into developing eco-friendly products and has done so since 1984. Kyocera in Australia meets ISO 14001 certification and runs its own program called KyoCollect — a recycling program similar to Planet Ark’s. The green credentials extend to more than recycling though, it is an integral part of the manufacturing. Kyocera toner containers take 30 years to degrade, with no residual toxic chemicals. It claims competing cartridges take 900 years and “leave a toxic residue of carcinogenic materials”.

Kyocera has also worked to reduce heavy metals such as nickel, cadmium, lead and mercury. Its latest generation printers score a sweet zero in ozone emissions and they have already been tested for UFPs.

But there’s other aspects of today’s printer landscape you can pull out if a potential buyers expresses an interest, or a concern about the environmental credentials of the printers you are selling.

MFPs and the increasing trend toward document management solutions coupled with the improved cost and quality of colour printing may mean more prints in the office, but it often also predicates a Print-on-Demand mindset and is having the effect of replacing what used to be typically large print runs done by Web Offset printers. Ask your customer how many brochures get thrown out because the information changes before they get used. A wider choice of creative media such as waterproof papers, business card banks and so on all help redirect small, wasteful Offset print jobs with laser prints on demand.

Many of the printer vendors are also actively reducing the power consumption of their devices. Lexmark, for example has a range that uses 50 percent less power. Double-sided printing saves paper, MFP scanner help digitise more documents so that they are never printed. And while print output continues to grow, paper made from plantation timbers improves sustainability.

So there are a range of arguments you can use to appease your customer’s environmental concerns and real pro-active programs are in place to help reduce the impact these devices have on the environment.