HP printers are at the center of an environmental and ethical controversy. HP markets dozens of its printers with Dynamic Security and HP+ with the EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) label, which means the company takes its share of responsibility and ensures it doesn’t block third-party ink cartridges on these products.
However, a trade group accuses HP of violating EPEAT criteria by doing exactly what the company claims it is not doing. The group says these practices mislead consumers, harm remanufacturers and increase waste and carbon emissions. He calls on the GEC, which awards the EPEAT label, to remove HP printers from the EPEAT register and to inform buyers of the situation.
HP printers have received a lot of criticism for invasive firmware updates that prevent customers from using ink with their printers. HP also encourages printer customers to sign up for HP+, a cloud-based program that includes a free trial subscription to HP Instant Ink and irreversible firmware that allows HP to block ink when it sees fit.
HP+ is marketed as a cloud-based printing solution built into select HP printers.
The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), on the other hand, is an environmental assessment tool for electronic products. It allows buyers (governments, institutions, consumers, etc.) to evaluate, compare and select electronic products based on their environmental characteristics. EPEAT was created and is operated by the Global Electronics Council (GEC), a program of the International Foundation for Sustainable Development (ISDF), a non-profit organization that envisions a world where commerce, communities and nature come together. evolve in harmony.
EPEAT currently covers the following product categories:
- computers and screens
- imaging equipment
- Mobile phones
- Photovoltaic modules and inverters (PVMI)
- TV
- server
For a product to appear on the EPEAT Register, it must meet environmental performance criteria related to:
- the choice of materials
- reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the supply chain
- Design for product circularity and durability
- Energy saving
- End of Life Management
- business performance
- Products are then classified with a Gold, Silver, or Bronze label based on the number of optional criteria they meet.
However, according to the International Imaging Technology Council (IITC), HP doesn’t seem to care.
Before we get to the IITC complaint, GEC senior director Katherine Larocque pointed out on May 22 that the IITC is obviously at stake in this case. The non-profit trade association was founded in 2000 and claims to represent toner and ink cartridge remanufacturers, component suppliers and cartridge collectors in North America. Therefore, its members are at risk of losing a lot of money through tactics like Dynamic Security or HP+. The IITC filed a complaint against HP with the GEC back in 2019 over non-HP ink-blocking firmware, but there don’t seem to have been any significant results.
The group is biased on the issue, but its complaint still reflects many of the issues and concerns detailed by consumers and class action lawsuits regarding HP printers’ proprietary stance on ink.
IITC Complaint
HP Inc. (HP) has mocked the EPEAT registration process and greenwashed its products by falsely claiming that the company is EPEAT Ecolabel compliant. Required EPEAT Criterion 4.9.2.1 requires documentation that the product does not prevent the use of non-HP cartridges and reservoirs. This claim is obviously wrong. The truth is revealed in negative customer reviews, in the industry press and in civil lawsuits describing how HP blocks the use of non-HP cartridges, but most importantly also on HP’s websites and product literature, where currently no less offered as 86 EPEAT registered devices For sale are notations such as
- Only works with Original HP ink
- Requires… the use of only genuine HP ink cartridges for the life of the printer.
- Cartridges that use a non-HP chip may not work or may stop working.
This and similar statements about HP devices that have Dynamic Security and/or HP+ features are in direct contradiction to EPEAT 4.9.2.1. Accordingly, the International Imaging Technology Council (“Int’l ITC”) respectfully requests the Global Electronics Counsel (“GEC”) to:
Co-labels are designed to help consumers and institutional buyers quickly and easily identify products that meet certain environmental performance criteria and are therefore considered “greener”. This objective will only be achieved if the governing body ensures strict compliance with its requirements and holds producers who fail to comply accountable. HP’s actions require an investigation and, if violations are confirmed, a vigorous and public response from the GEC to prevent similar fraudulent behavior by other manufacturers.
Firmware updates blocking third-party cartridges
For a printer to be included in the EPEAT registry, it must meet EPEAT category criteria for imaging equipment, based on the IEEE 1680.2-2012 Standard for Environmental Rating of Imaging Equipment. The IITC overrides Section 4.9.2.1, which requires that registered products not prevent the use of cartridges and containers not manufactured by manufacturers and that suppliers provide documentation showing that the device was not designed for it is to prevent the use of a non-manufactured cartridge or container.
