The Recycler Issue 301

Feature
UKCRA considers HP’s help request
The Recycle reports on the latest UKCRA meeting that was held 15th September 2017.
At their recent meeting, the
UK Cartridge Remanufacturers
Association (UKCRA) discussed at
length a request from Anthesis (UK)
Ltd, an environ-mental consultancy
firm appointed by HP to study how
many cartridges are remanufactured
and recycled each year in France,
Germany and the United Kingdom.
UKCRA Secretary, Laura
Heywood, explained that HP is
seeking very detailed information
on the market structure at the collector and broker level.
The profile of cartridges collected, what percentage goes to
the OEM and third-party remanufacturers and what
happens to unusable cartridges; what amounts are
incinerated or landfilled. HP is also seeking figures for trade
between the United Kingdom and the rest of the European
Union remanufacturers.
HP is also seeking information on how many cartridges
need to be collected to remanufacture one cartridge and
how non-OEM new built cartridges affect the market.
UKCRA members expressed concerns at the level and
detail of information HP wants and raised concerns that HP
may well gain a commercial advantage from the information
or that they may well use the information supplied for
marketing purposes.
Dr Rob Hewlett, a consultant, working for Anthesis then
gave a short presentation about the study and assured the
members that any information supplied
would only be used internally by HP.
He felt that “there are opportunities
here, particularly if we can show that
the new build compatible market is a
significant threat to both the OEM
and remanufacturing sector.”
Members agreed that UKCRA would
not support HP’s request for help, but
members could respond on a
company by company basis.
Static Control’s Simon Grimes gave
an overview of the challenges they see in the UK market and
shared some of the latest information on market trends and
market figures. In the Q&A session, Grimes faced some
tough questioning on the Lexmark chip situation which
concerned the whole audience.
“Why Remanufacture”, a topical subject among members
was the title of a presentation by David Connett, of Connett
& Unland GbR that set out the current benefits and
opportunities for all aspects of remanufacturing in Europe
and the environmental and commercial benefits that
remanufacturing brings to the EU market.
The OEM’s in 2025 - For a bit of fun the meeting
discussed a list of OEM’s and voted to say whether the OEM
brand would be around in 2025 or not. Of the nineteen
OEM’s on the list, UKCRA members think that at least six
OEM brands will not be around in 2025. Find out which ones
in the next issue of The Recycler.
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36 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 301 • DECEMBER 2017