HP’s new DesignJet T200 and T600 series large format printers are ENERGYSTAR certified, and the Studio series is net carbon neutral.
HP has sponsored this post.
Every major publicly traded company has at the very least paid lip service to sustainability and reducing their long-term impact on the environment. Business leaders and executives understand that being perceived as contributing to climate change or having a dismissive stance on their role in reducing their carbon footprint can have huge negative repercussions for a company. Oil stocks, for example, have been among the biggest underperformers on Wall Street, while electric vehicles and solar are investor favorites. Sustainability and taking a proactive position on the future health of the planet are becoming key drivers of consumer behavior, especially in younger demographics.
“Adapt or die” has always been the name of the game when running a Fortune 500 company, and that remains true when considering sustainability. Companies that take the lead on sustainability at this critical juncture will position themselves for continued leadership and increased market share. Realizing this, HP recently announced an aggressive climate action plan. The company derives its own goals from the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and aims to help society reach net-zero carbon with a fully-regenerative economy while reducing their environmental footprint and continuing to position themselves as a technology leader by building the most sustainable portfolio of products in the industry.
These are admirable goals, and if accomplished, they will allow HP to flourish while also having a positive impact on the environment. HP has a long history of supporting sustainable initiatives and viewing environmental stewardship as a key part of their corporate DNA. Going back to the 1960s, for example, HP was one of the only companies recycling their computer punch cards.
“That philosophy has carried with us, and still rings true today and into the future,” explained David McDowell, Worldwide Category Manager at HP. “As an HP employee, you feel proud that you’re not only making great products and services, but you actually see real commitment to making an impact on the planet, people and community.”
“Maybe in the earlier years, HP’s sustainability goals weren’t that aggressive by today’s standards,” he continued. “But we need to remind ourselves that HP was always a forerunner. We started supplies recycling programs in 1991—way before it was cool to recycle—and introduced water-based Latex inks in the signage market in 2007, and so on. Actions like these have led to HP being recognized year after year as one of the world’s most sustainable companies.”
The overall goals and driving force behind HP’s commitment to being environmentally sustainable may have changed, but that does not change the fact that the company is prepared to lead the way to making the tech industry as green as possible.
“Climate change is a defining challenge of our generation that demands immediate action and investment,” said Enrique Lores, HP President and CEO. “Now is a time for bold moves and ambitious goals that will protect our planet and create new sources of innovation and growth across the global economy. By driving toward net-zero carbon emissions across our entire value chain by 2040, product circularity and a forest-positive framework, we will accelerate our progress and advance HP’s aspirations to become the world’s most sustainable and just technology company.”
A Concrete Plan for Climate Action
On the surface, a company known for its printers and ink cartridges might not seem like the ideal candidate to be leading a sustainable revolution in the tech industry. After all, we have become trained to resist the urge to print out documents on paper in order to be more sustainable. HP, however, is willing to change their business model and develop new products that make it easier to view and manage documents without printing them, while reducing the carbon footprint of their ink cartridges.
“The goals are quite aggressive and will challenge our design teams and current capabilities. But HP is known for innovation, and these challenges motivate and unite us in committing to make a real impact,” said McDowell.
The plan that HP has laid out will be transformative to their overall business and covers five primary areas that contribute to sustainability.
- Print and Compute-as-a-Service: Includes printing supply renewal, hardware and pre-owned devices.
- Sustainable Materials: Increased focus on utilizing renewable or recycled materials in production.
- Supply Chain Decarbonization: Renewable electricity use, alternative fuel and electric vehicles for product shipments and support of supplier carbon reduction.
- Energy Efficiency: Adopt new energy-efficient product technologies.
- Forest Investments: Invest in forest restoration and protection to offset the trees consumed by printing and packaging.
A Circular Printing Economy
To achieve their long-term sustainability goals, HP plans to develop a circular economy when it comes to the materials it uses in its products and how their impacts on the environment are offset. This boils down to utilizing as many recycled materials in manufacturing as possible, and investing in forest restoration and protection.
Over the past 20 years, HP has diverted nearly 900 million used printer cartridges and over 100 million apparel hangers from landfills and used them to make new products. HP is also a member of NextWave Plastics and works with key players across different industries to create a global network to keep plastics circulating through the economy and out of the oceans.
