Printer Cartridge recycling in the US and Europe
In a new report just issued by InfoTrends ‘2007 Supplies Recycling: U.S. and Europe’ some very interesting conclusions have been drawn.
Tremendous amounts of printer cartridges are used every day right across the world, and OEM’s and 3rd party remanufacturers are trying to obtain those empty cartridges and divert the empty OEM cartridges from ending up in landfills. OEMs wish to recycle the materials to fulfil their environmental responsibilities, while the 3rd party remanufacturers need the cartridges to maintain their business. Despite these efforts, many cartridges do wind up in landfills. Some cartridges meet this fate without ever having been remanufactured, while some are remanufactured once before going into landfill.
The report raises several interesting issues for anybody interested in reducing, recycling and reusing:
- 1. The OEM’s own program to collect empties generally results in them being broken down into their constituent parts and then the base materials recycled
- 2. 3rd party remanufacturers will almost always re-use the cartridges that they collect following inspection and cleaning.
On the face of it the more environmentally friendly route for the consumer to take is the second, however you should be aware by now that not everything is obvious when it comes to Green issues!. A significant amount of the cartridges collected by remanufacturers are disposed of due to damage or end of useful life, or because they are undesirable cartridges that have little or no value. Also our own experience is that generally the remanufacturers are only interested in ‘virgin’ cartridges that have only been used once. The report contends that half of Europe’s laser cartridge remanufacturing waste is recycled, and 30% of inkjet cartridge remanufacturing waste is recycled or managed in some way. In addition, only about 10% of unusable laser cartridge waste is actually recycled by remanufactures in the U.S., and almost no integrated inkjet cartridges are recycled.
A big issue is the cost of collection of cartridges. When the Royal Mail (in the UK) imposing their new tariffs based on size as well as weight in August 2006, the cost of bringing back empty toner cartridges is actually several pounds more than the value of the cartridge in the recycling chain which became a real issue for us at Stinkyink where we issue a ‘FREEPOST’ label for bringing goods back for recycling.
The report goes on to say ‘ OEM’s and remanufacturers employ different methods and focus on different priorities when dealing with collected cartridges. While some OEM’s do not offer collection schemes for inkjet cartridges, OEM’s recycle the cartridges that they do collect. In contrast, while all cartridge remanufacturing companies surveyed expressed a desire to handle cartridges in the most environmentally sound manner, they also say it is often impractical due to cost and available recycling infrastructures’.
Controversially the report concludes:
- 1. 80% of remanufactured toner cartridges and 86% of remanufactured inkjet cartridges are thrown away because remanufacturers have such a strong preference for cartridges that have not previously been remanufactured (aka ‘virgin empties’)
- 2. Through remanufacturing, 3rd party supplies companies are able, on average, to reduce overall demand for new cartridges by about 20%.
- 3. Remanufacturers surveyed generally were not aware of the details concerning the waste management service providers they utilised.
- 4. Transparent and public reporting of environmental performance was not available from several OEM’s or any of the remanufacturers surveyed
- 5. Excess and damaged cartridges, as well as non-virgin cartridges, may be sold several times to successively lower-quality remanufacturers before being discarded
- 6. There are very few truly local remanufacturers; most local remanufacturers now outsource their products and no longer remanufacture directly
- 7. 16% of toner cartridges and 34% of inkjet cartridge remanufacturers collect cannot be profitably remanufactured
- 8. 3rd party supplies companies collect 70% more empty OEM toner cartridges and 700% more empty OEM inkjet cartridges than the OEM’s themselves.
It’s final conclusion is that ‘overall, however the imaging supplies industry can claim to be effectively reducing the impact of cartridges on the environment’ which is a pat on the back for both the OEM’s and remanufacturers
The full report is available to purchase at InfoTrends.
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:33 pm
I would agree that this is an environmental burden that must be dealt with. I would disagree with some of the figures, however. We have found that we have no problems remanufacturing inkjets indefinitely provided the print head itself does not get damaged or run ‘dry’ for too long. Virgin inkjets are still preferred (only because they are easier to reman) but technology and a good dose of R&D are bringing percentages of ‘remanned remans’ to over 85%. As long as prints heads are not damaged and the remanufacturing processes are solid using good equipment and inks (not drill and fill) we have seen up to 5 recycles of a cartridge before noticeable deterioration of the print head nozzles and even then they work just fine for standard text printing (non-photo). We have in-house inkjets that have served us for almost a year of heavy printing!
As in U.K., the U.S. Postal Service just increased their fees for most of the envelopes that are used with these sized cartridges. This does drive up S&H and recycling program costs, but not to the point of making it an unbearable expense. ALL remanufacturers have two goals whether large or small business…help save the environment…and make money at doing it. Commercial recyclers have been around for decades…this is simply more modern than aluminum cans…but the same principles are used.
Thanks to all those collectors for salvaging these little gems and to those that join recycling programs! It is they who keep OEM from gobbling them up. OEM would rather breakdown and destroy their own product, claiming environmental friendliness, which actually makes a much bigger carbon footprint than allow remanufactures to continue to disprove OEM claims of inferiority or the omnipresent ‘intended for single use only’. It is simply a matter of money to them. Remanufactures cut into their profits while offering a cheaper and sometimes better product.
Thanks. Jason.