Partner Insight: The case for heat-free: Why environmentally friendly printing doesn't have to compromise on performance

Earlier this year, it was announced that printing giant HP would be exiting from the business inkjet market, with the company saying that the decision was made in order to optimise its print portfolio and future investments. This is despite this segment seeing growth over recent years.

While this move may have concerned channel partners and resellers, Epson has confirmed that it remains committed to the heat-free printer market and is not even considering a similar switch to laser technology.

In fact, the company views this turn of events as advantageous to its own growth potential, with its Precision Core Heat-Free Piezo inkjet ideally suited to those looking for a business printing solution that is both reliable and sustainable.

The latter is undeniably an ongoing priority for both end-users and channel partners, with the climate crisis putting pressure on businesses to invest in sustainable and less energy-intensive alternatives to existing technologies, all the while not compromising on performance or functionality. The future of printing will unquestionably have minimising environmental impact at its core.

While printers remain an essential feature of many workplaces and businesses, ensuring that their environmental footprint is kept as small as possible is key.

The technology behind Epson's heat-free solutions is what makes inkjet printing a more environmentally friendly option. As the name suggests, the ink injection process in Epson's Heat-Free Technology does not require heat, using pressure applied to the Piezo element instead. The Piezo element flexes backwards and forwards firing the ink from the printhead, meaning that heat is not required for functions such as preheating the fuser and fusing as is the case in a laser printer. As a result, power consumption is significantly less, reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also lowering energy bills.

Because of this, Epson's inkjet printers use up to 83% less energy than competing laser printers.

"We believe our technology offers the future of sustainable business printing," said Rob Clark, SVP of Epson Europe. "The industry is looking for better, more sustainable technologies and Epson's inkjet technology answers this need. Our award-winning piezo inkjet technology requires no heat during the printing process so is by its very nature more sustainable - requiring far less energy and generating less CO2 compared to laser technologies."

However, sustainability is not just a matter of energy consumption and CO2 generated. Electronic waste is the name given to the waste generated by electronic products once they reach the end of their useful life, and often contains potentially toxic chemicals, which if not disposed of correctly can cause further environmental damage.

While inkjet and laser printers may look similar on the outside, there are typically far fewer replacement parts within an inkjet printer. With more elements inside a laser printer, there are also more things that can go wrong, with elements such as the transfer belt and fuse needing to be changed periodically. Once these components have reached the end of their life, they can contribute to the problem of electronic waste, as well as requiring new parts to be manufactured.

In fact, Epson's inkjet printers produce up to 96% fewer used consumables than laser printers.

However, sustainability does not need to come at the expense of functionality —or vice versa—and for both channel partners and end users this is key. Many of the environmental benefits of Epson's heat-free technology are also beneficial in terms of useability and performance.

With inkjet, the printing process is simpler, is up to 50% faster from ready compared to laser printers, requires a lower number of components meaning a reduction in intervention and potential downtime.

Customers are also increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of the technology they interact with. According to research commissioned by Epson, 65% of working professionals believe the environmental and social impact of businesses will become more important following Covid-19. Offering solutions with minimal carbon that also makes commercial sense is therefore essential to attracting and retaining growing numbers of environmentally conscious customers.

As businesses take immediate measures towards decreasing their carbon footprint, the environmental impact of printing is something that those at all stages of the supply chain must be mindful of. The case for making the switch to heat-free printing is strong, from both a business productivity standpoint and in minimising our role in the climate crisis.