The Recycler Issue 294

HOW TO GET SOCIAL: Connett & Unland’s David 

Connett discusses getting social on a €100 budget. 

starts page 17 

RETAIL: Who’s to blame 

when employees 

disengage? see page 48 

years 

CELEBRATING TWENTY FIVE YEARS 

OF THE RECYCLER MAGAZINE 

• 

www.therecycler.com Issue 294 l MAY 2017 l £10 

Focus on the Middle East 

and Africa 

In a series of features, we spoke to or visited companies in the Middle East - as well as 

Paperworld Middle East 2017 - to get a better understanding of that market, as well as the 

African region, and what they can offer for the remanufacturing industry. Starts page 34 

EU ECOLABEL REVISION 

Could revision 

include cartridges? 

The criteria for imaging 

equipment is being revised, 

with cartridges forming part 

of the consultation. 

> see page four 

CIG EMEA REBRAND 

CIG rebrands and 

launches in EMEA 

Clover Imaging Group (CIG) 

has expanded to Europe, 

Middle East and Africa to 

“unify” brands and units. 

> see page four 

INSIDE: 

HP INC-SAMSUNG DEAL 

Merger coming closer to completion 

SUPREME COURT CASE 

Remanufacturing case begins 

STAPLES 

Retailer rings the changes 

RIS GERMAN DEAL 

Machines agreement with retailer 

WIDE-FORMAT COLUMN 

Ink alternatives for SMBs 

p4 

p9 

p18 

p22 

p44

NEWS SYNOPSIS 

Visit www.therecycler.com for all the breaking news from the remanufacturing industry 

GIT launches new 

corporate video 

The Dubai-based remanufacturer 

has launched a new corporate 

video, released in both Malayalm 

and English and featuring a 

voiceover discussing the 

company over images of the 

remanufacturer’s locations and 

operations, as well as Dubai 

(where it is based) and other 

stock images to support the 

commentary. 

Lexmark wins anticounterfeiting 

patent 

The OEM has patented an anticounterfeiting 

concept that uses 

magnetic particles, with the US 

patent able to discover if ink and 

toner cartridges are counterfeit. 

The OEM added that counterfeit 

printer products “such as toner 

bottles” cause problems for users 

like poor performance and 

printer damage. 

Restore sees revenue and 

profit increase 

The UK company, which owns 

cartridge collector ITP, saw its 

dividend increase by 25 percent 

in 2016, while its acquisitions in 

the past have helped “boost [its] 

2016 revenue”, and its “pretax 

profit ticked up”, with revenue 

reaching £129.4 million ($157.3 

million/€148.1 million), the 

“largest increase” coming from 

its Document Management unit. 

Hubei Dinglong receives 

Nordic Swan certification 

The toner 

manufacturer 

has had its 

HP Inc toner 

powders certified by the Nordic 

Swan ecolabelling certification, 

with “key colour” toners certified 

including the H59 and H75. 

The testing was undertaken by 

TUV Rheinland LGA Products, 

including “stringent” tests to 

meet the requirements for the 

certification. 

Katun celebrates more 

employee milestones 

The European business has 

congratulated two employees for 

long service, with Allert van 

Barnevald, who has worked for 

10 years “in the warehouse of 

Katun Corporation’s European 

Distribution Centre”, receiving 

a certificate alongside Marco 

Terracini, Sales Manager at 

Katun Italy, who received one 

for 20 years of service at the 

company. 

Pantum first in South 

African printer sales 

The OEM was first in terms 

of monochrome singlefunction 

printer sales volume in 

the last quarter in the market, 

with this “outstanding performance” 

allowing it to “outpac[e] 

other suppliers”, according to 

research from market analysts 

IDC’s Hardcopy Peripherals 

Tracker. The “remarkable 

milestone” comes only four years 

after it entered the national 

market. 

CIG rebrands and launches 

in EMEA 9 

Clover Imaging Group (CIG) 

has been expanded to the 

EMEA (Europe, Middle East and 

Africa) market, with the 

changes set to “unify all of the 

brands and divisions” in the 

region. CIG added that it was 

“excited to launch” in the EMEA, 

with the launch an “important 

milestone in our history” and 

offering a “one-stop-shop” for 

customers there. 

Armor launches owa MPS 

video 

The French remanufacturer 

exhibited at the IT Partners event 

at Euro Disney in Paris, and 

released a video discussing its 

owa Print Services MPS 

programme, with the video an 

animated production featuring 

French narration and French 

language characters on screen, 

giving an overview of MPS costs 

and how owa can help. 

HP Inc finalising Samsung 

merger 

The OEM’s CEO Dion Weisler 

visited South Korea to “finalise 

talks” on the deal, with the visit 

taking place recently to try to 

complete the planned deal, 

which will see HP Inc acquire 

Samsung’s printer business. 

Weisler met Kim Ki-ho, CEO of S- 

Printing Solution, which was the 

“spun-off entity set up” after the 

deal was announced last year. 

The Recycler Live 

conference 

The Recycler, in partnership with 

ETIRA, is pleased to announce 

that the 2017 The Recycler Live 

conference will take place on 28 

and 29 June at the DoubleTree by 

Hilton Hotel & Conference 

Centre Warsaw, in Poland. The 

event will include ETIRA’s AGM as 

well as talks from industry 

individuals on pressing market 

topics. 

Supreme Court case 

begins 

The case between Lexmark and 

Impression Products has seen 

the court initially favour the 

remanufacturer’s argument for 

patent exhaustion, with Tricia 

Judge, Executive Director of the 

US remanufacturing association 

I-ITC (International Imaging 

Technology Council), stating that 

the first days had seen the court 

lean “towards [the] aftermarket”. 

Green Project receives 

gear patent 

The US company has received a 

US patent for its ‘Recoil GP’ gear 

technology for replacement OPC 

drums from the US Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO), with 

the gear also “examined and 

approved” by the US Customs 

and Border Protection (CBP) 

agency “for entry into the US”, 

and “outside the scope” of the 

Canon dongle gear GEO 

(General Exclusion Order). 

EU Ecolabel revision could 

include cartridges? 

The criteria for imaging 

equipment for the EU Ecolabel is 

being revised, with companies 

and representatives from the 

industry able to respond, and 

with cartridges forming part of 

the consultation questionnaire, 

specifically: ‘Do you consider 

that the scope should be 

modified to include ink and 

toner cartridges or other 

consumables?’ 

2 

THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 294 • MAY 2017

Search for The Recycler on Facebook for more news and industry coverage 

NEWS SYNOPSIS 

and bringing together of its sales 

and marketing companies. The 

company added that the new 

office was open, and chosen 

“because of its central location 

and as a result of ongoing efforts 

to make the activities more 

efficient”. 

Paul Callow was interviewed 

about his experiences and hopes 

for the future, as was a French 

franchisee; and the franchise 

was named in the top 100 global 

franchises by Franchise Direct 

after appearing in the same list 

two years ago. 

Refresh Cartridges 

launches printer-buying 

tool 

The UK company has produced 

the tool for use on computers, 

tablets and smartphones, stating 

that it has had “regular, daily 

requests from customers, 

requesting advice from our staff 

regarding purchasing the right 

printer for their needs”. The 

tool includes links to purchase 

the printers from Amazon 

after discovering which would 

be best. 

CET establishes Russian 

branch 

The supplier has set up a 

“wholly-owned” subsidiary in 

Moscow to provide Eastern 

Europe customers with better 

services and “professional 

solutions”, with the new branch 

staffed by a professional team 

with 20 years’ experience, who 

will be responsible for CET’s 

business in Russia, Eastern 

Europe and Central Asia. 

Global printer shipments 

grow 

Global shipments increased 

0.6 percent year-over-year last 

quarter, with both inkjets and 

lasers seeing increases, while the 

MENA (Middle East and North 

Africa) market is set to expand, 

and the CEE (Central and 

Eastern European) market 

finally saw growth, as did the 

global MFP market. 

Getting social on a €100 

budget 

David Connett, Creative Partner 

at Connett & Unland, discusses 

how businesses in the industry 

can get social on social media on 

a €100 budget, with references 

to managing profiles, pictures 

and graphics, advertising or 

boosting your reach, sign-ups 

and sharing, analytics and 

content generation. 

The Inside Track – Tara 

doing business in Iran 

The Recycler spoke to Deputy 

Managing Director Fariborz 

Laghaie of Tara LaserJet Print 

Cartridge, a Tehran-based 

cartridge remanufacturer and 

industry company, about the 

company, the challenges of 

operating in Iran, and the effects 

the lifting of sanctions might 

have. 

Pelikan opens new 

German office 

The company’s Pelikan Hardcopy 

business has relocated to 

Moers, near Dusseldorf, with the 

move part of its reorganisation 

Australian cartridge scam 

revealed 

A farming couple were “bullied” 

into buying “enough printer ink 

to last 1,700 years”, with a 

tribunal case at the Victorian 

Civil and Administrative Tribunal 

(VCAT) finding that coldcallers 

from Melbourne-based 

Corporate Office Supplies had 

sold Rod and Charmaine Sharp 

over 2,000 inkjet cartridges from 

mid-2015 onwards. 

Epson files lawsuits in the 

USA 

The OEM has filed three new 

lawsuits against internet resellers 

on Amazon Marketplace, with 

Epson stating that the actions 

continue its “efforts to promote 

fair competition among internet 

marketplace merchants”, and 

that the three cases relate to 

“patent-infringing marketplace 

merchants” – this follows a 

similar case filed in December. 

Latest developments from 

Cartridge World 

The franchise launched the B2B 

Growth Platform in the US 

market; UK and Ireland CEO 

RIS signs deal with 

German retailer 

The inkjet cartridge refill 

company has signed a deal with 

Saturn, an electronics retail 

chain in Germany, with the 

expansion coming after “strong 

sales growth from last year’s 

initial offering at the Saturn 

location in Wuppertal” and 

seeing the agreement expand to 

another German store in Hilden, 

where customers can have their 

cartridges refilled by staff. 

Staples rings the changes 

The company’s UK stores have 

been rebranded as Office Outlet 

by new owners Hilco Capital; 

while the US arm of the business 

saw a 16th consecutive quarter 

of revenue falls, leading it to 

plan to close 70 more stores in 

the USA. The global company 

also announced that it planned 

to leave both the Australian and 

New Zealand markets. 

THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 294 • MAY 2017 

3

WORLD FOCUS Find out more about The Recycler Live conference on pages 32 and 33 

EUROPE The Recycler, Events 

HP Inc finalising 

Samsung 

merger 

The OEM’s CEO Dion Weisler 

visited South Korea to 

“finalise talks” on the deal. 

The Investor reported that 

Weisler visited Seoul recently to 

“finalise talks” on the planned 

deal, which would see HP Inc 

acquire Samsung’s printer 

business. Weisler was said to 

have met Kim Ki-ho, CEO of S- 

Printing Solution, which was the 

“spun-off entity set up” last year 

after the deal had been 

announced, and HP Inc “plans to 

acquire the firm’s whole stake 

by July”. 

The site added that the deal 

was “publicised” last year as HP 

Inc “aims to strengthen its 

leadership position in the inkjet 

printer market”, while Samsung 

will secure “cash by selling off a 

less profitable business amid its 

ongoing business restructuring 

before the pending leadership 

transfer to a new generation”. 

At this point, S-Printing 

Solution “owns a research base” 

in Suwon in Gyeonggi province 

as well as a production plant in 

China “and some 50 sales 

operations”, while it employs 

“some 6,000 people” globally 

with an annual revenue of W2 

trillion ($1.75 billion/€1.65 

billion). The Investor noted HP 

Inc’s previous comment that “all 

the Korean operations and 

employees will be retained even 

after the acquisition” and that it 

“plans to sell its inkjet printer 

products under the Samsung 

brand name in Korea”. 

EUROPE EU Ecolabel, Remanufacturing, Europe 

EU Ecolabel revision 

could include cartridges? 

The criteria for imaging equipment is being revised, with companies 

and representatives able to respond, and with cartridges forming part 

of the consultation questionnaire. 

The EU sent out an invitation to 

“take part in the green public 

procurement/EU Ecolabel revision 

process for imaging equipment”, 

including a questionnaire, starting 

by stating that “as you might be 

aware, the EU Ecolabel promotes 

the production and consumption 

of products with a reduced 

environmental impact along the 

life cycle and is awarded only 

to the best (environmentally) 

performing products in the 

market”. 

The “initial questionnaire” 

meanwhile was “aimed at gathering 

the preliminary input about 

the current criteria”, with 

participation “greatly appreciated 

and valued”, and was available to 

fill in online, with a closing date of 

Monday 27 March. One of the 

questions in turn appeared to 

EUROPE The Recycler, Events 

The conference is to be held in 

the beautiful city of Warsaw, the 

capital of Poland, and looks to be 

another remarkable event for the 

industry which is known for its 

innovation, creativity, energy and 

the ability to meet the needs of 

consumers. 

The conference will meet the 

needs of the industry’s audience, 

the remanufacturers, vendors, 

channel partners, sales professionals, 

marketers, analysts and 

business owners, with knowledgeable 

speakers and a relaxed 

atmosphere to network in. 

On the afternoon of 29 June, 

ETIRA will hold its AGM - the times 

are yet to be confirmed, but we are 

sure it will be well-attended. 

The event is sponsored by Static 

Control, Apex, Biuromax, Emstar, 

suggest that the EU is to 

investigate the possibility of 

adding the ecolabel to cartridges, 

stating ‘Do you consider that the 

scope should be modified to 

include ink and toner cartridges or 

other consumables?’ 

It adds that “similarly, green 

public procurement provides 

criteria for the use by the public 

authorities seeking to procure 

environmentally friendly goods 

and services”. Those “identified as 

a potential interested stakeholder” 

in the “forthcoming revision 

process” for both the green public 

procurement and Ecolabel were 

contacted to take part, with the 

revision process documents 

available to view online as well. 

The study will “inform the 

revision process” and will be 

“carried out” by the Joint Research 

wta, and Speed Infotech Limited 

Company, which speaks volumes 

for the confidence in the audience 

expected and the quality of the 

content. 

Stefanie Unland, Editor of The 

Recycler, said: “We are privileged 

to be holding our event in 

Warsaw this year and we look 

forward to seeing old friends and 

making new ones. 

Centre’s Directorate B – Growth 

and Innovation”, on behalf of 

the EC’s Directorate General for 

the Environment, while both 

criteria will be based on previous 

legislation. They will also be 

“defined on the basis of the 

environmental information 

derived from life cycle assessment 

and product-oriented environmental 

performance assessment 

studies”. 

The EU believes that during the 

“wide consultation”, discussions 

with “experts and stakeholders 

of manufacturers, supply chain 

industry, consumer organisations 

and NGOs [are] foreseen”, and it is 

“looking to encourage active 

participation”, with those interested 

asked to register by filling in a form 

and sending it to JRC-B5-IMAGING- 

EQUIPMENT@ec.europa.eu. 

The Recycler Live conference 

The Recycler, in partnership with ETIRA, is pleased to announce that the 2017 The Recycler Live 

conference will take place on 29 and 30 June at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Conference 

Centre Warsaw, in Poland. 

“Our pride in the industry 

knows no bounds and we 

continue to share best practice 

and promote education and work 

ethics with energy and optimism. 

We look forward to seeing you at 

the event.” 

Information including ticket 

registration, sponsors and more 

can be found at our event website 

at www.therecycler.com/live. 

4 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 294 • MAY 2017

IN THIS ISSUE 

In this Issue 

Focus on the 

Middle East 

and Africa 

In a series of features, we spoke 

to or visited companies in the 

Middle East - as well as 

Paperworld Middle East 2017 - to 

get a better understanding of that 

market, as well as the African 

region, and what they can offer 

for the remanufacturing industry. 

Starts page 34 

Getting social on a 

€100 budget 

Connett & Unland’s David 

Connett discusses getting 

involved on social networks with 

only a €100 budget. 

Page 17 

World Focus 

4: HP Inc finalising Samsung merger; The 

Recycler Live conference; EU Ecolabel 

revision could include cartridges? 

8: CIG rebrands and launches in EMEA 

9: Supreme Court case begins; CET 

establishes Russian branch 

10: Early registration open for Paperworld 

2018; Epson files IP lawsuits in USA 

12: Ninestar looks back on 2016; Latest 

seizure news from USITC 

13: Pelikan opens new German office; Stolen 

printer cartridges sold on Amazon 

14: Global printer shipments grow 

17: Social Media: Getting social on a €100 

budget 

City News 

18: Staples rings the changes 

19: Restore sees revenue and profit increase; 

Pantum first in South African printer sales 

20: Lexmark wins UK MPS procurement place; 

Xerox could follow HP Inc’s “lead” 

Around the Industry 

22: RIS signs deal with German retailer; US 

remanufacturer visited by politician 

23: UK recommended to ‘lose’ circular 

economy; Lexmark wins anticounterfeiting 

patent 

24: ICCE discusses activity in 2016; Green 

Project receives gear patent; Jet Tec to 

exhibit at London Stationery Show 

25: Armor launches owa MPS video; ComboInk 

relaunches website 

26: Hubei Dinglong receives Nordic Swan 

certification; Australian cartridge scam 

revealed 

27: Refresh Cartridges launches printerbuying 

tool 

28: Katun celebrates more employee 

milestones; UK consumer watchdog 

reveals HP Inc “waste”; Dutch cartridge 

store relocates 

29: GIT launches new corporate video 

30: Latest developments from Cartridge World 

31: Laser Lab offers free assessment 

34: Feature: Inside Remanexpo Middle East 

2017 - products, the region and the future 

40: Feature: EGreen - remanufacturing in the 

Middle East 

42: The Inside Track: Tara - doing business in 

Iran 

46: Wide-format column: Inks dictate 

alternatives in wide-format small-biz 

market 

48: Retail column: Who’s to blame when 

employees disengage? 

Products & Technology 

50: Ninestar launches replacement HP Inc 

cartridges; Mito launches remanufacturing 

kit; Uninet launches new products 

51: New chips from Apex; Indian Toners 

launches new toners 

52: Another remanufacturing guide available; 

Cipher launches Sindoh chips; CIG 

launches remanufactured Samsung 

cartridges 

53: KMP launches new inkjet; Company 

recycles ink for artists 

54: More remanufactured cartridges from wta; 

Pelikan launches range of new toner 

cartridges 

56: Aster Europe launches new packaging 

service; Guide to finding printer webpages 

57: Katun launches Canon toner; Internet 

Explorer printer add-on launched 

58: Printer Aide launches second-generation 

‘toner catcher’; Polaroid and EBP launch 

3D pen in Europe 

59: Printers’ security threats examined; 

TNCore advises on chip changes 


WORLD FOCUS Read more from CIG on page 52 

GLOBAL CIG, Remanufacturing, EMEA 

CIG rebrands and launches in EMEA 

Clover Imaging Group (CIG) has been expanded to the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) market, with the changes set to “unify all 

of the brands and divisions” in the region. 

In a press release and email sent 

out to customers, CIG stated that 

“we are excited to launch” in the 

EMEA, “representing an important 

milestone in our history”, and 

meaning CIG in the region “is your 

one-stop-shop for everything from 

remanufactured toner, ink, and 

franking machine cartridges, to 

dynamic marketing, support and 

environmental programmes to 

help you reach your customers”. 

CIG noted that “now more than 

just a marketing umbrella, CIG 

joins Clover Wireless and Clover 

Telecom as a brand division within 

the Clover family”, as the CIG 

launched in 2015 “was more 

conceptual in nature”, serving as a 

“marketing umbrella to unite the 

brands and services” in the 

imaging supplies division. The 

rebranded CIG will create “one 

singular entity which creates an 

industry category of one”. 

CIG added that the new EMEA 

CIG “will truly unify all of the 

brands and divisions of the group 

under one sales and marketing 

umbrella where you can order 

anything from the MSE, 

Dataproducts, freecolor and Re- 

Post branded ranges, all from one 

single source”, while its “private 

label customers will have 

complete access to customised 

product ranges also via our award 

winning e-commerce platform”. 

In turn, CIG in the EMEA will 

enable the company to “provide 

you with the most compelling and 

powerful value proposition across 

the industry”, with a new website 

launch an “integral component” 

featuring “full shopping basket 

functionality for quick and easy 

ordering”; “responsive design for 

the best user experience on any 

device”; “robust and intelligent 

search functionality”; and “full 

product comparison”. 

CIG also stated that it was “very 

pleased” to announce a move to a 

“new state-of-the-art distribution 

facility” in Wijchen in the 

Netherlands. The transition to 

the “new 9,500m 2 distribution 

warehouse” means that the 

company will use the “modern, 

state-of-the-art warehouse” with a 

“14,000 pallet racking capacity as 

well as a 3,000m 2 cross dock 

facility housing 22 loading docks”. 

The site replaces its current 

distribution point in Hamburg 

“and is strategically located to 

provide an effective and efficient 

delivery service to the most 

densely populated areas of the 

EMEA market”. A full transition to 

the new site “will be completed 

during March 2017”, while other 

distribution centres “located in 

Portugal, Serbia, Switzerland and 

[the] United Arab Emirates (UAE)” 

are all set to “remain as key 

distribution points to ensure a 

timely delivery service to all of our 

customers, regardless of location”. 

Eric Martin, President of CIG, 

commented: “For over 15 years, 

we have been putting together a 

group of companies in the 

imaging space that were leaders 

and drivers of innovation on their 

own, but taken collectively the 

new CIG is able to offer a portfolio 

of products, services and solutions 

that will not only set a new 

standard for today but will also 

serve as a global platform to drive 

the industry forward. 

“The newly created CIG will 

continue to evolve as market 

changes necessitate additional 

products and services which 

means you should expect to see 

this group continue to diversify 

and invest in our collective 

futures.” 

Robin Edwardes, Commercial 

Director EMEA for CIG, 

commented: “In EMEA the new 

Clover Imaging Group represents 

the widest range of toner 

products, business and franking 

inks and industry-leading MPS 

capabilities. The company will 

offer the best stock availability, 

supported brands, and IP safe reassurance 

to the office supplies 

industry as well as our newly 

geographic focused sales, 

technical and customer care 

teams. 

“We continue to work on 

supply-chain innovations to 

improve the service levels to all 

our customers, large and small, 

and the new CIG website will 

encapsulate this highly customercentric 

approach.” 

The remanufacturer created 

CIG initially in 2015 as a marketing 

group as part of a rebrand of MSE, 

West Point Products, OPRA and 

other brands. 

Clover Imaging Group, the 

company stated at the time, 

is “one portfolio for all [its] 

imaging solutions”, with the “most 

powerful brands in the industry 

now under one marketing 

umbrella”. The “singular marketing 

group […] encompasses the most 

comprehensive suite of products, 

services and solutions in the 

marketplace today”, and includes 

a wide range of “the most 

respected and well-known 

brands”. 

These included MSE; West Point 

Products; Dataproducts; Clover 

Environmental Solutions; OPRA; 

Axess Managed Print Services; MPS 

Engineered Solutions; Depot 

International and Latin Parts. 

Clover added that “over the last 10 

years, via acquisition and organic 

growth”, it has “amassed the 

most formidable group of 

member companies representing 

all facets of the imaging industry”, 

including manufacturing, 

collection, solutions and parts. 

Warsaw 

29-30 June 2017 - DoubleTree Hotel & Conference Centre 

Join us there 

Platinum Sponsor 


Visit www.therecycler.com for all the breaking news 

NORTH AMERICA Remanufacturing, IP, USA 

Supreme Court case begins 

The case between Lexmark and Impression Products has seen the court initially favour the 

remanufacturer’s argument for patent exhaustion. 

