Minimizing your printer's environmental impact

Lexmark is committed to environmental sustainability and is continually improving its printers to reduce their impact on the environment. We design with the environment in mind, engineer our packaging to reduce materials, and provide collection and recycling programs. For more information, see:

By selecting certain printer settings or tasks, you may be able to reduce your printer's impact even further. This chapter outlines the settings and tasks that may yield a greater environmental benefit.

Saving paper and toner

Studies show that as much as 80% of the carbon footprint of a printer is related to paper usage. You can significantly reduce your carbon footprint by using recycled paper and the following printing suggestions, such as printing on both sides of the paper and printing multiple pages on one side of a single sheet of paper.

To save paper and energy using one printer setting, see Using Eco-Mode.

Using recycled paper

As an environmentally conscious company, Lexmark supports the use of recycled office paper produced specifically for use in laser/LED printers. For more information on recycled papers that work well with your printer, see Using recycled paper and other office papers.

Conserving supplies

Use both sides of the paper

If your printer model supports two-sided printing, then you can control whether print appears on one or two sides of the paper.

Notes:

Place multiple pages on one sheet of paper

You can print up to 16 consecutive pages of a multiple-page document onto one side of a single sheet of paper by setting multiple page printing (N-Up) for the print job.

Check your first draft for accuracy

Before printing or making multiple copies of a document:

Avoid paper jams

Correctly set the paper type and size to avoid paper jams. For more information, see Avoiding jams.

Saving energy

Using Eco-Mode

  1. Type the printer IP address into the address field of your Web browser.

    If you do not know the IP address of the printer, you can:

    • View the IP address on the printer control panel in the TCP/IP section under the Networks/Ports menu.

    • Print a network setup page or the menu settings pages and locate the IP address in the TCP/IP section.

  2. Click Settings > General Settings > Eco-Mode > select a setting > Submit.

Choose

To

Off

Use factory default settings for all settings associated with Eco-Mode. This setting supports the performance specifications of your printer.

Energy

Reduce energy use, especially when the printer is idle.

  • Printer engine motors do not start until it is ready to print. You may notice a short delay before the first page is printed.

  • The printer enters Sleep mode after one minute of inactivity.

  • When the printer enters Sleep mode, the printer control panel display and the standard exit bin lights are turned off.

  • If scanning is supported, the scanner lamps are activated only when a scan job is started.

Energy/Paper

Use all the settings associated with Energy mode and Paper mode.

Paper

  • Enable the automatic duplex feature.

  • Turn off print log features.


Reducing printer noise

To select a Quiet Mode setting using the Embedded Web Server:

  1. Type the printer IP address into the address field of your Web browser.

    If you do not know the IP address of the printer, you can:

    • View the IP address on the printer control panel in the TCP/IP section under the Networks/Ports menu.

    • Print a network setup page or the menu settings pages and locate the IP address in the TCP/IP section.

  2. Click Settings > General Settings > Quiet Mode > select a setting > Submit.

Choose

To

Off

Note: Selecting Photo from the driver may disable Quiet Mode and provide better print quality and full speed printing.

Use factory default settings. This setting supports the performance specifications of your printer.

On

Reduce printer noise.

  • Print jobs will process at a reduced speed.

  • Printer engine motors do not start until a document is ready to print. There will be a short delay before the first page is printed.

  • If your printer has faxing capability, fax sounds are reduced or disabled, including those made by the fax speaker and ringer. The fax is placed in standby mode.

  • The alarm control and cartridge alarm sounds are turned off.

  • The printer will ignore the Advance Start command.


Adjusting Sleep mode

  1. From the home screen, navigate to:

    the menu icon > Settings > General Settings > Timeouts > Sleep Mode

  2. In the Sleep Mode field, select the number of minutes the printer is idle before it enters Sleep mode.

  3. Apply the changes.

Using Hibernate Mode

Hibernate is an ultra-low power operating mode. When operating in Hibernate mode, the printer is essentially off, and all other systems and devices are powered down safely.

Note: The Hibernate and Sleep modes can be scheduled.
Using the Embedded Web Server

  1. Type the printer IP address in the address field of your Web browser.

    If you do not know the IP address of the printer, then you can:

    • View the IP address on the printer control panel in the TCP/IP section under the Networks/Ports menu.

    • Print a network setup page or the menu settings pages and locate the IP address in the TCP/IP section.

  2. Click Settings > General Settings > Sleep Button Settings.

  3. From the Press Sleep Button or Press and Hold Sleep Button drop-down, select Hibernate.

  4. Click Submit.

Using the printer control panel

  1. From the home screen, navigate to:

    The menu icon > Settings > General Settings > Press Sleep Button or Press and Hold Sleep Button > Hibernate

  2. Touch Submit.

Adjusting the brightness of the printer display

To save energy, or if you have trouble reading from the display, adjust the brightness of the display.

Using the Embedded Web Server

  1. Open a Web browser, and then type the printer IP address in the address field.

    Notes:

    • The IP address is located on the upper portion of the home screen. It appears as four sets of numbers separated by periods, such as 123.123.123.123.
    • If you are using a proxy server, then temporarily disable it to load the Web page correctly.

  2. Select Settings > General Settings.

  3. In the Screen Brightness field, enter the brightness percentage you want for the display.

  4. Apply the changes.

Using the control panel

  1. From the home screen, navigate to:

    the menu icon > Settings > General Settings

  2. In the Screen Brightness field, enter the brightness percentage you want for the display.

  3. Apply the changes.

Recycling

Lexmark provides collection programs and environmentally progressive approaches to recycling. For more information, see:

Recycling Lexmark products

To return Lexmark products for recycling:

  1. Go to www.lexmark.com/recycle.

  2. Find the product type you want to recycle, and then select your country or region from the list.

  3. Follow the instructions on the computer screen.

Note: Printer supplies and hardware not listed in the Lexmark collection program may be recycled through your local recycling center. Contact your local recycling center to determine the items they accept.

Recycling Lexmark packaging

Lexmark continually strives to minimize packaging. Less packaging helps to ensure that Lexmark printers are transported in the most efficient and environmentally sensitive manner and that there is less packaging to dispose of. These efficiencies result in fewer greenhouse emissions, energy savings, and natural resource savings.

Lexmark cartons are 100% recyclable where corrugated recycling facilities exist. Facilities may not exist in your area.

The foam used in Lexmark packaging is recyclable where foam recycling facilities exist. Facilities may not exist in your area.

When you return a cartridge to Lexmark, you can reuse the box that the cartridge came in. Lexmark will recycle the box.

Returning Lexmark cartridges for reuse or recycling

Lexmark Cartridge Collection Program diverts millions of Lexmark cartridges from landfills annually by making it both easy and free for Lexmark customers to return used cartridges to Lexmark for reuse or recycling. One hundred percent of the empty cartridges returned to Lexmark are either reused or demanufactured for recycling. Boxes used to return the cartridges are also recycled.

To return Lexmark cartridges for reuse or recycling, follow the instructions that came with your printer or cartridge and use the prepaid shipping label. You can also do the following:

  1. Go to www.lexmark.com/recycle.

  2. From the Toner Cartridges section, select your country or region.

  3. Follow the instructions on the computer screen.