Business Inkjet VS Laser
If you’re looking to balance business productivity and sustainability objectives, your printing routines could be a smart place to start.
A simple yet effective solution could be opting for an inkjets over a laser printer.
Inkjets produce less waste and are more power-efficient than its laser counterpart. This makes it more sustainable in the long-run, even though it may cost more upfront.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive deeper into the key differences between inkjets and laser printers to help you make the more ideal choice.
Printer Choice Matters
Before we break down the pros and cons between inkjets and laser printers, we have to understand why printer choice matters in the first place.
For many businesses like you, printing is often seen as a cost centre. With rising costs in the macro business climate, it can be a uphill battle. In fact, the typical company spends on average, 1-3% of its yearly revenue on printing.
As a owner, you may want to find ways to drive down that recurring cost. Ensuring your printer choice generates low or, even net-zero carbon footprint is one place to start.
Here are three plausible tactics that could help to drive down costs:
- Reduce energy consumption, from frequent use or inefficient hardware
- Minimise consumable waste such as toner/ink cartridges, paper
- Cut down on supply chain emissions from ink cartridge production, frequent deliveries and cartridge disposal.
See the pattern here? Making the right printer choice helps your business achieve its sustainability goals. Not only that, it can save you money in the long-run.
Carbon Reporting 101: Scopes Explained
To help you identify which areas to focus on, let’s look more granularly at how printing contributes to your carbon footprint. Simply put, emissions are broken down into three scopes.
Scope 1: Direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. These are typically unaffected by printer use unless using on-site generators.
Scope 2: Indirect emissions from purchased electricity. For context, laser printers often consume more power, especially when heating toner.
Scope 3: Every other set of emissions that indirectly affects the value chain. This can span emissions from producing printers, transporting ink/toner, disposal or paper consumption.
Generally, scope 2 and 3 emissions are easier to lower compared to scope 1, which tend to be core to your business.
When we dive into our comparison between inkjets and laser printers, we will also want to understand how each affects your energy use, consumables, and supply chain emissions.
These are key to deciding which printer type is the more ideal one.
Business Inkjet VS Laser
| Power Consumption | Epson EcoTank (~25ppm) | Laser Copier (~25ppm) |
|---|---|---|
| Stand by mode | ~10W | ~32W |
| Printing mode | ~20W | ~800W |
| Peak Power (Warming up, fuser activation) | N.A. | ~1,000 - 2,500W |
| Cost/page | Epson EcoTank | Laser Copier |
|---|---|---|
| Black | ~$0.004 | ~$0.03 |
| Colour | ~$0.01 | ~$0.10 |