The original case was decided in 

Lexmark’s favour last year, with 

the US Court of Appeals ruling 

that the US remanufacturer had 

“infringed Lexmark’s patents by 

marketing refurbished Lexmark 

cartridges that originally were 

sold with ‘single use’ or ‘no 

resale’ restriction in the US and 

abroad”. The case began when 

Impression was named in an IP 

infringement case in October 

2013 referring to the “unlawful 

importation […] the sale for 

importation and/or the sale 

within the United States after 

importation” of a number of 

infringing remanufactured and 

cloned aftermarket cartridges. 

Impression moved to dismiss 

and overturn Jazz Photo, which 

impacts on patent exhaustion, 

or the “first-sale doctrine”, 

influenced by the Supreme 

Court’s ruling in the Kirtsaeng 

case, which prevented copyright 

owners from stopping imports 

and reselling content sold 

abroad. The February 2016 

ruling decided Impression 

“infringed the patent rights of 

Lexmark […] when it imported 

Lexmark’s toner products back 

into the United States after they 

were first sold abroad”, and was 

“liable for selling refurbished 

Lexmark cartridges that were 

originally marketed for a single 

use under its return and recycle 

programme”. 

Recently however, the US 

government backed an 

“overturn” of the decision, and 

“urged” the Supreme Court to 

review it, with the court’s 

confirmation soon after. Now, 

starting on Tuesday 21 March, 

the Supreme Court has been 

hearing “oral arguments”, and 

will decide “whether the patent 

exhaustion doctrine applies in 

instances where a patented 

article is sold by the patent 

holder subject to a lawful and 

clearly communicated post-sale 

restriction”, according to IP 

Watchdog. 

Tricia Judge, Executive 

Director of the US remanufacturing 

association I-ITC 

(International Imaging Technology 

Council), commented in 

an email newsletter that the first 

days had seen the court lean 

“towards [the] aftermarket”, 

even “after a chilly, even hostile 

reception at the appellate level”. 

The court “appears warmly open 

to domestic patent exhaustion”, 

and “as for international patent 

exhaustion after the first sale of a 

cartridge, they appear ready to 

overturn the lower court on that 

issue as well”. 

Justice Alito wondered “why 

isn’t this codified?” in relation to 

patent exhaustion, Judge noting 

that “that is a better question for 

Congress than aftermarket 

attorneys”, and she also pointed 

out that the court “seemed to 

be most vexed by the US 

government’s answer to the 

question of whether to exhaust 

patents that were first sold 

outside the US”, as “the Solicitor 

General suggested that a foreign 

first sale presumptively exhausts 

US patent rights, unless the US 

patent owner expressly reserves 

those rights in the terms of the 

foreign sale”. 

Justices Breyer and Kennedy 

“wondered how that could be 

done”, Kennedy stating “do we 

put a sticker” on the product, 

and joking that if so, that 

would be “a boon for sticker 

companies”. Aftermarket lawyers 

“left the court stating that the 

first issue would most likely be 

‘a slam dunk’ win for the 

aftermarket”, but “the question 

of international exhaustion of 

patent rights will be harder to 

prevail upon”. 

However, Justice Sotomayor – 

according to Judge “stated that 

she saw no reason to treat 

patent rights differently than 

copyrights, which were recently 

deemed exhausted in another 

Supreme Court case. With most 

of the remaining justices 

indicating they favour the clearcut 

case for exhaustion as well, 

the aftermarket may soon have 

these impediments to domestic 

and international commerce 

removed”, Judge joking that “the 

sticker market will probably have 

to look elsewhere for its boost”. 

WORLD FOCUS 

EUROPE CET, Russia, Business 

CET establishes 

Russian branch 

The supplier has set up a 

“wholly-owned” subsidiary in 

Moscow to provide Eastern 

Europe customers with better 

services and “professional 

solutions”. 

The subsidiary in Moscow was 

officially launched in March, and is 

staffed by a professional team who 

have 20 years experience, who will 

be responsible for CET’s business 

in Russia, Eastern Europe and 

Central Asia providing “full-scaled” 

professional services to “all types of 

photocopying industry customers”. 

The company added that it has 

“long been focused on developing 

and producing compatible spare 

parts and supplies for its proprietary 

brand”. 

In turn, it has also been 

“committed to providing professional 

solutions to global customers in the 

OA market”, and Steven Ma, 

President of CET, Demi Dai, General 

Manager, and Ivy Yu, Associate 

General Manager, visited the new 

branch in Russia on 17 March to 

help the team celebrate, and joined 

in with “team-building activities”. 

CET said that the Russian team 

will be “adhering to the CET 

group’s continuous improvement, 

continuous innovation” strategy 

building confidence and “creat[ing] 

value” for the local market and 

customers. 

• Attend our presentations and engage with 

industry leaders 

• Join our workshops and brainstorm future 

solutions 

• Learn more about the challenges and 

opportunities for the market 

In partnership with 

ETIRA 

Sponsors 

For more information see page 32-33 or visit: 

www.therecycler.com/live/warsaw 


9

WORLD FOCUS 

Find out all the latest event news at www.therecycler.com/live 

EUROPE Paperworld, Remanexpo, Events 

Early registration open for Paperworld 2018 

The event, taking place from 27 to 30 January next year, will include the Remanexpo product group. 

Exhibitors at this year’s show have 

been contacted about the event 

in 2018 by organisers Messe 

Frankfurt, who stated that “we are 

delighted that you were an 

exhibitor at Paperworld 2017 and 

used the services of our leading 

trade fair for your product 

presentations and customer 

discussions. We hope that you 

benefited greatly from the high 

quality of visitors and level of 

orders placed”. 

90 percent of exhibitors “have 

already decided to come again”, 

the company notes, and those 

who exhibited this year can 

“benefit from the early-bird 

discount and favourable conditions” 

if they book by 13 April. To 

do this, exhibitors needs to 

“simply log into the Easyorder 

System with your Messe Login and 

register without obligation for 

Paperworld 2018”, while others 

interested can register online. 

It adds that “according to our 

survey, more than 90 percent of 

the more than 33,500 trade visitors 

from 143 countries were very 

satisfied with the offer at 

Paperworld. Your trade fair 

presence certainly contributed to 

this success. At Paperworld 2018 

we aim to focus more strongly 

on the major product areas of 

the ‘Visionary Office’ and 

‘Stationery Trends’. 

“This of course includes 

dialogue with existing and new 

target groups from the retail and 

specialised wholesale trade as well 

as architects and facility managers 

– interesting new contacts for your 

company!” On why companies 

should exhibit again in 2018, the 

organisers state that the event 

features “all top purchasing 

decision makers from the retail 

and service sectors at a single 

location”, as well as a “globally 

unique number and quality of 

visitors”. 

In turn, it offers a “high target 

group relevance thanks to focus 

on important future themes”, and 

is the “clear number one industry 

meeting place and order platform 

for German and international 

trade visitors”. 

The Recycler recently reported 

that this year’s show provided a 

“high degree of satisfaction” to 

both exhibitors and visitors, 

while trends included high 

quality, a “greater sense of wellbeing” 

and sustainability. 

NORTH AMERICA Epson, IP, USA 

Epson files IP lawsuits in USA 

The OEM has filed three new lawsuits against internet resellers on Amazon Marketplace. 

In a press release, the OEM 

stated that the actions continue 

its “efforts to promote fair 

competition among internet 

marketplace merchants”, and 

that the three cases relate to 

“patent-infringing marketplace 

merchants”. The suits were filed 

by Epson America, Epson 

Portland and Seiko Epson on 3 

March in the US District Court in 

Portland, Oregon, and were filed 

against Gaea Supplies Corp, OW 

Supplies Corp and Smart and 

Eazy Corp, and Ta Trix USA Inc. 

All three complaints “allege 

infringement of claims” from US 

patents 6,502,917 and 8,794,479, 

with these “specific patent 

claims” said to have been 

“already adjudicated as valid 

and enforceable in two wellpublicised 

actions” at the United 

States International Trade 

Commission (USITC), resulting 

in two General Exclusion Orders 

(GEOs) that “bar importation of 

all newly-built and remanufactured 

cartridges that infringe 

the claims”. 

The OEM added that the 

merchants named are “selling on 

the Amazon Marketplace”, and 

that the suits “supplement” four 

others filed late last year that 

“similarly allege extensive sales of 

patent-infringing cartridges and 

seek permanent injunctions 

against further infringements and 

monetary damages”. 

Epson also pointed out that 

it maintains a website at 

itc.epson.com to “provide US 

importers and distributors with 

updated information” about both 

the USITC action and “related 

US District Court lawsuits”, 

alongside a list of USITC seizureand-forfeiture 

orders and 

“helpful information about the 

legal requirements for refilled or 

remanufactured cartridges”. 

Jilana Miller, Associate General 

Counsel for Epson, commented: 

“As part of a comprehensive 

enforcement programme, Epson 

continues to file lawsuits 

against internet resellers who 

persist in selling infringing 

cartridges despite widespread 

publicity of the General 

Exclusion Orders and Epson’s 

enforcement activities. 

“We are seeing considerable 

voluntary compliance and 

strongly suggest that resellers 

who continue to sell compatible 

and remanufactured cartridges 

on internet marketplaces seek 

patent counsel to ensure they are 

not infringing Epson’s patents 

and violating the General 

Exclusion Orders.” 

The case follows another filed 

on 14 December also at the US 

District Court in Portland, 

Oregon, and against the 

following online sellers: HT Tech, 

Inc. and HT Imaging Inc.; 

InkJet2U LLC and Worf 

Corporation; and Shoppers 

Smart LLC, Houses Investing 

LLLP and Houses Investing of 

Florida, Corp. All the complaints 

referred to infringement of two 

US patents, namely 6,502,917 and 

8,794,749. 


WORLD FOCUS 

Read the latest from the US Supreme Court case on page nine 

ASIA Ninestar, Business, Events 

Ninestar looks 

back on 2016 

The company summarised its year 

at a conference, where it also 

awarded outstanding staff. 

The conference was held on 23 

February, and Yan Wei, CEO of Apex 

Technology, summarised the year’s 

achievements from the whole group, 

Ninestar stating that it had been “a 

rewarding year”, and that after the 

“successful merger” with Static 

Control in 2015, Ninestar’s “parent 

company Apex Technology” had 

completed its “acquisition of OEM 

giant Lexmark” smoothly. 

He also said that there was an 

increased “investment” in research 

and development, which enhanced 

“quality control during [the] 

production process”, and that 

customers recognised that product 

quality had been improved, while 

Ninestar had “optimised the product 

packages”, saving costs and increasing 

the efficiency of transportation for 

customers. 

Awards went to Linda Fan, 

European Sales Director of Ninestar, 

who was awarded the ‘Advanced 

Staff ’ award for her “large 

contribution to [the]company” after 

she and her team showed “sincerity 

and patience” in customer service, 

which brought more business to 

Ninestar. The awards for 

‘Outstanding Staff ’ meanwhile went 

to Alan Hu and Louis Yang for their 

“excellent performance in sales”. 

NORTH AMERICA USITC, Legal, Cartridges 

Latest seizure news from USITC 

After a Clover order was rescinded recently, a Green Project one has now been removed; while 

Amazon was issued another order, as was Polaris E-Commerce Inc. 

The seizure-and-forfeiture order 

from US Customs and Border 

Protection (CBP) was handed out 

on behalf of the United States 

International Trade Commission 

(USITC) last December, with 

Green Project handed three. The 

order rescinded referred to the 

‘723 HP Inc inkjet GEO (General 

Exclusion Order) from 2011, 

which was the case referred to in 

the other order rescinded in 

2017. 

Clover Technologies/ Cartridges 

Are US had been handed an 

order for infringing the ‘723 GEO 

at the start of the year, but this 

was later rescinded, with Matt 

Gavronski, Clover Technologies 

Group’s Associate General 

Counsel, telling The Recycler that 

“while the cartridge components 

in question were initially denied 

entry by Customs, the components 

were found not to violate 

the GEO and have been released 

to Clover”. 

This means that now 71 orders 

were issued last year, with the two 

final orders to June Shen and 

Green Project. This year 

meanwhile, Amazon was issued 

an order relating to Epson’s 2016 

IP case in the USA. The order was 

issued by CBP in relation to a 

GEO handed down by the USITC, 

and was handed to Amazon in 

relation to the inkjet GEO 

awarded to Epson last year in the 

337-TA-946 case. 

Finally, the most recent order 

was handed to Polaris 

E-Commerce Inc relating to the 

337-TA-691 GEO granted to HP 

Inc in January 2011, relating to 

inkjet cartridges. In early 2016, 11 

were issued in January to: Smart 

and Easy Corp.; Appearances 

International; BCMY Corp.; 

Electric Zone Inc.; Ninestar; 

Prime Depot; Smart A Inc.; and 

then seven in February to 

Appearances International, Blue 

Planet Trading, Elmart Inc., MC 

Max, LLC, OW Supplies Corp., 

Topmay Inc and US Inker 

Technology. 

Four were issued in early 

March to Amazon, JD Johnson, 

Ovacor Inc and Universal Ribbon 

Corporation, before seven more 

were handed out to five different 

companies later that month, 

including: two each to David & 

Yonathan Trade and United Toner 

LLC; and one each to Graphic 

Toners Inc; Katech Imaging; and 

Revol Trading. Another two 

reported in April included one for 

HT Tech Inc. and for Wando LLC. 

In May, eight more were 

handed down to the following: 

three to Compandsave.com Inc; 

and one each to Compu-Imaging 

Inc; GMC Online Trading LLC; 

Quantum Tech International Inc; 

Spectrum Imaging LLC; and Xcess 

Technology Inc. In June, 11 more 

were issued, with six issued to LTS 

Consumables, Inc., Prinko Image 

Co. (USA) Inc., Carla Seminario, 

Smart and Easy Corp and Emerald 

Recycling LLC. 

The Recycler also reported in 

June on five orders for EC 

Enterprise Inc., Laser Pros 

International, SID Trading Inc., 

Tech-Optics, Inc., and Widenrich 

Imaging Technologies LLC, 

Elmart Inc., PTS Portland Trade 

Services Inc., and Quantum Tech 

International Inc. Four more were 

handed out in July, to Inscribe 

Inc; Parcel Pack Express; Emerald 

Recycling LLC; and YMCK 

Systems Inc. 

In September two orders made 

sure that 2016’s orders passed 

2015’s total, with three handed to 

Audioland Electronic Corporation, 

before two further orders 

were handed out in October to 

99 Ink Inc., and another in 

November to Straightoutaink. In 

addition to the three for Green 

Project in December 2016, two 

were handed respectively to 

Discount Ink Inc. and Golden 

State FC LLC. 

In 2017, two more were 

handed out to A Smart Choice 

3G and Manoj Diora, after the first 

of the year was handed out to 

CBD Group. 

Warsaw 


See the latest trends 



Contact the news team at news@therecycler.com 

WORLD FOCUS 

EUROPE Pelikan, Business, Germany 

Pelikan opens new German office 

The company’s Pelikan Hardcopy business has relocated to Moers, near Düsseldorf, with the move part of its reorganisation and 

bringing together of its sales and marketing companies. 

The company reported that it 

was “pleased to announce the 

opening” of the new office in 

Moers, adding that the new site 

was “chosen because of its central 

location and a result of ongoing 

efforts to make the activities more 

efficient”. This builds on the news 

in February that it had reorganised 

its sales and marketing, which it 

will operate from this new site. 

That earlier announcement saw 

the company report the 

reorganisation will mean the sales 

and marketing will no longer run 

from the DACH region, Benelux 

and Nordic countries, and that it 

has also revived its Geha brand 

after the separation of both the 

PBS and hardcopy business three 

years ago, and it will now be 

marketed through Soft-Carrier and 

Api exclusively with the focus 

being on sales of the IT specialist 

trade and system house channel. 

PC World reported that millions 

of dollars worth of printer 

cartridges which had been stolen 

from retailers were being sold on 

the online sites Amazon and eBay, 

and that this was carried out by a 

crime ring in the US. New York 

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman 

said that a dozen suspects 

had been accused, and that a 64- 

year-old man, Richard Rimbaugh, 

had allegedly been recruiting 

people “to steal the goods” from 

stores throughout 28 states for 

In this latest update, Pelikan 

stated that the companies were 

brought together to “maximise the 

benefits of the multi-brand 

strategy”, as with the “grouping of 

its own sales companies” from 

both Hanover and Nijmegen – 

respectively the brand and second 

brand – into “a new sales 

organisation. The Moers office will 

“lead” in Germany, the Benelux 

and Nordic countries, and the 

strategy “follows and strengthens 

the position as a partner for the 

customers in all different business 

segments and channels”. 

Additionally, the French sales 

organisation, which “has already 

successfully implemented this 

concept”, and “is responsible for 

sales activities in Southern Europe 

and now also for European 

marketing”. Pelikan added that the 

“main reasons for choosing the 

new offices are its central location 

NORTH AMERICA Crime, Cartridges, USA 

Stolen printer cartridges sold on Amazon 

Criminals used Amazon and eBay to sell more than $12 million (€11 million) worth of stolen printer cartridges and electronics. 

more than 20 years, adding that 

his “theft crews” stole the goods 

each week. The crime ring was 

well organised and they were 

given “detailed maps of retail 

stores” like Staples, Office Depot 

and Best Buy, as well as specially 

made “vests” to aid the 

shoplifting, “specialised electronic 

devices” to deactivate alarms at 

exits from the stores, and advised 

to “eavesdrop on security staff”. 

Rimbaugh created a company, 

“American Media Soft” so that he 

in Europe and the easy accessibility 

of nearby motorways and the 

Düsseldorf airport”. 

Wolfgang Stadler, Managing 

Director of Pelikan Hardcopy Sales, 

stated in February: “By bundling 

our sales and marketing activities 

in Moers, we will be able to react 

more flexibly to market 

requirements in the future. The 

hardcopy manufacturer will 

bundle its sales and marketing 

activities for the DACH region as 

well as the Benelux and Nordic 

countries in the future in Moers. 

The site in the Dutch town of 

Nijmegen has been closed. 

could catalogue and “ship the 

stolen merchandise”, which he 

ran from his New York flat, alleged 

Schneiderman. Thousands of 

users gave the company good 

reviews on Amazon and eBay. The 

members of the crime ring were 

paid 30 to 50 percent of each 

stolen item’s worth, and were also 

issued credit cards to cover 

expenses for travel and hotels. 

The US police have searched 

and confiscated goods worth 

more than $7.7 million (€7 

“At the same time, the French 

regional company takes over 

the management of sales activities 

for Southern Europe and is 

also responsible for European 

marketing. The customer service 

centre will continue to be located 

in Hanover. The aim of the 

measure is that all activities for the 

three Pelikan, Geha and Prime 

Printing brands as well as the 

private label business will be better 

coordinated in the future. This 

will allow us to react more flexibly 

to market requirements in 

the future.” 

He added in this new update: 

“This office will be the basis for our 

sales and marketing team across 

Europe to work together, discuss 

ideas and further improve our 

services. In this way, we hope to 

meet the growing expectations of 

our customers in this constantly 

changing market.” 

million) from suspects’ homes, as 

well as 5,300 electronic devices, 

printer cartridges and financial 

accounts, and Schneiderman is 

calling the indictments “one of 

the biggest busts of a retail theft 

ring”. All suspects have been 

charged with “enterprise 

corruption, money laundering 

and criminal possession of stolen 

goods”, and can expect to be 

sentenced to eight to 25 years in 

jail if found guilty. 




solutions 




ETIRA 

Sponsors 




13

WORLD FOCUS 


GLOBAL Printing, Market Data, Printers 

Global printer shipments grow 

Global shipments increased 0.6 percent year-over-year last quarter, both inkjets and lasers seeing increases, while the MENA market is 

set to expand and the CEE market finally saw growth, as did the global MFP market. 

The latest research from market 

analyst IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly 

Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker 

found that the global market for 

printers increased 0.6 percent yearover-year 

to 26.6 million units in the 

fourth quarter of 2016, with this 

growth “driven by a solid 

performance in the inkjet and laser 

markets”, which respectively grew 

0.6 percent and 1.6 percent yearover-year. 

In turn, shipment value 

increased to over $14 billion (€13.2 

billion), while the top three OEMs 

saw “year-over-year shipment 

growth” as well. HP Inc saw 4.3 

percent growth and 10 million units 

shipped, alongside “year-over-year 

expansion” in inkjet and laser 

“driven by channel expansion and 

continued demand” for its “top 

selling inkjet and laser models”. 

In second and third were Canon 

with 1.4 percent and Epson with 

1.1 percent, while Brother and 

Samsung (in fourth and fifth) saw 

declines in the quarter of 

4.9 percent and 25.2 percent 

respectively. Epson’s growth was 

said to have “continued to ride on 

the popularity” of the L series ink 

tanks in the Asia Pacific excluding 

Japan (APeJ), with four new models 

launched to “help with its 

dominance” in that segment and 

accounting for over 80 percent of its 

total inkjet shipments. 

Other “notable highlights” 

included that six regional markets 

saw “year-over-year increases in unit 

shipments”, with APeJ seeing “the 

best year-over-year performance” 

with 4.2 percent growth, and China 

was said to be “continuing to be the 

key growth propeller”. Inkjet 

growth there was “fuelled by 

continuous upsurge” in demand for 

ink tanks in the SMB segment, 

while laser growth “was powered by 

channel expansion” by OEMs. 

The market in the Middle East 

and North Africa (MENA) 

meanwhile is expected to be worth 

$40 billion (€37 billion) by 2022, 

with a compound annual growth 

rate (CAGR) of 8.7 percent. Labels 

and Labelling reported on research 

from Smithers Pira, which found 

the market “offers dynamic and 

exciting opportunities”. 

The report found that “the 

region as a whole is set to expand” 

from a value of $26.8 billion (€25.3 

billion) in 2017 to $40 billion in 

2022, with a CAGR of 8.7 percent. 

This is an expansion from the 

“mean annual growth” figure of 2.4 

percent registered between 2012 

and 2017. 

The site added that this growth 

reflects “the opening of until now 

underdeveloped countries to the 

full range of modern print products 

and technologies”, and noted in 

turn the expansion is “occurring 

against a more static backdrop for 

the print industry generally”, with 

annual growth globally “pegged at a 

more sober two percent as 

traditional segments decline”. 

The market “offers dynamic and 

exciting opportunities”, and “can be 

seen as an attractive strategic 

growth target for international print 

equipment and consumable 

suppliers”. The region however is 

“not divorced from wider print 

technology trends”, with digital 

output in terms of inkjet and toner 

“set to rise at the fastest rate”, 

overall output rising from 2.61 

trillion A4 sheets in 2017 to 2.76 

trillion in 2022. 

This is a “more modest” 2.8 

percent annual growth but 

“emphasises the value-adding 

potential and higher per unit” price 

that providers “will be able to 

realise”. Next, again according to 

IDC, the CEE market grew 1.9 

percent in unit terms last year, with 

the fourth quarter seeing the 

printer and MFP market in Central 

and Eastern Europe (CEE) grow 1.9 

percent “in unit terms in 2016”, 

which “represents the first positive 

development since 2011, when the 

printing market started to decline”. 

However, “unfortunately, this 

positive development does not 

represent a permanent rebound for 

the regional market or promise a 

long-term growth trend”, IDC 

adding that “in line with global 

trends of digitalisation and the 

related reduced demand for 

printing”, it predicts “a decline of 

the printing market in the more 

developed countries”, including 

Poland and the Czech Republic. 

The markets in Russia and the 

Commonwealth of Independent 

States (CIS) “are expected to 

stabilise and grow only marginally”. 

Around 5.4 million printers and 

MFPs were sold last year for a value 

of $1.4 billion (€1.3 billion), with 

“over 600 printers or MFPs” sold 

“every hour”. 

