The Recycler Issue 315

www.therecycler.com Issue 315 l FEBRUARY 2019 l £10 

WHITE ELEPHANT, OR THE ROAD 

TO THE FUTURE? THE HONG KONG- 

ZHUHAI-MACAU BRIDGE 

Towards the end of last year, the ribbon was officially cut on the almighty 

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, or HZMB, after years of delays, billions of pounds, 

and overwhelming anticipation. Starts page 5 

First Aid in the 

workplace 

LightWords 

celebrates a decade 

INSIDE: 

DECABDE-FREE 

Static declares their products 

are free of DecaBDE 

p10 

TURBON HIRES 

p11 

Miguel Neureiter joins Turbon 

Products GmbH 

IT’S A WARP! 

ECS reflects on an eventful 

2018 and its new hire 

p16 

The Recycler takes a look 

at what you need to know. 

Starts page 32 

The Recycler caught up with 

Peter Mayhew. 

Page 39 

THE “FALLEN ANGEL” 

Xerox downgraded to “junk” 

by Moody’s 

p32

EDITORIAL 

Editorial 

Contagion 

The trade press has been full of stories 

about excessive levels decaBDE, some 

of which is correct and some of which is 

incorrect and one story we read was 

probably libellous. Static are to be 

commended for their fast and positive 

actions, unlike some others who would 

like to bury the topic. It is an emotive 

and important issue at the moment, 

OEMs included. 

Why? Well set the contamination 

aside for the moment, investigations 

commissioned by The Recycler show 

that a great number of companies 

selling cartridges on Amazon are not 

registered for WEEE which is a 

requirement if you are placing products 

on the market. Equally there are 

little or no details of their collection 

programmes for their cartridges on 

their websites, so what should a 

consumer do? They either send it to 

someone else, (collectors, remanufacturers, 

OEMs) for recycling, or they 

end up in landfill. 

WEEE works that each company pays 

for the cartridges they place on the 

market and then receives a credit for 

each cartridge that is collected. The 

difference between what you place on 

the market and collect funds the safe 

and correct recycling of unusable 

cartridges. Unregistered companies 

are freeriding on the whole industry 

and not paying the cost of disposing of 

their cartridges that can be as high as 

€8 per cartridge! It is not a big leap to 

assume that if s company is not 

registered for WEEE, they are probably 

not registered for REACH. 

Back to decaBDE, the substance is 

not just in new built cartridges, some of 

our tests show that it is in some 

remanufactured products as well. Did 

you remanufacture a new build 

cartridge? 

The perceived wisdom until now has 

been that used new build cartridges are 

sent to landfill, but that is actually 

the worst thing you can do. They do 

actually need to be returned to the 

manufacturer or a specialist plastics 

company for reprocessing. That 

means ensuring that everyone selling 

cartridges should comply fully with all 

WEEE and REACH requirements. 

How do you know who makes what? 

Blockchain technology may well be the 

answer. 

At this stage we are withholding the 

names of companies where we have 

tested their products and found them to 

be contaminated. But we will inform 

Amazon and the relevant authorities. 

That the issue is here is bad, that 

companies are freeriding on the 

industry and not paying for the cleanup 

is worse. It’s bad for the 

environment, it’s bad for consumers 

and it is bad for the industry because we 

all pay. 

First Aid 

You might think our first aid feature is 

teaching you to suck eggs and I am 

sorry if it does. A few years ago, a 

colleague had been feeling poorly for a 

few days, instead of taking some time 

off and going to the doctor, he went to 

work and later that morning suffered a 

mild heart attack. The first aider new 

her stuff and did all the right things to 

keep him stable until the paramedics 

arrived. 27 minutes later and within the 

golden hour he was in hospital and 

made a full recovery. Without the first 

aider it might have been a different 

story. Even the smallest business needs 

a first aider. 

Turbon Products 

Congratulations to Miguel Neureiter 

who has recently joined Turbon 

Products GmbH as the new Business 

Development Manager and will bring 

his wealth of knowledge and expertise 

to the role. 

Xerox 

I wanted to say something profound 

about the Xerox junk bond saga but 

reviewing all the media coverage over 

the last year it is hard to single out one 

thought. Instead it reads more like an 

ongoing soap opera. 

The bridge 

Stefanie Unland Managing Editor 

When the channel tunnel between the 

UK and France opened, it was supposed 

to be the end of cross channel ferries. 

But 25 years later ferries still handle 

most of the cross-channel freight. The 

Hong Kong to Zhuhai bridge, the civil 

engineering masterpiece is now open. 

For those that suffer sea sickness it will 

be an easier trip to Zhuhai, but it won’t 

be the end of the ferries. Freight wise it 

can shorten the time from Zhuhai to 

Hong Kong which is an advantage if 

you are producing FMCG, but for 

imaging products, I am not sure that it 

really will impact on shipments. That 

said the bridge is impressive! R 

THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 315 • FEBRUARY 2019 

3

In this Issue 

City News 

20: ECi buys Print Audit in double acquisition 

21: Messe Frankfurt reports new sales record 

22: ImageNet acquires again; “Fallen angel” Xerox 

downgraded to junk; Fujifilm chairman calls 

Xerox acquisition “difficult” 

White elephant, or the road to the future? 

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge 

Towards the end of last year, the ribbon was officially cut on the 

almighty Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, or HZMB, after years 

of delays, billions of pounds, and overwhelming anticipation. 

Starts page 5 

First Aid in the 

workplace 

LightWords 

celebrates a decade 

Around the industry 

24: The ins and outs of Canon’s legal labyrinth 

25: Buromax Supplies appoints new MD; IIMAK 

welcomes Hasan Bagli; Seville unveils Ecopoint 

collection facilities 

26: A fresh face and festive cheer for CiT; 

Paperworld Middle East diversifies offerings 

27: Epson: From firmware fracas to financial growth 

28: Cartridge crime, convictions and counterfeiting 

30: A mixed conclusion to 2018 for Xerox 

Feature 

32: First Aid in the workplace 

Wide-Format Column 

Editorial 

3: Editorial 

Feature 

5: White elephant, or the road to the future? The 

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge 

World Focus 

10: Static Control declares products DecaBDE-free 

11: Top reinforcement in the Turbon team; New 

patent for CET Group 

12: Static Control rebuffs rumours of SA closure; 

IMEX unveils brand new look 

14: OCP’s future secured; UniNet celebrates a 

successful 2018 

16: ECS wraps up an eventful year; New CEO is 

overhauling Staples 

18: Temporary ceasefire in US-China trade war; 

IIMAK acquired by ACON 

4 

The Recycler takes a look at 

what you need to know 

Starts page 32 

The Recycler caught up 

with Peter Mayhew 

Page 39 

36: Used small business printers; budget-worthy 

and not 

Feature 

39: LightWords celebrates a decade in business 

Retail Column 

40: The year of the plan 

42: Grooming your replacement 

Feature 

44: The Recycler general information and advertising 

conditions of acceptance 

Products & Technology 

46: Ninestar’s plethora of patented new products; 

Static Control launches new components 

47: CiT’s array of new products revealed; Biuromax 

launches new compatible toner cartridges; LD 

Products release new extended yield cartridges 

48: Apex releases a raft of replacement chips 

50: Katun unveils new cartridges, eyes expansion; 

Latest product releases from KMP; New Gikar 

remanufactured drum unit 

51: Aster unveils a host of new products 

THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 315 • FEBRUARY 2019

FEATURE 

White elephant, or the road to the future? 

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge 

Towards the end of last year, the ribbon was officially cut on the almighty Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, 

or HZMB, after years of delays, billions of pounds, and overwhelming anticipation. 

Planet Earth’s longest sea crossing, as well as its longest fixed link, the thirty-four miles of bridges, tunnels 

and tarmac has had a long, controversial, and in some ways, dark, history; its proponents claim it will 

revolutionise the three cities, its detractors see it as a waste of money, an environmental threat, and possibly 

something even more sinister. But what’s the truth? The Recycler takes a look… 

Why here, why now? 

When the HZMB was officially opened on 

24 October 2018, it was already two years 

behind schedule, having missed the 

planned opening date of 2016 by quite a 

margin. But for a project aimed at boldly 

speeding up commerce, traffic, travel, and 

trade between the three cities, the history of 

the bridge is a slow and steady one. 

According to Nikkei Asian Review, the 

necessity of the bridge derives from the 

colonial history of the two Special 

Administrative Regions (SARs), with 

Macau being a Portuguese territory, and 

Hong Kong being under the control of the 

British, until 1999. This tripartite 

ownership meant that until the very end of 

the twentieth century, “economic 

exchanges among the three were minimal.” 