Well, as the IITC and consumers who have been complaining for the past few weeks will tell you, that sounds a lot like what HP is doing with its Dynamic Security printers.
Digging deeper, the IITC complaint claims that in the past eight weeks alone, HP has released four killer firmware updates targeting dozens of EPEAT-registered inkjet printers. At least one of those recent updates specifically targeted a single manufacturer of remanufactured cartridges without impacting non-remanufactured third-party cartridges that use functionally identical non-HP chips, the complaint said.
The trade group also claimed that at least 26 killer firmware updates have been made to EPEAT-registered HP laser printers since October 2020.
The complaint alleges that the error message users are seeing*: The specified cartridges were blocked by the printer firmware because they contain non-HP chips. This printer is designed to operate only with new or reused cartridges with a new or reused HP chip. Replace the indicated cartridges to continue printing. This violates EPEAT requirements, yet HP markets dozens of EPEAT co-labeled Dynamic Security printers.
Dynamic security
The IITC Complaint highlights numerous places where HP claims EPEAT registration, even though it appears to contradict the terms of the registration.
For example, the IITC shared EPEAT documentation stating that HP printers are not designed to prevent the use of cartridges and containers from other manufacturers. Meanwhile, HP’s Dynamic Security website states that printers equipped with Dynamic Security should only work with cartridges with new or reused HP chips or electronics. Printers use dynamic security measures to block cartridges that use non-HP chips or modified or non-HP electronic circuits.
Maybe it’s because of HP’s stance that 4.9.2.1 allows them to block any non-manufacturer cartridge that doesn’t use an HP chip. Whether HP cites “security issues” or some other excuse, 4.9.2.1 doesn’t offer such latitude; The wording of 4.9.2.1 is clear and unqualified,” the IITC complaint reads.
Dynamic Security printers receive periodic firmware updates which HP says enhances, improves or enhances the features and functionality of the printer, protects against security threats and serves other purposes, as well as blocking cartridges that use or modify a non-HP chip or not – working HP circuits in the printer including cartridges working today. Sometimes these cartridges are more than 90% full, according to the IITC, which doesn’t see where the security in Dynamic Security comes from:
The truth is, dynamic security has nothing to do with security, but rather with frustrating consumers into choosing non-HP cartridges to increase sales of genuine HP cartridges.
HP+
The complaint also targets the HP+ program, which HP describes as an integrated HP system that requires an internet connection and only works with genuine HP ink or toner cartridges and offers customers benefits such as a six-month trial of HP Instant Ink and a connected Cloud provides Automatically detects and fixes connection problems.
However, the complaint notes that some of the device only works with original HP ink or toner cartridges.
[HP+] binds consumers to exclusive use of HP cartridges for the life of the printer, thereby preventing the use of non-manufactured cartridges, the IITC complaint said. The complaint also alleges that HP technical support has confirmed that HP+ cannot be disabled. HP’s position appears to be that 4.9.2.1 contains a bug that allows HP to block all non-HP cartridges when an end user activates HP+, but 4.9.2.1 offers no such latitude, the complaint states .
What the plaintiffs are asking for
LIITC urges the GEC to take immediate action to remove the affected HP printers from the EPEAT registry and to notify potential buyers of HP’s fraudulent practices.
“We urge the GEC to act quickly to protect the credibility of the EPEAT registry,” the group wrote. We are also asking the GEC to notify all public and private buyers who have purchased these products under the false pretense that they meet EPEAT criteria.
The group is also asking the GEC to investigate whether other manufacturers are using similar tactics to block cartridges from other manufacturers.
Sources: Complaint, HP Support (Dynamic Security)
And you ?
What do you think of HP’s ink cartridge practices?
Ever had problems with HP Dynamic Security or HP+ printers?
How do you choose an eco-friendly printer?
What are your sources of information on environmental issues related to electronic products?
What actions are you taking to reduce your carbon footprint associated with printer usage?