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60 percent of inkjet printer ink is thrown away
Consumers needlessly discard cartridges
By Rosemary Haworth, PC Advisor | PC Advisor
Published: 00:50 GMT, 15 June 07
As much as 60 percent of the ink contained in a typical inkjet cartridge is wasted, when printers ask users to throw away half-full cartridges, according to research commissioned by Epson.
The printer company commissioned research laboratory TUV Rheinland to measure how much ink is used up and how much remains in an inkjet cartridge when the printer claims it's out of ink. The study revealed vast amounts of wastage: no matter which printer you choose, around half the ink you pay for goes unused. On average, inkjet printers provide an ink efficiency of just 58 percent when used for photo printing purposes and 47 percent when used for printing business documents such as presentations.
Research company TUV Rheinland performed comparative tests on eight different printers from well-known brands such as HP, Canon, Brother, Lexmark, Epson and Kodak. The Kodak EasyShare model that was included in the test proved to have an ink efficiency level of just 40 percent. By contrast, models made by Epson and one HP inkjet, were shown to have efficiency levels of around 80 percent.
The printers that scored particularly poorly were multi-ink cartridge models. This category included printers in which colours are supplied in a single unit of cyan, magenta and yellow as well as six-colour printers that have a five-colour ink cartridge. The printers each printed as many sample pages as possible until one of the colours was exhausted. The residual amount of ink that was unused was then recorded.
TUV Rheinland's Hartmut Mueller-Gerbes explained that tests were carried out separately for photo printing and for business printing. The sample photo prints used were chosen at random by a focus group while a typical PowerPoint presentation was used as the sample document for the business-focused efficiency test.
Here, explained Mueller-Gerbes, one colour tends to dominate as a presentation will have a particular colour theme "such as the light magenta used in our example or the light cyan used in my presentation". Because of this, business printing tends to drain one colour faster than any other and the printer alerts the user that replenishment ink is needed.
Epson commissioned the tests to measure the environmental impact of ink waste and to back up its assertion that it's less wasteful – as well as cheaper – to use a printer that has individual colour tanks. Epson sells inkjet printers only that have separate ink cartridges for each colour. This means that when one colour runs out, the consumer can replace a single cartridge, rather than having to replace all the colours when only one has been used up, as is the case with multi-ink cartridges.
The weight of the inkjet cartridges was taken before and after the tests to ascertain how much ink was in it. They also compared with the weight of an empty cartridge to arrive at a figure for the ink on its own. The cartridges were chemically cleaned to ensure the weight of the cartridge alone was factored in.
However, as conference attendees were quick to point out, the tests Epson commissioned did not measure the cost to the consumer, the number of pages each printer was able to produce before running out of colour and did not factor in the amount of ink used up by the cleaning cycle that printers routinely perform. This last factor is something industry experts believe accounts for a significant amount of ink waste.
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Fred S. | Published: 21:40 GMT, 09 July 2007
Ink Cartridges are like razor blades or playstation 3 video games they are THE source of income for manufacturers. In some countries, the printer hardware is almost 10x as much as it costs here - but the ink itself is much cheaper - maybe 1/2 the price. This illustatres how a printer manufacturer changes it's strategy based on geographic location and wealth and culture of the territory it is selling into. In the north american market, one of the richest in the world, it is easier for them to make money by charging a lot for the ink and selling the hardware cheaper. I prefer it this way, this way I can get a machine that will do everything that I need or want it to for $300 as opposed to nearly $1,000 and I am in control of how much I use my ink. It helps the environment too.
neon | Published: 21:10 GMT, 29 June 2007
i trust epson. have been using one of their printers for about 10 years with no problems. always use generic ink refills from www.bestpriceink.com lowest prices and super-fast free shipping
Thom Keach | Published: 17:18 GMT, 28 June 2007
I have long felt the low ink warning was favoring the manufacture. So I just keep using them until I see the colors or the black deteriorating significantly. I get a better value for each cartridge that way.
julius richman | Published: 01:14 GMT, 27 June 2007
if there is still left in the cartridge after it shows empty. what does one do to utilize the ink that is still in the cartridge?????
jay taitelman | Published: 03:22 GMT, 26 June 2007
so how do you get the additional ink out of the cartridge when the printer says the ink cartridge is empty?
Ginette Schwenn | Published: 18:35 GMT, 25 June 2007
With all the technology, you'd think they could make the cartridges with clear plastic so consumers could see EXACTLY how much ink is present in the cartridges. Instead, they keep it a secret guessing game and charge a small fortune for the ink. I can buy a clear plastic ball point pen for $1 and know what I am getting. The same product, ink, costs more than a new printer in some cases. It's a big rip off!
Norman Scheck | Published: 17:56 GMT, 25 June 2007
Enjoyed reading the article, doesn't the manufactures make enough money off of us on the ink. I have an epson cx-3810 and i just print till there is no more ink coming out, a new generic cartridge runs from $1.99 on up.
PhotoSci | Published: 16:41 GMT, 25 June 2007
For consumer prints these tests are of dubious validity because of the test protocols, specifically print selection. At least one of the companies criticized used an extensive database of thousands of real world consumer prints to determine the best fill ratio for the various cartridge colorants to provide the maximum overall print yield. This is hardly duplicated by a "set of prints chosen at random by a focus group". Yes, individual cartridges would increase overall yield, but can easily be more expensive overall. The most economical solution, refillable colorant tanks, is not something most consumers want to deal with. And, as the article piints out, what's important to the consumer is the bottom line, not how you get there.
Dana | Published: 15:42 GMT, 25 June 2007
I have always said (comon sense) that it is better to buy individual color cartridges than all-in-one. There is a limited selection of these style of printers available at a reasonable cost and with the features one wants in a printer.
Brian W. | Published: 15:09 GMT, 25 June 2007
It would be nice if Epson were using the data to improve the yield of their "smart" cartridges through better drivers, rather than as a marketing tool. Unfortunately improved efficiency and waste reduction is counter to all printer manufacturers' profit motives.