With China assuming control of the SARs, 

things began to change, and the HZMB was 

seen as pivotal in speeding things up. 

That desire for speed is itself one of the 

key promises of the megabridge. Previously, 

travel between Hong Kong and Zhuhai 

could take up to four hours, with the HZMB 

slashing this, to as little as just half an hour. 

In fact, all three territories are now within 

an hour’s drive of each other. According to 

the Hong Kong government, the distance 

between Zhuhai and Hong Kong’s Kwai 

Chung Container Port could shrink from 

200 kilometres to just 65 kilometres, and 

could be completed within 75 minutes. 

This economy of distance could have 

financial benefits too, with Frankie Yick 

Chi-ming, Transport-focused member of 

the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, 

claiming that drivers could save HK$300 

($38/€33) in fuel costs per trip thanks to 

the bridge, and could even consider two 

trips in one day. 


“Some companies transporting cargo 

through feeder ships are expected to 

change their route to the bridge, as it would 

be much faster,” Yick told South China 

Morning Post (SCMP). He explained that 

before the bridge’s construction, cargo 

making its way to Hong Kong had to go via 

the Humen Bridge, linking Guangzhou and 

Dongguan; this was, he said, “a long 

detour,” and left drivers subject to heavy 

congestion at Humen. 

The HZMB, then, was designed not only 

for speed but for economy, with the 

proposed huge benefits to business excitedly 

talked up. It wasn’t just the freight industry 

that stand to benefit, although with 

companies now able to keep cargo on the 

road, rather than on the seas, that is also an 

attractive proposition. “It could be a third 

cheaper to move cargo on the bridge 

[compared to shipping services], about 

HK$4,000 ($510/€446) per trip,” 

suggested Stanley Chiang Chi-wai, 

Chairman of the Lok Ma Chau China-Hong 

Kong Freight Association, to SCMP. 

The authorities involved in the HZMB’s 

construction view the megabridge as a 

potential symbol for the surging 

regeneration of the whole area, which is 

home to a combined 68 million people. 

China’s President Xi Jinping envisages the 

bridge as being central to the ‘Greater Bay 

Area’ scheme, a national initiative to 

develop eleven cities in the south of China 

into an integrated business and economic 

hub, while it will also become a key facet of 

the HZMB Economic Zone, which will allow 

for the development of businesses “from 

warehousing logistics, to cross-border e- 

commerce, to tourism,” according to China- 

Lusophone Brief. 

“With the opening of the bridge, the HNZ 

[Hengqin New Zone, the area surrounding the 

HZMB Economic Zone] can use the 

advantages of Hong Kong’s airport, 

logistics, and financial services, and with 

the bridge, drive the flow of people, goods, 

capital, and information,” declared Yang 

Chuan, Director of the HNZ Management 

Committee. The tourism industry of Macau 

is also set to benefit, China-Lusophone Brief 

added. 

The most unflinching vision for the 

potential of the HZMB to bring prosperity 

unsurprisingly comes from the official 

website, which not only boasts the 

aforementioned reduction of transportation 

times and costs (described as 

“substantial”) and the opening up of 

facilities and container ports in Hong Kong 

to cargo from further afield, but also claims 

that the bridge will “enhance the 

competitiveness of the Pearl River Delta visà-vis 

countries of the Association of 

Southeast Asian Nations and other 

economic zones such as the Yangtze River 

Delta region.” 

The same website describes the HZMB as 

of “strategic importance” to further 

development in the Western Pearl River 

Delta region, stating that it would make the 

area more attractive to external 

investment, “which is conducive to the 

upgrading of its industry structure. Hong 

Kong will benefit from this new economic 

hinterland, with its vast human and land 

resources which will provide ample 

opportunities for Hong Kong businessmen 

to expand their operation in the Mainland.” 

Furthermore, those behind the HZMB 

claim it has the capability to “enhance 

Hong Kong’s position as a trade and 

logistics hub,” whilst also delivering 

substantial tourism benefits, with 

attractions such as the Ngong Ping 360 

cable car and the Big Buddha statue on 

5

FEATURE 

White elephant, or the road to the future? continued 

Hong Kong’s Lantau Island suddenly more 

easily accessible. 

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chunying 

spoke glowingly of the project during 

an inspection in prior to its completion, 

talking up the potential of the HZMB and 

speaking of his hope that the Lantau 

district could become a new business hub 

itself, creating what he termed “a 

bridgehead economy.” Speaking with 

Xinhua, Leung also envisioned a 

strengthening of Hong Kong’s role as the 

“super connector” between the Chinese 

mainland and the rest of the world. 

As well as increasing trade, business, and 

tourism, and planting a further flag for 

Hong Kong on the global stage, the lesser 

benefits of the HZMB listed include a boost 

to property in Zhuhai, with officials there 

hoping that Hong Kong residents unable to 

buy or afford homes in the territory will 

instead purchase in Zhuhai and either 

commute, or retire. However, not every 

argument put forward for the bridge has 

such positive connotations, with some 

painting it as an imposing symbol of 

Beijing’s increasing authority over China’s 

SARs. 

While there have been hopes that the 

bridge will “facilitate cooperation in other 

areas” between the three territories, 

according to SCMP, others fear that it 

instead represents the Chinese government 

“tightening its grip on its semiautonomous 

territories,” as The Star 

describes it. As one example of this, the 

Malaysian newspaper explains how the 

main section of the bridge is considered by 

Beijing as “mainland territory”, with Hong 

Kongese cars and drivers being warned 

they “must comply with the laws and 

regulations of the mainland” by the city’s 

Transport Department. Other criticisms 

bemoan the “giving away” of territory to 

China by the Hong Kong government. 

Building the behemoth 

Construction originally started on the 

bridge nearly a decade ago, with first 

ground being broken back in 2009. Since 

then, the unprecedented structure has run 

over budget and over time, but in the 

process achieved several staggering feats of 

engineering. 

Described as “the most technologically 

complicated bridge” by China Daily, the 

HZMB utilised 420,000 tonnes of steel, a 

vast amount that would be enough to 

construct the Eiffel Tower sixty times over. 

In addition, 1.08 million cubic metres of 

cement were utilised, and two entirely new 

artificial islands were built either end of 

the 6.7 kilometre underwater section, 

bringing home the reality of the scale of 

the project. 

China Communications Construction 

Company’s Chief Engineer Ling Ming told 

China Daily that bringing the HZMB to life 

presented “great engineering challenges,” 

whilst Yin Haiqing, a leading engineer, 

shone further light on the physical toll 

involved. 

“We had to use immersed tubes,” Yin 

elaborated. “Due to lack of experience, it 

took us 96 hours to lay the first tube in the 

ocean, and many of the engineers and 

workers hardly slept for four consecutive 

days.” 

A standardised quality of cement was 

also required to maintain consistency 

through the huge project, with as many as 

sixteen cement mixing stations in 

operation simultaneously. 

As the HZMB crosses the shipping lanes 

of the Lingding Channel, it wasn’t only 

length that was paramount, but height as 

well, with the project presented with the 

dual conundrum of needing to be tall 

enough to let ships pass under, without 

being so tall as to interfere with the airspace 

of the nearby Hong Kong International 

Airport – hence its unique and undulating 

form, and the more than four miles of 

undersea tunnel, linking the sections of the 

elevated highway. The tunnel is at such a 

depth that container vessels will be able to 

pass over the top of the HZMB, as well as 

underneath it, another unique feat. 

As a whole, the bridge is built to last for 

“at least” 120 years, according to France 

24, with the structure able to withstand 

winds of up to 340 kilometres an hour – 

an important requirement, given its 

vulnerability to typhoons. 

As an extra feature, the HZMB is even 

fitted with what have been termed ‘yawn 

cams’, trained on the drivers of the shuttle 

buses ferrying passengers across the bridge. 

CCTV will monitor the drivers’ faces, 

registering how many times they yawn; the 

BBC reports that if more than three yawns 

are spotted, authorities will be alerted, in a 

bizarre attempt to improve passenger safety. 

Deaths, dolphins, and divided 

opinions 

The impressive construction project has not 

been without its drawbacks though, with 

a fair share of tragedy too: Local media 

has given the HZMB various macabre 

nicknames, such as a “blood and sweat 

project”, and the “bridge of death”, after 

eighteen reported fatalities during the 

building process, although some official 

sources have placed the figure lower. 