The analysts surveyed “over 600 

companies”, and “not surprisingly, 

hardware price ranked first”, while 

“duplex printing and scanning 

capability closely followed, 

reflecting changes in the market”. 

In turn, with “digitalisation 

initiatives”, MFPs “are often viewed 

not only as output devices, but also 

as input devices”. 

Focusing on Russia, IDC found 

the market “stabilised in 2016 as 

vendors, channels, businesses, and 

consumers adapted to new 

economic conditions”, and it 

forecast “single-digit growth in the 

short term, backed by the slowlyimproving 

economy and necessary 

replacements of old devices”. 

Additionally, this growth “will also 

be supported by import substitution, 

ruble stabilisation, and 

expanding business contacts with 

partners in Asia and Latin America”. 

Finally, Technavio forecast a 

CAGR of three percent a year until 

2021 for the global MFP market. It 

reported the growth was predicted 

after a study covered “growth 

prospects”, including individual 

consumer use of MFPs as well as 

commercial and business sectors. 

The largest shares are held by 

“APAC followed by EMEA and the 

Americas” and “the penetration of 

MFPs in EMEA and the Americas is 

high, and the market will reach 

maturity”. 

Growth is mainly from 

“emerging economies”, and in 

regions like EMEA and the Americas 

vendors are working “toward 

paperless document solutions”. 

Technavio highlighted three factors 

that contribute to the growth: the 

evolving business environment, the 

decreasing cost of MFPs and the 

increasing efficiency of MFPs. 

The first is the result of the 

preference for a multi-purpose 

device as opposed to singlefunction 

devices, and the report 

said that this is regardless of 

whether the model is mono, colour, 

inkjet or laser, noting that MFPs 

have evolved into smart MFPs. The 

second is due to sales strategies that 

have reduced the initial costs of 

buying MFPs, making them 

affordable for “home and small 

office[s]”, which has resulted in 

“the consumer segment accounting 

for a 72 percent market share for 

unit shipment in the global MFPs 

market in 2016”. 

The top OEMs meanwhile were 

named as Canon, HP Inc, Konica 

Minolta, Kyocera, Ricoh and Xerox. 


SOCIAL MEDIA 

Getting social on 

a €100 budget 

David Connett, Creative Partner, Connett & Unland 

Coming back from Frankfurt, we had 

several enquiries about social media. 

The questions ranged from ‘how much 

should I spend’ to ‘how to do it’; ‘is it 

worth it’, ‘should I outsource’, etcetera. 

Most of the questions were about how 

much we should spend on social 

media, so hopefully this short article 

will start you on the road to getting 

social. 

How much should I spend on social 

media? A simple question, but not such 

an easy answer, because a lot of 

companies don’t set hard marketing 

budgets. A national company might 

spend between €7,000 and €25,000 

($7,390 and $26,396). A local company 

might spend less, but if you have a 

marketing budget then the formula is 

simple - spend 20 percent of your 

marketing budget on social media and 80 

percent on everything else. 

Of course, that assumes you have a 

marketing team etcetera, but for most 

small businesses, marketing is something 

you know you should do, but you’re 

always too busy to do: or if you do want 

to do something, it is too expensive, as in 

you don’t have the cashflow to cover the 

cost. If you fit this category, then start 

with €100 ($105) a month, but 

remember social media is not something 

you switch on or switch off - it is 

something you do all the time. 

Starting with a budget of €100 per 

month means your social media plan is 

going to be rather unique, but with 

careful planning the content and delivery 

can be effective and maximise your 

spend, and won’t consume too much of 

your time. 

€10 – Manage your profiles 

We use Hootsuite (www.hootsuite.com) 

to manage all of our social media profiles 

and scheduling in one place, but there are 

some free ones you can use. If you have 

more than one profile, then it really is a 

timesaver to have them all managed in 

one place. 

€30 – Pictures and graphics 

A picture is worth a 1,000 words, but only 

if it’s a good picture, and when the 

average view time on social media is 

seconds, a good picture gets the click. Get 

a professionally-shot picture for your 

personal profile, a logo for your business 

or brand page, and lots of stock images 

and icons. 

We use Fotolia (www.fotolia.com) for 

our pictures and images, but you can use 

others out there. Deathtothestockphoto 

(http://deathtothestockphoto.com) does 

a €13 ($13.72) monthly subscription, 

and there are other sites where you can 

get stock images and icons on a budget. 

€40 – Advertising or boosting 

your reach 

It’s no good having a social media profile 

if nobody knows about it, so you need to 

advertise your profile to build your 

David Connett 

audience. Recently we spent €40 

($42.23) to advertise a new client’s 

Facebook page, and took the audience 

from six to just under 2,500 - just €0.016 

($0.017) per follow. Once you have your 

followers, you can use the budget to 

boost your posts. 

€10 – Sign-up and sharing 

You have a cool Facebook page, but what 

happens when they come to your 

website? First of all you need all the 

social media sharing buttons on your 

website, so that your visitors share you 

with their friends - and of course, you 

want the sign-up form that is simple. We 

use a WordPress sharing plug-in on our 

website, but Sumo (sumo.com) is pretty 

good and simple to use. 

€10 – Analytics 

Analytics tell you what’s working and 

what isn’t. Hootsuite has a lot of good 

analytics, but we also use Alexa 

(alexa.com), and that enables us to see 

where our website visitors come from 

(social media, newsletters, search 

engines, apps etcetera), and the type of 

content that they are searching for. 

€0 – Content generation 

Content is the key, and it is about what 

you say and how you say it. You don’t 

need to be a journalist or author, but you 

do need to have a conversation with your 

audience - or you can brief someone to 

do it for you, but you are probably going 

to spend another €100 a month. 

Best advice: don’t copy and paste what 

you wrote for Facebook to LinkedIn or 

vice-versa, and test everything you do. R 

THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 294 • MAY 2017 17

CITY NEWS 

OEM share prices 

April 2017 

Prices correct as of 1st April 2017 

COMPANY MAR APR 

Apex Microelectronics (RMB) ¥ 27.09 27.65 

Brother Industries (Yen) ¥ 2206 2325 

Canon (Yen) ¥ 3322 3471 

HP Inc. (US$) $ 17.36 17.65 

Hubei Dinglong (RMB) ¥ 21.89 20.62 

Jadi (MYR) M 0.06 0.07 

LG Chem (S Korean Won) W 282k 294k 

Mitsubishi Chemicals (Yen) ¥ 872 861 

Oki (Yen) ¥ 1635 1602 

Panasonic (Yen) ¥ 1267 1258 

Parent company Matsushita 

Electric Industrial Co. 

Samsung (S Korean Won) W1981k 2060k 

Seiko Epson (Yen) ¥ 2539 2344 

Sun Chemical (Yen) ¥ 4190 4110 

Parent company Dainippon 

Ink & Chemicals 

Turbon AG (Euro) € 16.23 16.71 

Xerox (US$) $ 7.38 7.38 

UK Waste Prices 

price per tonne 

Aluminium €9.84 10.51 

Plastic €30.05 44.49 

Paper € 1.73 0.99 

Currency 

€/US$ 0.95 0.93 

€/£ 1.15 1.16 

£/US$ 0.81 0.80 

Oil Price 

Crude oil - (US$) 55.47 53.06 

‘Brent Crude futures, 

1-Pos IPE close’ per barrel 

Shipping Prices 

Europe (Hamburg/Antwerp/ 921 815 

Felixstowe/Le Havre) 

Mediterranean (Barcelona/ 882 798 

Valencia/Genoa/Naples 

USWC (Los Angeles/ 1650 1288 

Long Beach/Oakland) 

USEC (New York/Savannah 3055 2625 

Norfolk/Charleston) 

Sources: HMRC, FT.com, krx.co.kr, tse.or.jp, 

Environment Exchange, packagingnews.co.uk 

*Brent Crude price is for April 2017 

Find out more about our Weekly Newsletter at www.therecycler.com/newsletters 

GLOBAL Staples, Retail, Business 

Staples rings the changes 

The company’s UK stores have been rebranded; it saw a 16th consecutive quarter 

of revenue falls and planned to close 70 US stores; and it will leave Australia and 

New Zealand. 

Retail Week reported that the 

106 Staples stores in the UK 

have been renamed Office 

Outlet by the new owner 

Hilco Capital, which bought 

the company last year. In 

November The Recycler 

reported that the UK arm 

had been sold to the 

restructuring company, 

which was planning to close 

the stores, Hilco stating at 

the time that it “was planning 

to phase out Staples-branded 

shops over the coming 

months”, though the fate of 

its online and B2B operations 

were not discussed. 

The Recycler also reported 

that “over 1,000 workers at 

Staples [had been] left 

fearing for their jobs” as a 

result of the takeover, 

though the newspaper added 

that “some stores may 

remain open, however under 

a different name”, with the 

Staples name expected to 

disappear “from the high 

street in the next six 

months”. While “it [was] not 

yet known what [would] 

happen to the 106 stores and 

the 1,100 staff who work at 

them”, Hilco was aiming to 

“spend the coming months 

reviewing” the business. 

The restructuring firm, 

which also owns UK 

entertainment chain HMV, 

said the Staples stores would 

be transformed in “record 

time”, and Retail Week added 

that “the entire rebadging 

process, along with the 

installation of a new EPOS 

system, [was] due to be 

completed by the end of 

[that] week”. The “fresh 

branding” on the stores “is 

in keeping with Staples’ 

traditional red and white 

colour scheme”, Hilco 

added. 

Matt Bone, Hilco Capital’s 

Marketing Director, told 

Retail Week that “the reality 

is we’re kicking everything 

off very quickly and then 

we’ll be refining the 

proposition in the weeks to 

come with an improved 

product mix and much better 

pricing and promotions”. 

The company’s figures for 

the 16th quarter in a row 

showed a drop of three 

percent meanwhile, and the 

retailer is also to close 70 

stores in the US. 

The Financial Times 

reported that the retailer saw 

shares drop by 6.8 percent, 

and has “blamed continued 

weakness in demand for 

home printers and cartridges 

in part for its 16th consecutive 

quarter of sales decline”. 

The three percent drop 

amounts to $4.56 billion 

(€4.29 billion), and net loss 

went up to $952 million 

(€896 million) in the months 

leading up to January 

compared with a “net profit 

of $86 million (€81 million) 

in the prior-year period”. 

The majority of the loss 

came from the sale of Staple’s 

European businesses. The 

company plans to close 

another 70 stores in North 

America in 2017, and said 

that the traditional sales of 

ink, toner and technology 

were the biggest section 

pulling it back, but that its 

“delivery business benefitted 

from growth in sales of 

facilities, breakroom supplies 

and computers”, while “print 

and marketing services” were 

the “brightest spot in its retail 

segment”. 

Staples executives said 

that “getting the right mix for 

the evolving office environment 

will be key to returning 

to profitability in the coming 

year”, and that they “plan to 

do more to enhance their 

delivery business”, and are 

trying out new ways to 

encourage SMBs, which 

includes alcohol and wine 

deliveries. CEO Shira 

Goodman added that “I do 

think for the overall business 

as you start to see the 

movement in mix, you will 

see the sales stabilise”. 

Finally, Market Watch 

reported that Staples is 

planning to sell its business 

in Australia and New Zealand 

to Platinum Equity, though 

the price has not been 

disclosed. Goodman said in a 

statement that “as we 

execute our plan for longterm 

growth we want to 

focus primarily on our 

Staples North American 

business, and this will allow 

us to better [to] do that”. 


You can contact The Recycler via Twitter at @RecyclerMedia 

CITY NEWS 

EUROPE Restore, ITP, Business 

Restore sees revenue and profit increase 

The UK company, which owns cartridge collector ITP, saw its dividend increase by 25 percent in 2016. 

London South East reported on 

Restore’s results, stating that its 

acquisitions in the past helped 

“boost [its] 2016 revenue”, while 

its “pretax profit ticked up” and it 

“hiked its dividend 25 percent”. It 

posted revenue of £129.4 million 

($157.3 million/€148.1 million) 

compared to £91.9 million ($111.7 

million/€105.2 million) last year, 

which drove pre-tax profit up to 

£7.5 million ($9.1 million/€8.5 

million) from £6.1 million ($7.4 

million/€6.9 million). Expanding 

on this, a “large part of the yearon-year 

revenue increase reflected 

acquisitions” it made in 2015 

and 2016. 

The Recycler reported the 

company bought out empties 

collector ITP in July 2015, as well 

as UK document scanning 

business Crimson UK that August, 

document shredder Wincanton 

that November, relocations 

company Diamond Relocations 

that December, and PHS Data 

Solutions in 2016. 

The “largest increase” came 

from its Document Management 

unit, with revenue growing 65 

percent to £90.1 million ($109.5 

million/€103.7 million) from £54.7 

million ($66.5 million/€62.6 

million) “thanks to contributions” 

from the Wincanton and PHS 

acquisitions. The Relocation unit 

saw revenue increase six percent, 

but “the overall good progress of 

the division”, particularly the 

Harrow Green and IT Efficient 

businesses, was “held back by the 

underperformance of toner 

cartridge recycling business” ITP. 

Operating margins “remained 

steady” at 19 percent for 2016, 

though its “exceptional costs” 

increased to £10.3 million ($12.5 

million/€11.7 million) from 

£6.4 million ($7.7 million/€7.3 

million), including £6.2 million 

($7.5 million/€7.1 million) of 

“restructuring and redundancy 

costs”. Earlier this year, it said that 

yearly results were set to be “in 

line with expectations”, while 

its acquisitions helped “push 

Restore higher” in 2016. 

Restore’s document management 

business grew by 73 percent 

in September 2015, while its halfyear 

results were said to be 

“broadly in line” with predictions 

in July that year. Analysts had 

advised buying shares in Restore 

in June 2016, though ITP’s 

Commercial Director Jason Doran 

left by mutual consent in late May 

last year. 

Charles Skinner, CEO of 

Restore, commented: “We see 

scope for continued profitable 

growth in all of our activities. The 

growth prospects in our records 

management business remain 

attractive. We expect to continue 

to gain market share from our 

expanded base in shredding and 

scanning, both organically and 

through acquisition. In Relocation, 

we are focused on delivering 

further growth in revenue and 

operating margins.” 

IMEA Pantum, Market Data, South Africa 

Pantum first in South African printer sales 

The OEM was first in terms of monochrome single-function printer sales volume in the last quarter. 

On LinkedIn, the printer 

manufacturer stated that it was 

found to be first in 4Q2016 in the 

South African printer market’s 

monochrome single-function 

segment in terms of printer 

sales volume. It added that 

this “outstanding performance” 

allowed it to “outpac[e] other 

suppliers”, with market analysts 

IDC’s Hardcopy Peripherals 

Tracker highlighting the 

“remarkable milestone for 

Pantum since it entered the SA 

market in 2013”. 

The company added that this 

“exciting news followed closely 

after another important chapter 

for Pantum”, which was “the 

acquisition of Lexmark by the 

consortium led by Apex 

Technology” last year, “Pantum’s 

affiliated company”. The OEM 

added that “the synergy of the 

two printer brands, Pantum 

and Lexmark, will extensively 

optimise the ability of both to 

cooperate with partners and to 

meet the users’ requirements 

leveraging cost-effective products 

and advanced solutions”. 

The company also pointed out 

that “we believe that these two 

good news [reports] will not be 

single cases, and more is to 

come”, as “working with our 

partners from different regions, 

Pantum will obtain multiple 

achievements in the future”. 

Sylvette Thompson, Regional 

Leader for Pantum MEA, 

commented: “We’re extremely 

excited about the results from 

the IDC report which clearly 

show we’re on the right track, 

gaining market share as the 

months go by. Pantum is no 

doubt entering a new and 

exciting chapter which we believe 

will provide strong products and 

services to the SA market.” 


19

CITY NEWS 

Read more about Lexmark on page nine 

EUROPE Lexmark, Procurement, UK 

Lexmark wins UK MPS procurement place 

The OEM has been awarded a place on the Crown Commercial Service Framework Agreement. 

In a press release, Lexmark stated 

that it was awarded a place on 

the Crown Commercial Service 

(CCS) agreement’s RM3781 

Lot 3, for “managed print and 

content management services”. 

The UK framework “offers public 

sector and central government 

customer solutions for printer/ 

copier, managed print and 

records information management 

services”. 

The place was “awarded in 

partnership” with procurement 

organisation YPO and the Eastern 

Shires Purchasing Organisation 

(ESPO), and “enables Lexmark to 

deliver a fully-outsourced service 

focused on supporting centralising, 

securitising and standardising 

office outputs in the UK”. 

Lexmark added that the 

framework “has been developed 

with the objective of meeting the 

increased customer demand for 

digital solutions and to provide 

organisations with the tools to not 

only increase efficiency but also to 

realise cost savings”. 

Lexmark’s role will be to 

“deliver customers with the 

capability to digitise workflows 

and cut carbon footprints”, and 

“through the optimisation of a 

more flexible print strategy, 

customers will have the 

opportunity to discover more 

efficient approaches to the entire 

printing operation across their 

organisation”. 

In turn, the framework “has 

been designed with the intention 

of becoming the principal 

procurement agreement across 

the public sector, including central 

and local government, police 

authorities, NHS bodies and 

universities”. 

Danny Molhoek, General 

Manager for North West Europe 

at Lexmark, commented: “At 

Lexmark, we’ve always been in the 

business of providing best-in-class 

solutions, and the fact that we’ve 

been awarded a place on the 

Crown Commercial Services 

Government Framework is a 

testament to this. We already work 

with a host of government bodies 

and public sector institutions 

providing managed print and 

content services, enabling them to 

digitise workflows. 

“This new framework allows us 

to continue doing this work as 

more organisations look to make 

this move from paper to digital. 

We’re thrilled to have been chosen 

for this framework and can’t wait 

to get started.” 

NORTH AMERICA Xerox, USA, Business 

Xerox could follow HP Inc’s “lead” 

The OEM could “copy” HP Inc’s profits by “follow[ing] the lead” of the latter after its own split. 

The Street discussed whether 

Xerox can “copy HP’s profits” 

after “reorganising itself ” and 

“spinning off a less-profitable 

segment and tightening its 

business model”. It noted that 

“for more than 100 years”, the 

OEM “has been a pioneer - first as 

a manufacturer of photographic 

paper, followed by making 

inroads into photocopy technology 

and home computing. 

Its name has become 

synonymous with the act of 

making paper copies”. 

However, “the market for 

printers and copiers is rapidly 

shrinking - by as much as five 

percent in the coming year”, The 

Street noted, and “so Xerox is 

turning its business around with 

a focus on new technologies”, 

though even while it “moves into 

newer markets with more hightech 

products, there are still 

plenty of reasons” why it could 

“make a compelling play for 

investors”, especially if it “follows 

the lead” of HP Inc. 

HP Inc split in two after 

becoming a “bloated information 

technology company”, and “at 

the time investors and analysts 

had seemed more excited about 

the prospects of the B2B 

company [HPE], given the 

attention surrounding software 

as a service. But hardware 

company HP Inc became one of 

last year’s biggest profit-makers 

for investors, churning out stock 

price gains of more than 40 

percent”. 

The article points out that 

Xerox “has been attempting to 

replicate HP’s success, spinning 

off its own business processing 

segment as Conduent in late 

2016”, with that company’s 

services said to have been 

“weighing on Xerox’s bottom 

line”, with the OEM’s market 

value last year $5 billion (€4.7 

billion) less “than it had been 

before” it purchased the 

segments that were to become 

Conduent. 

Xerox in turn “hasn’t been 

content with just spinning off 

this less-profitable business”, 

with new CEO Jeff Jacobson 

beginning a “cost-cutting 

programme that aims to save” up 

to $1.5 billion (€1.4 billion) 

“over the next three years”, while 

it is “also hoping that it will see 

new growth thanks to further 

targeting” of SMBs, with 29 new 

products “that should appeal to 

this segment of the market, 

which has proven more dynamic 

than large-scale businesses”. 

The Street added that the OEM 

“is also moving into the Internet 

of Things with smart-label 

technology directed at food and 

drug companies”, with this 

market expected to “reach 

higher” than $16 billion (€15.1 

billion) “within five years”. 

However, “until the company 

starts profiting from these 

exciting product lines”, there is 

“still plenty to reward Xerox 

investors”, with a 3.4 percent 

dividend yield currently paid out 

and plans to hand investors 50 

percent of free cash flow by 2018. 

The article concluded that “if 

HP’s stock performance is any 

guide, investors can continue to 

expect stock gains as the 

company streamlines itself, 

becoming leaner and meaner”, 

with Xerox’s current stock price 

“up by more than 30 percent”, 

and some analysts expecting it to 

“double in the next two years. 

With more than a century of 

making history, Xerox looks 

poised to forge ahead in years 

to come”. 


AROUND THE INDUSTRY 


EUROPE RIS, Inkjet, Cartridges 

RIS signs deal with German retailer 

The inkjet cartridge refill company has signed a deal with Saturn, an electronics retail chain. 

In a press release RIS said that 

Saturn is now offering its inkjet 

cartridge refill service, and that 

this was because of “strong sales 

growth from last year’s initial 

offering at the Saturn location in 

Wuppertal, Germany”. The deal 

has now expanded to another 

German store in Hilden, and 

customers can have their 

cartridges refilled by staff who use 

the RIS InkCenter machine to 

refill them while the customer is 

shopping. 

Vincent Hormovitis, Vice 

President of Sales and Business 

Development at RIS, said: “We at 

RIS are thrilled to partner on a 

second location with Saturn. Their 

management team is passionate 

about customers receiving 

exceptional value every time they 

walk through their doors. As the 

prices of branded inkjet cartridges 

are continuously increasing, our 

refill service value proposition 

becomes even more compelling. 

“We are confident that ink 

cartridge refilling will serve Saturn 

customers extremely well and will 

continue to be introduced at 

other locations.” The retailer 

previously announced deals to 

host its machines in shops across 

France and Romania earlier this 

year. 

Lars Biermann, Managing 

Director of Saturn Wuppertal, 

commented: “We need to have a 

strong service department to be 

able to succeed as an electronics 

store. We are very satisfied with 

how well the RIS InkCenter 

combines our standard of quality 

with this service idea. Refill 

quality and price is super - our 

customers love it!” 

David Lenny, CEO of RIS, 

added: “Value for money and 

product quality are very 

important for consumers. The 

RIS-powered ink refill solution 

delivers that quality, much more 

affordably – and is good for the 

environment. This opportunity to 

expand our footprint in Europe 

will be very complementary to the 

array of services and high level 

of satisfaction that Saturn’s 

customers have come to expect.” 

NORTH AMERICA Liberty Laser Solutions, Remanufacturing, USA 

US remanufacturer visited by politician 

Liberty Laser Solutions was visited by Congressman Adam Kinzinger at its site in Marseilles, Illinois. 

My Web Times reported on 

Kinzinger’s visit to the remanufacturer, 

which “has grown to be 

leading a remanufacturer of 

printer toner cartridges in the 

nation […] since its creation in a 

garage two decades ago”. The 

site added that “faced with 

stiff competition from foreign 

factories”, the company’s 

President Mindy Smith and 

CFO Shelly Eastman invisted 

Kinzinger, a Republican 

politician, “to tour their 

facilities”. 

Smith stated that “in a global 

economy, cheap labour using 

questionable components kills 

profit margins for US 

manufacturers. And that is one 

of the main reasons we invited 

Congressman Kinzinger to our 

plant. We wanted to show him 

our team hard at work here. Our 

story is not unique. We wanted 

to speak with the Congressman 

about the problems associated 

with dealing with overseas 

competition. 

“What can we do here to help 

the government understand we 

need to level the playing field? 

We offered to be a voice on this 

issue to the federal government”. 

