Voluntary Agreement

The Voluntary Agreement (originally signed on 16 February 2011) establishes a set of targets to be met for all products sold on the EU market. Requirements for energy-efficiency and duplexing availability must be met by at least 90% of products sold. 

The agreement aims to reduce the environmental footprint of imaging equipment – both by design and by helping customers make informed choices during purchase and usage of the equipment: 

  • Design requirements relate to energy consumption, default delay times, recto-verso printing, the ability to print several pages on one sheet of paper, recycling and cartridge reuse. Machines must be designed for easy recycling of plastic and other materials and must be able to accommodate non-OEM ink and toner cartridges. 
  • Information requirements cover resource and energy efficiency, paper usage and cartridge disposal. Business and retail customers must be provided with accurate, detailed and transparent information.

The requirements will contribute to reaching the objectives of the EU Action Plan on Energy Efficiency and curb EU energy consumption by 20% by 2020. 

 

Subgroup on Targets

 

2020-2021 Joint Voluntary Agreement

 

2018-2019 VA revision

 

Correspondence with the European Commission: 

 

Impact assessment and Report from the Commission to the Parliament on the imaging equipment Voluntary Agreement:

 

Guidelines

 

Past version of the Voluntary Agreement