There were also serious safety concerns 

raised with the very design of the bridge, 

with power supply rooms on the artificial 

islands located in the basement, leading to 

fears of water seepage and potentially fatal 

electric shocks, according to SCMP. 

“The basement of the passenger 

clearance building is prone to underground 

water leakage problems as it is built on an 

artificial island surrounded by sea,” 

explained civil and structural engineer 

Simon So Yiu-kwan. “Its transformer room 

and switch room should not have been 

placed in the basement.” 

“It will be very dangerous as short 

circuits can kill people,” So added. Whilst 

some local politicians, such as the Civic 

Party’s Tanya Chan, blasted the oversight, 

others, like Roundtable’s Michael Tien Puksun, 

was more relaxed, claiming leakage 

was not an uncommon problem, and 

measures were in place to prevent deadly 

explosions. A further problem arose when 

one of the artificial islands themselves 

ending up moving seven metres out of 

place, due to the dredging method used, 

although despite sounding calamitous this 

was described as only “a small hiccup.” 

In fact, the bridge has been at the centre 

of a raft of controversies - including the 

jailing of three technicians found to have 

rigged the testing of the concrete used - and 

particular debate has surrounded the effect 

on the local dolphin population. 

Environmentalists have raised concerns 

over the rare and already endangered 

Chinese white dolphin species, formerly 

common in the Pearl River estuary. 

According to the Hong Kong branch of the 

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the 

6 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 315 • FEBRUARY 2019

FEATURE 

dolphins are now entirely absent from the 

waters surrounding the HZMB, decreasing 

from 148 to just 47 over the past decade. 

Samantha Lee, the WWF’s Assistant 

Director of Ocean Conservation, admitted 

she was “worried that the number will 

never rise again,” adding that the 

megabridge project “has made irreversible 

damage to the sea.” 

However, the authorities responsible for 

the HZMB seem to contradict these 

ecological assertions, with China Daily 

quoting them as saying that the white 

dolphin population in the nearby waters 

rose from as many as 1,400 in 2009, to 

2,100 in 2016. They also stipulated that 

the creatures were taken into account 

during construction, with steps being 

taken to minimise disturbance to dolphin 

habitats. 

Gary Stokes, Director of Sea Shepherd 

Asia, remained critical, however: “The 

Environmental Impact Assessment only 

took into account the issue of piledriving 

for underwater noise reports,” he asserted. 

“What they didn’t do is to consider the 

terrible everyday ongoing construction 

noise. Dolphins communicate and navigate 

through sound, so in human terms it’d be 

like being constantly blinded by a big, 

strong light. They wouldn’t be able to find 

their way around.” 

These are just some of the reasons why 

it’s not been a totally easy inception for the 

HZMB, with reactions on the ground as to 

the functionality, and even necessity, of the 

project being split. Whilst proponents have 

argued for the tourism and economic 

benefits (see above), critics have labelled it a 

white elephant, a vanity project, and a 

waste of money. 

“There’s certainly no economic 

justification in building a bridge,” Hong 

Kong Polytechnic’s Professor of Tourism 

Management Bob McKercher told Time Out. 

“When you look at the numbers, it’s a 

complete white elephant. It will never pay 

for itself. And, right now, the traffic flow will 

only ever go one way – and that’s from 

Hong Kong to Zhuhai and Macau. There 

just isn’t enough of a population to have 

traffic flowing the other way.” 

McKercher further suggested that “the 

only real beneficiaries of the bridge” would 

be the airport, local destination Ngong 

Ping, and Disney, owing to its nearby 

Disneyland resort. 

“I can’t see anybody else in Hong Kong 

benefitting from it,” he forecast, decrying 

that the “unnecessary piece of 

infrastructure” had been “justified by the 

god of tourism,” and by “people who just 

don’t understand tourism.” 

In addition, McKercher questioned the 

trade benefits of the bridge, arguing that 

“people in Zhuhai are not going to come to 

Hong Kong, because they can get 

everything they need from Macau.” Joining 

the ranks of critics on environmental 

grounds, the professor also asked “why the 

hell are they building a bridge to put in 

more vehicular traffic,” following air 

pollution concerns; he suggested a rail link 

would have presented a cleaner and more 

sensible option. 

Others were less damning: Stephen 

Townsend, Director of Urban Design at the 

Gensler Asia architectural firm, predicted 

that real estate prices in Zhuhai would 

“skyrocket,” and praised the bridge for 

bringing “services and spontaneous 

informal access directly from Hong Kong, 

that we didn’t have before.” 

“Now I can have a house in Zhuhai at a 

third of the price and three times the space, 

and actually work in Hong Kong,” 

Townsend added. 

The HZMB has also come in for criticism 

for its restrictions on civilian traffic: Those 

seeking to cross the bridge must obtain 

special permits, with are only allocated via 

a quota system, which some have argued 

disproportionately favours those from the 

mainland over those from the SARs. Only 

10,000 licences were granted in Hong 

Kong, and as few as 300 in Macau, 

according to France 24, which also claims 

that “only the wealthy or politically 

connected will be able to take their private 

cars across” unimpeded. 

With everyone except the select few having 

to rely on the HZMB’s public transport 

infrastructure, questions have been raised as 

to whether the bridge is as much of a 

timesaver as promised. China-Lusophone Brief 

reasoned that “a daily commuter would 

have to go through two sets of border 

controls and then find his way to his place 

of work in Hong Kong – a journey that 

could take 90 minutes one way.” 


7

FEATURE 

White elephant, or the road to the future? continued 

“In that case,” the website asks, “why not 

continue taking a ferry, with the door-todoor 

journey time the same and the overall 

cost cheaper?” 

The same website also raised the prospect 

of the imminent Shenzhen-Zhongshan 

Bridge, a 24 kilometre crossing currently 

under construction further up the Pearl 

River Delta. China-Lusophone Brief suggests 

that upon completion (currently scheduled 

for 2024), the new bridge will provide an 

option that will be “cheaper, quicker, and 

[which] will not involve two border and 

customs crossings.” The implication could 

be that prophecies of the HZMB becoming 

an expensive white elephant could come 

true quicker than many realised. 

Interestingly, South China Morning Post 

adds that Shenzhen officials originally 

lobbied to be included in the HZMB 

project, but were unsuccessful; instead, the 

city’s own crossing will be erected just 

32 kilometres further north. 

The official line 

On 23 October 2018, after nearly a decade 

of anticipation, the HZMB finally opened, 

with an official ceremony taking place on 

one of the newly-created artificial islands, 

and featuring top-ranking officials from 

across the regions. 

Speaking at the ceremony, President Xi 

was unsurprisingly effusive about the 

megastructure, calling it a bridge of 

“fulfilled dreams” and connected hearts”, 

as well as praising it as a symbol of 

“confidence” and rejuvenation.” 

Vice Premier Han Zheng followed this by 

declaring that the bridge “opens up all three 

places for greater exchanges in economics 

and trade,” whilst adding that it also 

“enhances the competitiveness of the Pearl 

River Delta.” 

The ceremony, which was also attended 

by Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, leader of 

Hong Kong, and her opposite number in 

Macau, Fernando Chui Sai-on, was not 

received with unanimous satisfaction 

however. 

Some, such as the SCMP, said that the 

event highlighted the importance of Hong 

Kong in the eyes of the Chinese 

government, and that the close 

participation of Lam pointed to support 

from central government. Felix Chung 

Kwok-pan, leader of the Liberal Party, in 

attendance at the ceremony, said that the 

fact Xi and Lam had walked onto stage sideby-side 

“shows Hong Kong is ranked at the 

very top in Beijing’s eyes.” 

Others, meanwhile, were more sceptical, 

re-articulating fears that the bridge itself 

may instead be the latest attempt by China 

to exercise power and control over Hong 

Kong and Macau. Perhaps as evidence of 

this, members of the pan-democrat parties 

within Hong Kong’s legislature were not 

invited. 

A member of Lam’s own cabinet, Ronny 

Tong Ka-wah, told SCMP that he turned 

down an invitation to the ceremony, saying 

that “this arrangement didn’t look 

attractive to me.” 

It is no surprise that despite criticism of 

the project from various quarters, most of 

those in high positions bestowed glowing 

praise on the new bridge, with Guangdong 

party head Li Xi, for example, calling it “the 

product of dreams, realised by the people of 

the three cities.” 

Carrie Lam herself declared that “the 

bridge will draw people in Hong Kong and 

Zhuhai closer together. Hong Kong people, 

in particular its young people, will find 

tremendous opportunities for development 

in Zhuhai.” 

“The two cities can collaborate in 

innovation and technology, cultural 

tourism, creative industries, education, and 

medical services,” Lam added. 