During his tour, Smith 

and Eastman showed Kinzinger 

“various parts of the plant, 

introduced him to some of their 

53 employees and pressed 

their case for across-the-board 

business reforms”. 

Smith added that in regards to 

“goods coming into the country, 

“taxes on the border would help 

our business tremendously”, 

and Eastman pointed out that 

“Liberty has grown over the past 

three years — despite strong 

foreign competition — which 

proves there is a huge market 

out there for USA-produced 

products. But small manufacturers 

like us will need help to 

continue in the future”. 

Smith also told Kinzinger that 

“we also wanted you to know 

that we’re interested in the 

community. We wish Illinois was 

more business-friendly, because 

Marseilles is our home — this is 

our employees’ home. We have a 

lot of pride in this company and 

we wanted you to understand. 

We pay good wages, which 

included full benefits and we 

want to continue to do so”. 

Kinzinger told both Smith and 

Eastman that “he understood 

the problems in American 

manufacturing, and he 

welcomed the opportunity to 

see the plant and its workers 

personally”, commenting that “I 

found the tour and this place to 

be fascinating”, and that “it was 

good to hear the concerns from 

district business people, such as 

Smith and Eastman”, concluding 

that “I can see and feel the 

pride they and their workers 

have here”. 

Warsaw 


In-depth workshops 



Read more from Lexmark on page nine 

EUROPE Circular economy, UK, Recycling 

UK recommended to ‘lose’ 

circular economy 

A think-tank has suggested that the UK should ‘lose’ the EU circular economy package and 

develop a new policy and strategy for waste and resources. 

Materials Recycling 

World reported that a 

think-tank said that 

after the UK’s exit from 

the EU, it would be a 

good time for the 

government to develop 

its own policy on waste. 

The claims came from 

Policy Exchange, who 

said that “there are 

significant shortcomings 

in the EU’s 

approach to waste and 

recycling, with unclear 

objectives and badly 

designed targets that 

are not in the UK’s interest”. 

According to Policy 

Exchange’s report, Going Round 

in Circles, which is supported by 

one of the UK’s leading waste 

and resource management 

companies, FCC Environment, 

“the circular economy package 

will cost British businesses an 

extra £2 billion ($2.4 billion/€2.3 

billion) during the next 20 years 

so ministers should use Brexit to 

define their own approach”. 

Richard Howard, Policy 

Exchange’s Head of Environment 

and Energy, authorised the 

report and stated that “the UK 

had made significant progress 

since 2000 in recycling and 

cutting greenhouse gas 

emissions from waste” and also 

said “there are still significant 

issues. For example, households 

are totally confused about what 

they can recycle, with more than 

400 different collection systems 

across the country. And, since 

2011, the UK has spent nearly £1 

billion ($1.2 billion/€1.1 billion) 

exporting waste overseas, where 

it is burned to produce energy – 

energy we don’t benefit from”. 

He said that the circular 

economy package was “illdefined 

and poorly thought 

through” and that “it focuses too 

much on the means rather than 

the ends. The UK needs to take 

back control of our rubbish and 

develop a more coherent set of 

waste policies which better serve 

UK businesses and households, 

as well as the environment”. 

Howard also “rejected the 

principles in a Green Alliance 

and WRAP report from 2015”, 

which claimed that “tens of 

thousands of jobs would be 

created in the UK” but that 

depended on how the circular 

economy package was adopted. 

Howard said: “I have issues 

with that in general because why 

are you trying to use waste 

policies for job creation? 

Yes, you can create jobs 

but it does not consider 

the impact on other 

industries’ jobs.” 

Kristian Dales, 

FCC Communications 

Director, said that Policy 

Exchange’s report 

pointed out issues that 

were holding back the 

growth of business 

development in the 

waste and resource 

segment. The article 

further noted that the 

report said that “policy 

should focus on maximising 

resource productivity with in 

the UK economy”, and that 

this would be “in line with 

the government’s emerging 

industrial strategy” and 

suggested that it should search a 

way to curtail carbon emissions 

and “wider environmental 

impacts of waste management 

and resource use”. 

The recommendations 

included ensuring that local 

authorities use one of three 

systems for collecting waste and 

recycling that have been 

standardised, and that the 

government should “encourage 

innovation in the recycling and 

reuse of materials, and help to 

develop markets for scrap 

materials”, as well as “promote 

efficient forms of energy from 

waste”, and that there should be 

recycling centres for household 

waste with collection points for 

reusable items. 


NORTH AMERICA 

Lexmark, Counterfeiting, USA 

Lexmark wins 

anticounterfeiting 

patent 

The OEM has patented an anticounterfeiting 

concept that uses 

magnetic particles. 

Securing Industry reported that the 

company has “been awarded a US 

patent” which will be able to 

discover if ink and toner cartridges 

are counterfeit. Lexmark said that 

counterfeit printer products “such 

as toner bottles” cause problems for 

users like poor performance and 

printer damage, and that the 

industry is already using 

“authentication systems” as a 

deterrent to those who produce 

fake products. 

The patent – US 9,553,582 – 

works by using magnetic and nonmagnetic 

particles to make a 

“motif ”, and is a “physical 

unclonable function” (PUF), a 

“physical entity […] concept 

developed by cryptographers” 

which is difficult to copy but can be 

easily read with a “low cost reader” - 

the motif is then “embodied in a 

physical structure”. 




solutions 




ETIRA 

Sponsors 




23


EUROPE 

ICCE, Counterfeiting, Cartridges 

ICCE discusses 

activity in 2016 

The Imaging Consumables Coalition 

Europe (ICCE) gave an overview of 

its achievements last year. 

The ICCE, which is a “non-profit making 

association”, features 10 OEMs in its 

membership, including Brother, Canon, 

Epson, HP Inc, Kyocera, Lexmark, OKI, 

Ricoh, Samsung and Xerox, and it noted 

that “a collaborative approach to tackling 

counterfeit imaging supplies” formed its 

activities in 2016. Last year saw it 

continue a campaign to “raise awareness 

of the growing issue of counterfeit 

imaging supplies”, as well as “work in 

collaboration with law enforcement to 

help pursue counterfeiters”. 

The organisation claims it “went from 

strength-to-strength” in 2016, and 

“continued to expand its face-to-face 

education and engagement programme 

with law enforcement officials” across 

the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and 

Africa) through “attending or facilitating 

training events”. Members also “met with 

hundreds of police, customs officials 

and members of other bodies involved 

in the enforcement of intellectual 

property rights […] during the course of 

the year”. 

It added that the coalition also “made 

a concerted effort to support events 

across Africa”, including “new counterfeit 

training in Kenya” as well as the United 

Arab Emirates (UAE) and Europe, while 

in the UK it “achieved significant 

exposure at the Interpol IP Crime 

Conference through a sponsorship 

agreement”. Training and education 

services alongside “its close collaboration 

with law enforcement” also 

saw a “number of successful raids during 

the year”. 

These included one “seizing 

thousands of counterfeits in Ajman and 

Dubai in June” and another in Ras Al 

Khaimah in August, and “two new 

videos” were launched that “targeted law 

enforcement officials and consumers”, 

aiming to “help raise the profile of ICCE 

and its purpose”, alongside “awareness 

of counterfeiting and issues affecting the 

imaging supplies market”, with both said 

to have “inspired action to help combat 

these issues”. 

Visit our event website at www.therecycler.com/live for all the latest event news 

NORTH AMERICA Green Project, IP, USA 

Green Project receives gear patent 

The US company has received a US patent for its ‘Recoil GP’ gear technology. 

In a press release, the company 

stated that the ‘Recoil GP’ gear 

technology for “replacement 

OPC drums” has seen a patent 

“been recently issued” by the 

US Patent and trademark Office 

(USPTO), with the gear also 

“examined and approved” by 

the US Customs and Border 

Protection (CBP) agency “for 

entry into the US”. It is also 

“outside the scope” of the 

Canon dongle gear GEO 

(General Exclusion Order), 

which was issued last year. 

Green Project added that the 

patent, invention number 

9,588,478, “is for a gear to be 

used with OPC drums with 

various toner cartridges for 

laser printers”, and that its 

“unique layout and features” 

include “a design that is not 

EUROPE Jet Tec, Events, UK 

In a press releases, the 

company stated that it is the 

“UK’s leading printer cartridge 

remanufacturer”, and that it 

was “busy preparing” for the 

show in April, to be held at the 

Business Design Centre in 

London. The event, it adds, 

“promises to be a key event for 

the stationery and office 

supplies community”, and Jet 

Tec’s booth will be at M725. 

The company exhibited at the 

event in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 

2016, reporting separately on 

its experiences at the 2014 

event. 

The company added that it is 

“looking forward to meeting 

new and existing customers 

and showcasing their range of 

remanufactured inkjet and 

laser toner cartridges”, while 

the event will also “provide the 

only different, but also takes 

into consideration the need for 

high quality prints that 

consumers expect”. In addition 

to being patented, it is “US 

Customs approved”, with the 

company working with CBP 

“on how to properly identify its 

gear, ensuring smooth entry 

into the USA”. 

Each of the gears also 

“contains special markings as 

Jet Tec to exhibit at London 

Stationery Show 

The company will exhibit at the show on 25 and 26 April in London. 

opportunity to continue to 

promote the Red Bus brand”, 

which it launched last year 

to “promote the company’s 

British manufacturing 

heritage”. 

Jet Tec will also, “alongside 

their core range”, be displaying 

“a range of 3D printing pens”, 

stating that the “technology 

allows the home user to 

purchase a safe and easy-to-use 

3D creation product for all 

ages”. In turn, the “recently 

launched range of Kodak 

accessories will also feature”, 

well as a bright green 

colouration for quick and easy 

identification, so that there is 

no confusion for these special 

gears”. The company will offer 

the ‘Recoil GP’ gear “in most 

of their popular monochrome 

and colour toner cartridges”. 

Joseph Wu, President of 

Green Project, commented: 

“Our goal is to provide a 

quality aftermarket option that 

not only works, but works well. 

Other companies may claim 

that they have a gear option, 

but our goal was to design a 

unit simple in nature while 

allowing the toner cartridge to 

be inserted and removed easily. 

We know that not only having a 

patent is important but also 

making sure you can get your 

products through Customs.” 

including photo paper, 

batteries and power banks. 

Becky Capes, Business 

Development Manager for Jet 

Tec, commented: “We have 

always viewed the London 

Stationery Show as an 

invaluable platform, which 

provides us with the 

opportunity to speak with a 

wide array of contacts across 

the stationery category, 

especially prospective 

customers. This year, we are 

looking forward to continuing 

to promote our brand message 

‘Buy British, Buy Jet Tec’ 

through our new Red Bus 

packaging, and presenting 

fresh opportunities to new and 

existing customers with our 

range of Kodak-branded 

accessories and 3D printing 

pens.” 

24 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 294 •MAY 2017


EUROPE Armor, MPS, Remanufacturing 

Armor launches owa MPS video 

The French remanufacturer exhibited at the IT Partners event at Euro Disney in Paris, and 

released a video discussing its owa Print Services MPS programme. 

The Recycler reported that the 

company would exhibit at the IT 

Partners event on 8 and 9 March, 

with Gerwald van der Gijp, 

Vice President and Managing 

Director for Armor Office 

Printing EMEA, stating on 

LinkedIn that the Armor owa 

stand was ready for the first day 

of the two-day show, and to 

receive visits from partners and 

resellers. 

Van der Gijp also said before 

the event that “we are officially 

presenting owa print services: 

the turnkey printing solution 

by Armor”, and that the stand 

would show the new range of 

products from Armor like the 

“3D filament range with a 

faster 8x printing capacity”. 

There were also hourly 

demon-strations and a ‘Happy 

Hour’ everyday at 16.30 at the 

stand. 

The animated video features 

French narration and French 

characters on screen, stating to 

start that “an uncontrolled 

printer fleet can quickly 

become problematic for your 

budget”, and that “for your 

employees, this is only a print 

[but] for your business, it’s 

another story”. Printing issues 

can cost money, and these 

problems can include “failures”, 

a “shortage of supplies or too 

much”, and an “unjustified 

price increase”. 

It contends that owa Print 

Services can help you “take 

control”, and is a “simple and 

effective solution”, with 

“optimisation of printing” 

helping to save 30 percent on 

average. The programme offers 

“automated delivery” and 

“inventory management”, and 

is accessible immediately 

“without changing your current 

fleet”. Armor concludes by 

noting that it is “an ecoresponsible 

solution” and 

requires only a “flexible, 

unconstrained commitment”, 

stating that businesses can 

“save, free your equipment and 

preserve the environment”. 


NORTH AMERICA 

ComboInk, Cartridges, Business 

ComboInk 

relaunches 

website 

The printer cartridge provider 

has redesigned its website to 

make ordering easier. 

The website is said to be easier for 

customers to use, and instead of 

having to buy preselected packages, 

they can now design their own 

combination packs of ink and toner, 

with an accumulation of savings with 

each item added to the pack. 

Customers’ information and 

order history are stored on a 

personal dashboard to make 

reordering easier and more 

convenient, and there are tiered 

savings which increase each time 

a product is added to the order. 

The company’s logo has also 

been redesigned to reflect the 

relationship between ComboInk 

and its customers. 


25


GLOBAL 

Hubei Dinglong, Nordic Swan, Toner 

Hubei Dinglong 

receives Nordic 

Swan certification 

The toner manufacturer has had 

its HP Inc toner powders 

certified by the Nordic Swan 

ecolabelling certification, with 

“key colour” toners certified 

including the H59 and H75. 

The company announced that its 

H59 toner - to be used in the HP Inc 

M25 and M277 - and the H75 toner - 

for use in the HP HP Inc M553, 

M552 and M577 colour printers - 

have met the standards and 

requirements to be certified by the 

Nordic Ecolabel standard 5.2. TUV 

Rheinland LGA Products tested the 

toner powder, putting it through 

“stringent” tests to meet the 

requirements for the certification 

and “according to criteria 008, 

version 5.2”. 

James Chen, Vice General 

Manager of Hubei Dinglong, 

commented: “This approval demonstrates 

our raw material selection 

and manufacturing process is 

meeting the requirements of the 

industry. We recognise the 

importance in the European market 

to attain these standards.” 

Ian Copsey, General Manager for 

Europe, said: “I am pleased that we 

have added another two products 

to our Nordic Ecolabel 5.2 approval. 

These come in addition to the H52 

and H71 products approved in 

2015. The industry’s concerns 

over TVOC, heavy metals and 

contaminants are real, and I am 

pleased we demonstrate our 

compliance. 

“The rigours of many 

government, education [and] local 

authority tenders now require these 

environmental standards to be met 

for vendor selection, [and] it is 

reassuring we can support our 

customers in this process.” 

AUSTRALASIA Cartridges, Crime, Australia 

Australian cartridge scam revealed 

A farming couple were “bullied” into buying “enough printer ink to last 1,700 years”. 

The Age reported on a tribunal 

at the Victorian Civil and 

Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), 

which found that “cold-calling 

salespeople who bullied” the 

couple “with one home printer 

into buying” the inkjet 

cartridges “acted illegally”. 

Melbourne-based Corporate 

Office Supplies were ordered to 

pay over AU$90,000 (US$67,567/ 

€64,013) to Rod and Charmaine 

Sharp after selling them over 

2,000 inkjet cartridges from mid- 

2015 onwards. 

The article noted that 

salespeople “began making 

multiple cold calls” to the 

Sharp’s home at that point, with 

Charmaine telling the court that 

“the company would not take no 

for an answer”, so she “eventually 

bought 56 cartridges, far 

more than she would ever need” 

as they “went through one 

cartridge every 10 months”. 

However, the company 

“continued to call, going 

on to sell her vouchers for 

another 1,984 cartridges, worth 

AU$80,000 (US$60,060/ 

€56,900). 

Charmaine Sharp stated that 

she “did not tell her husband 

about the payments”, and after 

the purchases were made, 

Corporate Office Supplies 

“began making aggressive 

demands for debt collection”, 

with some calls “taken by the 

couple’s young son”. VCAT 

Deputy President Ian Lulham 

ruled that the company “had 

acted unconscionably” in selling 

the “frankly ridiculous quantity” 

of cartridges “to a family that 

owned a single printer”. 

He added that “it should have 

known the Sharps didn’t need 

that much ink”, and pointed out 

that they “may as well assert that 

Mrs. Sharp agreed to buy the 

Sydney Harbour Bridge”. 

Corporate Office Supplies “did 

not file a defence”, with its 

accountant Kodi John Ashford 

telling the hearing that Mrs. 

Subscribe to The Recycler at www.therecycler.com/subscribe 

Sharp “was never bullied or 

harassed and had the right to 

decline the purchase”. Lulham 

in turn called for the company 

to be “investigated by Consumer 

Affairs Victoria”. 

He also commented that “it is 

not overstating the position to 

say that any business which sold 

over 2,000 cartridges to a 

business that owned one printer 

acted unlawfully”, with The Age 

sharing that Corporate Office 

Supplies’ CEO and owner is 

James Murray, a 28-year-old “jetsetting 

CEO and owner [who] 

regularly posts on social media 

showing how the business has 

helped fund his glamorous 

lifestyle, which includes BMW 

cars and nights out in Las Vegas”. 

He also “claims on his social 

media profiles to be based 

between Los Angeles and 

Melbourne”, with corporate 

records showing that he 

registered the company in 2010, 

based in “various locations in 

Melbourne’s eastern suburbs 

since”. On his LinkedIn page, he 

states he is a “believer” in direct 

marketing, which The Age notes 

“typically includes cold-calling”, 

because of “the growth it has 

delivered his business”. 

Other posts saw him “boast 

online about the performance of 

his business”, while a company 

spokesperson declined to 

comment. Courier Mail 

additionally reported that 

Corporate Office Supplies 

claimed the government had 

“reneged” on its scheme to fund 

businesses that create jobs. The 

scheme, worth AU$100 million 

(US$77 million/€71 million), is 

to reward businesses by 

subsidising workers that are 

given a full time job for up 

to AU$20,000 (US$15,442/ 

€14,307). 

On the scam case, Murray 

said that they would appeal the 

decision, and noted that the 

government were not playing by 

the rules, stating that “we are 

still waiting for the Back to Work 

programme funding promised 

by the government in 2016”, and 

claimed that the funding had 

been promised within two to 

three days but that was 10 

weeks earlier. The government 

confirmed that it had not 

“provided funding”, but 

declined to comment further or 

go into details, and has failed to 

provide a list of the 1,000 

businesses that are funded by 

the scheme. 

Murray is reported to have 

said that the subsidiary 

company, Strantics, which is a 

call centre, would employ up to 

300 workers. However those 

still employed by the call centre 

said that the number of workers 

had gone from 50 to 15 since 

last October. 




EUROPE Refresh Cartridges, Business, UK 

Refresh Cartridges launches printer-buying tool 

The UK company has produced the tool for use on computers, tablets and smartphones. 

Refresh Cartridges stated that 

“over the last 18 years of business 

as Refresh Cartridges, we’ve had 

regular, daily requests from 

customers requesting advice from 

our staff regarding purchasing the 

right printer for their needs, 

either over the phone, via email 

or in-store, which is great as we 

can then offer them a choice from 

a selection of great value printers 

which we have pre-selected 

based on their excellent value 

cartridges, running costs, quality 

and initial outlay”. 

It added that “however, we do 

also hear from customers who 

have bought (usually a 

discounted) printer from one of 

the many popular chain stores 

who have been shocked to hear 

the price of replacement 

cartridges, both original and 

remanufactured. So, in order to 

help inform customers prior to 

their purchase, keeping in mind 

factors including a low cost per 

printed page as well as others, 

we’ve put together a handy tool”. 

The tool “can be used from 

your desktop, tablet or mobile so 

with just a couple of clicks (or 

taps), you will get a list of 

recommended printers based 

upon their value rating, RRP and 

features that you require, along 

with a handy purchase link via 

Amazon”. The company will “be 

updating this tool over the 

coming months to reflect newly 

released printers and [MFPs] so 

you can have up-to-date advice on 

your next printer purchase”. 

The tool is available to view at 

www.refreshcartridges.co.uk/chea 

per-printing, and Refresh 

Cartridges added that “it’s our 

hope that this will spread some of 

our printer knowledge through 

the internet and help visitors 

purchase the right printer for 

their needs - so please feel free to 

share this with anyone who may 

be considering purchasing a 

printer. Of course, we are still 

available to contact via email, 

phone and in our stores should 

you want additional advice”. 


27


EUROPE Katun, Business, Europe 

Katun celebrates 

more employee 

milestones 

The European business has 

congratulated two employees 

for long service. 

First was Allert van Barneveld, who 

has worked for 10 years at Katun, and 

Cornelis Alderlieste, Marketing 

Director EAME, shared the news on 

LinkedIn, commenting “congrats to 

Allert van Barneveld for 10 years of 

hard work in the warehouse of Katun 

Corporation’s European Distribution 

Centre! Thanks for all the help with 

getting those orders out every 

month!” 

In turn, Marco Terracini, Sales 

Manager at Katun Italy, received a 

certificate recognising 20 years of 

“dedicated service” at the company, 

with his certificate featuring a 

message from President and CEO 

Bob Moore, which read: “People 

work had to determine and clarify the 

characteristics of quality, service and 

value. From the individuals who 

develop quality products to the 

service representatives who offer 

customers a no-hassle experience, 

employees who demonstrate their 

confidence and pride in their 

company, its products and its identity 

establish its value.” 

In January, the company 

congratulated Priscilla van Straten, 

who works in Customer Order 

Fulfilment, on 20 years of service, 

while in December 2016 Leo Kooistra 

– the company’s Technical Team 

Manager – also celebrated the same 

milestone. 

Barneveld Sekrant reported 

that the Dutch Cartridge store 

Inkstation has moved to a larger 

premises in Barneveld, so that 

customers can easily view the 

products and receive and even 

better service, according to Cor 

Wander who owns the store. 

Wander had been at the old 

store for 10 years but decided to 

relocate just up the road to a 

larger premises, and has 


EUROPE HP Inc, Inkjet, Printing 

UK consumer watchdog reveals 

HP Inc “waste” 

Which? found in printer tests that HP Inc PageWide machines can create a “4,000 percent ink 

waste”. 

The consumer watchdog 

stated its printer tests 

revealed the figure, adding 

the machines could “cost 

you a fortune to run if you 

print only occasionally”, and 

noting: “Pick the wrong 

printer and it could empty 

your wallet as fast it drains 

the ink tanks. Though you 

can buy a decent printer for 

under £40 ($50/€46), the 

cost of ink to keep it 

running can end up being 

far more than this – especially 

with a wasteful printer. We run 

extensive ink consumption tests 

to expose the thirstiest printers, 

whether you print every day or 

just occasionally.” 

The “latest batch” of tests has 

“revealed one of the most 

wasteful printers we’ve ever 

seen”, with one new PageWide 

device – in this case, the 377DW 

– said to possibly “use over 

4,000 percent more ink if you 

only print once in a while, 

sacrificing huge amounts to 

wasteful ink cleaning cycles”. 

While the technology is “fast”, it 

“may leave you furious”, the site 

added, noting that PageWide 

uses “thousands of printheads 

EUROPE Cartridges, Netherlands, Business 

spanning the entire width of the 

page”. 

HP Inc has “claimed” the 

technology “combine[s] inkjet 

print quality with laser speed”, 

with the 377DW “certainly fast” 

and able to print an eight by 10 

inch photo “in best quality in 

just 19 seconds”. However, the 

Which? “unique tests have found 

a pretty sizeable downside – 

eye-watering running costs”, 

which are “due to some of the 

worst ink waste we’ve ever seen 

from a printer”, and are part of 

the “dirty truth of printer 

cleaning”. 

