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Department of the Environment and Heritage
This checklist suggests environmental criteria for use by Australian Government departments and agencies when purchasing office equipment consumables, including toner cartridges, inkjet cartridges, drum/imaging units, disks, dot matrix cassettes and printer ribbons. These environmental criteria would generally be considered together with price, quality and other purchasing criteria in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and Best Practice Guidance. The checklist also provides tips for purchasers, testimonials and links to further information. A separate checklist is available for Office equipment. Purchasers may choose to amend the criteria and specifications to meet their own requirements.
All products or services have some impact on the environment, which may occur at any or all stages of the product's life cycle - raw material acquisition, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal. This checklist focuses on the environmental impacts that may be relevant to purchasers of office equipment consumables.
Toner cartridges and other office equipment consumables are purchased in large quantities by Australian Government departments and agencies. The manufacture and disposal of these items affect the environment through the extraction of virgin resources, emissions associated with manufacturing energy and disposal to landfill.
These environmental impacts are reduced by taking a Design for Environment (DfE) approach to manufacturing, as well as remanufacturing (i.e. repair and refilling) or recycling (i.e. reprocessing into new office equipment consumables or other products). Buying remanufactured and recycled office equipment consumables 'closes the loop' by providing a market outlet for materials saved from landfill. It can also support Australian businesses and save money - a good remanufactured toner cartridge is typically considerably cheaper than one made from virgin materials.
The Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and Best Practice Guidance state that the core principle governing Australian Government procurement is value for money, a concept evaluated on a whole of life basis for the goods or services being procured. Officials buying goods and services need to be satisfied that the best possible outcome has been achieved taking into account all relevant costs and benefits over the whole of the procurement cycle.
According to the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and Best Practice Guidance, "officials should be aware of any relevant environmental legislation and targets set by the Commonwealth, and ensure they take into account matters affecting the environment … when formulating requirements. They should include relevant environmental criteria in specifications and requests for tender."
As a signatory to the National Packaging Covenant, the Australian Government has agreed to facilitate implementation of purchasing policies for recycled goods.
The Commonwealth, State and Territory governments endorsed the National Government Waste Reduction and Purchasing Guidelines at the November 1996 meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC). Members agreed to a range of actions, including establishing purchasing policies to reduce waste.
| Give consideration to office equipment consumables … | Comments |
|---|---|
| … that reduce overall waste and use fewer resources. |
|
| … with low environmental impact packaging. | See Packaging checklist. |
| ... from companies that document additional environmental benefits of their products or superior environmental performance of their companies. | Documentation for products could include external verification of claims, e.g. certification of the product through a reputable environmental labelling program. (Imported products may be certified under an overseas program.) Documentation for companies could include environmental management systems certified to ISO 14001, public environmental reporting, etc. |
Your equipment manufacturer / supplier may offer consumables that can be refilled or remanufactured or that are made from recycled materials.
Third-party remanufactured consumables are also available - many offices use these without encountering quality problems. Remanufactured toner cartridges should contain new wiper blades, OPC drums and primary charge rollers. Use a reputable supplier and obtain firm quality commitments. Equipment guarantees should not be affected by use of quality third-party remanufactured consumables since fair trading laws prohibit equipment manufacturers from restricting the consumer's right to choose an alternative supplier of compatible consumables. If a poorly remanufactured consumable causes some damage to a printer, the consumables company would be liable for that repair but the warranty would still be intact.
If you are sourcing remanufactured consumables, ask the remanufacturer to specify what they do with those consumables that can no longer be refilled and reused.
Most spent office equipment consumables can be remanufactured or recycled, and many attract a rebate. A number of charities will provide a collection box for all your office equipment consumables - rebates then go to a good cause.
DEH returns 100% of toner cartridges used in the Department back to the manufacturers. Of this, approximately 80% are remanufactured into new toners. DEH has had no difficulties with quality or performance when purchasing remanufactured cartridges.
Further success stories can be found at the Greening of Government website.
The Greening of Government website provides the policy framework for Greening of Government, as well as a range of Green Procurement Tools and other useful information. http://www.deh.gov.au/settlements/government/purchasing/successstories.html
NSW Nature Conservation Council ecoOFFICE website - aims to give practical advice on green office practice. It includes a section on toner cartridges at: http://www.ecooffice.com.au/supplies/tonercartridges.html
Office products - guide to sustainable purchasing and use - addresses environmental purchasing issues relating to a range of office products including toner and ink cartridges: http://www.resource.nsw.gov.au/data/office_guide.pdf.
Design for Environment - Reducing environmental impacts through better design (such as using less toxic components, or making the product easier to disassemble and recycle or reuse) is referred to as Design for Environment or DfE. Many manufacturers, suppliers and industry associations may be able to provide information on their DfE activities. The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) has a "Designing for Environment" publication available from their website. The Department of the Environment and Heritage has an introduction to DfE in business: Product Innovation The Green Advantage: An Introduction to Design for Environment for Australian Business
Cartridges for Planet Ark - This is a not-for-profit scheme involving the take back, remanufacture and recycling of office equipment consumables. Many of the major office equipment manufacturers and retail outlets participate in this scheme. See: http://www.planetark.com
Buy Recycled Business Alliance - Website of a national organisation to promote recycling in the business sector, containing a variety of support and advocacy tools including a 'Buying Recycled for Business Tool Box': http://www.brba.com.au.
Green office guide - An Australian Greenhouse Office guide to help you buy and use environmentally friendly office equipment, focusing on energy consumption. http://www.deh.gov.au/industry/sustainable/purchasing/pubs/green-office-guide.pdf
Australasian Cartridge Remanufacturers Association - ACRA is an association of remanufacturers claiming to offer quality, guaranteed, remanufactured toner or ink cartridges: http://www.acra.asn.au/
Purchasers should request information from potential suppliers at the time of requesting a quotation. This Environmental specification is intended to provide assistance in obtaining environmental data from suppliers. The information that would be requested from suppliers is shown in the Information required column. Items in this specification are based on the criteria in the Environmental Purchasing Checklist for office equipment consumables.
| Consideration will be given to office equipment consumables … | Information required from companies | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| … that reduce overall waste and use fewer resources. | Specify which, if any, components of your consumables are remanufactured. Specify what happens to components that cannot be refilled. | 75-85% |
| Specify which, if any, components of your consumables are made from recycled materials. Specify the percentage of recycled content by weight. | ||
| State whether you make provision for remanufacturing or recycling of depleted consumables. Specify any Design for Environment (DfE) initiatives you have undertaken. |
||
| … with low environmental impact packaging (use this criterion only when packaging is significant). | List the types of packaging used in delivering your product, including bulk delivery packaging. Specify:
|
5-15% |
| Describe any disposal advice provided on your product packaging, including the size, location and colour of the advice. | ||
| Specify whether your packaging includes any loose fill material. | ||
| Specify whether your company is a signatory to the National Packaging Covenant. See http://www.deh.gov.au/industry/waste/covenant/signatories.html. | ||
| ... that document additional environmental benefits of their products or superior environmental performance of their companies. | Provide appropriate documentation to support any environmental claims made. | 5-15% |
The checklist is available as a PDF file. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view the PDF file.
If you are unable to access the checklist, please contact us to organise a suitable alternative format.