Paper is only one part of what makes a document; the ink with which the text is written can have harmful impacts as well. While not evaluated as extensively as the pulp manufacture industry, the components, manufacture, and application of printing cartridges also form a negative life-cycle.

Ink consists of pigment particles suspended in an easy-to-apply solution. Sometimes the inks contain heavy metals like barium, copper, and zinc which are not easily decomposed and can contaminate groundwater (1 ). To hold the color, petroleum-based solvents are frequently used. Additional ingredients include pH modifiers (to make the ink more alkaline), biocides (chemicals to literally “kill life,” preventing fungal and bacterial growth), and various other chemicals that better convey ink from the cartridge to the paper. During the recycling process, in which paper must be de-inked, these compounds create hazardous waste. (2)

Production of each toner cartridge consumes about 3 quarts of oil (3). These non-renewable resources are applied towards ozone-damaging distillates that emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other gases that contribute to smog, acid rain, and global warming (4). Ink is housed in a metal-and-plastic container that weighs about three pounds. They’re made to last; the engineering-grade polymers take at least 1,000 years to decompose (5). Much wastewater and solid waste are produced in these facilities. To learn more about the specific impacts of the product you use, please check out Xerox’s Sustainability Calculator.

The negative impacts of printing extend to the office. While pulp production is responsible for most of paper’s energy consumption, about one-tenth of the energy each document consumes is related to printing from an office machine (6). Moreover, employees are exposed to cancer-causing emissions when toners are heated in the print process (7). Most cartridges are not recycled. In North America alone, over 350 million cartridges per year are discarded in our landfills, and that amount rises 12 percent each year. Together, all of the discarded inkjet and laser cartridges would more than fill the Grand Canyon (8). Of course, the costs are not strictly environmental; any opportunity to reduce ink consumption also decreases office expenditures.

CITATIONS

(1)Monadnock Paper Mills. Inc. A Field Guide: Eco-Friendly, Efficient, and Effective Print. Bennington, New Hampshire; Monadnock Paper Mills, Inc., 2007. http://www.mpm.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=32&

(2) Kungjappu, Joy T. “Ink Chemistry.” chembytes e-zine, March 2003. http://www.chemsoc.org/chembytes/ezine/2003/kunjappu_mar03.htm

(3) State of California. “Office Machines - Toner and Inket Cartridges.” Environmentally Preferable Best Practices Manual http://www.green.ca.gov/EPP/OfficeMach/toner.htm

(4) Sollars, John. “How Chemical Toners Give Laser Printers a Nearly Photo Quality.” http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Chemical-Toners-Give-Laser-Prints-A-Nearly-Photo-Quality&id=1050880

(5) Alameda County Waste Management Authority, Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board. “Remanufactured Toner Cartridges in Alameda County Fact Sheet.” May 2004 <www.stopwaste.org/docs/toner.pdf>

(6) Xerox. Xerox Global Citizenship Report 2007. <http://www.xerox.com/downloads/usa/en/x/Xerox_Global_Citizenship_Report_2007.PDF>

(7) Wolkoff, P., Wilkins, C.K., Clausen, P.A., and Larsen, K. Comparison of Volatile Organic Compounds from Processed Paper and Toners. Indoor Air 1993 3:113-123, 1993
(8) Chesapeake Cartridge Company. “Chesapeake Cartridge Company - Recycle.” <http://www.chesapeakecartridgecompany.com/recycle.html>