EcoCopiers

Environment

Eco copiers can look at your current impact on the environment and provide practical solutions to help you be more Eco friendly. This doesn’t need to cost the Earth, as we can look to do this without increasing your current monthly costs. All the products we supply are specially selected to be the most environmentally (Eco) friendly in its sector.

• Each year some 500 million empty or used cartridges end up going to landfill.
• A cartridge in landfill will take over 1000 years to biodegrade.
• To manufacture an original toner cartridge will have taken some 3.5 litres of oil.

The downsides of printing and modern technology when you read the headline facts are frightening. The “paperless” office where we all read electronic documents and do not print has never materialised and is never likely to. Most users still prefer to read printed documents than electronic.

Given that we all print and all use toner and inkjet cartridges, the least we can do is to dispose of them in the most environmentally friendly way possible.

Here are some suggestions to help your office make an immediate impact:

1. Cut paper use. Print on both sides of the page "duplexing." Print multiple images per page and print only the quantity you need at the time you need it. Saving paper also saves energy: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that it takes 10 times more energy to manufacture a piece of paper than to create another print or copy.
   
   
2. Reach for the right paper, and recycle the paper you use. Use environmentally preferable paper - like High Yield Business Paper that is produced using half of the number of trees of conventional paper. Print on paper certified to sustainable forestry standards from global organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, or use paper with recycled content. Install bins in several office locations to make it easy to collect paper for recycling or for reuse as notepaper.
   
   
3. Reach for the ENERGY STAR®. Upgrade old products with new, more efficient systems and the savings add up. For example some new machines can use about 30 percent less than a comparable multifunction system of two years ago.
   
   
4. Replace copiers or printers with products that do-it-all. An office copier, four laser printers and a fax machine can consume 1400 kWh of energy each year. But if one multifunction system can handle your document needs, it uses only 700 kWh annually. Eco Copiers Sustainability Calculator can help pinpoint opportunities to reduce the overall environmental footprint of your office equipment.
   
   
5. Don't throw away empty toner cartridges. Send them back to us for reuse and recycling.
   
   
6. Seek office equipment designed for remanufacturing or recycling. Eco Copiers devices are designed with recycling and reuse in mind. Recycling and remanufacturing programs have diverted more than 2 billion pounds of waste from landfills since 1991.
   
   
7. Use software to simplify the way you use documents. Cut back the time and energy spent on manual paper-based processes with workflow management systems and collaboration tools. For paper-intensive processes like legal discovery or mortgage loan document management, Docushare combined with scan-enabled multifunction devices can help reduce errors and improve version control – and ultimately eliminate the costs of producing, storing and shipping paper documents.
   
   

Green

Eco Copiers is now collecting empty cartridges in the UK. Eco Copiers Ltd realises that it has to lead by example.

Good ethics

Not to send any cartridges or mobile phones to landfill, having a positive impact on the environment.

We can all make a difference to future generations - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

WEEE

Environmentally Friendly photocopiers and other office equipment are crucial to workplace energy-saving and waste-reduction. Many measures (procedural and technical) have been implemented by equipment manufacturers, dealers and distributors - even before the government's introduction of measures via legislation such as the WEEE directive. Additionally, all government departments and private enterprise organisations have become acutely aware in recent years of the need for the implementation of energy-efficiency measures - not least to address bottom-line profitability as well as the wider responsibility to reduce climate change.

Environmental Issues: Recycling and the WEEE Directive

Office equipment including photocopiers which previously ended up on landfill sites are no longer able to do so under the WEEE directive. The WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive affects those involved in the manufacture, selling and distribution, recycling or treating of any electronic equipment. Affected by the directive are household appliances, information technology equipment of all kinds , telephone/telecommunications equipment, audio visual gear, lighting equipment, electrical and electronic tools, hospital and medical devices and automatic dispensers and of course, office equipment including photocopiers.

The aim of the WEEE directive is to reduce the waste generated from electrical and electronic equipment. The directive is also designed to ensure an improvement in the environmental procedures and processes of all those involved in the life cycle of electrical and electronic products. Manufacturers, sellers and distributors of office equipment are responsible for taking back and recycling electrical and electronic equipment. They are also required to achieve a series of rigorous recycling and recovery targets for different categories of appliance. Responsibilities can be discharged in a number of ways, including financial contributions.

Environmental Issues: Energy Efficiency and Fossil Fuel Consumption

Apart from computers and associated print devices, photocopiers are without doubt the most common items of office equipment in use today. Due to the need to be used "on demand", they can incur a significant environmental cost in terms of energy and paper usage and consequent greenhouse gas emissions

Thus power management features are important for saving energy and an easy way to reduce air pollution. Energy efficient photocopiers provide a significant step towards reducing the environmental impact of office photocopiers. Such machines come provided with "energy saving" mode so that when not in use they "power down". This feature alone can reduce the energy needed to support the machine in periods of low activity by over 60%.

A major energy-saving feature of the latest photocopiers are so-called "on demand" fusing systems. A thin fixing film, rather than a thick heating roller is used. Additionally, a ceramic heating element, rather than a halogen heater is used. With these twin innovations, the latest photocopiers operate with greatly improved energy efficiency and lower heat requirements. Heat is used only when paper is passed through the fixing mechanism and images are "fixed" via the fixing film. In addition to this, the new technology can allow the photocopier to make the change between a cool energy-saving "sleep mode" to full operating temperatures in less than 10 seconds. This is a major advantage over conventional systems, which typically take more than one minute.

Elements of this innovative system are available on the latest Develop Ineo range, including the Develop C452.

The induction heating fusing technology on the Develop C452 is also one which minimises energy consumption and maximises energy efficiency, by fusing at a lower temperature.

Such technology is paving the way to increased energy efficiency - especially when coupled with an increase in the availability of "duplex" (paper-saving double-sided copying and printing) as standard.