It pointed out that “over years 

of testing, we’ve found that 

many printers automatically 

Dutch cartridge store relocates 

Barneveld Inkstation has changed its premises in order to have more space. 

employed a new member of 

staff, Niels Wielders, who will 

front the store and who has 

previously worked with service 

programmes at other stores in 

the past, and is said to be very 

experienced. 

Wanders said that “we have a 

great line of excellent products 

besides print cartridges, we sell 

a lot of office [products] in our 

shop. We offer 20,000 different 

clean themselves when 

you’re not even printing, 

using precious ink that 

never reaches the page”, 

meaning that “you can’t 

print with it, but this is 

still ink that you’re paying 

for”, and so it runs 

‘occasional printing’ tests 

“over a period of weeks 

to measure the ink that is 

used for automatic 

cleaning cycles”. 

In turn, “by weighing 

ink cartridges before and after 

our printing tests we can work 

out the amount of ink that’s lost 

during cleaning”, and with the 

PageWide, Which? found it used 

a “staggering” 4,477 percent 

more ink “when printing 20 

black sheets and 10 in colour 

over a period of weeks, turning 

the printer off between uses, 

compared with doing the same 

job in one go”. 

It concluded that this means 

“your costs skyrocket if you only 

use the printer now and then”, 

and that “another sting in the 

tail” is that a full set of new 

cartridges will cost almost £250 

($312/€293). 

products”, and he also said that 

the store stocked a wide range 

of cartridges, and that the shop 

would also be offering a printing 

service with access online. The 

store also refills cartridges at a 

cost of €3.50 to €19.50 ($3.7 

to $21) depending on the type 

of cartridge, which saves 

customers money, and 

cartridges can be refilled up to 

12 times. 


Read our features focusing on the Middle East and Africa starting on page 34 


IMEA GIT, Marketing, Remanufacturing 

GIT launches new corporate video 

The Dubai-based remanufacturer has launched a new corporate video. 

The video was also launched in 

Malayalam as well as English, and 

features a voiceover discussing 

the company over images of the 

remanufacturer’s locations and 

operations, as well as Dubai 

(where it is based) and other 

stock images. The voiceover starts 

by noting that people are often 

told “don’t print” because it’s 

“too expensive” or “not 

environmentally friendly – isn’t 

that what everyone tells you?” 

It goes on to note that “if you 

have to print, you can do it stress 

free and environmentally 

responsibly” with GIT, especially 

in a world with “ever-connected” 

places “exchanging information 

across platforms”, where we 

“need to print for many reasons”. 

GIT “has solutions to help 

produce documents in colour”, it 

adds, “without compromising” on 

quality or cost. 

GIT calls itself the “region’s 

industry-leading technology 

company”, with “unique” 

cartridges and the “capacity to 

produce 45,000 per month”, 

adding that it is “committed to 

high quality”, and that customers 

can “rely on” the company. It also 

stated that it complies “strictly 

with international standards”, 

while all products are “marketed 

under” the GT Premium and Lion 

brands with 24 month warranties. 

The company only uses the 

“best and latest machinery” to 

produce its “superior products”, 

while its “highly trained and 

skilled workforce” utilise the “best 

function-specific machinery” to 

ensure that it remains “constantly 

focused on protecting the 

environment”. Customers can 

“operate [their] business with 

peace of mind”, with GIT 

providing “reliability, responsibility 

[and] responsiveness”, 

alongside “close cooperation with 

local authorities [on] minimising 

the damage to the environment”. 

It notes that if you invest in 

GIT, you “invest in the planet”, 

and claims that the company 

“combines state-of-the-art 

products with all your document 

printing needs”, such as printers, 

copiers, leasing, rental, toners 

and MPS, so customers have “all 

you need to print with peace of 

mind”. The video concludes by 

stating that you can “join 

thousands of public and private 

institutions across the Middle East 

and Africa” and “leverage this 

experience” with “technology you 

can rely on”. 


29



GLOBAL Cartridge World, Retail, Franchising 

Latest developments from Cartridge World 

The franchise launched the B2B Growth Platform in the US market; UK and Ireland CEO Paul Callow was interviewed, as was a French 

franchisee; and it was named in the top 100 global franchises. 

In a press release, the US 

franchise announced that it had 

made a “significant investment to 

elevate brand awareness and help 

franchisees” across the USA “grow 

their B2B recurring revenues with 

managed print services”, adding 

that the B2B Growth Platform was 

“due to release” in March. The 

platform, it claims, “is expected to 

make Cartridge World franchisees 

a disruptive force in their local 

markets with digital lead 

generation campaigns”. 

Other features include that it 

will offer a “compelling value 

proposition” for SMBs “looking 

to simplify and save money 

on printer hardware and 

consumables”. In terms of lead 

generation, the company will 

offer “advanced digital marketing 

campaigns for demand creation 

with SMB customers”, while sales 

training will involve “live and ondemand 

B2B sales training with 

award-winning sales performance 

coach Rick Lambert”. 

Sales tools involved include 

“customer-facing enablers to 

communicate Cartridge World’s 

unique B2B value proposition”, 

while “gamification” will see 

“enhancements to corporate and 

franchise websites” that “will 

feature a new lead generation 

game”. Finally, in terms of 

“ongoing communications”, the 

franchise will implement 

“monthly best practice sharing” in 

a monthly video sent to all 

franchisees called ‘Cartridge 

World News’. 

Cartridge World added that the 

platform was “customised” for it 

by “industry experts” at both 

in2communications.com and 

selltowin.com, and that it 

features a “powerful combination 

of field-proven components 

never before seen in the US 

marketplace”. The franchise 

concluded by stating that “plans 

to translate and expand the 

programme globally are already 

underway based on pull from 

franchisees in other countries”. 

Alan White, Marketing Manager 

for Cartridge World North 

America, commented: “Initial 

feedback on what’s coming has 

been phenomenal and we’re very 

excited about the potential this 

brings to each of our valued 

franchisees to quickly grow their 

business this year. We believe we 

have a unique MPS value 

proposition and our plan is to 

give our franchisees more 

opportunities [to] share it with 

more businesses than they 

currently do.” 

Interviews with UK and Ireland 

CEO, French franchisee 

Retail Gazette interviewed 

Callow, who became “involved 

with the Cartridge World business 

while working on a project for a 

coffee company”, and this led to 

his business partner and himself 

“taking over the master franchise 

rights for the UK and Ireland, 

shortly followed by France, Spain 

and Portugal”. Having always 

been involved in retail, he said 

that “a franchised retail business 

such as Cartridge World” was a 

challenging role. 

He added that “in the UK the 

prominence of online creates 

additional challenges and 

opportunities”, and that his 

challenge has been “been to 

create a retail environment which 

business customers feel comfortable 

in but without alienating 

home users and students”. 

Asked to describe his responsibilities, 

Callow responded: 

“Most importantly, my responsibility 

is to ensure that the 

franchisees who have invested to 

join our network receive value for 

money and support. This way 

they can effectively develop their 

businesses using our brand. We 

have staff in Marlow, Harrogate, 

and Paris, with teams that operate 

across regions rather than just 

locally. 

“Of course, we work with 

a range of manufacturers, 

distributors and wholesalers, and 

I have a responsibility to deliver 

good value and ensure their 

products and services are 

represented properly. Finally, 

working with my colleagues, I am 

responsible for developing new 

solutions and offers enabling 

customers to save money and 

deliver revenue opportunities for 

our franchisees.” 

Asked how his previous 

experience has helped his current 

position, Callow said: “Certainly, 

12 years working for printer 

manufacturers has provided great 

insight and understanding as to 

what can be done to deliver value 

and savings to customers.” 

Retail Gazette asked what he 

attributed Cartridge World’s 

success to, and Callow replied 

that it was down to “offering 

genuine value and choice” as well 

as the franchisees caring about 

the brand, “their businesses and 

most importantly our customers”. 

Callow said the most challenging 

part of his job was “getting the 

franchise store owners to move 

together as one unit,” and that “if 

each franchisee were to take full 

advantage we might see a giant 

leap forward in business growth. 

That would mean many more 

customers benefitting from what 

we offer”. 

The most rewarding part of his 

job was seeing customers save 

money and watching franchisees 

“making a lot of money”. He said 

that future projects include 

working on “the new showroom 

format store” to improve the 

overall appearance, as “the 

current brand image doesn’t fairly 

reflect the value they can offer 

customers, particularly business 

customers that print a lot”. 

Callow said those wanting to 

embark on a career in retail 

should realise “it’s all about 

quality sales and genuine 

customer care - the two go hand 

in hand”. Asked what the 

biggest risk was for the retail 

sector, he said: “We tend not to 

focus on risks and spend more 

time considering opportunities, 

listening to customers, and, 

creating new solutions to help 

people save money.” 

In turn, Observatoire de la 

Franchise interviewed French 

franchisee Nicolas Barreau, 

whose Cartridge World is based in 

Puteaux, and was founded six 

years ago, prior to which he 

worked in the jewellery business 

and became the head of his 

department, which gave him an 

insight to what a franchise and 

franchisee can offer. Barreau 

knew that he wanted to run his 

own business, was looking at 

different aspects and liked those 

of Cartridge World. 

After meeting with the heads of 

the franchise at a Franchise Expo 

30 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 294 •MAY 2017

Read about Staples’ issues and changes on page 18 


in Paris, he signed up, and with help and 

assistance from the company, Barreau opened 

and took part in a month’s training course on 

the technical and commercial side of the 

business, and continues six years later to 

develop his business. 

Franchise named in top 100 

Finally, Franchise Direct named the top 100 

global franchises, and Cartridge World was 

featured, with McDonalds top of the list. 

Franchise Direct announced the list, which is 

decided by its own methodology and uses 

criteria with weighted value, which is then fed 

into a “proprietary computer formula” for an 

objective outcome. 

The criteria included: system size based on 

numbers of units; revenue for the system; 

stability and growth; number of years in 

operation; and market expansion; while the 

rankings were based on: best practices; 

environmental policy; and social responsibility. 

All the information was taken from 

franchise disclosure documents (FDDs) as 

well as data submitted by the companies, 

published industry resources and government 

filings. 

Franchise Direct said that the top 100 global 

franchises shared the same “keys to success”, 

which included a well-known business 

identity, “clear business plans, commitment to 

training and support, sensitivity to 

environmental issues and the ability to 

innovate” to keep up with social and 

economic changes, and that they were in 

more than one country, which meant that they 

had to develop cultural sensitivities. 

Franchise Direct stated that the top 100 

franchises are models for young franchise 

businesses that want to expand, and to 

companies who are considering the “benefits 

of the franchise business model”. Cartridge 

World was 92nd in the list, and was named in 

the same list two years ago, while it was also 

named in a similar list by Entrepreneur 

magazine in 2015 and 2014. 

NORTH AMERICA Laser Lab, Business, USA 

Laser Lab offers free 

assessment 

The MSP and MPS company offered a free 

assessment to businesses that will save 

them money. 

The company said in a press release that it 

was offering the free service to take the 

“complexity and cost out of technology” and 

offer a free “IT cost-saving assessment for 

SMBs” in Pennsylvania throughout March, 

adding that companies should not be using 

an MSP for IT services to qualify for the 

promotion. Michele McHenry, President and 

CEO of Laser Lab, said: “Business owners 

seem surprised that nuisance technology 

issues and sudden emergencies are not the 

norm. Someone told them it’s all a part of 

doing business, and they just throw money at 

it to make it go away. That’s not IT, it’s 

extortion. So, when they learn that a 

managed services partner like Laser Lab can 

remotely handle issues before they become 

major disruptions, they’re shocked. 

“Then, when they find out how affordable 

managed IT services can be, they wonder why 

they didn’t seek out information sooner.” 


31

In partnership with ETIRA 

Warsaw 

29-30 June 2017 

DoubleTree Hotel 

& Conference Centre 

Association Partner 

ETIRA 


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Guest 

Awards 


Welcome to The Recycler 

Live Conference 

Whether you are a new or longstanding 

member of the office imaging 

industry, The Recycler Live is the place 

to be this June. Running for two full 

days from 29 to 30 June, The Recycler 

Live event offers a unique opportunity 

to see the latest trends, and participate 

in in-depth workshops and briefings. 

Make sure you take away ideas and 

inspirations for your business. 

What’s on: 

Presentations: 

What’s happening in the market today 

- the latest challenges, trends and 

issues are all topics of interest to help 

shape and inform your business 

thinking. 

In addition to the event, join us on the 

evening of 28 June for a pre-event 

drink and help celebrate The Recycler’s 

25 years. Meet all your industry 

colleagues at our cocktail reception 

and network dinner at this evening as 

well. Help acknowledge the success 

one or more people have brought to 

the industry with a special lifetime 

award. 

Workshops: 

Join a workshop and brainstorm areas 

of concern facing your business and 

the industry today, and develop the 

tools and insights to navigate the 

challenges. 

Stefanie Unland 

Editor & Publisher, The Recycler 

Briefings: 

Join our partner briefing sessions and 

get state of the industry expert advice 

from our trade partners. 

Etira 

The Etira General Assembly will take place on the afternoon 

of Thursday 29 June (timing to be confirmed), and is for Etira 

members only. Our workshop and briefing sessions will run 

in parallel to the Etira General Assembly. 

The Venue 

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Conference Centre Warsaw 

ul. Skalnicowa 21, 04-797 Warsawa, Poland 

It is about 20 minutes from the airport by taxi. 


• 

years 




33

Feature 

Inside Remanexpo Middle East 2017 – 

products, the region and the future 

This year’s event, as before, took place as part of Paperworld Middle East at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre 

from 14 to 16 March. The Recycler’s Will Roszczyk attended the event, and spoke to exhibitors as well as visitors about the region’s 

opportunities and challenges, the products being shown at the event, and industry views on the future. 

New products and exhibiting 

Cynthia Wang, Business Development 

Manager at CET Group, stated that the 

company’s focus is “copier and printer 

parts, used for machines”, as well as 

toners, with new products shown at the 

event including new Ricoh and Canon 

toners. She added that the toners feature 

“our own patent-developed protection so 

these are ‘patent-free’. Maybe in Dubai and 

the Middle East, companies do not care 

about patents, but in Europe they do, and 

these are patent-free products that we 

provide for customers”. 

Referring to the products’ return on 

investment and value, Wang commented 

that “our customers use OEM products, 

such as for Canon and Ricoh, and are using 

the original usually, but this is very 

expensive. They would like to choose 

compatibles, and we can help by 

developing cheaper repair parts. If they 

want change, we can provide it – we are 

cheaper but our quality is high, and more 

are cooperating with us”. 

On exhibiting at the show, Wang stated 

that “last year we came, and this year we 

are meeting customers here. The main 

purpose for us is to meet face-to-face, and 

this makes it easy to help with problems or 

find out about new market developments or 

trends. Secondly, we can show them and 

other visitors our new products”. 

Returning exhibitors Cross Imaging 

brought “many new colour Canon toners” 

as well as Konica Minolta, Ricoh and 

Kyocera Mita toners, according to CEO 

Simon Weiss, who added that its products 

focus on “main brands”. Weiss added that 

the company’s “largest market share” is in 

both the European and Middle Eastern 

markets, and in terms of value and return on 

investment, the products are “an alternative 

to the OEM. If you sacrifice quality or 

performance, you’re not the alternative”. 

He added that “basically this is the same 

issue with all companies in the market, who 

should focus on savings for customers. 

Many are still using big OEMs’ products, 

while some have tried compatibles and had 

a bad experience, so they go back to 

originals. The opportunity for us is to 

convince people to use compatibles again, 

with a good quality product. Prices are 

lower in the Middle East, but on this there 

has been some improvement too. We’re in a 

better position to meet customers’ needs”. 

On exhibiting again, Weiss stated that 

“something difficult is to go and exhibit all 

the time. Someone came to our booth and 

saw my card, and said ‘I’ve seen you 

before’, and in my view this is a sign that 

we’re doing well, as I think success comes 

tomorrow, not today. With a repeat 

presence, people realise you are serious, 

and you have higher visibility and 

profitability. The Middle East is a tough 

market, and needs a lot of effort”. 

Kovit Chomphunuchyanyong, Sales and 

Marketing Director for Asia at first-time 

exhibitors Turbon, stated that the company 

was showcasing its “IBM licensed laser 

cartridges”. He added that “we have 

marketed these for 10 years, supervised by 

IBM for quality and safety, and we need 

to meet IBM’s requirements”. Turbon was 

also showcasing its Nubeprint print 

management software, which was 

launched in Asia and being introduced to 

the Middle East, with the “objective to help 

customers in the Middle East cut costs and 


“ 

We also see the potential of the region, and 

customers here are high-quality conscious 

“ 

manage printers efficiently”. 

Expanding on Nubeprint, he stated that 

the “market opportunity is there to accept 

MPS” in the region, as it has been a “market 

trend for many years”, with an opportunity 

“also a challenge in that people are still 

unable to accept software to manage their 

printers, especially in emerging markets in 

Southeast Asia and the Middle East. They 

need time to accept this new concept”. 

On the cartridges’ return on investment 

and value, Kovit commented that “we’re 

talking about saving 20 to 30 percent on 

consumables, which is our target. For 

customers, if they use a few hundreds of 

cartridges, this saving can be very 

substantial. If we raise this, the saving they 

gain from using the cartridges will help to 

have the ability to buy new printers or 

manage their print devices efficiently in 

both cost saving and maintenance. Some 

customers might want to save 50 to 70 

percent – this is not our approach. We offer 

high quality, high safety standard 

cartridges at 20 to 30 percent of the OEM 

cost under the world’s leading quality 

standards”. 

Discussing Turbon’s presence at the 

show, he pointed out that “the reason for us 

being here for the first time is that we want 

to bring opportunities to our customers to 

save costs effectively. We also see the 

potential of the region, and customers here 

are high-quality conscious”. 

HK Haoyinbao’s Andy Giang stated that 

the company’s products at the show 

consisted of “mainly copier toner cartridges 


Cross Imaging’s booth 

and spare parts for toner cartridges”, while 

in terms of popular new models, he stated 

that “this time we brought Ricoh toner 

cartridges to the show”. On exhibiting at the 

show, Giang stated that “this is the first time 

we have attended – we went to Germany for 

the Paperworld show, and we want to be 

here to check if it’s possible to keep going 

to this show” in the years to come. 

Chinese company ASTA stated that at 

the show, it was presenting “new HP Inc 

products – for now, these include the 85A, 

12A, 05A, 80A and some colours, as well as 

the CS400 and CB450”. The products offer 

value as they “work in a normal situation” in 

temperature and environmental terms, and 

have an “18-month guarantee”, while return 

on investment comes from the company’s 

mantra of “quality, services and support”. 

The company exhibited at the show 

because “we have a headquarters in China, 

and have been in Dubai over the last four 

years. Normally we are selling for retail and 

wholesale, while the most important thing is 

to advertise our brand here and give 

support to Middle Eastern and GCC 

countries”. Zhuhai Polytoner’s Overseas 

Sales Director, Jacky Liu, stated that the 

company’s products include “compatible 

and recycled cartridges”, with its newest 

and latest products at the show including 

models for Lenovo, OKI, Samsung, Canon 

and Brother printers. 

Liu commented that “we travel to shows 

across the world”, while in terms of 

35

FEATURE: Inside Remanexpo Middle East 2017 – 

products, the region and the future 

business, “generally we are recommended 

by good customers, and also catch 

customers through the internet”. The 

company’s focus on cartridges means it 

has “modern facilities”, with Liu previously 

an engineer in the industry, and he stated 

that the company’s “principle and concept 

of business is based on quality. We have 

very good customers worldwide, and our 

customers are satisfied with our quality. We 

are modern and we operate across all 

countries”. 

In terms of exhibiting and the market, Liu 

stated that “we have a new partner in Dubai 

who has also been a customer for many 

years, and who we have been in 

cooperation with for that time too. We 

decided together to open a new business 

in Dubai”. 

Market opportunities and 

challenges 

Discussing the Middle Eastern market’s 

advantages, Wang stated that now the 

company is bigger, “we can support 

customers”, and in the Middle East, 

“everything is new, so there is maybe some 

value to develop, especially as our 

products fit for all markets. We hope to 

develop a wider range”. Challenges 

meanwhile include “maybe price, as 

customers care more about price here, but 

quality [matters] too. We have their trust on 

quality. There is also competition from local 

suppliers, as well as other Chinese 

companies”. 

Advantages of the Middle Eastern and 

African markets for Cross Imaging are that 

Zhuhai Polytoner’s booth 

Turbon’s booth 

“both are large markets and both are 

getting more mature, and in terms of 

customers looking for price and quality, I 

think time is working for us. This is similar to 

our experiences in Russia 10 years ago, 

where the discussions were all about price 

– this is still a factor, but quality is now much 

more important”. 

Discussing disadvantages meanwhile, 

Weiss stated that the MEA region is 

“logistically not so easy, as companies 

don’t have big demands (such as a 

container order). Freight costs are also 

expensive, especially from the EU, and this 

is a difficulty”. On challenges, he named 

“logistics definitely”, as well as that 

“markets are quite fragmented – in some 

Canon are strong, in some Ricoh are 

strong. If you have a warehouse here – what 

stock do you put there?” 

In terms of opportunities however, he 

said that companies can “find distributors 

and realise the large potential offered” by 

the MEA. On the advantages of the Middle 

Eastern market, Kovit commented that the 

region is “the new focus of the world”, with 

both the 2020 Expo and 2022 Football 

World Cup in Qatar ahead. 

On this point, he added that this will 

mean the market “will become the focus of 

all investors and business”, while the 

“population growth is very fast”. Challenges 

in the region meanwhile include that 

“consumers and businesspeople – except 

in the UAE and Qatar – are still overall very 

conservative, and in this environment takes 

time to accept new ideas and concepts. We 


“ 

I don’t think the markets will change a lot – they changed over the last five to six 

years, but now I think they have come to a level where they’re relatively stable 

“ 

are opening minds, and this will take time – 

it will be a transition”. 

Referring to advantages of the Middle 

Eastern market, Giang stated that “we want 

to see if there are any new clients for us to 

go into cooperation with, and to explore the 

Middle Eastern market”, but in terms of 

challenges, he added that there are “lots of 

companies in the copier market, and we’re 

facing competition on price. 

“Newcomers are trying to beat us, and 

the market is changing”. ASTA’s view on 

challenges in the market meanwhile include 

the “competition in toner on price, with the 

costs very high”. On advantages of 

operating in the Middle East, Zhuhai 

Polytoner’s Liu stated that the “Gulf market 

for toners is very big, and our partner and I 

are interested in investing in the region”. 

This year’s event was “our first time to join 

the show, and we wanted to show ourselves 

– now we are here in Dubai, we want to do 

some business”. On challenges in the 

market in the Middle East and globally, Liu 

stated that “there are challenges 

everywhere, and not only just in toner. We 

insist on quality for the market, and don’t 

need to enter into price competition. You 

must have different products – originals 

offer high profit, but we can help customers 

earn money through quality through a wider 

range of cartridges”. 

Instability – an issue? 

Weiss stated that “of course we have been 

affected globally by the economic issues, 

but this current situation affects us in the EU 

mainly. We buy and sell dollars in the 

Static Control’s team at the show 

Middle East, so we have not experienced 

any significant problems. I could also not 

say that we have been affected in the 

region by geopolitical changes”. He 

referred in turn to the fact that “we have to 

deal with the reality of the Chinese, but we 

are in a good position. 

“We have strengths they don’t – for 

example, we are very close with a 

Japanese company manufacturing in 

China, and so we can indirectly make use 


37

FEATURE: Inside Remanexpo Middle East 2017 

– products, the region and the future 

of cheaper costs there. There are 

advantages to this situation, and it applies 

to here too – it’s easier for us to work with 

Middle Eastern companies than with 

China”. 

