OEM Green Solutions

Green—who would think such a simple word could end up carrying so much emotional, financial, and even political meaning? What might have started out as a life philosophy for some or as an advertising ploy for others is now embedded in our cultural lexicon and can put us on one side of the ideological fence or the other. And in our industries, whether it’s publishing or office products, who doesn’t feel a tinge of guilt knowing pages = profits?

But being green means more than just reducing paper—it’s streamlining manufacturing processes, it’s establishing a corporate culture that promotes efficiency and thoughtful consumerism, and it’s investing in the development of new materials and software that redefine our industry and allows for continued growth in a world where resources are becoming scarcer with each passing year.

In the end, being green isn’t just for hippies—it’s for those of us that know how to stretch a dollar and who have a vested interest in the long-term future.

This month at ENX, we are highlighting the efforts of the OEMs who are going beyond cartridge recycling programs and creating new and exciting green initiatives in the office product industry. They explain what being green means to them and tells us more about the products and services they have to take green to the next level.

Toshiba America Business Solutions believes being green is about helping businesses do more with less. We are all stewards of the world we are leaving for the next generation; how we treat the people and resources of the planet says a lot about us as an organization. For over ten years we have used our proprietary Encompass program to help businesses do more with less.

Our Encompass program is focused on:

l  Teaching people and companies how to print smarter
l  Helping reduce power consumption and waste
l  Encouraging companies to recycle all consumables

Toshiba’s Encompass™ Assessment Program examines all devices and determines the current environmental impact within a business. The data is then recorded in an Encompass Green Report where we pinpoint opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of things such as paper and power consumption, emissions of carbon, and volumes of solid & water waste produced. The report measures current environmental state and calculates savings in an optimized state. The results can help businesses realize significant cost savings and efficiencies that come from being in an optimized environment while also meeting green objectives. Toshiba is also on the forefront of zero-waste-to-landfill recycling, offering customers a solution that ensures 100% of collected consumables are recycled; this includes cartridges, drum units and toner bottles.

To help change the paradigm of how organizations print while promoting a new era of corporate environmental sensibility, Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. recently unveiled the world’s first multifunction product (MFP) with erasable toner, the e-STUDIO306LP/RD30.

By incorporating a unique toner – the leading managed document services (MDS) provider and business printing solutions innovator’s new device is capable of erasing images and text output allowing for the reuse of paper.

Toshiba’s new MFP enables organizations to set an example for their employees while asserting their own corporate ecological leadership. By reusing the same sheet as many as five times, users dramatically minimize paper usage while lessening carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by up to 57 percent, as validated by the British Standards Institute, a global national standards organization.

To further minimize an organization’s carbon footprint, the e-STUDIO306LP/RD30 integrates bio-based plastics – which produce 20 percent less CO2 emissions during production compared to traditional petroleum-based versions. The new e-STUDIO’s output – a distinctive blue – further distinguishes itself from any other available device while serving to notify users that the page’s output is erasable.

The e-STUDIORD30 unit is where a page’s output is erased. By applying heat, the toner color is effectively removed, thereby erasing any output on the page. For archival purposes, the eraser unit can also be configured to scan any documents to a network file location or USB drive prior to performing the erasing.

Reusable paper – which has been erased – is returned to the unit’s upper drawer while output that is unable to be fully erased is sent to the e-STUDIORD30’s bottom drawer to be recycled. By integrating features common in Toshiba’s larger devices – including impressive warm-up and first copy out times, color scanning and 30-pages-per minute print speed – the compact and energy-efficient e-STUDIO306LP/RD30 is ideal for businesses of any size or sector.

By developing a ground-breaking MFP with erasable toner, Toshiba continues to fulfill its mission as an environmentally-sensitive corporate citizen. As such, Toshiba continues to provide customers free toner recycling through its zero-waste-to landfill toner partnership with Close the Loop. In addition to accepting its own toner, Toshiba accepts any other brand of spent toner cartridges.

Moreover, once its MFPs are no longer operational, the company recycles the products. The company has 14 recycling locations throughout the United States while working with all customers to ensure Toshiba’s zero-waste-to-landfill initiative.

Isn’t it time every business in America got on board with better sustainable practices — especially when it’s so good for the bottom line? At Toshiba we think so.

There are quite a few green initiatives that are already taking place in the office products industry, and Konica Minolta is happy to be on the cutting edge of many of them.

