Our favourite colour is green
Climate change, rising energy costs and the growing importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) have propelled sustainable purchasing to the top of the boardroom agenda. We know that businesses no longer buy solely on price and performance, and that today, the highest environmental standards are expected as well.
We are well aware of the impact our business can have on the environment. Of course, there are strict environmental standards that we must abide by, but we prefer to go further. Wherever possible we exceed legislative requirements to help keep the world a better place for future generations.
From durability to packaging, energy consumption to recyclability – we look carefully at every aspect of our solutions to minimise its impact on the environment.
There are strict legal limiting values concerning emissions of office systems. These values concerning heat, noise and substances such as ozone and dust must be achieved in order for safety approvals and environmental certificates to be awarded.
UTAX systems fall within these prescribed limits for all emission types (ozone, dust and TVOC*), often by a considerable margin.
UTAX products comply with all the necessary regulated safety standards and regularly achieve environmental certificate status from accredited bodies such as Blue Angel, ENERGY STAR and RoHS.
The results of these tests are documented in detail in the respective environment data sheets for the individual systems and can be viewed/downloaded here.
In addition to the positive emission values, the low noise level of our products leads to a pleasant work climate. Our systems are equipped with “stand-by” or “sleep” mode that eliminates noise almost completely while at rest, and many models now include “quiet mode” which reduces noise considerably during operation.
Overall, UTAX ensures a comfortable and productive work environment whilst also protecting the global environment.
* (Total Volatile Organic Compounds)
The energy consumption of electrical appliances is one important factor concerning their ecological efficiency.
In recent years, considerable progress has been made regarding the minimisation of the energy consumption of multifunction copiers and printers. This is vital for the protection of our natural resources.
The European Directive ErP 2009/125/EC dates of 21st October 2009. It repeals the previous Directive 2005/32/EC: EuP and is intended to improve the energy efficiency of all energy related products (ErP).
To improve energy efficiency and environmental protection, the ErP Directive which, as part of CE marking applies to products that affect energy consumption throughout their life cycle, from manufacture, use, and until their end of life.
This directive encourages manufacturers to offer products designed to reduce their overall impact on the environment, including the resources consumed during manufacture and disposal.
Click here for UTAX product information concerning power consumption in stand-by and off mode.
UTAX (UK) Limited meet the United Kingdom regulatory requirements concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). We are regarded as a “downstream user” and, therefore, are required to comply with the obligations that UK REACH sets forth upon downstream users. Our machines comply with the REACH standards in force at the time of manufacture, and we pre-register or register all relevant substances on the basis of the information available to us.
Safety Data Sheets are available in our Technical Downloads, which provide information on the ingredients in our toner, including the substances included in the list established in accordance with REACH.
Genuine UTAX toner is designed to meet the exacting requirements of our systems. The use of genuine UTAX toner in your UTAX device ensures expected print performance – resulting in less print waste, advertised print volumes, less technical issues and fewer service call-outs – resulting in lower CO2 footprint.
Modern toners also deliver reduced energy consumption due to a lower fusing temperature, which in turn results in lower TEC values. Furthermore, a denser, even toner supply results in less toner waste.
UTAX original toner is neither toxic nor carcinogenic. This is confirmed by the AMES test as outlined in the safety data sheets provided for each of our products. In fact, our original toners meet all the requirements set by EU Directives and by the Ordinance on Hazardous Substances and are regularly tested for compliance with standards which are relevant to occupational health and safety. Furthermore, a number of our advanced multifunctional devices and printers, use a closed toner system which precludes any direct contact with the toner and leaves no toner residues at all.
As a toner manufacturer, under the UK WEEE Regulations, UTAX (UK) Ltd complies with its Producer Obligations and operate a ‘take back and recycle’ scheme for used toner cartridges, containing an electronic chip and placed on the market by UTAX (UK) LTD after 13th Aug 2005. Used toner cartridges will be disposed of responsibly, without going into landfill, and as many components as possible recycled into re-useable materials.
To request disposal of genuine UTAX used toner cartridges (purchased in the UK after 13th August 2005) click here.
Please note – only those toner containers that include an electronic chip device or display the “crossed out wheelie bin” symbol are eligible to be recycled under our WEEE scheme. For a list of toner container models that do not contain an electronic chip, click here.
If you are a UTAX Partner you can now purchase a ‘Used Toner Recycling Box’ – offering you and your customers an easy and efficient way in which to recycle your old UTAX used toner cartridges and waste toner tanks. Please contact us for more details.
All our plain paper systems function perfectly with paper corresponding to DIN 19309, “paper for copying purposes”. This standard covers normal paper as well as recycled paper.
We recommend paper corresponding to DIN 19309 for a trouble-free operation of our systems. This is one of the conditions for the environmental marks “Blue Angel” and “Swan Label”.
Lower paper quality can be responsible for paper jams and shorter maintenance intervals. Paper not corresponding to DIN 19309 is characterised by extremely short strings and can be very resinous and dust laden.
Please ask your paper supplier or UTAX Partner for advice and support our environment by choosing the right kind of paper. More information regarding appropriate media can be found in the individual instruction handbooks for each device.
The EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive requires all Member EU countries to maximise the separate collection, reuse and recycling of WEEE. The UK WEEE Regulations (derived from this Directive) applies to all Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) placed on the market in the UK covered by the scope of these Regulations.
The latest version of the directive (The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013) became UK law on the 1st of January 2014 and affirms the responsibility for the environmentally friendly disposal of WEEE on the manufactures of such equipment.
Under the UK WEEE Regulations, “Producers” are required to mark all relevant EEE with a “crossed-out wheelie bin” symbol to remind consumers not to discard WEEE in the domestic waste stream. UTAX (UK) Ltd encourages all of its customers to be aware of this symbol and avoid putting any WEEE in your domestic waste bin(s) or container(s).
UTAX (UK) Ltd supports the reuse and recycling of WEEE as there are several environmental benefits of doing so, such as: reduction of raw material and energy usage, prevention of waste to landfill and prevention of hazardous and/or toxic materials present in some WEEE contaminating the environment.
As a Producer under the UK WEEE Regulations, UTAX (UK) Ltd complies with its Producer Obligations by being registered as a Member of the WeeeCare Compliance Scheme and obtaining the WEEE Producer Registration Number – WEE/GE0003ZR.
UTAX operate a ‘take back and recycle’ scheme where obligated waste i.e. electrical equipment falling within scope of the WEEE Regulations 2013, placed on the market by UTAX (UK) LTD after 13th Aug 2005 and reaching the end of its life, can be returned to us for disposal. Our copiers, printers, multifunctional devices and used toner cartridges will be disposed of responsibly, without going into landfill, and as many components as possible recycled into re-useable materials.
To request the disposal of obligate UTAX copiers and printers click here.
To request disposal of genuine UTAX used toner cartridges click here.
PaperCut are actively making printing forest positive through their PaperCut Grows programme. They claim that 30% of logged trees are used to produce paper, and one tree can make 8,333 sheets of paper. PaperCut pledge to plat 1 tree for every 8,000 sheets printed through PaperCut MF. Trees are planted straight away by credible, non-profit reforestation organisations ensuring that all organisations who sign up to the programme are forest positive straight away.
Signing up is as easy as ticking a carbon offset box for any PaperCut MF sale! For more details on how to contribute to the PaperCut Grows programme, please contact solutions@utax.co.uk.