The way ahead in the MEA and 

worldwide 

Looking forward, Giang commented that in 

terms of the Middle Eastern market over the 

next 12 to 18 months, “I don’t know where it 

will go! But the competition is now fierce for 

sure”. On the global industry in the same 

period, he added that “now seems to be the 

time for anti-globalisation, with changes 

such as Brexit, and this makes it hard for us 

to do business or expand into the trading 

business now”. 

For HK Haoyinbao, aims for the future 

include “just getting a lot of new customers, 

and confirming them with our product 

quality. We have built a certain reputation, 

and we believe we will have steady growth 

in future”. In future, CET Group hopes that 

“next time we hope there are less suppliers 

like us at the show”, while on the market, 

Wang hoped that “maybe there will be new 

products and new brands, because more 

customers are needing these, from Xerox, 

Canon and Ricoh. 

“With new machines, the OEMs have new 

models, and some – such as Kyocera – we 

see customers searching for more. For us, 

quality being stable is the challenge and to 

have everything all the same. To have 

Asta’s booth 

CET Group’s booth 

control and stable is very important”. Wang 

concluded that in the future globally, “we 

hope we are leading the industry! For us, 

we hope to have more market share in the 

Middle East and worldwide, and to meet our 

sales targets”. 

For the region’s next 12 to 18 months, 

Kovit believes that “the market is still 

growing because of economics, even if the 

global economy is down. With the several 

major events coming, the governments and 

private sectors will pump money into the 

economy to involve participants in these 

events, and will bring the economies to a 

higher level – bringing a higher chance of 

companies growing too”. 

Globally meanwhile, he states that he 

believes the global industry will “still 

maintain low growth for a couple of years, 

which is good for our products, as when 

there is low growth, savings become a 

major trend to help customers to have extra 

money”. International opportunities for the 

market include “quality”, which he believes 

is a “major” opportunity, and he added that 

“the remanufacturing industry are the main 

competitors for OEMs. The majority of the 

market is still in OEM share”. 

Referring to challenges globally, he 

stated that “IP is a major challenge today, 

as today – to make a toner cartridge – it 

costs more, and is more complicated in 

terms of both IP and technical expense 

when it comes to R&D and production – 

these costs keep growing”. 

For Weiss, over the next 12 to 18 months, 

“I don’t think the markets will change a lot – 

they changed over the last five to six years, 

but now I think they have come to a level 


“ 

10 years ago, where the discussions were all about price – 

this is still a factor, but quality is now much more important 

“ 

where they’re relatively stable”. Globally 

meanwhile, Weiss stated that “at the 

German Remanexpo show, I got the 

impression that companies are looking to 

diversify their business – I’ve not got the 

same impression here. Challenges are the 

same worldwide”. 

For Cross meanwhile, “we have quite 

good EU share, and for us the MEA is a big 

opportunity. Our objective is to realise this, 

and it’s the main focus we have”. For the 

next 12 to 18 months in the Middle East, 

ASTA stated that “from the news, we have 

seen that this year it would be best to pay 

more attention to online business”, while 

it is also “looking for African market 

opportunities”. 

On a global level, a challenge over the 

next year to 18 months is that “raw materials 

costs are higher, and at the start we didn’t 

increase prices for clients – neither did our 

competitors. Our clients want better prices 

and higher quality, but don’t think about the 

cost of manufacturing. We’re finding 

solutions, but are always making sure we 

keep our brand value”. 

On global opportunities, the company 

stated that “toner cartridges are being used 

all over the world. We are in the printing 

market, but we are also in the label machine 

and cartridges market for extra business”. 

For the next 12 to 18 months, for Zhuhai 

Polytoner in the Middle Eastern market 

“business is increasing not falling, and from 

customer feedback it has been increasing 

in the last two years to multiple containers. 

“Prices are lower but business is 

increasing, and there will be a higher 

percentage of compatibles or remanufactured 

than originals”. Globally, Liu 

added he “cannot say as I am just focused 

on Africa and Asia”, so for the US and EU 

he could not coment, but he believed that 

the MEA would see “growth”. R 

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• 

years 




39

Feature 

EGreen – remanufacturing in the Middle East 

During Paperworld Middle East 2017, The Recycler’s Will Roszczyk visited UAE-based remanufacturer EGreen, discussing the 

company’s products, services, business plans and the Middle Eastern and African markets, as well as what it believes is ahead over 

the next 12 to 18 months. 

E 

Green’s Managing Director, Aliasger 

Badri, stated that the company has 

“been in business since 2004 

remanufacturing cartridges – we started in 

inkjet and moved to laser and colour laser. 

Initially with inkjet, we then went into the 

corporate market, and in the 13 years since 

we have gained over 2,000 corporate 

customers. We remanufacture around 

20,000 cartridges a month, have developed 

our own packaging and also offer 

maintenance and MPS contracts”. 

The company’s main warehouse and 

plastic recycling centre is in Ajman, a 

neighbouring emirate of Dubai, while its 

head office was in Sharjah, but it also has 

empties and finished goods storage in 

Ajman and an office in Business Bay in 

Dubai. In terms of future business, “we are 

very soon introducing a new range of 

remanufactured wide-format cartridges, as 

well as introducing a full range of green 

stationery, which is totally recycled. Both 

are part of our upcoming plan, which is 

launching very soon, and we recently also 

launched a new website”. 

Middle Eastern market, 

opportunities and advantages 

In terms of where the company focuses its 

business, Badri stated that “we started 

initially in the UAE, but are now operating in 

Oman and Saudi Arabia, and recently tied 

up with agents in Ethiopia and Uganda. We 

are also discussing business in Tanzania 

and Kenya, and have already started 

exporting to Nigeria. Africa is a new market 

for us, and there are more empty demands 

from there, so we might have to expand. 

“I just came from travelling to both 

Ethiopia and Uganda, and keep travelling 

as there are a lot of opportunities in these 

markets. While there are a lot of low-quality 

products, there is still a niche for 

remanufacturers there as well”. Advantages 

of operating in the Middle East for Badri 

include that “we are operating from and are 

based in the UAE – the main benefit of this 

is from our customers, as we speak the 

language and have direct access to the 

right connections. 

“Also, to be a company recycling on our 

own premises makes all the difference – we 

get that privilege, and it’s a tough market, 

so it gives us an edge over any 

restrictions”. In terms of disadvantages or 

challenges, for EGreen “the only challenge 

is labour, as the cost is very high, which is 

why we’re more expensive. This affects 

pricing and in turn affects market share, but 

EGreen’s Managing Director, Aliasger Badri 

I don’t see any other disadvantage. The 

UAE is helpful, as the government are 

promoting us as a greener industry, so the 

cons are lesser than the pros!” 

Opportunities inherent in the market 

include, Badri noted, “the country currently 

preparing for Expo 2020, which will bring a 

lot of new companies and a lot of footfall”, 

for which EGreen is “currently preparing” as 

well. The Expo is expected to see “25 to 30 

million visitors”, which Badri believes will 

“boost the economy, and offer a lot of 

positive movement in the industry, allowing 


If you have a good work ethic and staff, and quality cartridges, 

“you still have the edge – doing the job correctly will take us far 

“ 

us to grab a good part of the industry too. 

“We have a lot of hospitality customers, 

and have already started receiving inquiries 

from companies – three years before 2020! 

The World Cup in Qatar in 2022 will also 

definitely be an opportunity for us – we are 

currently in discussions with a strong 

company in Qatar, who are after us for 

cartridges, and we might be able to exploit 

this too. There are a lot of opportunities in 

the pipeline”. 

Instability, challenges and the 

way ahead 

On the region’s instability and how that 

might affect business, Badri was frank: 

“Since 2005, we have never had business 

from the troubled areas in the region, so for 

us there has been no direct effect of the 

instability.” He added that as the UAE has 

“become a tourist destination, it is year-byyear 

increasing as a nation, the economy 

too, and we have grown 30 percent yearover-year 

consistently as a company”. 

For 2017, EGreen is “looking forward”, 

and “we have hired almost nine 

salespeople, and almost 13 people 

altogether since January! This is a record 

for us – we’ve never hired so many people 

at once”. On challenges for the company in 

the market, he outlined low quality clones, 

but pointed out that “the government here 

has been very vigilant, and has undertaken 

many raids on lots of factories that are 

repackaging clones”. Another challenge is 

new-builds, which Badri commented were 

“really inferior and very cheap”. 

However, here the company has 

benefitted, as “we have been able to take 

big customers back who have come back 

to us from using new-builds. Their quality 

affects customer confidence in 

remanufacturing, and has been killing the 

industry’s margins”. For the next 12 to 18 

months in the region, EGreen is “seeing a 

lot of growth potential”, with 2020’s Expo 

bringing a “bigger portion of the market for 

us to get our hands on”. 

He noted that “if you’re not doing a good 

remanufacturing job, companies are 

conscious of this, and won’t let you have 

their business. I am very confident about 

the near future – you will see us 

everywhere! It’s a big opportunity to have 

contracts with us, and we have been able 


and hope to be able to keep hold of a big 

share of the market”. 

He reflected in turn that “to get the 

Middle Eastern business, you need 

companies like us – we can help with 

market penetration and brand awareness, 

and offer a gateway to the industry in the 

region. We’re then able to gain a lot of 

confidence from our customers, particularly 

with our strong sales, remanufacturing and 

logistical and administration teams. 

“We are well versed to serve the region 

very well, and there are definitely more 

European companies trying to come in – the 

trend is going up, and unstable countries 

will settle down. We’ve spoken with a lot of 

European companies interested to work 

with us or in the market, but you really do 

need local partners here to succeed”. 

A global perspective 

Finally, conversation turned to the global 

market, and Badri – on the next 12 to 18 

months across the world – stated that “for 

another two years I don’t see anything 

declining”, though pointed out that “one 

factor is that HP Inc have been aggressive 

on the inks side, which is a bit concerning. 

Otherwise, I don’t see a downside, though 

the promotion of inkjet in offices should be 

something the industry is watching. Of 

course in 10 years the printing industry 

might go down, but that is the only thing 

with inkjet – it’s a very difficult market to 

tap”. 

On challenges ahead for the industry 

globally, Badri stated that “I have been 

visiting China, India, the EU and Africa, and 

the one thing I see everywhere is that newbuilds 

are really aggressive”. On newbuilds 

that can be remanufactured 

meanwhile, he stated that “if that happens, 

how would the price factor work? It’s 

difficult to get the right price, a tough ask to 

change all the parts, and even then you’re 

still not sure if it will last long. 

“Some new-build manufacturers are only 

having very few cartridges enter the market, 

but customers don’t clearly identify 

differences between them and 

remanufactured, which could cause us to 

lose the fight for them to use 

remanufactured cartridges”. 

Moving onto opportunities for the market 

globally, Badri stated that “if you have a 

good work ethic and staff, and quality 

cartridges, you still have the edge – doing 

the job correctly will take us far”, while MPS 

is “definitely one thing everyone should 

have” to offer to customers, as it’s a “way to 

get the trust of the customer - it’s already 

the big thing!” On consolidation, he 

believes this “will keep on continuing – 

there are a lot of opportunities for this in the 

industry”, while other companies are “able 

to figure out a lot of opportunities” as well, 

such as OEM licensing deals. R 

41

The Inside Track 

Tara – doing business in Iran 

The Recycler spoke to Deputy Managing Director Fariborz Laghaie of Tara LaserJet Print Cartridge, a Tehran-based cartridge 

remanufacturer and industry company, about the company, the challenges of operating in Iran, and the effects the lifting 

of sanctions might have. 

What 

does your 

company 

do? 

We were remanufacturing 

and manufacturing 

both inkjet 

and laser printer 

cartridges, starting from 18 

years ago (mostly HP Inc cartridges 

which dominated the Iranian market). We 

stopped remanufacturing the inkjet 

cartridges from almost eight years ago 

and at the moment, we are just 

manufacturing and remanufacturing over 

100 models of cartridges in our 

production line. 

We are near to 70 persons 

working in Tara (both 

in the factory and sales 

and office administration). 

Our turnover 

was around €1.7 million 

($1.9 million) in our 

financial year of 1394 (Iranian 

year, from March 2015 to March 2016). 

How big 

is your 

company? 

How 

developed 

and how big is 

the Iranian 

market? 

The Iranian market is 

very well-developed, 

as we estimate 

around four million 

computers and 

almost one million 

printers (more or 

less). But unfortunately, 

there are not 

official statistics for the numbers of PCs 

and printers in Iran, though you can 

estimate the same as Turkey if you have 

any statistics from there. As we have the 

same population and in concerns of 

development, you can say we are at the 

same level of development of Turkey. 

Fighting with counterfeit 

and fake 

products which, you 

can say, they have 

more than 90 percent 

of market share in 

Iran. And unfortunately, 

despite of all of our efforts to 

stop them, because of corruption and 

absence of official representatives of 

OEMs (because of sanctions), lack of law 

for protection of intellectual property 

(copyright law) in one hand and the 

powerful mafia and big fake cartridge 

players, we can say that we were not 

successful even to slow down the fake 

cartridge market, let alone to achieve a 

reasonable 

share. 

market 

What issues 

and challenges 

do you as a 

company face in 

the market? 

With the 

lifting of international 

sanctions, 

how do you think this 

will help or hinder 

the market? 

Practically, we 

can say that 

lifting the 

sanctions 

cannot help 

this industry 

at all, as the IT 

products never 

were included in 

the sanctions product 

list against Iran. But it can help 

indirectly, if the OEMs decide to present 

in our market officially and watch and 

prevent the fake cartridge market in Iran. 

Are clones 

a big problem 

in Iran? 

Never, as because of 

no copyright law, 

the most and the 

biggest market 

requirements are 

for the clone 

cartridges, but 

unfortunately, lowquality 

Chinese cartridges are being 

imported in white boxes and being 

packed in fake OEM boxes (with all 

details like the hologram, which means 

distinguishing the fakes from the originals 

is really difficult for non-experts), and are 


“ 

The Iranian market is very well-developed, as we estimate around 

four million computers and almost one million printers (more or less) 

“ 

being sold mostly to the government 

sectors. 

It means that the real 

manufacturers like us do not enjoy 

any benefit of this big market and yet, 

we have a very narrow market share. 

While our quality sometimes is better than 

the OEMs, in some models or at least at 

the same quality level of OEMs (as we 

customised our products for our market 

taste, quality-wise), as we are using the 

best available components in the world 

(sometimes, we pay more than double 

price for high quality components). You 

can contact ITC and ask them about our 

cartridge quality report when getting 

STMC approval. 

It is already 

developed but it 

is not at the 

same rate of, 

for example 

UAE. Especially 

because of the 

cartridge costs. 

Is inkjet 

growing there? 

How does it 

match up to 

laser? 

How developed 

is the colour 

market there? Is 

it growing or 

shrinking? 

I think that the inkjet 

market share has to 

be at the same level 

of other countries, 

and mostly is being 

used by home users 

and small businesses. 

And especially for 

electrophotography printing. 

You can say 70 

percent of the 

market share 

belongs to 

HP Inc, and 

30 percent 

to other 

brands, which 

in order of their 

importance and 

market share are: 

Samsung, Canon, Brother and perhaps 

two percent to Lexmark. 

You can 

say 

businesses, 

especially the 

governmental sector. 

What are 

the most popular 

models of cartridges/ 

printers among 

consumers and 

businesses? 

Who buys the 

most cartridges in the 

market? Businesses or 

consumers – and 

depending on who, 

who do you deal 

with more? 

R 


43

Wide-Format Column 

Inks dictate alternatives in wideformat 

small-biz market 

Choosing a wide-format printer is a major decision for a small business doing “in-house” printing. It is 

increasingly difficult with so many alternatives available. 

A businessperson wants to find a printer 

that is not only modest in price, but also 

which consumes an ink that will be 

useful for a broad base of different 

marketing, architectural or other smallbusiness 

applications. Most inks run in 

certain machines, so the decision has to 

be thoughtful. 

Options include colour-fastness and 

the vibrancy of the print, cost of the inks 

and the printer and the variety of 

surfaces that can be used for printing, 

but the decisions also extend to safety. 

The used market for wide-format 

machines is an attractive option for 

people in the small-business market. 

The wide-format machines do not 

traditionally see as much wear as 

narrow-format printers. But the decision 

about the machine is often tied to the 

type of ink it uses. 

IDC shows sales of aqueous printers 

declining recently; eco-solvents staying 

about the same; latex printers increasing 

the most; a small increase in dye-sub; 

and UV printers are staying about the 

same. Alternatives such as gel inkjet 

inks are too new to consider. 

Traditional ink alternatives 

The heritage of inks has roots in many 

different types of substances (see 

sidebar on page 46). Aqueous ink is 

the obvious choice for most small 

businesses doing their own wideformat 

printing. The ink has been 

around since the beginning of wideformat 

printing, and is versatile to a 

point. These inks are dye or pigmentbased, 

containing various liquids to 

improve their dispersing. For instance, 

glycol keeps the dyes in solution with 

the water and retards evaporation, 

which prevents clogging print nozzles. 

Another solvent called cyclohexanone 

improves ink-polymer adherence. 

One attractive aspect is that OEMs 

such as Canon, HP Inc and Epson 

make machines that use aqueous inks. 

These machines produce vivacious 

output on diverse media ranging 

from indoor graphics to photography, 

posters or banners. These are produced 

at low-cost, with an extended colour 

gamut range, easy drying and lengthy 

colour-fastness. 

But a coated substrate is often 

necessary so the ink properly adheres. 

And vinyl and plastic substrates are 

sometimes not the best fit for these, but 

strides are being made in this. And often 

lamination is needed for colour-fastness 

for outdoor applications. 

Solvent ink and its cousin eco-solvent 

ink use solvents or volatile organic 

compounds (VOCs) that enhance 

volatility, or evaporation. These inks are 

pigments, not dye-based and faderesistant, 

and colour-fastness is high. 

They work well on uncoated or materials 

that aren’t as absorbent, and are 

waterproof and UV (ultraviolet-ray)- 

resistant. Any printers using these 

substances require ventilation. 

Eco-solvent inks have a milder 

solvent, rather than the aggressive 

solvents in purely solvent ink. These 

inks are not environmentally-friendly, 

but ventilation doesn’t have to be as 

extensive. Sometimes heat is necessary, 

depending on the substrate. Costs have 

lowered for these inks, which make high 

quality prints. 

Wide-format printers using UV curing 

or UV-LED printers have a multitude of 

different chemicals that when exposed 

to UV light dry almost instantly. Highlyvibrant 

colours are one of the hallmarks 

of prints from these machines. 

Safer than solvent inks, with better 

curing and durability, improved 

adhesion and faster printing and curing 

speeds, UV inks have enhanced the 

prospects for UV-LED printers. These 

machines traditionally cost much more 


Tel: 01993 899800 • info@therecycler.com • therecycler.com 

The Ricoh MP CW2201SP, a GELJET wide-format colour printer, was designed for CAD and GIS use, but has 

use in many other areas. GELJET features waterproof ink technology and innovative features such as a smart 

operation panel and auto-nozzle detection (photo courtesy of Ricoh) 

than aqueous machines because of the 

technology. 

Most people think of latex as being the 

milky substance from plants, but the 

substance used in latex printing is not 

the latex in gloves or that in plants. The 

latex used in wide-format latex printers 

uses a latex defined by the common 

chemical term, and uses a polymer that 

is “aqueous-dispersed”. Latex ink uses 

water as the primary ingredient and a 

latex or resin-based carrier. 

The ink doesn’t have the toxicity of 

VOCs, nor does it cause allergies to 

those allergic to latex. The inks are 

odourless and rely on heaters inside the 

machine to dry, so prints can be used 

instantly. The flexibility of these inks is 

key - from indoor to outdoor, from 

coated to uncoated - and they are able 

to make appliques that can be applied to 

surfaces such as vehicles. Some of the 

used latex machines are as inexpensive 

or almost as inexpensive as aqueous 

machines. 

Dye-sublimation processes 

Another option is the dye-sublimation 

process, which is usually something 

specialised small businesses use. These 

specialised printers, from the small A4 

“ 

Printers and inks 

are improving. Inks are 

superior to earlier ones 

in quality and price. 

Machines capable of 

multiple substrates are 

also becoming more 

available 

“ 

size up to those over five feet (1.52 

metres) or even larger, have a similar 

process moving a solid to gas to a 

printing surface, which can be ceramic, 

fabric or about anything. 

Ink, toner or a dye ribbon is often 

used. For fabric, the ink configuration is 

often cyan, yellow and magenta with an 

overspray to protect the dye from UV 

light and moisture, sometimes called 

CMYO. But dye-sublimation is capable 

of having a rainbow of colours and hues. 

A dye ribbon is often used in small 


45

WIDE FORMAT COLUMN: Inks dictate alternatives in wide-format small-biz market 

photo dye-sub printers. The printer 

rollers move the substrate or transfer and 

coloured panels together, varying the 

amounts of dye depending on the 

amount of heat applied by the thermal 

printhead. The ribbon is then rewound 

for the next cycle. 

Ink’s humble beginnings 

A newer option 

Want a machine that uses inks that dry 

on contact, are water insoluble, have no 

heating element and are UV-resistant? 

Welcome to the world of GELJET inks. 

Ricoh introduced these printers and the 

ink several years ago with features that 

make a hybrid inkjet-laser experience. 

The Ricoh MP CW2200SP is a colour 

wide-format option, and is listed for 

$10,043 (€9,285) on the internet. The 

newer model is the Ricoh MP W2201SP 

GELJET. 

The GELJET system uses a liquid gel 

ink. The ink comes from a dual-tank 

system, fed from the vacuum-packed 

cartridges. When the ink volume falls 

below a certain level, the reservoir is 

topped off. The piezoelectric system is 

called a “micro-piezo” system for precise 

laying down of the ink. There is zero ink 

waste. 

Another feature of the GELJET inkfeeding 

system is the wider printhead 

that covers more area during each pass. 

Another is that it has a lighter footprint 

so duplexing doesn’t show through. The 

ink has enhanced viscosity compared to 

traditional inkjet, making a crisper, 

sunlight-resistant, waterproof image on 

the surface. 

Without a heater, Ricoh GELJET 

printers save energy. Another feature is 

the use of belt transfer much like laser 

printers, keeping the paper flat and 

ensuring the feed does not have rippling. 

A snapshot of inks and printers 

Printers and inks are improving. Inks are 

superior to earlier ones in quality and 

price. Machines capable of multiple 

substrates are also becoming more 

available. While there seems to be a 

number of different types of ink available 

for wide-format - recent arrivals, too, 

other inks that may transform printing 

are not far away. 

R 

In the first archaeological drawings we 

have, animal blood or liquids from 

materials found in nature used as ink. A 

cave wall was the substrate for 

prehistoric man in some of the first 

paintings and writing. Here are other 

some major parts of ink’s beginnings: 

• Middle Eastern people used a reed 

and honey with tar for ink as early as 

3000BCE. 

• Chinese writers used animal glue and 

soot, but also plant and animal 

derivatives and some ground-up 

materials like carbon graphite. Pine 

tree resin was also used. Lampblack 

was a later component. Writing with 

forms of ink again dates as far back as 

3000BCE. 

• Egyptian inks had various colours, but 

their black ink was soot, vegetable oil 

and beeswax with ink beginning 

about 2,700 years ago or about 600 

BCE. 

• Romans used quills for pens with ink 

made with soot, vinegar and gum. 

Sixteen centuries ago, Romans used 

iron salts mixed with tannin from 

gallnuts and thickener, making a 

bluish-black ink, according to 

Christian Science Monitor’s Sharon J. 

Huntington. Roman ink also 

sometimes contained lead, according 

to Popular Science. 

