When it comes to making printing habits more environmentally friendly, reducing paper usage is at the forefront of the discussion.
However, talk of going paperless is far from a reality. According to the IDC, page volume increased by almost 2% in CEMA (Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa) in 2011. This mirrors trends worldwide, with developed countries slowing down on printing, while developing countries speed up. Across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, two million pages were printed per minute on average in 2011.
It's enough to make a green mind boggle - but there are other environmental factors to be explored. There's more to making our printing habits more environmentally friendly than simply cutting down our paper usage, says Nosipho Simelane, HP category and marketing manager.
The productivity and efficiency of the printing process must also be taken into account, she says. Much of the environmental cost of printing is related to the use of ink cartridges, as well as the reliability of the printer itself. "There's so much we don't consider around supplies," she says.
Each year, over 350 million cartridges end up landfills, with each cartridge taking between 450 and 1 000 years to decompose. According to the IDC, approximately 11 million cartridges reach landfills in SA every year. Residues in empty cartridges may leach hazardous substances into the air, soil and water.
Options for recycling cartridges in SA are still thin on the ground, but more programmes are becoming available locally, with some manufacturers offering collection or drop-off points for clients. I Am Changing the World, a non-profit social change organisation, will provide recycling boxes and monthly collections for any brand of cartridges.
In order to improve the environmental sustainability of its products, says Simelane, HP has introduced a "closed loop" in its recycling, ensuring its products are designed for recyclability. HP's "Planet Partners" programme offers collection of empty toner cartridges from customer sites. Parts of old cartridges are then used, along with other materials, to make new printing consumables. "None of the recollected cartridges go to landfill," says Simelane.
The efficiency of the cartridges is also important - a cartridge with a higher output will last longer, resulting in a lower need for replacement. Printer reliability plays a role, too, since an unreliable printer will result in wasted toner and paper, lost productivity and an increased need for IT support. Reliability comes from both printer and cartridge, says Simelane. "Quality comes from the design of the device, but also how the cartridge works with the printer to produce something of quality."
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