Epson ditching laser printers doesn't solve its biggest durability problem

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There was a time when laser printers were a luxury. High prices drove them from the budgets of most homes and small businesses decades ago, but they have finally become more affordable. But now printer supplier Epson is turning its back on the technology in favor of inkjet alternatives and its sustainability cred.

As reported by The Register on Monday, Epson announced last week that it will stop selling and distributing laser printers by 2026, affecting both its consumer and business users. The Seiko-owned company proudly stated that this decision was made in the name of "sustainability", but the company still has a long way to go in this area.

Epson's announcement indicates that its decision to focus entirely on inkjet printers rather than laser printers is about the planet. And that's largely based on how laser printers work versus inkjet. Laser printers use a laser, drum, toner and heat to print an image. Inkjet printers, on the other hand, use nozzles to deposit the ink.

"While laser printers work by heating and fusing toner onto a page, Epson's heatless inkjet technology consumes less electricity by using mechanical energy to project ink onto page," Koichi Kubota, Epson's director of sales and marketing, said in a statement, according to The Register.

In a 2021 blog post, Epson said that by comparison, one of its business inkjet printers used "up to 85% less energy" and produced "85 % less" carbon dioxide than one of its laser printers when printing 20 pages. . However, without specific printer models and other details, we can't be sure this is an apples-to-apples comparison. In addition, the gaps between inkjet printers and laser printers of other brands are probably different.

Epson also said its inkjet printers have fewer parts to replace than laser printers. Component replacements for inkjet printers are primarily for ink and waste ink boxes (nozzle cap management is also a consideration), while laser printers may eventually need a new one. toner, drum, developers, fusers and other components. According to a 2019 Epson blog post spotted by The Register, Epson's inkjet printers have "up to 59% fewer spare parts compared to laser printers".

Because inkjet printers have fewer parts that might need replacing, they incur less downtime and maintenance requirements than their laser counterparts, according to the company's press release. 'Epson.

Epson's recent announcement touts a "commitment to sustainability", as well as Epson's planned 100 billion yen (approximately $722.2 million) investment in "sustainable innovation", while plugging in his latest printers, of course. But this company's strategic shift doesn't seem like as big of a green step as Epson's PR reps would have you believe.

We don't need to tell you about the environmental concerns inherent in home and business printing. According to an oft-cited 2012 study, 375 million ink and toner cartridges end up in landfills in the United States each year, not even considering paper and energy consumption.

But people and businesses need to print things, and printing companies and their employees need to keep those businesses alive. So we don't blame Epson for looking for a way to make its printer business greener. But we regret that he continues to ignore a big environmental problem with his company that he could easily solve.

As we reported in August,