Aside from recycling toner and other printer consumables through our very successful Clean Planet Program, we also use 100 percent recycled paper with all of our office products. Other popular green technology trends that Konica Minolta follows include providing settings that default to duplex printing, which use a paper feed control system to feed three sheets alternatively. Sleep and low power mode settings also allow for reduced energy consumption during non-office hours. This latter feature includes a proximity sensor built into the touch panel of our bizhub MFPs for faster recovery from sleep mode as the user’s finger approaches the panel surface, making energy saving less stressful without affecting efficiency. Most of our office products are also Energy Star certified.

Unique to Konica Minolta is a new type of recycled plastic used to make our devices. Historically, Polyethylene Terephthalate, or PET, a substance that most recycled bottles are made from, has lacked the stiffness required to use on printer products. To use PET as a component in a printer, it has to be mixed with fiberglass or carbon fiber, making it very difficult to recycle. To counteract this, our chemists have developed a unique process to blend recycled PET with polycarbonate in order to provide the stiffness required for our products without sacrificing ease of recycling.

Also unique to Konica Minolta is the use of a unique polymerized toner called Simitri HD in all of our office products. Now in its 13th year, our Simitri HD toner particles are smaller and more uniform than ordinary toners, effectively cutting toner consumption by more than 30 percent. Simitri also fuses to paper at lower temperatures, allowing for less heat and energy to be used, which helps cut carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 40 percent over conventional toners and helps reduce power consumption by approximately 15 percent over conventional models. Along with Simitri, a toner loop mechanism collects, circulates and reuses any toner that has not been transferred to paper. This process actually realizes resource conservation by reducing the normally 5 to 10 percent of wasted toner to zero.

Aside from producing products that follow sustainable practices, there is a trend towards making the overall office more efficient through print management services initiatives. Konica Minolta’s Optimized Print Services does this by combining consultancy, hardware and software implementation and operation to determine optimal environmentally friendly document-related hardware and business workflows and through the subsequent monitoring and assessment of environmental performance.

These are just some of the initiatives that are in line with Konica Minolta’s environmental sustainability efforts, which are an integral part of the company’s overall management structure. Aligned with this structure is our big picture initiative, Eco Vision 2050, which aims to reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions by 20 percent by the year 2015 and by 80 percent by the year 2050. Although this may sound pretty aggressive, we are confident that we can make this happen. We believe that by doing our part to reduce power consumption, prevent waste and leakage, increase manufacturing efficiency and streamline shipping methods, we are helping to preserve the global environment for future generations and make the earth a better place in which to live.

At Lexmark, we believe there are many opportunities for “green” efforts within this industry, and in fact, some have been successfully established for a number of years. Many companies utilize product life cycle assessments to guide development and identify areas for “green” initiatives and improvements.

Possible areas of focus could include: material selection, transportation within the supply chain, packaging design, more energy efficient product design, end-of-life recycling or reuse, closed loop recycling, etc. There are also manufacturing-focused initiatives that could greatly reduce the environmental impact during the production process, before the product ever reaches the customer.

Lexmark is active in many of the areas previously mentioned, and these are highlighted in our recently released 2012 Corporate Social Responsibility Report.

In the product design section, Lexmark highlights a few examples such as our recent Unison imaging architecture. This new two-piece toner cartridge system (in which the toner is separate from the photoconductor) launched in conjunction with our new 2012 laser products and allows for longer-life parts, thereby reducing landfill waste.

Additionally, Lexmark offers its dealer community multiple workflow applications that are targeted at improving environmental impact with end users. This includes our “Eco-Settings” app on the printers and “Eco-Copy” on the MFPs. Also, both apps provide default document settings such as automatic duplexing and lighter toner application.

Lexmark is also expanding partnership efforts with customers in local communities around the world to benefit environmental initiatives. These efforts have included reforestation projects, watershed protection and habitat replacement, as well as more socially-focused activities. Specific examples are also highlighted in the volunteerism section of our 2012 CSR Report.

“Being ‘green’ is really about how one does business – it’s part of a company’s culture or core values. It is a focus that impacts the entire lifecycle of a product, benefitting the company, the customer, and the community as a whole,” said John Gagel, Lexmark’s manager of sustainability.