As well as this, it was asserted that the 

bridge would not only benefit Hong Kong’s 

links with China and Macau, but with the 

wider globe, too, with the Chairman of the 

Lantau Development Alliance Allen Ha 

explaining “it will also be beneficial for our 

airport in terms of connectivity with the 

rest of the world.” He continued that the 

bridge was merely the beginning for the 

rejuvenation of the Lantau Area, with the 

completion necessitating the construction 

of more hotels and infrastructure “to 

alleviate some of the tourist overflow in 

Hong Kong.” 

There can be no doubt that, owing to its 

record-breaking stature, the HZMB will 

prove a popular draw for tourists, with the 

boom beginning already. On its first day of 

public operations, SCMP reported that 

“selfie takers were everywhere, and those 

waiting in the departure hall marvelled at 

the architecture of the new building, with 

its roof design imitating undulating waves 

to match the surrounding sea.” The 

newspaper also quoted sixty-six-year-old 

Ricky Fung Kwan-wah, who had taken a 

one-day tour to Macau and Zhuhai, who 

called the bridge “beautiful.” 

There was less contentment at the 

Macau immigration facilities, however, 

where tourists were forbidden by security 

officers from taking photographs. “I took 

out my phone, but they didn’t allow me to 

take photos,” complained a disappointed 

Amy Wong. 

Michael Tien Puk-sung, a member of 

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, was vocal 

about the tourism benefits of the bridge, 

particularly in regards to its proximity to 

Hong Kong International Airport, boldly 

declaring that “there are no other airports 

in the world where tourists can reach the 

gambling centre of Macau and the 

Disneyland theme park in an hour.” 

However, sightseeing-potential aside, 

doubts were raised about the economic 

viability of the bridge as soon as the ribbon 

was cut. 

Chan Fu-chuen, the vice-chair of the 

Chamber of Hong Kong Logistics Industry, 

explained that his company owned more 

than ten cross-border trucks, but that none 

had been able to make use of the HZMB on 

its opening day, as “many operators are still 

trying to figure out how to clear customs 

procedures.” 

This raises questions as to whether the 

bridge, the bill for which eventually totalled 

HK$120 billion ($15.31 billion/€13.38 

billion), will actually have the beneficial 

impact on trade and business in the area 

which was claimed. 

Underlining this, between 9am and 

10pm on the bridge’s first full day of 

operation, 2,305 vehicular trips were made 

– but only 31 of this were goods vehicles, 

the number being totally dwarfed by private 

cars (1,154) and shuttle buses and crossborder 

coaches (1,120), figures which lend 

weight to the white elephant argument, 

and cast aspersions on the idea of the 

HZMB as an “economic saviour.” 

Hong Kong’s Secretary for Transport and 

Housing, Frank Chan Fan, attempted to 

defuse anxieties, arguing that one would 

not expect large volumes of traffic on the 

first day of service. 

“In the initial period,” Chan explained, 

“passenger and traffic flow will be relatively 

low. It will take time to build.” 

Hung Wing-tat, of the Hong Kong 

Society for Transportation Studies, echoed 

this cautious optimism: “In the coming 

month, it will not reach the government’s 

original estimation of 9,000 to 14,000 

vehicles using it each day. I think the main 

goal of the first month if to test the 

operation of the bridge.” Stanley Chiang 

Chi-wai concurred, believing it was “too 

early” too estimate how many of Hong 

Kong’s 13,000 cross-border lorries would 

be crossing the bridge regularly. 

Legislative Councillor Tanya Chan, 

however, was less positive, telling BBC News 

Chinese that she was unsure “how the 

bridge can sustain itself if not many cars 


FEATURE 

are using it.” She also voiced doubts as to 

how the HZMB would ever recoup the costs 

of construction, with annual tolls only 

expected to amount to around HK$673.8 

million ($86 million/€75.1 million). 

Infrastructure finance adviser Andrew 

Kinloch was similarly dismissive, arguing 

to SCMP that the very justification of the 

bridge may have been exaggerated. 

“Most freight goes by sea, takes a day or 

two. That is perfectly okay,” Kinloch 

contended. “Air freight will benefit from 

this bridge. But there are six airports 

[across the region]. Does something 

manufactured in Zhuhai really need to 

come through Hong Kong airport?” 

Others rallied to the megabridge’s 

defence, however, with Yim Kin-ping, a 

former chairman of the Hong Kong 

Institution of Engineers’ civil division 

saying “no way is it a white elephant,” and 

drawing comparisons with the success of 

the Oresund Bridge linking Denmark and 

Sweden; Donald Li Kwok-tung, the 

chairman of the Bauhinia Foundation 

Research Centre, meanwhile, declared 

that “to connect Hong Kong to western 

Pearl River Delta within three hours 

cannot be wrong, because you are 

facilitating flow of people, cargo and 

trade.” 

The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s 

Stephen Wong Yuen-shan may have 

offered up the project’s fairest critique of 

all, when he described it as the “the 

hardware – not the silver bullet to solve 

every problem we have.” 

“It’s better to have it than not,” he 

reflected. 

Bridge to the future or road to 

nowhere? 

Perhaps it really is too early to say whether 

the HZMB is the great leap forward that 

was promised or not. Passenger numbers 

have so far been comfortably below those 

predicted, while the actual cost of the 

bridge was far higher than expected. Does 

it risk becoming a monolithic symbol of 

hubristic ambition, that can’t be justified 

by actual practical usage? Perhaps, 

especially given that as Stanley Chiang 

pointed out, the most common 

destinations for cross-border lorries 

leaving Hong Kong was actually cities to 

the north, such as Dongguan and 

Huizhou, rather than Zhuhai. 

“It will take time to build,” said 

Transport Secretary Frank Chan; he was 

talking about the rise in passenger 

numbers, but his words could apply to any 

number of aspects of this mammoth 

project, particularly given the lengthy 

spell of construction, across the span of 

nearly a decade. Maybe he is right – after 

all, everything about this bridge – which 

promised so much in terms of speed and 

connectivity – has so far been defined by a 

slower pace, at odds with the golden 

benefits previously spoken of. But for a 

structure designed to last well over a 

century, and serve the region for the next 

120 years at least, perhaps only time will 

tell if the HZMB can successfully live up to 

expectations or not. The Hong Kong- 

Zhuhai-Macau Bridge has got a long, long 

road ahead of it. 

R 


9

WORLD FOCUS 

visit www.therecycler.com for all the breaking news 

EUROPE DecaBDE, REACH, WEEE 

Static Control declares products 

DecaBDE-free 

Static control concludes decaBDE investigation and declares their products 

decaBDE free. 

Following a full investigation Static Control 

Components has confirmed that their 

products are decaBDE free. The 

investigation was launched in October 

following press reports that two cartridges 

contained excessive levels of the fireretardant 

substance DecaBDE, which is 

outlawed by the EU over certain quantities. 

In this latest statement, Static Control 

insists that it investigated the allegations 

internally, as well as sending cartridges and 

components to the independent third-party 

laboratory LGA for immediate testing. The 

company explains that this testing 

“revealed the majority of Static Control 

cartridges and components complied with 

all applicable environmental regulations 

but a small number of cartridges contained 

a fire-retardant chemical that is restricted 

by RoHS.” 

According to Static, LGA also discovered 

that some of the Static Control cartridge 

models previously alleged in the original 

article to contain the chemical were actually 

“found to comply with the regulations, 

contradicting the report supplied.” 

“The inconsistent test results further 

fuelled Static Control’s desire to investigate 

this issue thoroughly,” the company 

statement continued. “The issue relates to 

using recycled plastics. The chemical is 

specifically used to aid the use of recycled 

plastics.” 

In response, Static Control began an 

audit of all plastics in its product line, both 

for cartridges and components, in order “to 

ensure either new plastics were used or the 

recycled product was free of the flameretardant 

chemical.” 

“In addition, we tested offerings from a 

broad selection of the industry with both 

cartridges and components, including 

some of our competitors. The fire-retardant 

chemical was found in the vast majority of 

the industry samples tested and in all of the 

competitor cartridges and components 

submitted to our laboratory.” 

According to Static, these results 

therefore indicate that “the fire retardant’s 

presence is endemic in the industry and 

affects compatible cartridges, remanufactured 

cartridges and components.” 

The company has already discussed the 

implications of these test results to 

ETIRA, the European Toner and Inkjet 

Remanufacturing Association, and says it 

expects “to provide more information in 

the coming weeks.” 

