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Green Government, Policy, Technology

The rise and rise of green printing

By Amelia Kwok | 29 August 2008

Do you want soy in your MFP? Soy-based inks to substitute for conventional toner is just one example of how the MFP segment has woken up to the need to innovate in order to lower their environmental impact. As citizen consumers come to expect the organisations they deal with to minimise environmental impact, these same voters will expect government to step up to higher eco standards.

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From this Section

• FEATURE

Printing has intrinsically been very environmentally unfriendly. Not only is it associated with the huge swathes of paper churned by organisations yearly and often unnecessarily, the printers themselves can have an adverse impact on the environment. Many of the inks used in modern printing contain hazardous materials; and the industry is predicated on the mass consumption of disposable parts. It has taken the industry years for the recycling of old toner cartridges to become common practice.

A paperless society isn’t about to evolve anytime soon. The need for paper and print remains strong — for business cards, packaging, brochures and other uses that call for a well-designed, quality print piece. Just count the items that land in your mailbox every day, including the armful of catalogs.

However, environmental awareness has also risen in the recent years. Green printing, once the passion and vision of environmental activists, is now in demand to help companies protect their investments, satisfy shareholders and enhance their image with customers.

In a recent poll conducted by Global Market Insights, Americans cited the damaging of the environment as the main reason they would consider a company to be socially irresponsible. The poll also found that American consumers between the ages of 18 and 29 – future consumers – are more likely to purchase environmentally-friendly products than other age groups. Besides simply reducing the use of paper by printing on both sides, what green measures are the big players in print doing? Judging from the vendors, it appears that one of the biggest trends in green printing is the recycling of ink cartridges.

Take HP for example. It has one of the most comprehensive environmental programs. “HP is focused on helping all of our customers – from consumers to enterprises – reduce their environmental impact,” says Vyomesh Joshi, Executive Vice President of the Imaging and Printing Group at HP. The take-back programme in APJ has over 200,000 collection points established in 11 countries for used ink cartridges.

Also, it recycles everyday plastic bottles and HP inkjet cartridges to create new print cartridges.

To date, over 200 million cartridges have been manufactured using this engineering process. It has also achieved 3.7 million pounds reduction in packaging materials in APJ by redesigning its LaserJet print cartridge packaging to use 40 to 45 per cent less packaging material by weight. “HP has also pledged to improve the overall energy efficiency of its printing products by 40 per cent by 2011,” says Joshi. Other elements of the green printing initiative include a commitment from HP to use sustainable materials in the paper it sells and the packaging it uses. HP has also introduced an inkjet printer made from 83 per cent recycled plastic.

Since 1990, Canon has used numerous types of recycled plastic to manufacture its products. Currently, Canon is examining the application of plastics derived from plants. By 2010, Canon aims to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 10,000 tonnes. In Asia, collection points for used toner and ink cartridges have been set up in China, Singapore, Korea and Japan, just to name a few.

“We support a wide range of environmental programmes and recycling has always played a central role in our activities. Globally, Canon currently operates the world‘s largest toner-cartridge recycling programme, which is in tandem with our vision for a clean and healthy environment,” says Shuichi Tsukahara, Managing Director, Canon Australia.

In June 2008, Brother Singapore announced a new programme to encourage the return and recycling of used ink cartridges island-wide.

Customers may collect or opt to receive pre-paid envelopes in which they will place their used cartridges into a mailbox, to be returned to the nearest collection point. “The recycling of ink cartridges via SingPost mail service is the first of its kind among printer manufacturers in Singapore. We are always looking for ways to encourage our customers to do their bit for the environment. Given the convenience this programme offers, we encourage more customers to jump on the recycling bandwagon,” says Takeo Shimazu, Managing Director, Brother Singapore.

The same programme has been launched in New Zealand. Graham Walshe, Executive Chairman of Brother New Zealand says, “No other company in the sector locally, is taking such a comprehensive approach. We attach freepost consumable recycling bags to all inkjet multifunction and entry level mono laser cartons that leave Brother’s Lower Hutt warehouse from the 1st of April 2008 onwards. These bags will accommodate used ink cartridges, toners and drums and can be sent by freepost back to a recycling facility.”

Since 1991, Lexmark has set up cartridge collection programmes in more than 50 countries, representing approximately 90 per cent of its sales, according to Jonathan Yeo, General Manager for Printing Solutions & Services Division and Consumer Printer Division in Asia Pacific for Lexmark.

“There are instructions and pre-paid labels in every laser supply which provides various methods of return,” says Yeo. In addition to these collection programmes, Lexmark Rewards scheme also rebates customers with two free cartridges for every five they buy and return. “Besides the financial services sector, the public sector is a major customer for Lexmark. In Singapore, Lexmark has a 40 per cent footprint, in terms of devices, in the government,” says Yeo.

Soy sauce. While the big players are certainly taking Mother Nature seriously, is it simply limited to the recycling of ink cartridges? A growing trend in the print industry in the US is substituting oil-based ink for soy-based ink. The latter has greater rub resistance which ties in well with newspapers. Soy inks are being used by more than 95 per cent of United States daily newspaper printers, which circulates more than fifteen hundred copies per run. In addition to this, about one quarter of the commercial printers in the US operate using soy inks.

We all know that soy products are beneficial to health but that benefit is translating to greener gestures for the print industry. There are numerous benefits in using soy as a substitute. The solution to the environmental health and safety concerns of the printing industry may very well be in soy ink.

It is naturally low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as compared to oilbased ink, which makes it less harmful to the environment. Specifically, petroleum-based inks contain 30 to 35 per cent of VOCs, while soybean oilbased inks typically range from only zero to five per cent of VOCs.

In the US, the soy-ink market has registered a significant leap from less than five per cent in 1989 to approximately 23 per cent today. Researchers at Western Michigan University have discovered that soy ink is removed more effectively from newspaper than petroleum ink during de-inking, resulting in less damage in paper fibre and cleaner paper produced.

In addition, the residue waste produced is non-hazardous and can be treated more easily and cost-effectively. Finally, soy ink produces vibrant colours on paper while the price is competitive with conventional ink.

The extinction of paper is impossible but vendors have shown that print is definitely moving towards the green direction.

Clearly, the print industry is able to reap a multitude of benefits from soy-based ink and this may just be the bandwagon to jump on for the players in print.