Innovation & Technology

HP Commits to 100% Circular, Carbon-Neutral, Forest-Positive Printing

The tech giant shares vision for print sustainability with innovation that helps protect the world’s forests, reduces carbon emissions and uses more recycled materials.

Published 5 years ago | About a 4 minute read

Image: HP Inc.

On Tuesday at HP Reinvent — the company’s largest global partner event — HP Inc. announced a bold vision for print sustainability, pledging that every page printed with HP will support a forest-positive future, carbon neutrality and materials designed to reduce impacts to the planet. Built on HP’s longstanding commitment to environmental innovation, this new vision supports the company’s ongoing efforts to deliver its most environmentally sustainable product portfolio while transforming its business to a more efficient, circular and sustainable model.

“We are redefining the power of print to create a positive, lasting change for the planet, its people and our communities. HP’s commitment to sustainability guides how we do business and drives the way our printers are designed, made and used,” explains Enrique Lores, President of HP Inc.'s Imaging & Printing business. “Today at HP Reinvent, we took one step further by pledging to lead the industry in making every page you print sustainable.”

As HP looks to grow without increasing its consumption of raw materials and thrive in a resource-constrained future, the company is well-positioned to help customers do the same. Supporting a vision to build sustainable products, the company engineers Original HP supplies to help reduce risk for its customers, their reputation and their future.

Forest-positive future

With this pledge, the company aims to make every page printed on an HP printer forest positive by extending beyond its printers — which are forest positive — to its entire portfolio. In 2016, HP achieved 100 percent zero deforestation associated with HP-branded paper, nearly two years ahead of schedule — marking a milestone towards the company’s vision for a forest-positive future. Plus, HP’s zero-deforestation goal for its paper-based product packaging is on track for 2020. In addition, 100 percent of HP-branded paper sold in North America is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council®, ensuring transparency and responsible forest management.

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HP says that it defines forest positive as going beyond existing HP sustainable-fiber sourcing programs — it includes NGO partnerships targeted to protect forests, improve responsible forest management and help develop Science Based Targets for responsible management of forests. HP’s vision is that printing with HP will protect forests regardless of what brand of paper customers use.

Carbon neutrality

HP is taking an ambitious step towards its vision of carbon-neutral printing with the introduction of the new, energy-efficient HPLaserJet A4 printer and EcoSmart black toner, which has a lower melt temperature, thereby reducing the energy consumption of HP printers.

But even more valuable than individual products is how HP’s products work together through its Managed Print Services (MPS) offerings — helping customers achieve ambitious sustainability goals and improve their bottom line. By partnering with HP, customers have reported a 33 percent annual reduction in carbon emissions, energy consumption and costs2.

Circular economy

HP continues to support a circular economy through its consumer and business products, recently reinventing its printer suite to include closed-loop recycled plastics, with HP ENVY and Tango printers comprised of 30 percent closed-loop recycled plastics3. Since 2000, over 199 million pounds of recycled content plastic have been used in 3.9B HP Original ink and toner cartridges1; and two years ago, HP introduced the first HP Original ink cartridges made with plastic bottles sourced from Haiti.

In October, the company joined NextWave Plastics — a collaborative initiative convening leading technology and consumer-focused companies to develop the first global network of ocean-bound plastics supply chains; as of today, HP has sourced more than 550,000 pounds of ocean-bound plastic for use in its products — the equivalent of more than 12 million plastic bottles.

HP says its R&D teams invest up to five years engineering each new generation of toner and ink cartridges to deliver quality printing, and 100 percent of its toner cartridges and 80 percent of ink cartridges contain recycled content1.

Market expectations

People expect brands to stand for more than the products they sell. The 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer disclosed a staggering 67 percent of consumers who self-identify as Belief-Driven Buyers and believe brands can be a force for social good. In the workplace, initial findings of a global supplies study conducted by HP reveals a company’s commitment to sustainability impacts employee recruitment, retention and advocacy with over 50 percent of today’s US workforce expecting sustainable practices by employers 4.

1 Based on the 2017 HP Sustainable Impact Report

2 Estimated energy and paper savings based on analysis of select HP MPS customers’ imaging and printing operations using data gathered on devices and paper consumption and comparing with post-MPS actuals or projections.

3 HP calculations based on Energy Star normalized TEC data comparing the HP LaserJet 300/400 series and 500 series monochrome printers introduced in spring 2019. HP 58/59/76/77A/X compared to HP 26A/X, and HP 89A/X/Y compared to HP 87A/X.

4 Based on HP Internal Supplies Survey conducted by Edelman Intelligence, February 2019.