Business machines
(laser printers, multi-function devices and photocopiers)
Business machines are one of the most extensively used office products in Australia, and their use
gives rise to
substantial environmental impacts. With the growth in use of business machines there has been a growth in awareness of the associated environmental impact, and greater consideration is being given as to how to better manage and reduce these impacts. When considering the environmental performance of business machines, their environmental impact at each stage of the life cycle should be considered,
as shown in the
following diagram. Click on each heading for more information.
Evaluating environmental performance
In order to evaluate a business machine's environmental performance, its impact across all the environmental issues should be considered. This is difficult and complex as a product may perform well on some criteria, but not as well as on others, eg. a product may perform well in terms of energy usage and packaging but have higher levels of hazardous substances. In order to evaluate different products, one needs to decide which criteria are more important, e.g. energy use, hazardous material content, recycle-ability. This involves ascribing relative weightings to each of the environmental criteria and this is not always capable of 'scientific' measurement and therefore requires making value judgements, e.g. considering that it is more important to tackle energy usage than hazardous material content. Often the relative ranking of environmental priorities is influenced by the broader political and policy context, and procurement objectives, rather than 'environmental science'.
Weighting the various environmental impacts
- The DEH provides an 'Environmental Purchasing Checklist' which suggests environmental criteria for use by Australian Government departments and agencies when purchasing 'Printers, photocopiers and mutifunction devices' together with relative weightings for the environmental criteria. Note that these criteria do not address hazardous substances, emissions or the production process,
which are relevant considerations
to procurement decisions.
- A useful way to evaluate a business machine is to consider whether it qualifies for an eco-label. Locally, GECA (Good environmental Choice Australia) has produced 3 relevant product standards.
- GECA 10-2004 (Photocopiers),
- GECA 14-2004 (Printers/Faxes/Multifunction Devices)
- GECA 20-2004 (Printers and Printed Matter Standard). This standard relates to the print process and printed matter – and has relevance in that the print process is influenced by the technology of the business machine, ie. does the business machine support a print process that enables the standard to be met.
The GECA standards represent local best practice standards and are more rigorous and 'complete' in their consideration of environmental issues than the DEH checklist.
- International labels include, among others, The Swan (Nordic Ecolabel), Blue Angel (Germany), European Flower (European Union), TCO (Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees), Eco mark Program (Japan Environment Association). The business machines market is an international one, i.e. many suppliers operate in international markets and face international pressures and conditions, and therefore benchmark themselves against these international standards.
- Overall, the level of environmental 'sophistication' amongst major suppliers in this industry is high. Many suppliers are conversant with the environmental issues associated with their products (and have been for several decades), have well established environmental programs, have achieved compliance with one or more eco-labels and engage in broader corporate social responsibility initiatives. Several suppliers use environmental innovations as part of their corporate strategy for achieving competitive distinction/advantage, or as part of their corporate branding. This has had the effect of accelerating environmental innovation in this industry.
Other international guidance
Last updated February 2007