• In ancient Europe, a 12th century ink 

recipe required hawthorn branches to 

be cut in the spring and left to dry, the 

bark pounded and soaked in water, 

and the water boiled until it thickened 

and turned black. Then wine was 

added while it was boiling. The ink 

was then poured into special bags and 

hung in the sun. Once dried, the 

mixture was mixed with wine and iron 

salt over a fire to make the final ink. 

This was used by scribes from about 

800AD to 1500AD, according to 

Huntington in Christian Science 

Monitor. 

• One of the most significant inventions 

that enhanced the portability of ink 

was the inkstick or inkstone. An 

ancient Chinese invention, ink from 

the cake or stone could be mixed with 

water and. The earliest inkstone 

excavated was 300BC. R 

Editor’s Note: Neal McChristy is a 

freelance writer with over 30 years 

journalism experience in magazine, 

newspaper and web-based work. He has 

been contributing editor for a magazine 

column in the wide-format industry for 

seven years. He also has 20 

years’ experience as writer, editor and 

editorial contributor in the printing and 

imaging area. He likes to correspond with 

readers and can be reached at 

freelance9@cox.net. 


Retail Column 

Who’s to blame when employees 

disengage? 

Every savvy manager can walk into a 

store or backroom operation and 

immediately sense how the business is 

going. Energy levels are high, employees 

are on their feet and conversations are 

open, trusting and focused. That one 

indicator is the green light to profit. 

Businesses in crisis are just as easy to 

spot: the room is quiet, customers are 

watched before being approached (if at 

all) and hushed conversations are 

punctuated by cynical laughter usually 

at management’s expense. The 

difference is engaged employees. 

But I distrust that term: engaged 

employees. Because it makes it sound 

like it is 100 percent on the employee 

to engage with the business. Truth is, 

the first day on the job, every employee 

is an “engaged employee”. But in the 

weeks and months that follow, their 

managers will determine how long they 

will be able to retain that original 

enthusiasm for their job and company. 

We as managers determine whether our 

team is energetic, focused and 

supportive or if they are defensive 

clock-watchers. 

And by now, there are certainly 

members of your team that are 

disengaged. Despite perhaps years of 

investment on your part in training and 

routine performance conversations, you 

may still have a significant portion of 

the staff that is either overtly or 

covertly disengaged. An American study 

states that a worker on the average 

eight-hour shift is productive only three 

hours of the time (over two hours 

surfing the web, 31 minutes eating and 

drinking, 45 minutes on personal calls 

and texts, an hour talking about nonwork 

things with co-workers. You get 

the idea). It’s expensive to replace those 

employees. So how do you get them to 

re-engage at a high level with their job 

and your customers? 

1. Notice them. Personally. Every day. 

Part of the reason workers lose interest 

in performing at their best is a belief 

“ 

We as managers 

determine whether our 

team is energetic, 

focused and supportive or 

if they are defensive 

clock-watchers 

that their work goes unnoticed. As the 

guilt of stepping away from their work 

becomes replaced with a sense of 

business as usual, they can get the 

signal that management will look the 

other way (literally and figuratively) 

when they pull away from giving 100 

percent to their job. You job is to be 

their coach. Coaches watch their team 

play every single minute of the game 

and they watch them in practice. Then 

they provide LOTS of feedback – 

especially when a player has made 

small improvements to their skills. Your 

job is to be so close to the employees 

that you can see and recognise when 

they are making efforts to improve. 

Even if they are just trying something 

new, make sure to give them 

encouragement and support. Let them 

know you think they are capable and 

that their efforts make your company a 

better place to work. Yes, it also means 

being close enough to point out when 

they are falling short – but if you 

remember the 5:1 ratio (five items of 

encouragement for every correction) 

you will see that even severelyunderperforming 

employees will rise to 

the challenge. At the very least, the 

diligent coaching may help them 

choose a different job. 

2. Listen to them. 

Actively listening to employees means 

reading what they mean – not just 

what they say. One trick I use to 

evaluate a company’s culture is to 

notice if workstations and break rooms 

have snarky comics or signs. Dilbert 

cartoons in the IT department and signs 

that say “yesterday was the deadline for 

all complaints” in the customer service 

48 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 294 • MAY 2017 

“ 

Flora Delaney

Tel: 01993 899800 • info@therecycler.com • therecycler.com 

area are indicators that a base of 

employees are actually asking for help. 

It’s a passive-aggressive way to use 

humour to point out that they know 

they are not being heard and are not 

providing the kind of service they are 

capable of. 

Ask to shadow someone on staff, just 

to learn what it is like to spend a day in 

their shoes. Find out what their real 

obstacles are and work on making 

changes. I’m not suggesting that every 

request be fulfilled. But listen to them 

complain about response times from 

other team members, lack of visibility 

to time lines from suppliers and other 

issues that are within your control to 

adjust. 

WARNING: This WILL backfire if you 

commit to do something about an issue 

and nothing changes. You must go into 

this with the intent to listen, learn and 

take action. Not on every item. Not 

immediately. But if you commit to 

addressing an issue you MUST report 

back to your team quickly on what will 

change. 

3. Believe in them again. 

It takes work to be optimistic in the 

face of a disgruntled workforce. But if 

you do not demonstrate belief in their 

ability to make the company succeed, 

there is nowhere else for that optimism 

to come from. Only management can 

provide sustained belief in the future. 

Any well-intentioned employee’s voice 

who cheerleads the team will quickly go 

silent in the face of a disengaged 

“ 

You must go into 

this with the intent to 

listen, learn and take 

action. Not on every 

item. Not immediately. 

But if you commit to 

addressing an issue you 

MUST report back to 

your team quickly on 

what will change 

“ 

culture. But a manager who finds that 

one employee can work together to 

change the attitude and the 

productivity of the entire staff. 

A word about dark forces 

As you re-commit to your team, get 

closer to it every day and provide 

consistent feedback; there will be some 

who will sit on the sidelines and watch. 

There is hope for them. These are the 

employees who are waiting to see 

which side will win: the culture of 

cynicism and malaise or the power of 

positivity and energy. They can be led 

by good management back to 

efficiency. There are likely to be a small 

percentage of people who will take it as 

a personal mission to fight to keep the 

status quo. For them, management will 

always be the enemy and to unite 

behind any management request will 

always be seen as selling out. 

First, no matter what your intuition, 

you may not be able to smoke out 

those people until you have given a 

consistent focused effort to bring them 

around. In more cases than I can count, 

the opinion leaders within the team 

that initially seemed the most 

intransigent ultimately became the 

most passionate when they fully 

engaged. Sometimes it is the most 

talented (and perhaps the most bored 

in their current capacity) who take on 

the role of rebel leader within the team. 

Working closely with them to reawaken 

their passion can yield 

tremendous productivity across the 

team. Those “spectators” will change 

shortly thereafter. For this reason, it is 

important that you embark on this 

effort with an open mind toward every 

employee. 

If an employee has made the choice 

to stay disengaged and will not change, 

it is important to have frank 

conversations about the specific 

behaviour needed to succeed in their 

current role. Talk about behaviours – not 

attitudes or intentions – and have a 

deadline. As the employee realises that 

there is a change afoot they may 

choose to leave. Or escalating 

conversations may lead to their 

departure. In either situation, a very 

clear message will reinforce the change 

with your remaining staff. The malaise 

of the past is in the past and the team 

is operating at a new level. 

Notice that employee engagement 

begins with management. If the team 

in your operation is disengaged, there 

is only one way to eliminate it and 

reach new profitability: manage your 

way out. 

R 

Flora Delaney is a retail consultant and 

advisor to the remanufactured cartridge 

industry in the US. A seasoned retail 

executive, Flora’s clients benefit from 

her holistic approach and pragmatic 

solutions. Email flora@floradelaney.com 

to reach her. 


49

PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY 


ASIA Ninestar, HP Inc, Cartridges 

Ninestar launches 

replacement HP 

Inc cartridges 

The company has launched the 

“patented toner cartridges” for 

use in the OEM’s LaserJet Pro 

M102 series of printers. 

ASIA Mito, Remanufacturing, Dell 

Mito launches remanufacturing kit 

Mito Colour Imaging has announced a new remanufactured alternative toner kit for Dell colour 

smart printers. 

The kit is for Dell’s new colour 

smart printers that were released 

November 2016, and the new 

product, the MT-DE-S3840/3845 

K/CM/Y, is for use in the Dell 

S3840cdn and Dell S3845cdn. 

Mito claims that they are “easy to 

manage and secure to address 

the needs of medium to large 

enterprises and government 

agencies”. 

The Dell S3840cdn and Dell 

S3845cdn feature print speeds of 

36ppm in black and colour, with 

a high resolution of 1,200 x 

1,200dpi. The OEM release 

has a printing capacity of 

approximately 3,000 pages in 

mono and colour, while the high 

yield remanufactured toner kit 

features a yield of 11,000 pages 

in mono and 9,000 pages 

in colour. 

The company has invested in 

research and development, and 

attributes the new release to 

this, and is offering the 

remanufacturing kit to Dell in 

China, adding that “it is 

comparable with OEM 

performance in page yield and 

print quality”. 

For more information, visit 

www.mito.com.cn. 

The company stated that the 

release includes four different 

monochrome cartridges, which 

feature yields matching the OEM 

of 1,600, 1,400, 1,600 and 3,500 

pages respectively to replace the 

CF217A, 218A, 230A and 230X 

originals. The first of the four can 

be used in the LaserJet Pro 

M102W, MFP M130A, M130NW, 

M130FN and M130FW. 

The second of the four 

meanwhile can be used in the 

LaserJet Pro M104, MFP M132SNW, 

M132FP and the M132NW, while 

the last two cartridges can be 

used in the LaserJet Pro 

M203D, M203DN, M203DW, MFP 

M227FDN, M227FDW and 

M227SDN. Ninestar adds that the 

cartridges feature a “selfdeveloped 

patent”, are “first-tomarket”, 

have “stable and 

outstanding printing performance” 

and do not include a chip. 


www.ggimage.com. 

GLOBAL Uninet, Remanufacturing, Technology 

Uninet launches new products 

The company launched toners and parts for a range of OEM applications over the last month. 

Uninet’s first launch was 

Absolute Colour toner and parts 

for remanufacturing cartridges in 

Ricoh’s MPC 2503 and 2003, 

including “toner cartridges, 

smartchips [and an] OPC drum”, 

while toner and smartchips were 

also launched for Epson’s 

WorkForce AL-C300. 

In turn, smartchips were 

launched for Europe and the 

USA for the Konica Minolta 

bizhub C25 and 35, alongside 

toner cartridges for the Kyocera 

TASKalfa 3551, 3550 and 3051, 

while Absolute Black toner and 

parts were launched for Xerox’s 

Phaser 3330 and WorkCentre 

3345 and 3335, including toner, 

OPC drums and smartchips. 

Next, toner and parts were 

launched for use in Okidata’s 

B512, 432 and 412 in the 

Absolute Black range, while 

Absolute Colour inks were 

launched for use in HP Inc’s 

OfficeJet Pro 8000 range. Next 

were ASiC smartchips for use in 

Kyocera printers, featuring “zero 

defect rate” as well as “true 

OEM cutting-edge technology”, 

“reduced overall cost” and RoHS 

compliance alongside being 

“stealthware protected”. 

The chips can be used in a 

wide range of printers, including: 

the TASKalfa 7551; 7550; 6551; 

6550; 406; 356; 266; 265; 2551ci; 

TK865; 250ci; 300ci; FSC 8650; 

8600; 5250; 2626; 2526; 2126; 

2026 MFP; ECOSYS P7040; 6130; 

M6530; 6030; P6035; MFP M6535; 

6035; ECOSYS FSC 8020 MFP; 

8650; 8600; TK 825; 574; 564; 

560; 554; 552; 550; 544; 542; 540; 

594; FSC 5400; 5300; 5350; 5300; 

5200; and 5100. 

Other launches included 

Absolute Colour toner and parts 

for use in Dell’s S3845 and 3840 

printers, alongside multipurpose 

toners “qualified on multiple 

applications” replacing Samsung’s 

MPT-MLU2 toner. The toner can 

be used in: the SL-M4075; 4070; 

4025; 4020; 3875; 3870; 3825; 

3820; 3375; 3370; 3325; 3320; 

2876; and 2875. 

Toner and “parts” were also 

launched for the Xerox Phaser 

3610 and WorkCentre 3655 and 

3615, including X Generation 

black toner, smartchips and an 

OPC drum, while “toner 

cartridges and parts” for the 

Konica Minolta bizhub C554, 

454, 368, 308 and 358 were 

launched alongside X 

Generation toner and chips for 

the bizhub 4750, 4700, 4050 and 

4000, alongside toner cartridges 

for the Ricoh MPC 6004, 6003, 

5503, 4504 and 4503. 


www.uninetimaging.com. 

Warsaw 


Partner briefings 



Search for The Recycler on Facebook for all the latest news and coverage 


GLOBAL Apex, Chips, Remanufacturing 

New chips from Apex 

The chip manufacturer has launched replacement chips for Samsung and Brother inkjet cartridges as well as for Ricoh toner cartridges. 

The Samsung launch refers to 

the most recent devices 

launched last October after the 

OEM’s printing business was 

acquired by HP Inc, with the 

chips featuring “SoC design” 

and “consistent perform-ance” 

alongside “strong firmwareresistant 

technology”, SmartMatch 

technology compatibility, and 

“can [be] used in [a] recycled 

cartridge”. 

The “first-to-market” chips are 

used in the SL-J2920W and 

2960FW printer and MFP, with 

the first of these two featuring 

print speeds of 30ppm in black 

and 26ppm in colours, with 

a resolution of 4,800 x 1,200dpi. 

The second features print speeds 

of 30ppm in black and 29ppm in 

colour, and the same resolution, 

with Apex’s CMYK chips 

featuring yields of 1,000 pages in 

black and 825 pages in colour. 

The Brother launch 

meanwhile covers four new 

models launched in the Japanese 

The company’s new releases 

include monochrome laser 

toners for HP Inc applications, 

with the first replacing the toner 

used in the OEM’s 18A model of 

cartridge, used in the LaserJet 

M104A and M132 printers, and 

available in bottles. The second 

of the two releases is monochrome 

toner replacing the 

OEM’s original in the 33A 

market earlier this year, with 

cartridges used in the models 

also able to be used in the 

LC211 series. The chips feature 

“ASIC design with consistent 

cartridge, used in the LaserJet 

M106W and MFP 134FM. 

The Indian toner manufacturer 

also announced that it 

would shortly launch its new 

toners for use in Lexmark 

printers. The first toner is for the 

TS-810 cartridge, and can be 

used in the following Lexmark 

printers: the MS 711; 811, MX 

710; 711; 810; 811; 812 (MS-810); 

performance”, while “one-time 

use and CISS solution[s] are 

available”, and the chips also 

“pass the new firmware 

verification”. 

These chips are also “first-tomarket”, 

and can be used in the 

MFC-J837DN and DWN printers, 

with the CMYK chips featuring 

yields of 270 pages. Finally, the 

company has launched chips for 

use in the SP 450DN printer 

series. Apex stated that the chips 

are “first-to-market” and feature 

“consistent performance”, noting 

that the OEM launched the 

monochrome laser printer last 

December. 

It added that it features a print 

speed of 40ppm and “supports 

mobile printing” with both 

AirPrint and the OEM’s own 

Smart Device Print&Scan 

functionality. The chips are 

available for sampling on request 

and “consulting [is] sincerely 

welcome”. The printer is said to 

be suitable for “small and 

medium-sized workgroup[s] or 

office[s]”, with Apex’s chips 

available now and “replacement 

chips with yield[s of] 5,000 

[and] 10,000 [pages are] coming 

soon”. 

The company has produced 

drum and starter cartridge chips 

for the printer, with the former 

featuring a yield of 20,000 pages 

and for use worldwide, while the 

latter has a yield of 3,000 pages 

and is also available for use 

worldwide. 


www.apexmic.com. 

IMEA Indian Toners, Toner, India 

Indian Toners launches new toners 

The Indian toner manufacturer has launched new toners for use in HP Inc applications and is set to release new toners for 

Lexmark printers. 

MS; MX-310; 410; 510; 511; 610; 

and 611. The toner will be sold in 

20kg bulk packaging. 

The second release meanwhile 

was toner for use in the T-650 

cartridges, which can be used 

with the Lexmark T-652 and 654 

(650) printers, and also comes in 

20kg bulk packaging. 


www.indiantoners.com. 




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51


EUROPE 

The Recycler, Remanufacturing 

Another 

remanufacturing 

guide available 

The most recent step-by-step 

remanufacturing guide covers 

the HP Inc LaserJet Pro M102 

drum cartridge. 

The drum cartridge is used in the 

LaserJet Pro M102 series of printers, 

based on a 23ppm, 600dpi (1,200dpi 

with HP FastRes) engine with a stated 

first page out in 7.3 second. The 

printer has two cartridges – the toner 

(CF217A) and the drum (CF219A), 

with the drum unit rated for 12,000 

pages. Other printers the drum 

cartridge can be used with include the 

LaserJet Pro M101; M102a; M102w; 

M104a; M104w; MFP M129; M130a; 

M130fn; M130fw; and M130nw. 

The Recycler previously launched 

the Online Magazines and Guides 

page, where you can download or 

view all remanufacturing guides or 

wide-format quarterlies. The first 

guide this year was for the HP Inc 

LaserJet Pro M26 toner cartridge, 

while in 2016, guides were released 

for the HP Inc LaserJet Pro M102; 

Samsung Xpress M3015DW MLT- 

D118S; ProXpress M3080/M4080; 

ProXpress M4580; Xerox Phaser 3020 

toner cartridge; HP Inc Colour 

LaserJet Pro MFP M476 black and 

colour toner cartridges; Brother HL- 

L6200 series drum cartridge (DR820); 

HL-L6200; and Lexmark C925. 

Others included: the Xerox Phaser 

3010 toner cartridge; Phaser 3610; HP 

Inc’s LaserJet Enterprise M506/MFP 

M527; and the Colour LaserJet Pro 

M452 and MFP 477 black and colour 

toner cartridges. In November and 

December 2015, remanufacturing 

guides for HP Inc’s LaserJet Pro M201 

and MFP M225 and LaserJet Pro 

M402/MFP M426 were launched. 

In October 2015, The Recycler also 

launched five new guides for Xerox, 

Brother, Samsung and HP Inc 

cartridges. All of the guides have been 

provided by Mike Josiah and the 

technical team at Uninet, and you can 

find all previously-released guides 

from The Recycler at the Online 

Magazines and Guides page. 

EUROPE CIG, Remanufacturing, Cartridges 

The remanufacturer has launched replacement remanufactured toner cartridges for use in the 

OEM’s Xpress machines and the CLX 9201 series. 

In the first release, the company 

stated that the products consist 

of remanufactured toner 

cartridges for the Xpress M2070 

and other machines in both high 

and extended yield, with the 

M2070 said to be a “multifunctional 

mono laser printer 

with a maximum print speed of 

20ppm and a monthly duty 

cycle of up to 10,000 pages”, 

with functions “aimed at the 

mobile worker and easy 

wireless connection from 

mobile devices”. 

The monochrome toner 

cartridges can be used in a wide 

range of the OEM’s printers, 

including: the Xpress M2020; 

M2020W; M2021; M2021W; 

M2022; M2022W; M2026; 

M2026W; M2070; M2070F; 

M2070W; M2070FW; M2071HW; 

M2071FH; M2071FW; and 

M2071W. The high yield 

remanufactured cartridge 

features a yield of 1,800 pages at 

five percent coverage, while the 

extended yield features a yield of 

2,000 pages at five percent 

coverage. 

CIG added that beyond the 

“two page yield variants” 

launched, the standard yield 

(with a yield of 1,000 pages) is 

“already on the CIG range”, and 

that the new releases “benefit 

from the substantial investment 

that CIG has made in R&D in 

order to offer you a 

remanufactured product that 

equals, and often exceeds OEM 

performance”. 

It concluded by noting that 

“there is a definite win-win 

situation for you and your 

customers”, with companies 

able to “boost your margins and 

offer your customers a reliable 

product for a fraction of the 

equivalent OEM cost – 

satisfaction guarantee included!” 

In the second release 

meanwhile, the company stated 

that the remanufactured CMYK 

cartridges are designed for the 

CLX-9201 series of printers, 

which are A3 colour laser MFPs 

that “are very popular models in 

today’s fast-paced business 

environment”, with print 

speeds of 20ppm in black and 

colours. CIG added that in 

terms of paper handling, the 

Read more from CIG on page four 

ASIA Cipher, Chips, Sindoh 

Cipher launches Sindoh chips 

The company has developed chips for use in the OEM’s A420DN and A620DN machines. 

Cipher told The Recycler that 

the chips were developed this 

month in three separate yields, 

including 3,000, 7,000 and 

12,000 pages. It also added that 

“although Sindoh is not very 

well known outside Korea, we 

hope to supply these models to 

anyone who seeks [them] 

around the world”, and that 

“more Sindoh chips are on the 

way, and we would like to inform 

that our engineers always 

welcome any development 

requests”. 

The 3,000 and 7,000 yield 

chips are for use in both the 

A420DN and A620DNs, while 

the 12,000 yield chip is 

designed for use in only the 

A620DN. 

In February, the company 

launched toner and drum 

chips inters, with a variety of 

different yields available for use 

in a range of the OEM’s 

printers and cartridges. 


www.cipheret.com. 

CIG launches remanufactured 

Samsung cartridges 

maximum capacity is 2,180 

sheets, while there is also 

automatic duplexing “as a 

standard feature”. 

It also noted that the printer 

features a “monthly duty cycle of 

up to 100,000 pages”, which 

means users “spend more time 

printing and less time waiting!” 

The cartridges from CIG 

meanwhile can be used in the 

following Samsung printers: the 

MultiXpress C9201; C9201N; 

C9201NA; CLX-9251; 9251N; 

9251NA; 9301; 9301N; and 

9301NA. 

The CMYK cartridges also 

feature yields of 20,000 pages in 

black and 15,000 pages in 

colours at five percent coverage, 

with CIG adding that the 

cartridges “are a perfect fit for 

these printers” and are 

“remanufactured using only 

high quality and non-harmful 

components”, while its 

collection programmes “are fully 

compliant with current 

environmental and waste 

regulations”. 


www.cloverimaging.eu. 


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EUROPE KMP, Inkjet, Germany 

KMP launches new inkjets 

The German company has launched inkjet cartridges for use in HP Inc and Epson applications. 

The company stated that the first 

of the HP Inc launches consisted 

of “black pigmented ink for pinsharp 

texts and colour dye ink 

for brilliant pictures, just like the 

original”, adding that users can 

“save costs between 49 and 65 

percent per printed page 

compared to the original”. The 

cartridges replace the OEM’s 934 

and 935 standard and XL 

originals, and can be used in a 

wide range of its printers, with 

the black featuring a yield of 600 

pages and the colours 900 pages. 

The cartridges can be used in 

the following HP Inc machines: 

OfficeJet 6800; 6812; 6815; 6820; 

6822; 6825; OfficeJet Pro 6200; 

6230; 6235; 6239; 6830; 6835; 

and 6230. The next HP Inc 

launch was a multipack replacing 

the 932 and 933 standard and XL 

originals, with two separate 

multipacks covering CMYK and 

CMY cartridges. In the first, the 

black featured a yield of 1,200 

pages and the colours 1,000 

pages, while in the second the 

colours featured yields of 1,000 

pages. 

