Demand 'growing' for environmentally-friendly printers

A growing number of printing firms are opting to make use of environmentally-friendly printers and other technologies that lower their carbon footprint.

This is according to MFRTech, which noted the move towards such processes is being driven by rising demand from consumers and other end users.

However, the news source warned there are still some hurdles to overcome before eco printing is widespread, as some clients believe purchasing printed items that have been produced in an environmentally-friendly manner will come at a higher price.

"Worse yet, they falsely believe if something changes during the manufacturing process, such as replacing toxic chemicals with safer ones, that the product's quality will be diminished in some way," said author Chris Tucker.

He stated thermal transfer labels that use recycled paper as opposed to fresh pulp are now on the market, along with solvent-free thermal transfer ribbons for use in printers.

Sustainability is also becoming a key factor in direct marketing, where over three-quarters of material used it now sent for recycling, data from the Royal Mail and the Direct Marketing Association recently revealed.

Posted by Tim Fulford