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Office machines:
printers, copiers, faxes and multifunction devices

Office machines other than computers – such as copiers, printers, fax machines and multifunction devices – are essential to modern office work. However, their manufacture, use of consumables and their disposal can cause damage to the environment.

It is important to realise that the consumables used with some of these machines can have far greater impacts than the machines themselves. For example, it takes ten times more energy to manufacture a piece of paper than it does to copy an image onto it.

Environmental impacts of office machines can be reduced through taking actions such as the ones recommended below.

Recommended actions

Refer to ecolabels

Prefer products which have an Environmental Choice New Zealand licence (EC–24–05 Copying Machines, Printers, Fax Machines and Multifunction Devices, comply with other third-party audited life cycle ecolabel criteria (eg, Nordic Swan, EU Flower, Blue Angel), or can meet equivalent criteria.

Accreditations such as ISO 14001, EMAS or EnviroMark do not demonstrate impact reduction. They indicate that a company has the management systems in place that should support impact reduction.

Reduce toxins

  • Meeting the ecolabel criteria (above) will help to reduce levels of potentially toxic materials.
  • Prefer products that can fully meet or do better than the requirements of the Restriction on the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (RoHS). The supplier should be able to provide documentation that shows compliance.

Energy efficiency

  • Products should be Energy Star compliant. For the most recent international criteria, see www.energystar.gov (select ‘products’ in the menu). There is a 12-month lag time for these standards to be officially in effect in Australia. Compliant Australasian products are listed on www.energystar.gov.au. The New Zealand site is at www.energystar.govt.nz.
  • Products which meet third-party audited life-cycle ecolabel criteria will be Energy Star compliant.
  • Where possible, select products which are better than the Energy Star standard, and prefer those using the lowest number of watts for idle, sleep and standby (off) modes.
  • Ensure energy conservation features (eg,timing for sleep mode) are enabled. When the machine is not in use, an automatic ‘low power’ mode can conserve most of the energy required for the ‘idle’ mode. To fully maximise energy conservation, turn off the machine at the end of the working day.

Maximise resource efficiency

  • Obtain maximum lifespan from equipment before replacing. Consider lease or print service contracts rather than buying arrangements.
  • Consider buying one multifunction machine rather than multiple machines for multiple functions.
  • Minimise paper use. Encourage staff to use electronic rather than hard copy versions. Prefer machines capable of duplexing (two-sided copying) and two-up pages (two pages to a page for drafts), and encourage staff to use these options.

Reduce waste to landfill

  • Prefer suppliers that offer an end-of-life disposal programme which maximises recycling. Consider whether surplus equipment may be able to be reused through a recycling firm, sale to staff or donation to community groups.
  • Prefer suppliers who provide products in packaging which has recycled content and is recyclable, and will take away the packaging for recycling after delivery.
  • Products which meet third-party audited life cycle ecolabel criteria will be designed for better end-of-life recycling or reuse, and have recycled content and/or recyclable packaging.
  • Recycle all waste paper and toner cartridges from printing devices. 
  • Use toner cartridges that minimise impacts.

Buy recycled

  • Prefer suppliers who provide products in packaging which has recycled content and is recyclable. (Products which meet third-party audited life cycle ecolabel criteria will meet these criteria.)
  • Where available, prefer remanufactured equipment with performance guarantees, such as on lease or print service contracts.
  • Prefer recycled-content paper  and machines with warranties that allow for use of suitable grade recycled-content paper.
  • Prefer remanufactured toner cartridges with performance guarantees and machines with warranties that allow their use.

For further information, look at the following resources.

Last updated: 1 July 2009