Epson abandons lasers in favor of inkjet
Epson plans to completely stop producing laser printers in 2026 due to sustainability issues.
The printer giant claims that laser technology has a “limited ability” to make significant strides toward improved durability “due to the need for heat during the printing process and therefore higher energy consumption.”
The company plans to fully focus its printers on inkjet technology, claiming that this “could reduce energy consumption compared to laser” and that the “compact footprint and lightweight design” of these inkjet printers could help “limit resources used during production and shipping”.
What Makes Inkjet Different?
In a blog post (opens in new tab) Citing its own data, Epson claims that its own inkjet printers use less than 85% less energy than a comparable laser printer and 85% less carbon dioxide.
Inkjet printers use wet ink and nozzles to print on paper, while laser printers use a laser and dry ink (also called a tonner) to print
In general, inkjet printers are slightly smaller than their laser counterparts, but also have a slightly higher cost per page.
This news comes a year after Epson announced a ¥100 billion investment in sustainable innovation. But despite the latest public commitment to sustainability, Epson has come under heavy criticism for its environmental practices in recent years.
Epson confirmed in July 2022 (opens in new tab) that some of its printers are designed to stop working after a period of time, forcing customers to either replace the hardware or pay for it to survive through an authorized repairer.
The timecoded limit would affect Epson’s L360 L130, L220, L310 and L365 printers.
Commenting on the news on the Fight to Repair blog, Harvard professor Jonathan Zittrain said:
“A printer that self-bricks after a while is a good example of ‘you think you bought a product, but you actually hired a service’.”