The statement released by the company 

in December announced that “the 

investigation disclosed the majority of 

Static Control cartridges were in 

compliance with all applicable environmental 

regulations, and that a small 

number of cartridges contained an 

unauthorised substance in the plastic 

moulding.” 

“Static Control determined this 

contaminated plastic came from a rogue 

raw material supplier,” the statement 

continued. “Static Control acted 

immediately to remedy this issue in the 

affected cartridge lines. As of today, Static 

Control has eliminated the contaminated 

plastic from these cartridge lines and 

has taken the necessary actions with the 

vendor to ensure no further compliance 

issues occur.” 

In its January announcement, the 

company confirmed that following the 

statement issued in December, its 

European cartridge offering “has been free 

of the fire retardant- chemical. Since our 

audit, we can confirm that all Static Control 

components and cartridges sold at this 

time in Europe comply with RoHS and 

REACH requirements.” 

Concluding, Static Control added that 

it “remains diligent in complying with all 

applicable environmental regulations 

around the world and will continue to take 

all necessary steps to remain RoHS and 

REACH compliant.” 

The release of the firm rebuttals came 

following further tests commissioned by 

ETIRA, the European Toner and Inkjet 

Remanufacturers’ Association, which 

purchased several new-build non-OEM 

cartridges, and commissioned tests from 

the German lab TüV Rheinland/LGA to see 

whether there was a pattern. 

The results showed that four cartridges 

had DecaBDE levels ranging from 2,000 

mg/kg to a staggering 17,000 mg/kg, 

although only 1,000 mg/kg is allowed 

under the EU’s RoHS directive 

(Restriction on Hazardous Substances) 

2011/65/EU. 

These four products included cartridges 

from Bubprint, sold on Amazon by 

Druckerpatronen Express, DE; Prestige 

Print, sold on Amazon by J&H 

GREENTECH and Trading Ltd, UK, (both 

compatible to the HP17A cartridge); Koala, 

sold on Amazon by Lucky Suppliers 

Handels GmbH, DE; and Yellow Yeti, sold 

on Amazon by Simple Printing Ltd, UK 

(both compatible to the HP26X cartridge). 

“These results are very worrying,” said 

Vincent van Dijk, Secretary General of 

ETIRA. “The tests showed that these were 

not isolated accidents, but that there is a 

major systemic issue in the overall market 

with newbuilt non-OEM cartridges from 

Asia that contain extremely high levels of a 

hazardous chemical. It is very serious 

that thousands of newbuild non-OEM 

cartridges are sold across Europe every day 

if many of them violate EU health and 

safety regulations.” 

Van Dijk continued: “A lot of suppliers 

even claim that they are REACH and/or 

RoHS compliant, which they obviously are 

not. ETIRA again calls on EU and national 

authorities to remove all hazardous 

cartridges from the market, and customers 

should refrain from buying them.” 

ETIRA added that it will further ascertain 

the REACH/RoHS registrations and 

factories of origin of these products, as well 

as test more products. The organisation is 

also reporting many cartridge suppliers to 

national authorities for failure to register 

under WEEE. 


You can contact The Recycler via Twitter at @RecyclerMedia 

WORLD FOCUS 

EUROPE Turbon, New Hire, Business 

Top reinforcement in 

the Turbon team 

Industry expert Miguel Neureiter has become the New Business Development 

Manager for the Europe-wide manufacturer of reprocessed toner cartridges. 

Turbon Products GmbH said that with the 

appointment of Miguel Neureiter, the 

company had managed to win over “an 

absolute professional.” 

“We are fortunate to have such an 

experienced and successful specialist in 

the field of remanufactured printer 

accessories in the team,” said CEO 

Stephan Rudolf. 

As part of the company’s reorientation, 

Neureiter will support the remanufacturer 

of toner cartridges for monochrome and 

colour laser printers as New Business 

Development Manager, beginning this 

month. 

Neureiter himself said he was looking 

forward to the new challenge, and was 

proud to be a part of the company. “Turbon 

Products GmbH has developed an 

outstanding market position in terms of 

product range, quality and customer 

service over the years,” he declared, adding 

that the environmental contribution of 

Turbon and its remanufactured cartridges 

was a key motivation for his decision. 

Prior to his new position, Neureiter has 

worked for the recycling industry since 

2001: As General Sales & Marketing 

Manager EMEA, he led the company 

Baiksan OPC GmbH in Raunheim, near 

Frankfurt, to a fixed size in the cartridge 

Michele Frigo 

recycling market; he also built a sales 

office for the company Static Control in 

Frankfurt from 2013 , which he managed 

until just a few months ago. 

Describing himself as “motivated and 

goal-oriented,” Neureiter now aims to 

bring his broad know-how and top-level 

networking to Turbon Products GmbH, 

“in the game in the first league on the 

market.” 

Managing Director Stephan Rudolf said 

he was convinced that Neureiter’s many 

years of experience expertise promises 

added value for Turbon Products GmbH: 

“We look forward to working together to 

move the future - and wish Miguel 

Neureiter a good start.” 

ASIA CET, Patent, Business 

New patent for CET Group 

The Chinese company has been awarded the patent for its new, independently 

designed, toner cartridge. 

Announcing the landmark news on the 

company’s facebook page, CET revealed 

that the USPTO (United States Patent and 

Trademark Office) recently approved the 

patent application, granting CET the rights. 

The company declared that the newlyapproved 

patent “adds to the already 

impressive achievements of CET’s patent 

technology pool,” and asserted that it was 

“one of only a few companies in this 

technical field” to be granted a US patent. 

The patented toner cartridge itself was 

developed, tested, and approved by CET’s 

own R&D technicians, and is compatible 

with the Canon imageRUNNER Advance 

C5030/C5030i/C5035/C5035i/C5235/C5235 

i/C5240/C5240i/C5235A/C5240A. 

To find out more, visit www. 

cetgroupco.com. 


11

WORLD FOCUS 


EMEA Static Control, South Africa, Awards 

Static Control rebuffs rumours 

of SA closure 

The company has issued a robust rebuttal of misleading claims that it is ceasing 

its South African components business. 

In the official announcement, Managing 

Director Stuart Lacey states categorically 

that “nothing could be further from the 

truth!” 

Lacey adds that Static Control has 

“invested millions of dollars over the years 

in bringing the very best parts and 

supplies to the remanufacturers across 

Africa,” explaining in no uncertain terms 

that “this will not change.” 

He goes on to elaborate on the possible 

cause of the rumours, relating them to 

Static Control’s decision to reshape its 

business structure in a way that will allow 

it to “best meet the demands of the 

marketplace in domestic South Africa.” 

“This does not mean we will stop 

supplying you, our valued customer, with 

the range of quality products you rely on 

from Static Control,” Lacey continued, 

encouraging people to get in touch if they 

had any concerns surrounding the 

announcement. 

Lacey attributes the source of the 

mistruths to “sales staff at CMYK 

Industries, under the direction of Patrick 

Naude.” It is claimed that they have sent 

out multiple emails to SCC’s customers. 

Static Control had recent cause to 

celebrate too, however, being declared the 

“Most Trusted Company” during the 

Imaging Solutions Achievers Awards 

Night held on 16 November 2018 in New 

Delhi, India. It was the seventh year in a 

row that SCC has claimed the honour. 

The awards, based on customer online 

voting, are presented to those companies 

receiving the highest vote counts. The 

ceremony drew attendees from around the 

world representing the imaging industry, 

including manufacturers, resellers, 

dealers and IT executives. 

“We are honoured and humbled to have 

received this achievement for a record 

seven years,” said Iqbal Azmi, Static 

Control’s Sales Manager for the Indian 

marketplace. “Our business relies on 

providing the highest quality products to 

imaging professionals in India and 

around the world. To be honoured with 

most trusted company, we know our 

customers feel confident in relying on 

Static Control to support their business.” 

Also during the event, a new association 

was formed - Imaging Solutions 

Association of India, which aims at 

dealing with the issues of the imaging 

industry in India as well as the 

international level. 

EUROPE IMEX, New Look, Business 

IMEX unveils brand new look 

IMEX Europe has embraced change, with a brand-new web address and a redesigned website designed to provide 

visitors with improved functionality and updated content. 

The toner manufacturer’s new website is ensured to work on a 

variety of devices and will be updated regularly to provide the 

latest news on products or press releases. 

The website’s URL has been changed from imex-eutrading.es 

to imex-europe.com. 

In conjunction with this, the company has also changed their 

email addresses from imex-eu-trading.es to imex-europe.com. 

Both the company’s previous mail addresses will be kept 

operational for a period of time to ensure that no 

communications are lost. 

