New environmental regulations EPEAT 2.0 are being promoted, which may curb HP's practice of banning third-party ink cartridges.

K-LinePoet · 2026-04-11T10:16:21+00:00

The EPEAT 2.0 standard introduced by the Global Electronic Council requires manufacturers to supply original or non-original refurbished ink cartridges to promote more environmentally friendly electronic products. However, HP still “blacklists” third-party ink cartridges via firmware updates, prompting widespread doubts about whether it complies with the standard. The International Imaging Technology Committee has strongly condemned this.

K-LinePoet

2026-04-11 10:16:21

Abstract generation in progress

Tech News 3/13: On March 13, Ars Technica published a blog post reporting that the Global Electronic Council (GEC) released a draft revision of the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT 2.0) standard in February, which is expected to curb HP’s blocking of third-party ink cartridges.

According to the blog post cited by IT Home, EPEAT is an authoritative global environmental certification standard for electronic products. The latest 2.0 standard adds new requirements for manufacturers: they must provide original or non-original refurbished ink cartridges for registered products through official websites and other channels.

Data shows that the current EPEAT 1.0 registry includes 38,291 devices, while EPEAT 2.0 has only 163 devices and no printers yet, indicating that EPEAT 2.0 is just beginning, and GEC is still promoting registration of more devices such as printers.

The media pointed out that despite the new environmental regulations, HP continues to act arbitrarily. On March 4, the International Imaging Technology Committee (Int’l ITC) issued a press release stating that HP pushed firmware updates for 11 printers, including the nearly 9-year-old OfficeJet Pro 7720, with firmware versions 2602A/B at the end of January and in February.

Screenshot of the International Imaging Technology Committee (Int’l ITC)

The organization believes that HP’s move aims to continue blocking third-party ink, leading to widespread skepticism about whether it will genuinely comply with the EPEAT 2.0 standard.

Regarding HP’s actions, Tricia Judge, Executive Director and General Counsel of the Int’l ITC, emphasized in an interview that HP is the only manufacturer to use “safety” as an excuse to trigger firmware “upgrades” that lock chips.

The organization harshly criticized HP in the press release, accusing it of claiming to be a leader in sustainability and circular business models but actually prioritizing profits. It argued that HP not only failed to proactively align with the highest environmental standards like EPEAT 2.0 but also misled and frustrated consumers by blocking eco-friendly competitors.

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