Eco Active or Eco Apathetic? ID Cards and our environment

So many of us are doing our bit, or so we’re led to believe and others remain on the fence. We have corn cards and corn/maze lanyards but apparently storage is not simple if you have rats visiting your warehouse (and most do), they like to eat them.

Print quality is not so hot for desktop printers either! Anyone have something accurate to offer? I was told by a few sources that the process required to make them is as damaging to our earth as PVC manufacturing, land mass required, water required, transportation, manufacturing process etc? If they are the same and not worse then the fact that they breakdown in a short time is possibly beneficial. Do we have some experts on this subject? We also have Bio PVC cards which as we know are petroleum based and offering no improvement on our environment … but again they will eventually biodegrade unlike standard PVC cards so do carry a benefit at the end…. Print quality is equal to standard PVC too. We know this from our own Plus-Card Bio range. I guess if biodegradable cards find themselves in landfill sites, only those with incorporated encoding features will not fully degrade within the same timescale. Example; the magnetic stripe, chip and antenna. However, how do we remove those parts and recycle them? The pressure from our internal and external stakeholders (customers too) will force management to ensure that social responsibility and green issues are almost always a consideration. Organisations will be expected to demonstrate their credentials and be transparent. Not only will they be compared to peers, but social and environmental issues are likely to become a bigger influence in customers’ purchasing decisions. Given that a large percentage of card printers are polycarbonate and metal based, what recycling and economic considerations are our printer makers exploring today? Same question for ribbons and the depleted film? Stuart Parker comments: “At Eagle Technologies we ensure that we dispose of any waste printer equipment in accordance with the WEEE directive. This includes all electrical and mechanical components that may have been removed from defective machines at our workshop. We use a local company and receive full certifications for the breakdown of type and volume of waste collected. In regards to the ribbon film disposal, it is still a grey area and there is no real manufacturer leadership. It is a little bit of a conundrum. Often the data printed on the ribbons could be sensitive and hence would want to be disposed of “in-house”. With no ribbon recycle program available, and also the general structure of the plastic cores being too hard for standard plastic recycling programs, there is still work to be done within the industry to find a solution to this issue.” Another question if I may… Our card printer makers often offer trade in programmes. What happens to them? Do they merely arrive at a landfill site or are the components broken down and recycled? Our customers often ask these questions, do yours? One final question… what percentage of card printers today are made with recycled components? If you manufacturer or distribute Eco Friendly products that we ID Providers could utilise, please visit our Eco Product Finder subgroup to list them. If you manufacturer or distribute Eco Friendly products relevant to the ID Card Provider group, please join our international ‘The Community for ID Card Professionals’  via the link below and then visit subgroups. Eagle Technologies Ltd +44 (0) 1344 303 700 Sales@EagleTechnologies.co.uk http://www.EagleTechnologies.co.uk Join us on LinkedIn http://uk.linkedin.com/in/chrisrayner2008 To join The Community for ID Card Professionals, please click the link below and start benefiting from new contacts, ideas and general industry chat today. http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2618171&trk=anet_ug_grppro follow us on... http://www.twitter.com/Eagle_ID http://www.facebook.com/EagleTechnologies How To Find & Sell. "IDentify Your Target Market" http://idcards.posterous.com/how-to-find-and-sell-identify-your-target-mar Eagle Technologies End of Year Message from Chris Rayner (Managing Director) http://idcards.posterous.com/eagle-technologies-end-of-year-message-from-c Eagle Technologies Ltd is a world leading multi-brand desktop card printer product distributor providing all leading card printer and consumables brands, plastic cards, badge holders/lanyards, in/out of warranty repair solutions (including onsite services), card badging software, and a comprehensive bureau card personalisation and fulfillment offering. Eagle sells to resellers and adds value by providing a variety of products and services, including Plus-Ribbon (compatible with zebra, Datacard, Magicard and Fargo ID card printers), Plus-Clean & Plus-Card. Our mission is to grow the business of resellers by providing the services and tools which make them more efficient, effective and successful. Eagle customers have access to the industry's leading vendors, one of largest product inventories, and the broadest range of value-added services available. …offices in the UK, Europe & USA.

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