IMEX is a toner manufacturer in the toner cartridge recycling 

industry and has been in business for over 35 years. In addition 

to its production facilities located in both Japan and the USA, 

IMEX also has a distribution network spread across both 

nations as well as Europe. 

According to the company’s website, “IMEX is continually 

committed to meet the ever changing requirements of the 

recycling industry by bringing smart colour technology to our 

door step.” 


WORLD FOCUS 

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

EUROPE OCP, Business, Acquisition 

OCP’s future secured 

Following a turbulent period where the company stood on the brink of 

insolvency, the German ink manufacturer has announced a new beginning. 

In a letter to its customers, the company 

revealed that thanks to asset acquisition 

and investment from the Senior team at 

Environmental Business Products Ltd., 

OCP’s future has been secured, following 

speculation earlier that it was set to exit 

administration. 

As a result, OCP GmbH will cease to 

operate, succeeded by OCP Ink Ltd. The 

production facility, as well as the team, its 

technical know-how, R&D laboratory, New 

Product Development, and Sales & 

Marketing departments will remain in 

Lage, Germany, OCP’s headquarters for 

nearly a quarter of a century. 

General Manager Werner Rüegger 

wrote in the letter that “OCP Ink Ltd.’s 

first priority is to reinstate supply while 

also working to re-establish customer 

confidence, as we fully recognise that 

this is critical in achieving a win-win 

partnership under the new ownership. In 

line with this, we will be in contact 

within the next week to discuss timelines, 

your customer specific operational 

considerations and our immediate next 

steps together.” 

Rüegger will continue as General 

Manager, in order to ensure “consistency 

in relationship and communication,” 

working closely alongside Finance 

Director Andrew Clarke and Purchasing 

Director Nazar Juma, “both long-standing 

senior members of EBP.” 

EBP was described by Rüegger as “one 

of Europe’s most significant and wellrespected 

inkjet cartridge remanufacturers,” 

which for more than 25 years 

has supplied private label inkjets to 

“the most reputable market leaders,” 

including Office Depot, Q-Connect, and 

InkClub. EBP also supplies inkjets and 

toners under the “globally renowned 

household brand” Polaroid. 

“As you will appreciate, we are all 

extremely energised about this new 

platform and are very much looking 

forward to reigniting what is recognised 

as market-leading, highest quality ink 

supplies for both the Inkjet and Textiles 

Industries,” Rüegger continued. “Your 

continued loyalty and patience is greatly 

appreciated. Please rest assured that we 

will do everything humanly possible 

to speedily and proficiently regain 

confidence in the ongoing supply of 

OCP’s iconic branded products.” 

NORTH AMERICA UniNet, Review, Business 

UniNet celebrates a successful 2018 

UniNet has revealed that the company has finalised 2018 with major accomplishments to drive global growth. 

The highlights include UniNet being 

honoured as the recipient of the “Quality 

Leader Award” 2018 presented at a recent 

ceremony held on 18 October 2018 at the 

Zhuhai International Convention Centre. 

In addition, UniNet made strategic 

investments and increased its product 

portfolio and roster of brands with the 

Clover Imaging Group Distribution 

Agreement, expanding its product 

offerings to include DENSI Toner and 

developer formulations. The company 

bolstered its Copier and MFP product 

lines with the introduction of fuser unit 

parts such as heat, pressure, pick up 

rollers, and cleaning webs for use in a 

wide variety of engines including Ricoh, 

Sharp, Xerox and more.UniNet also 

released Developers for use in an array of 

Ricoh engine models. 

The Company has also invested to 

support the finance industry with the 

recent introduction of UniNet branded 

MICR Toner-Ready Printers. These 

devices provide a complete, on-demand 

check printing solution without bank 

rejections. UniNet additionally increased 

its line of MICR Toner formulations 

(Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) for 

use in multiple engines featuring superior 

image quality, and unmatched adhesion. 

With more than 2,000 new product 

releases, the company expanded its 

inventory to better serve the needs of its 

customer base. 

UniNet reveals that it has also stepped 

up its commitment to environmental 

and sustainability issues with the 

achievement of the European LGA 

Certification [tested for toxins and 

contaminants] for its UniNet brand 

toners. This certification greatly benefits 

the company’s European market by 

providing pre-qualified toner for use in 

cartridges tested to Nordic Swan 

requirements. Nordic Swan approval 

allows distributors to provide Eco 

Labeled toner cartridges, boosting 

customers’ confidence in the safety and 

quality of these toner products. 

The company says it is confident in its 

corporate strategy moving forward and is 

grateful to count on the continuous 

support of its team members and 

customer base around the world. 


WORLD FOCUS 

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

EUROPE ECS, Business, Review 

ECS wraps up an eventful year 

2018 has been a productive year for the company, which has been embracing both physical expansion and the addition of 

fresh faces to its team, including its most recent new addition, European Executive Account Manager Michele Frigo. 

ECS, based in Misterton, South Yorkshire, 

announced the hiring of Frigo this week, 

saying, “As the latest addition to ECS’s 

talented sales team, Michele will be the 

main point of contact for all European 

clients and prospects, having previously 

worked in a similar role at Print-rite Europe 

as a European Sales Executive for six years.” 

The company stated that Michele’s years 

of experience within the industry combined 

with his ability to speak multiple languages 

will help him to be successful in his new 

role at ECS. Having been with the company 

for just over two months, newly appointed 

Michele said “My first two months with 

ECS have been fantastic with plenty of 

challenges ahead. I look forward to 

continuing to build relationships with our 

existing customers, as well as winning new 

business for ECS.” 

Commenting on the appointment of 

Michele, Director Chris Fink said “We’re 

delighted to have Michele on board with 

us. We’ve already seen a noticeable impact 

in the short time that he has been with us 

as we continue to expand into the 

Michele Frigo 

European market.” 

Among the other new faces who joined 

ECS this year were Darren Roberts and 

Steven Hastings, both of them also taking 

on the role of Executive Account Manager at 

the company. 

Just last month, ECS also acquired a new 

distributor, in the form of French company 

Copyclic, who is now ECS’ sole distribution 

partner in the country. 

ECS has also been expanding in 

geographical terms this year, with the 

acquisition of Infinity Business Park. 

“The expansion to Infinity Business Park 

provides us with some great opportunities 

and will ultimately allow us to meet the 

ever-increasing demands from the market,” 

said Adam Lighton, the remanufacturer’s 

Operations Director. “The new facility will 

allow us to increase our current capacity for 

recycling, producing and stockholding. 

We’ll also be able to expand our range of 

photocopier and laser products.” 

ECS will be exhibiting at the upcoming 

edition of Paperworld, held from the 26th 

to the 29th of January 2019 in Frankfurt. 

Regarding the company’s attendance, 

Director Chris Fink said: “As a market 

leader it is important that we take this 

opportunity to put ourselves at the forefront 

of the industry at Paperworld in January, 

where we can continue to maintain and 

create relationships with other dealers, 

suppliers, remanufacturers and recyclers 

across the world. Paperworld allows ECS to 

demonstrate to other dealerships how it is 

possible to make huge cost savings on the 

purchasing of their consumables, as well as 

the advantages to be gained by using 

The Greener Side recycling and collection 

service.” 

NORTH AMERICA Staples, New CEO, Business 

New CEO is overhauling Staples 

Over the last two years, the company has been undergoing a period of transition and reinvention, enhanced by the 

hiring of its new CEO in April of this year. 

J. Alexander Douglas (also known as 

Sandy Douglas) took the helm five months 

after Staples’ new owner, Sycamore 

Partners, “separated the company’s retail 

business from its more lucrative 

commercial division”, as Chief Executive 

explains. 

Douglas has amassed a wealth of 

experience during his 30 years at Coca- 

Cola North America, where he finished 

his tenure as President before moving 

to Staples. 

In June this year, two months after his 

appointment, Staples acquired Hi-Touch 

Business Services, which has now become 

a part of Staples Business Advantage 

organisation. 

“The combination of HiTouch’s sales 

organization and the strength of Staples 

will allow us to give customers an even 

higher level of service,” Douglas stated in 

the press release announcing the deal. 

“We will continue to look for strategic 

opportunities like this one where we feel 

we can help create better options for 

businesses in the marketplace.” 

A few months later, Staples made the 

well-documented decision to purchase 

Essendant Inc., which “distributes 

janitorial and breakroom supplies, 

technology products, traditional office 

products, industrial supplies, cut sheet 

paper products, automotive products and 

office furniture to a diverse group of 

customers, including independent 

resellers, national resellers and 

e-commerce businesses.” 