The multipack can be used in 

the following HP Inc devices: the 

EUROPE CIT, Chips, OKI 

CIT launches OKI chips 

OfficeJet 6100 e-Printer; 6600 e- 

All-in-One; 7110 wide-format; 

7510 wide-format; 7600; 7610 

wide-format; 7612 wide-format; 

and 6700 Premium. Finally, the 

company launched an ink tank 

replacing Epson’s T7441 

original, featuring a yield of 

11,000 pages, and able to be 

used in the following printers: 

the Workforce Pro WP-M 4000; 

WP-M 4095 DN; WP-M 4500; WP- 

M 4525 DNF; WP-M 4595 DNF; 

and WP-M 4015 DN. 

The company also added that 

the newest additions to Epson’s 

Ecotank series – the ET-2600 

and 2650 – have been “added 

as compatibilities” for KMP’s 

ink bottles, ranging from E162 

and 165. 


www.kmp.com. 

The company has launched multi-region chips for use in some of the OEM’s printers. 

In an email sent to customers, 

the company stated that “the 

OKI MC853 and MC873 series 

[of MFPs] are surely one of 

OKI’s most popular high-end 

MFPs in [the] field with a 

surprisingly high installed base 

all over East and West-Europe”. 

It added that “these machines 

make a great low cost per page 

for MPS specialists”, and that it 

was “proud to announce” the 

new chips. 

The multi-region chips are 

“groundbreaking”, according to 

CIT, and are designed for use in 

the toner and drum units, with a 

“top line of toner” available from 

CIT as well, alongside an OPC 

and wiper blade to “follow 

soon”. The CMYK chips are 

available in two different yields – 

the first with yields of 7,000 

pages in black and 7,300 pages 

in colours, and the second with 

yields of 15,000 pages in black 

and 10,000 pages in colours. 


www.citbv.com. 


AUSTRALASIA Ink, Recycling 

Company recycles 

ink for artists 

An Australian company collects 

ink from recycled cartridges and 

sells it to artists. 

Broadsheet reported that a company 

called Lousy Ink collects the ink from 

a recycling plastics factory, where 

printer cartridges are recycled for 

their plastic, while the remains of the 

ink is collected as chemical waste. The 

company was founded by two artists, 

Oli Ruskidd and Mike Eleven, who had 

the idea of recycling the ink for local 

artists, and now the company is 

organising an exhibition in Melbourne 

to show what the artists have created 

with the ink. 

More than 40 artists will showcase 

their work at the exhibition, and they 

all had a brief for their creations, 

which was to “create a new work that 

pushes the flexibility of the ink”. The 

company also supports Arts Project 

Australia, “a Victorian charity that 

supports artists with intellectual 

disabilities”, and 10 percent of every 

sale is donated to this cause. 


53


Visit our events website at www.therecycler.com/live for all the latest event news 

EUROPE wta, Remanufacturing, Cartridges 

More remanufactured cartridges from wta 

The German remanufacturer has launched remanufactured HP Inc and Samsung toner cartridges; remanufactured Canon toner 

cartridges; and remanufactured Xerox toner cartridges. 

The HP Inc release includes 

remanufactured toner cartridges 

for the HP Inc Colour LaserJet Pro 

M252 and 277 printers, including 

their DW and N variants, and 

replaces the OEM’s original 

CF400X, 401X, 403X and 402X 

consumables. The wta cartridges 

feature yields of 2,800 pages in 

black and 2,300 pages in colours. 

The Samsung release 

meanwhile saw remanufactured 

toner cartridges launched for use 

in the Samsung ProXpress C3010 

and 3060 machines, as well as their 

ND and FR variants. The cartridges 

replace the OEM’s CLT-K503L, 

C503L, M503L and Y503L originals, 

and feature yields of 8,000 pages in 


The Canon launch consists of 

remanufactured copier cartridges 

for use in the imageRUNNER 

C13259F, 1335iF and iFC machines, 

with the CMYK cartridges 

featuring yields of 16,500 pages in 


Finally, the Xerox launch includes 

two new releases for the same 

devices – the Xerox Phaser 3330 

and WorkCentre 3335, 3345 and 

DNI variants. The two separate 

releases are because both are 

different yields, with one featuring 

a yield of 8,000 pages and the 

other 15,000 pages. 

Recently, the company 

launched remanufactured HP Inc 

and Kyocera cartridges; remanufactured 

Samsung and Ricoh 

cartridges; and remanufactured 

Samsung, Kyocera and Canon 

toners. Last year, it launched: 

remanufactured Canon toners; 

remanufactured Konica Minolta 

toners; remanufactured Ricoh 

cartridges; inkjets for the Canon 

PIXMA IP 2850; remanufactured 

cartridges for the Colour LaserJet 

Enterprise M552DN and 

553DN/N/X; a range of Kyocera 

replacements; replacements for 

OKI printers; Canon and Brother 

replacements; and also released a 

remanufactured Xerox cartridge. 

For more information, 

visit www.wta-suhl.de or 

www.mygreentoner.de. 

EUROPE Pelikan, Cartridges, Toner 

Pelikan launches range of new toner cartridges 

The company has launched replacement toner cartridges for HP Inc, Kyocera and Xerox applications. 

Pelikan stated that the new toner 

cartridges are “the cost-saving 

alternative to expensive supplies” 

from OEMs, with the new toner 

cartridges for HP Inc applications 

including CMYK replacements for 

the OEM’s CF400X, 401X, 402X 

and 403X with yields of 2,800 

pages in black and 2,300 pages in 

colours. These cartridges are used 

in: the HP Inc Colour LaserJet Pro 

M252DW; M252N; M274DN; 

M274N; M277DW; and M277N. 

For Xerox meanwhile, the 

company launched CMYK 

cartridges to replace the 

106R01594 through to 1597 CMYK 

originals, with yields of 2,500 

pages in colours and 3,000 pages 

in black. These cartridges can be 

used in: the Xerox Phaser 6500DN; 

6500N; 6500; WorkCentre 6500; 

6505DN; and 6505N. Finally, 

Pelikan launched a replacement 

for the two-colour TK-1140 

original from Kyocera, with a yield 

of 7,200 pages. 

This cartridge in turn is able to 

be used in: the ECOSYS 

M2035DN; M2535DN; FS-1035 

MFP; 1035 MFP/DP; 1135 MFP; and 

1135 MFP/DP. 


www.pelikan-printing.com. 



View The Recycler Directory at www.therecycler.com/directory 

EUROPE Aster, Cartridges 

Aster Europe launches new packaging service 

The company has revealed a new flexible packaging service that will make “private branding easy”. 

The service will enable 

customers to “promote their 

brands” at minimal cost, and 

Aster has different packages to 

suit every business, including 

solutions for private label, private 

packaging sleeves, customised 

box replacements, customers’ 

branded products storing and 

multi-combinations. 

Aster said that the private label 

solution “provides the customers 

with the opportunity to stick 

their own labels, which contains 

their logos, company names, 

reorder numbers and contact 

information, on Aster’s generic 

boxes”, and that the private 

sleeve offering enables 

customers to “dress Aster’s 

generic boxes with their own 

branded sleeves” to promote 

their own brand, adding that 

“this is the most convenient and 

econom[ic] way” to do this. 

Customers can also send “their 

own boxes to Aster’s warehouse 

in the Netherlands” where the 

company will personalise them, 

as many “may change the boxes 

into their own branded packages 

when they receive the generic 

stock”, but “this [can] be quite 

time and labour costly”, so the 

customised box replacement 

solution allows Aster to “change 

its generic boxes into its 

customers’ private boxes”. 

With the service, any “branded 

stock” ordered from Aster’s 

factory in China can be stored in 

the Venlo warehouse and 

shipped in batches to the 

customer’s own store at their 

convenience. Aster said that 

online customers who prefer 

ordering toner in sets save 

money on shipping, ordering and 

promotions, and “Aster’s multicombination 

solution can help 

the online seller make the 

combinations easy” by making 

“the multi-packs and multicombinations 

[…] in its own 

warehouse and the online sellers 

can fulfil their customers’ orders 

directly”. 

Gianluca Traficante, Vice 

President of Sales at Aster, said: 

“Aster understands the local 

customers’ demands and we are 

always improving our service to 

deliver customers with more 

value. Thanks to our strong and 

experienced in-house warehouse 

team, we can make the 

customised packaging project 

and branding plan become a 

reality now. 

“This service lowers our 

customers’ expenses and 

manpower of branding, thus they 

can focus more on revenuegenerating 

activities in their 

business. I’m glad that this 

service has received tremendous 

positive response from our 

customers and I’m sure more 

customers will benefit from this 

service.” 

GLOBAL Printers, Technology, Printing 

Guide to finding printer webpages 

An Apple Mac support site has given a guide to finding your printer’s individual webpage. 

MacObserver hosted the article 

by Melissa Holt, who intended to 

show users “how to check out 

your printer’s webpage (and why 

you might want to!)”, starting by 

asking “how much longer is 

printing going to be a thing? 

Dear universe, can it please go 

the way of the dinosaur and the 

fax machine? Wait, people still 

use fax machines, don’t they? 

Dear universe, can fax machines 

go away too?” 

She counters by noting that “I 

guess as long as we have to keep 

printers around, we should 

know something about 

troubleshooting the darned 

things, right”, looking at “visiting 

your printer’s local webpage”. 

She adds that “not every model 

supports doing so, but if yours 

does, it’s a handy trick to have in 

your arsenal for when your 

device starts misbehaving”, as 

“sometimes certain options and 

features will be listed there (or 

will function properly from 

there!) and nowhere else”. 

She advises users to first “click 

on the Apple Menu at the upperleft 

corner of your screen and 

pick ‘System Preferences’. From 

there, you’ll choose ‘Printers & 

Scanners’”, which is “the place to 

start for accessing your printer’s 

built-in webpage”. On this page, 

users should “select the device 

you’d like to check out from the 

left-hand list. Then you should 

see an ‘Options & Supplies’ 

button to click”. 

Holt points out that “this is 

the same place where you can 

check your ink levels, say, while 

you’re sitting at your Mac […] 

under the ‘Supply Levels’ tab”, 

and adds that “not all printers 

will have the choice we’re 

covering available, but if your 

device supports it, you can go to 

‘Show Printer Webpage’ under 

the ‘General” tab”, warning that 

“your printer has to be turned on 

for this to show up”. 

From here is “where it gets 

interesting”, as “when you click 

that button, you’ll be taken to 

your browser, where it’ll launch 

the local webpage for your 

printer”, and once there “what 

you can do here will vary wildly 

depending on your model, but 

for mine, for example, I can use 

this to get network or status info 

on my device, configure Google 

Cloud Print or AirPrint, or (and 

here’s a biggie) update the 

firmware on my printer”. 

She adds that “I’ve had two 

client printers lately that refused 

to update their firmware 

through the menus on the front 

of the devices, so knowing that I 

could check and install from 

here was awesome. And as I 

noted, your printer’s page will 

likely be different from mine, but 

heck, it’d be good for you to go 

in when you’re not having 

trouble with yours just to see 

what’s what in those settings”. 

She concludes by stating “one 

more thing: If the webpage 

asks you for a username and 

password when you try to access 

it, just Google something like 

‘[your printer model] default 

login’, and you’ll likely find that 

info to gain access”. 




EUROPE Katun, Canon, Cartridges 

Katun launches Canon toner 

The company has launched Performance Colour toner for use in Canon applications. 

The company shared on 

LinkedIn that the Performance 

Colour-brand toner has been 

launched in Europe in “great 

news for European Canon 

dealers”, with the toner 

designed for use in Canon’s 

imageRUNNER ADVANCE C3320 

and 3330 series of printers. 

Katun added that its toner 

features “outstanding colour 

reproductions, excellent image 

quality, OEM-equivalent yields 

and big cost savings”. 

It added that the “highlyanticipated” 

launch for the MFPs 

has been “brought to the 

European market just 22 months 

after the OEM machine 

introduction”, and “enables 

dealers to significantly increase 

their service profits early in the 

life of these machines”. The 

toners are "forward and reverse 

compatible with the OEM 

toner”. 

In February, Katun shared that 

it had launched Performance 

compatible colour developer 

units for use in a range of 

Olivetti MFPs, including the d- 

COLOR MF222, MF282, MF362, 

MF452 and MF552 series. Earlier 

this year, the company also 

launched drum kits, cartridges 

and MPS tools for Canon, 

Kyocera and HP Inc applications. 


www.katun.com. 

GLOBAL Printers, Technology, Printing 

Internet Explorer printer add-on launched 

The ScriptX browser add-on “enables controlled and consistent printing” from the web browser. 

Cambridge Network hosted a 

release from MeadCo, which 

produces the ScriptX add-on, 

with the eighth version of the 

software enabling “controlled 

and consistent printing from 

Internet Explorer”, specifically 

the “newest edition”, version 11. 

The company added that the 

add-on can help users take 

“control of printing from the 

internet”, with “consistent 

formatting and appearance of the 

printed output” among the 

features. 

These “key benefits” help with 

printing “browser-hosted content 

from any local or networked 

printer […] regardless of the 

printing configurations already 

set in each individual computer’s 

Internet Explorer browser”. 

This means that both “HTML 

and PDF forms” alongside “legal 

and financial documents, 

prescriptions, wristbands, 

barcodes, labels and tickets can 

be printed correctly first time, 

every time, identically, from all 

devices”. 

New aspects in the eighth 

version of the release include 

“main installers being 

dramatically reduced in size and 

the introduction of a new ability 

to control the smallest scale 

factor, useful for graphing on 

large monitors with high pixel 

counts”. The add-on has been 

launched in turn because “from 

last year, Microsoft only provides 

technical support and security 

updates to the most current 

version of IE”. 

MeadCo “foresees that many 

of its customers may choose to 

update to IE 11 on all their 

client PCs and wants its offering 

to reflect the very latest 

technology”, though it 

“guarantees continued support 

for ScriptX to all licensees, even 

when Microsoft introduces 

newer versions and updates”. 

This means it will “continue to 

provide technical support, bug 

fixes and security updates to 

users of ScriptX on earlier 

versions”, and “continue active 

development”. 

Jerry Mead, CEO of MeadCo, 

stated: “If all end users operate 

Internet Explorer 11, then 

ScriptX 8.0 is the best possible 

option. ScriptX 7.7 should be 

deployed if end users operate a 

mix of Internet Explorer 11, 

alongside previous releases, or if 

the end users operate Internet 

Explorer 10 or earlier. ScriptX has 

been available as a browser addon 

since 1998 and is currently 

installed on many millions of 

Windows machines around the 

world. 

“Whilst it is great to have 

proven 100 percent functionality 

and security over nearly 20 years, 

it is also vital that ScriptX 

continues to be at the very 

forefront of new technology. This 

is why we constantly develop and 

improve the system, creating 

new releases, while ensuring 

existing customers will always be 

supported.” 


57



GLOBAL Printer Aide, Toner, Technology 

Printer Aide 

launches secondgeneration 

‘toner 

catcher’ 

The company has launched the new 

devices for both A4 and A3 printers. 

The company stated that the Toner 

Catcher “can be used for most types of 

laser printers” as well as MFPs in both 

A4 and A3 sizes, having launched the 

first generation last year. Later last year, 

the company discussed the threat from 

toner emissions, and cited with the new 

launch that researchers at Harvard 

T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s 

Centre for Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology 

“discovered that some 

printers release particles at 

concentrations comparable to highly 

polluted highways”. 

Printer Aide added that “it may also 

conclude that laser printer-emitted 

engineered nanoparticles can be 

deleterious to lung cells and may cause 

persistent genetic modifications that 

could translate to pulmonary 

disorders”. However, this “doesn’t 

mean that people should stop printing 

— just that minimising exposure to 

nanoparticle emissions during printing 

might be a good idea”. 

It recommends three solutions to 

this issue, starting with that a laser 

printer “should be located in separate, 

well-ventilated areas equipped with an 

outgoing air mechanism, and that users 

leave the room during large print jobs”. 

Second, it recommends users “do not 

wait [for] your printout near the laser 

printer. Get your printout five to 10 

minutes after”, while finally it 

recommends using the Toner Catcher 

to “catch most of the emitted particles 

and smell”. 


www.printeraide.com.tw. 

EUROPE EBP, 3D printing, Technology 

Polaroid and EBP launch 

3D pen in Europe 

The Polaroid Play pen is now available in the European market. 

Polaroid and UK remanufacturer 

Environmental Business 

Products (EBP) signed a deal 

last year for the latter to 

produce a 3D printer, the 

Polaroid ModelSmart 250S, and 

consumables for the global 

brand. Now, the two have 

partnered on 3D pens, with the 

Polaroid Play now available in 

the European market for 

€39.99 ($42.47), with 3Ders 

reporting on the launch. 

The site stated that “at CES 

2017 […] Polaroid announced 

some products that piqued our 

interest”, including “three new 

desktop 3D printers and two 3D 

pen models”, with the Polaroid 

Play “not marketed as a 

professional design tool, but 

rather a playful, creative tool”. 

The site added that “we can tell 

from the 3D pen’s name, as well 

as its affordable cost” that this is 

the case, and that the pen “uses 

hot tip technology to melt 

plastic filaments as they are 

extruded”. 

Users also have “the option 

of employing either a manual or 

automatic extrusion function, 

and can choose from a variety of 

print speeds”, while “in terms 

of material”, it offers a range 

of “colourful” 1.75mm PLA 

filaments in 20 “fantastic” hues, 

but “at least for now, the only 

colour the pen comes in is a 

black and blue combination”, 

though “other colours may 

follow”. 

It is accompanied with a 

companion app called Polaroid 

Play Trace, which gives users 

“the ability to turn any photo 

into a stencil, which they can 

then trace over with the 3D pen 

to create some very cool and 

quite elaborate 3D models”, 

though the pen can “of course 

[…] also be used freehand”. It is 

aimed at “ages 14 and up”, and 

comes with “notable safety 

features” including “automatic 

turn-off ” and “an autoretraction 

feature that will 

retract filament if the pen is 

inactive for 10 minutes”. 

The auto-retraction feature 

aims to “help prevent filament 

blockages”, with the site adding 

that in addition to the pen, 

Polaroid and EBP released 

“10 new universal filament 

materials” in 40 colours for FFF 

and FDM 3D printers. These 

include premium PLA, ABS, 

PETG, flexible, PVA and “a 

number of composites such as 

P-Copper, Elastic, P-Wood, 

P-Aluminium, and P-Carbon 

fibre”, which can all be used 

with Polaroid’s Precise filament 

holder and scale to measure 

and weight filament amounts. 

Scott W. Hardy, President and 

CEO of Polaroid, said: “We’re 

excited this year to expand our 

3D offering in Europe. Inspiring 

creativity has always been at the 

heart of the Polaroid brand for 

80 years, and the Polaroid Play 

3D pen provides consumers 

with a new fun and easy outlet 

to express themselves.” 

Warsaw 


Meet your industry colleagues 



Read more about printer security in our feature in issue 293 

GLOBAL Printers, Security, Technology 

Printers’ security threats examined 

An article noted that printers “still pose a security threat”, in light of recent revelations. 

Dark Reading reported on why 

“newly-discovered security flaws 

[…] remind us how networked 

devices continue to put users at 

risk”, as “networked printers for 

years have left gaping holes in 

home and office network 

security”, and experts “continue 

to find flaws in popular laser 

printers, which are putting 

businesses at risk”. 

The article cited the recent 

reports from the University 

Alliance Ruhr, which found 

“vulnerabilities in laser printers” 

from OEMs including Dell, HP 

Inc, Lexmark, Samsung, Brother, 

and Konica Minolta. That report 

had estimated that “up to 60,000 

currently deployed printers 

could be vulnerable” as a result. 

Dark Reading hosted 

comments from OEMs and 

security companies, with 

Jeremiah Grossman, Chief of 

Security Strategy at SentinelOne, 

commenting that “when 

unprotected, printers expose 

users to several types of attacks”, 

as “hackers can use vulnerabilities 

to capture old printer 

logs, which may contain 

sensitive information”, and “may 

also use these flaws to establish 

their foothold in a networked 

device and move laterally 

throughout the organisation to 

gather data”. 

In turn, “some attackers want 

to wreak havoc outside a single 

business”, and “with networked 

printers under their control, a 

cybercriminal may use one 

company’s bandwidth to 

perform DDoS (Distributed 

Denial of Service) attacks”. 

Grossman predicted “these 

examples are among the many 

types of damage that will 

continue to threaten security as 

part of the growing Internet of 

Things (IoT)”. 

He also pointed out “most of 

the time, printers are not going 

to be terribly different from any 

IoT device”, as “hackers who 

find vulnerabilities in the web 

interface can take over, as they 

could for any device connected 

to the network”, but the article 

points out that “printers have 

been around far longer than 

most IoT products”, so “why is 

their security still a problem?” 

Grossman believes this is 

partly a “lack of awareness”, as 

“normally, the purchasers of 

network-connected printers 

aren’t concerned. ‘Why should I 

be concerned about a printer?’ 

they ask. But it’s not just a 

printer; it’s a computer inside a 

printer and should be treated as 

such”. Ed Wingate, Vice 

President and General Manager 

of HP Inc’s JetAdvantage 

Solutions, added ownership is 

another factor, because “printers 

are shared devices, and it’s often 

unclear whether they belong to 

IT, facilities, or the team 

responsible for purchasing 

them”. 

This “leads to ambiguity over 

who should control the security 

of each device”, while “there is 

also the longstanding issue” of 

OEMs “not supporting patches 

on older devices”, which 

Grossman says “relates to 

dysfunctionality in the market”, 

and OEMs are “more relaxed 

about security because they 

aren’t liable when devices are 

not secure”. He calls this a 

“market failure that will be 

difficult to correct because 

patches won’t be made 

available”. 

If they are, they “won’t be 

patched often”, and he views 

printer security as “more of a 

market problem”, as “businesses 

have the information they need 

to protect themselves”, but 

“won’t be secure due to lack 

of incentive”. Implementing 

intrusion detection “is difficult” 

because most printers have 

operating systems, which are 

“equally interesting targets”, and 

users “can’t rely on third parties 

to develop” anti-virus solutions, 

because OEMs “need to build 

their own”. 

HP Inc, Wingate states, 

“partnered with intrusion 

protection software providers” 

for the JetAdvantage Security 

Manager, and adds that “there 

used to be an expectation that 

printers should be managed in 

the same way PCs are, but the 

print industry didn’t do enough 

to help users do it”. Grossman 

believes printers “will become 

more popular targets over time”, 

and are “low-hanging fruit” and 

“easier to target”, advising users 

to check OEM sites for patches. 

He also recommends isolating 

printers so they can’t be hacked 

wirelessly or affect the organisation, 

while Wingate “suggests 

adopting the same baseline 

security practices businesses 

employ for computers”. 


ASIA TNCore, Chips, Technology 

TNCore advises 

on chip changes 

The chip manufacturer has 

launched an OEM reset solution 

for some chips, and discussed a 

Samsung chip issue. 

The company stated that there is a 

“shortage in supply” of the MS and 

MX310 series of aftermarket chips 

for use in Sindoh, Dell and Konica 

Minolta machines, and added that 

“as a countermeasure for this, 

TNCore propose[s to you] an OEM 

reset solution”, which utilises its i- 

PROG chip resetter. The resetter 

“supports genuine reset[ting] of 

many other brands and is in use by 

many customers already”, with the 

company adding that “your business 

will be safer” with the solution. 

In turn, it discussed recent 

findings that compatible chips for 

the Samsung CLT-404 machine are 

“not recognised [in printers] that 

[are] manufactured after February 

2017”, with TNCore “preparing the 

updated chip to solve this 

problem”. The manufacturer also 

noted that “considering previous 

Samsung firmware update[s]”, the 

404 series of printers manufactured 

and launched since February this 

year “may also have [the] same 

problems”. 

On this note, it pointed out that 

the machines affected would 

include the 404, 118, 201, 403, 503, 

704, 804 and 806. 


www.tncore.com. 




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THE RECYCLER - ISSN 2045-2047 (Print) 

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