“A focus on sustainability identifies opportunities to improve business processes, reduce waste and provide the customer with solutions that support them in meeting their company’s sustainability goals. It’s a true win-win-win scenario that is the best way to do business from a short and long-term perspective.”

OKI Data Americas believes in integrating green initiatives into the office product industry. The company utilizes strategies by creating eco-friendly products and contributing to environmental conservation in business activities. The industry can look for opportunities to incorporate environmental considerations into the design, engineering, and post-sales care of products. Eco-friendly features such as LED technology, toner saving mode, deep sleep mode, and accountability software are available on OKI products.

OKI reduces their environmental impact by utilizing natural light and a temperature regaling system within their manufacturing facilities. They also enforce waste segregation policies that have cut products going into landfills by an impressive 70 percent. OKI also provides recycling facilities for equipment, rechargeable batteries, toner, and user data that allows for secure transfer and storage via separate hard drives. OKI’s commitment to creating environmental practices illustrates the many opportunities within the office product industry to support green initiatives.

OKI strives to develop products and solutions that create a more efficient and streamlined workplace. OKI’s broad and award-winning portfolio has a history of integrating environmentally responsible features; this portfolio has been expanded upon with a diverse range of new hardware and software that reduces energy consumption and minimizes waste.

OKI’s newest single and multifunction printers include ENERGY STAR™ compliance, duplex (2-sided) printing, accountability software, as well as a deep sleep mode that reduces energy consumption to less than 1.5 watts of power when left for an extended period. Additionally, many new models offer an automatic ECO mode that reduces energy consumption by optimizing the print time for small jobs. The one piece consumables including individual toners and image drum featured in several new products allows long-lasting printer cartridges to be user-replaced, cutting down on the number of waste items to be disposed.

The MB760/MB770 and MC770/MC780 multifunction printer (MFP) Series include a new toner save function that reduces the amount of toner used when printing drafts or internal documents. Other innovative, energy-saving solutions like the auto-off mode, which reduces energy consumption to 0.15 watts by automatically powering the printer off from deep sleep mode, are available in the C831 Series.

In 2012, Buyers Laboratory (BLI) recognized OKI Data Americas’ commitment to energy efficiency with Lab Tested Environmental Awards on both the MB461 and MB471 MFPs. Both products featured high run ability performance with recycled paper and a toner yield that exceeded the average rating. The MB471 had a projected annual energy about 55 percent below average and the MB461 was named the lowest offered projected annual energy consumption and cost of competitive units to date.

OKI’s dedication to creating products that support environmentally-friendly initiatives makes it easy for organizations to optimize productivity and workflow while finding cost-effective ways to conduct business and reduce their environmental impact.

OKI recognizes its corporate responsibility to uphold initiatives to protect the global environment. In order to maximize efficiency while minimizing waste, OKI manufactures products within facilities that seek to achieve carbon neutrality. In addition, OKI produces products that incorporate several eco-friendly features (as outlined above). Finally, OKI believes that as part of the printing industry, it is important to maintain environmentally friendly practices that will benefit global green initiatives.

Kousuke Ito, Sr Manager, Product Management and Green Marketing

At RICOH, we consider “partnership” – with our suppliers, channel/business partners, and customers – as the key component for various green initiatives. In order to achieve RICOH’s 2050 long-term environmental vision (where we reduce environmental impact to 1/8 from 2000 level), solid partnership with various stakeholders plays a critical role, as there are many opportunities to achieve greater reduction of our environmental footprint by working toward the shared goal.

One of the approaches we have taken is “transparency” – an important aspect of “easy to do business with.” For example, RICOH is a strong supporter of EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool), a newly developed comprehensive green procurement standard for imaging devices. EPEAT identifies more than 55 environmental attributes and rate products accordingly. RICOH is one of the few companies who have achieved GOLD tier for Imaging Devices.

Being green needs to be integral part of our everyday life for those companies proactive in environmental conservation.re, for Ricoh, being “green” is an accomplishment of curbing our environmental impact without compromising other attributes such as productivity.

Ever since RICOH established our Environmental Promotion Section in 1976 (37 years ago), environmental conservation is woven into our corporate culture, and our business is driven by a “no regrets” policy.

It is a precautionary principle that states if an action has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of a scientific consensus that the action is harmful, protective approaches will be taken in order to avoid regret once scientific findings either validate these concerns or disprove them.