“We are excited about the opportunity 

to move forward with this agreement, and 

to work with the Essendant team to 

complete the partnership of these two 

great companies, which will ultimately 

deliver significant value to independent 

resellers and end customers across 

the U.S.,” the company commented at 

the time. 

Earlier this year, Douglas explained to 

the National Association of Wholesaler- 

Distributors that Staples wants to partner 

with more dealers, as the company’s 

“strategic priorities of improved service 

and reaching a variety of customers 

make partnerships with local dealers 

attractive.” 

“We believe that the capabilities we are 

building at Staples — good procurement, 

low costs, great products, technology and 

services — can be used to significantly 

empower dealers towards a more 

innovative business model,” he said. 


WORLD FOCUS 

NORTH AMERICA IIMAK, ACON, 

ACQUISITION 

IIMAK acquired 

by ACON 

ACON Investments, L.L.C. (ACON) 

and its affiliates have announced the 

acquisition of International Imaging 

Materials, Inc. (IIMAK), a developer 

and manufacturer of value-added 

consumable solutions for industrial 

and medical applications, from Altus 

Capital Partners. 

Headquartered in Amherst, New York, 

with additional operations in Belgium, 

Brazil and Mexico, IIMAK is a developer 

and manufacturer of Thermal Transfer 

Ribbons, Direct Thermal Films and Fluid 

Inks used to print on-demand variable 

information such as bar codes, text and 

graphics in Automatic Identification, 

Packaging, and Graphics markets. In 

addition, medical applications, such as 

orthopedic braces, sterile supplies, 

compression devices, and patient mobility 

products, are provided through iiMED 

Medical Manufacturing Solutions, a 

division of IIMAK. 

Doug Wagner, IIMAK President and 

Chief Executive Officer, said, “We look 

forward to working with ACON in the 

coming years. In addition to ACON’s 

experience and resources, we believe 

ACON has the global reach that will help 

us accelerate our existing organic and 

acquisitive growth strategies.” 

Anjali Jolly, Partner at ACON, 

commented, “We are excited to collaborate 

with the IIMAK management team and 

provide the company the resources it 

needs to maintain its strong position in its 

core markets and to accelerate IIMAK’s 

growth and diversification initiatives.” 

John Roush, who has served as an 

advisor to ACON and will serve as IIMAK 

Chairman of the Board, said, “I look 

forward to working with ACON and 

IIMAK’s current leadership team to 

continue to drive growth at the company 

and execute its strategic plan.” With more 

than 25 years of experience as a CEO and 

senior executive in companies such as 

Novanta, PerkinElmer, Honeywell and 

General Electric, Mr. Roush brings 

specific operating expertise in IIMAK’s 

key markets such as thermal printing, 

auto ID/data capture and medical 

products. 

Terms of the transaction were not 

disclosed. 

GLOBAL US - China Trade War, Business, Tariffs 

Temporary ceasefire in US-China 

trade war 

A 90-day truce was agreed upon this weekend by Presidents Trump and Jinping; 

but despite this seemingly positive development, experts remain sceptical about 

the resolution of the conflict between these two economic powers. 

As CNBC reports, though markets 

experienced an upturn following the 

agreement of the ceasefire, experts have 

“repeatedly expressed doubt” that the 90 

days will result in any real progress 

regarding the resolution of the dispute. 

“This is not a truce, this is not an 

armistice,” said Steve Okun, senior 

advisor at McLarty Associates, adding, 

“Sure, it’s a good sign that presidents talk, 

it’s a good sign that they’ve set some kind 

of 90-day period — even though we don’t 

really know what’s expected to occur in 

that 90 days — but the trade war is on.” 

The 90-day truce was agreed on by the 

presidents during the G-20 summit held 

in Argentina over the weekend, where 

Trump agreed “to not raise tariffs on $200 

billion (€) worth of Chinese imports from 

10 percent to 25 percent in January as he 

had previously threatened”. 

However, if no resolution to the trade 

war is reached during this time, those 

tariffs will be reinstated. 

News of the truce led to a spike in Asian 

stocks today, as well as a rise in US stock 

futures and in oil prices. But experts are 

remaining reticent about the likelihood of 

any concrete conclusion to the conflict, 

with economics professor Antonio Fatas 

noting that the ceasefire was merely a 

“continuity of the trade policy that the 

Trump administration has had”. He added 

that “it makes sense for the markets to be 

positive on this development because 

things look better than a week ago. But 

there’s no sense of direction, it’s not clear 

what battle we’re fighting here…it’s very 


hard to see the endgame when you don’t 

know what the strategy is here”. 

Dutch bank ING is being similarly 

sceptical, stating, “90 days to work out a 

broad agreement is very short. Especially 

because the agreement should also 

encompass a deal on more sensitive 

issues like the theft of intellectual 

property and forced technology transfers 

in joint ventures. Most wide-ranging 

bilateral trade agreements take years to 

negotiate.” 

Political risk consultancy, Eurasia 

Group, has also warned that “Trump could 

lose his enthusiasm for a deal if he 

encounters criticism domestically for a 

weak agreement, if his fears over a US 

market downturn fade, and once the 

theatre of his meeting with Xi is over”. 

Even if the two superpowers do find 

some means of resolving the war during 

the 90-day ceasefire, “there’s no 

guarantee that tensions would ease”, 

according to Taimur Baig, who works as 

Chief Economist and Managing Director 

at DBS, a bank in Singapore. 

“There has been some middle ground 

found between the U.S. and the 

Canadians and the Mexicans. Where has 

that led to? We still got a whole bunch of 

tariffs on steel and other products ... that 

hasn’t gone away just because a new deal 

has been signed,” he explained. 

“So, the idea that a process or some sort 

of a resolution would mean significant 

easing of tariffs or significant easing of 

restrictions that already have been 

imposed? I don’t think so,” he added. 


CITY NEWS 

OEM share prices 

January 2019 

Prices correct as of 1st January 2019 

Share Prices 

COMPANY NOV JAN 

Brother Industries (Yen) ¥ 2143 1698 

Canon (Yen) ¥ 3535 3038 

Dainippon Ink & (Yen) ¥ 3400 3380 

Chemicals 

Sun Chemicals parent company 

HP Inc. (US$) $ 24.49 21.21 

Hubei Dinglong (RMB) ¥ 6.45 6.53 

Jadi (MYR) M 0.04 0.03 

LG Chem (S Korean Won) W 358k 352k 

Matsushita Electric (Yen) ¥ 1181 1045 

Industrial Co. 

Panasonic parent company 

Mitsubishi Chemicals (Yen) ¥ 931 864 

Ninestar Corporation (RMB) ¥ 25.47 24.59 

Formerly Apex Microelectronics 

Oki (Yen) ¥ 1512 1391 

Seiko Epson (Yen) ¥ 1858 1604 

Turbon AG (Euro) € 3.66 3.40 

Xerox (US$) $ 28.52 21.58 

UK Waste Prices 

price per tonne 

Aluminium € 56.94 133.55 

Plastic € 80.14 105.67 

Paper € 18.51 13.68 

Currency 

€/US$ 1.14 1.15 

€/£ 0.88 0.90 

£/US$ 1.30 1.28 

Oil Price 

Crude oil - (US$) $ 73.04 59.82 

‘Brent Crude futures, 

1-Pos IPE close’ per barrel 

Shipping Prices 

Europe (Hamburg/Antwerp/ $ 752 996 

Felixstowe/Le Havre) 

Mediterranean (Barcelona/ $ 769 997 

Valencia/Genoa/Naples 

USWC (Los Angeles/ $ 2606 1933 

Long Beach/Oakland) 

USEC (New York/Savannah $ 3615 3119 

Norfolk/Charleston) 

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

Environment Exchange, packagingnews.co.uk 

*Brent Crude price is for January 2019 


NORTH AMERICA ECi, Print Audit, Acquisition 

ECi buys Print Audit in double 

acquisition 

The Texan cloud-based business management solutions provider has made two 

new acquisitions, including print management solutions company Print Audit. 

The takeover will see Print Audit become 

part of ECi’s Field Service Division, with 

the team now reporting to ECi’s Field 

Service President, Laryssa Alexander. The 

company’s product suite includes tools 

for managed print services (MPS), device 

data collection and document 

management for both dealers and users. 