The strength of HP’s circular printing economy hinges on the company’s commitment to shift its print business model from a transactional one to one based on services. Doing so gives HP more control over how cartridges are recycled and reused and keeps the loop closed. HP is aggressively taking steps to bring all their customers on board, and is in the process of rolling out HP Instant Ink and the Planet Partners pilot program. This program allows subscribers to opt in to receiving renewed cartridges, thus decreasing the amount of virgin plastics required across the supply chain.
“HP is committed to reducing waste by using and extending existing materials, and this is applied to all HP Products,” McDowell said.
“For example, in 2019 HP introduced the world’s first notebook with ocean-bound plastic. In HP large format printing, this holds true as well. Itis not uncommon to see a DesignJet printer in use that is up to ten years old. When a HP large format printer finally does need to retire, HP offers a take-back program because in some models over 95 percent of the materials used are recyclable,” he explained, laying out HP’s commitment to sustainability.
“Newer DesignJet models are made with up to 30 percent recycled plastic (RCP), including some ocean-bound plastic. Plastic-based HP DesignJet ink cartridges are made with up to 39 percent recycled plastic,” McDowell said. “Then your empty HP ink cartridges and used printheads are returnable to HP Planet Partners where the plastic collected is reprocessed to make new ones, with nothing going to landfill. Finally, with paper, HP brand papers are all 100 percent sustainably sourced, and those prints can be recycled in your local mixed paper bin when you’re done using them. And for those prints that need to be archived, all HP DesignJet printers are rated at over 100 years dark storage, with some reaching over 200 years.”
Sustainability in Design
The plastic and ink cartridge supply chain drives a large portion of the conversation around sustainability for HP, but the company’s printers and hardware cannot be completely overlooked. HP has made a renewed commitment to develop printers that use sustainable materials in construction and consume less energy. The next generation of large-format printers that serve as HP’s most recognizable hardware use less plastic and metal in their cases, turning to wood paneling and recycled plastic instead. They are also much more energy efficient than older devices.
“HP has teams of engineers and environmental stewards dedicated to each product in development, with a goal to ensure that product contributes to HP’s overall sustainability goals,” McDowell said. “This isn’t done by just trying to design to a ‘good spec.’ The power comes in understanding how our customers use our products and how to design the greatest impact to match their use. With energy, for example, you could focus only on energy during printing as that is when the maximum power is reached.”
McDowell explained the design process and goals for HP’s new large-format printers. “Of course, you try to reduce that the best you can with the most efficient motors and gear. But, relating to the user experience, we understand that not printing is what a printer does most of its life. We therefore must focus on reducing every watt possible while in standby and ready mode. When you look at it from that holistic customer perspective is when you reach new heights. The result is the product not only achieves ENERGYSTAR certification and EPEAT registration—even EPEAT Gold, with the new DesignJet T200 and T600—but also helps reduce your carbon footprint and your electric bill.”
So, not only are the new HP DesignJet T200 and T600 excellent printers for the AEC industry, they are also among the most sustainable. The Studio models are net carbon neutral, the first of their kind. HP is committed to making every single aspect of their business sustainable, right down to the materials used to assemble each of their printers.
The Future of Printing Will Be Sustainable
Large format printers and plotters are an important investment for architecture and engineering firms, and will remain so even as digital plans and models continue to become more prevalent than plotted drawings. HP continues to lead the industry when it comes to printing, both in the quality of their devices, simplicity of use and sustainability. Companies should not have to sacrifice functionality or features of their printers to reduce their carbon footprint, and they won’t have to with the latest line of large-format plotters from HP.
Despite the bad reputation that printing physical documents has received due to the increased emphasis on sustainability and carbon footprints, some paper printing will always be necessary to nail down a design or explain a thought more clearly to a colleague. Done right, and with the right approach and equipment, printing does not have to negatively impact sustainability goals. HP is putting in the work to lower the carbon footprint of the entire printing ecosystem, and every indication is that the company is well on the way to leading a transition to a more sustainable way of printing.
Visit HP to learn more about their sustainability goals and large-format printers for the AEC industry.