Founded in 1999 and headquartered 

in Calgary, Canada, Print Audit helps 

dealers remotely manage their printer 

fleets, and has also developed a variety of 

tools that enable organisations to 

monitor and control user printing 

behaviour. Print Audit is the first 

provider of remote monitoring and 

management services (RMM) to provide 

a seat-based billing (SBB) model for 

managed print. With this acquisition, 

ECi adds strong print rule and document 

management capabilities to its own 

software offerings, creating what it terms 

“one of the most comprehensive suites of 

services for the office equipment 

industry.” 

“ECi is committed to offering worldclass 

software solutions for our office 

equipment and managed print services 

customers, and we’re always looking 

for opportunities to improve those 

offerings,” said the company’s CEO Ron 

Books, who called Print Audit “the 

perfect addition to our suite, giving us 

the opportunity to add valuable 

capabilities to our offerings for the 

benefit of our customers.” 

Print Audit’s founder and CEO, John 

MacInnes, added: “Office equipment 

dealers are facing a changing landscape, 

and they need new tools and business 

models to help them adapt to the current 

landscape. Combining forces with ECi 

will give our products the reach and our 

customers the increased resources they 

need to reach their full potential for 

success.” 

Within a few days of news of the 

takeover breaking, ECi revealed it had 

also completed the acquisition of Lasso 

Data Systems, a provider of cloud-based 

CRM software for new home marketing 

and sales. 

Lasso’s product suite includes a 

feature-rich CRM solution built 

exclusively for the homebuilding 

industry, including lead management, 

automated engagement and follow-up 

processes, email marketing and 

comprehensive reporting capabilities. 

Lasso will become part of ECi’s 

Residential Home Construction 

Division, and the team will report to 

ECi’s Residential Home Construction 

President, Scott Duman. 

Lasso was founded in 2005, and serves 

more than 500 builders, real estate 

developers and new home sales agencies 

on thousands of communities in North 

America. With this acquisition, ECi 

declared it had added a “market-leading” 

CRM solution to its product suite that 

includes MarkSystems, its flagship ERP 

for homebuilders, and LotVue, its site 

map software for homebuilders and 

developers. The addition of Lasso will 

further broaden ECi’s ability to serve the 

homebuilder market, the company 

explained, adding that it will continue to 

develop, support and sell Lasso as both a 

vendor-agnostic standalone CRM 

solution, and as an integrated bundle 

with MarkSystems and/or LotVue. 

“ECi has always been committed to 

fostering our customers’ entrepreneurial 

spirit and giving them the resources 

they need to profitably grow their 

businesses,” said Books. “A large part of 

that strategy is always looking for new 

ways to make our technology offerings 

as well-rounded as possible. Adding 

Lasso, a widely used and broadly 

recognised CRM for homebuilders and 

developers to our suite of solutions, will 

give our customers another way to grow 

their businesses as efficiently and 

competitively as possible.” 

Lasso CEO Dave Clements said that 

since the company’s foundation, it’s 

continual goal had been “to collaborate 

with our users to create software that 

makes it easier for homebuilders to do 

their daily tasks, build deeper 

relationships and radically improve their 

sales results and ROI.” 

“Joining with ECi will help us 

accomplish that goal on a much larger 

scale than we could on our own, and 

we’re excited to realise our new 

potential,” Clements added. 

In the case of both deals, the full terms 

remain undisclosed. 



CITY NEWS 

EUROPE 

Messe Frankfurt, Sales, Business 

Messe Frankfurt reports new 

sales record 

Messe Frankfurt has revealed that it has continued its growth in financial year 2018 

and new records were set with sales expected to be in the region of €715 million. 

The 490-plus events held around the world 

under the Messe Frankfurt umbrella were 

attended by almost 102,000 exhibitors and an 

estimated 4.5 million visitors. 

Peter Feldmann, Chairman of the Messe 

Frankfurt Supervisory Board and Mayor of 

Frankfurt, was delighted at the outstanding 

figures: “As the majority shareholder, we are 

proud to have a company like Messe Frankfurt 

in our investment portfolio.” 

The close historical ties between the city of 

Frankfurt and Messe Frankfurt have always led 

to advancements on both sides, explains 

Messe Frankfurt, not least through the 

economic effects generated by the events in 

Frankfurt and throughout the region. In 2018, 

around 54 percent of overall sales – 

approximately €385 million – can be attributed 

to the company’s Frankfurt base. 

As Mayor Feldmann stressed: “Messe 

Frankfurt generated almost €424 million in 

Germany alone. This is a new record and is 

roughly equivalent to the overall sales recorded 

by the next largest German competitors 

in the past.” 

On presenting the Group’s preliminary top 

figures for 2018, Wolfgang Marzin, President 

and Chief Executive Officer of Messe 

Frankfurt, said: “We have further globalised 

our brands and stepped up the pace of our 

worldwide acquisition activities. At almost 150 

trade fairs, some 102,000 exhibitors – more 

than ever before – put their trust in us and 

invested in interaction formats. Messe 

Frankfurt is a pillar of strength in the fastmoving 

digital age.” 

The strong operating business in the past 

financial year has also yielded record financial 

figures. Wolfgang Marzin: “We expect to 

generate consolidated sales of around €715 

million, which will be the highest level of sales 

in Messe Frankfurt’s history to date and, at the 

same time, the highest ever generated by a 

German trade fair company.” This is an 

increase of around seven percent on its 

previous record year 2017. New records were 

set in annual net income with some €59 

million and in EBITDA (earnings before 

interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) 

with approximately €133 million. As Wolfgang 

Marzin emphasised: “We have an expansion 

strategy tailored specially towards the Group 

and are taking it resolutely to the next level.” 

Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive 

Board of Messe Frankfurt, noted: “It is 

essential to have a target to aim for and, in 

volatile times such as these, a steady hand. We 


have achieved this with a new exhibitor record 

of 102,000 companies and an estimated 4.5 

million visitors at our international platforms. 

I for one firmly believe that the success of our 

work is best measured in terms of people, who 

are the focus of everything we do.” 

The international component at Group 

events in Frankfurt has also increased. 

“Roughly 78 percent of our exhibitors and 

56 percent of visitors come to Frankfurt from 

outside Germany”, said Detlef Braun. With 

regard to the operating business, he explained: 

“There is no doubt that there is a need for faceto-face 

contact – in fact, the key is to find an 

intelligent way to bring the analogue and 

digital worlds together. In this connection, we 

are pulling out all the stops to prime our 

events for the future.” 

Messe Frankfurt says it makes ongoing and 

sustainable investments in its events around 

the world, often doing so counter-cyclically to 

great effect. With Hall 12 in operation, the 

organisation says its entire event portfolio in 

Frankfurt will be starting the new year with 

optimised exhibition grounds concepts and 

clear hall structures, its sights set on further 

growth. 

Uwe Behm, Member of the Executive Board 

of Messe Frankfurt, stated: “With Formnext 

and SPS, we have two events in the portfolio 

that illustrate Industry 4.0 in a particularly 

striking way. 

With some 280 guest events, capacity 

utilisation at our Frankfurt base was also very 

good. The congress and conference business 

was a great success as well, with more than 

170 events playing host to 146,000 

participants.” 

During the construction of the new Hall 5, 

Messe Frankfurt will be taking the opportunity 

to revitalise its Congress Centre. 

Uwe Behm: “We have no doubt that this will 

result in further success for the congress and 

conference business while also increasing 

Frankfurt’s appeal as a conference centre.” 

Messe Frankfurt operates two congress venues 

at its Frankfurt base – the Congress Centre and 

Kap Europa – as well as having over 90 

congress and conference halls on its exhibition 

grounds. In 2018, the Kap Europa congress 

centre was booked out for the entire year. Uwe 

Behm: “Our Services business field has 

reported an extremely positive performance as 

well. With Messe Frankfurt Medien und 

Service GmbH and Accente Gastronomie 

Service GmbH, we are now generating sales in 

the region of €100 million.” 

21

Photo: Nikkei Asian Review 

CITY NEWS 

NORTH AMERICA Fuji, Xerox, 

No-Deal explained 

Fujifilm chairman 

calls Xerox 

acquisition 

“difficult” 

Shigetaka Komori has admitted that it 

will be a difficult matter to pull off the 

Xerox acquisition announced in 

January 2018, which has caused both 

companies well-documented turmoil. 

Shigetaka Komori 

Speaking to Nikkei Asian Review, the 

Fujifilm chairman “appeared to be on the 

verge of bowing to the inevitable.” 

He revealed that he and new Xerox 

helmsman, John Visentin, had met up in 

November and both parties had expressed 

the view that Fujifilm and Xerox “can 

maintain their existing alliance”. 

“We haven’t given up on acquiring 

Xerox,” Komori told Nikkei, “but we will not 

take the initiative at this point. We are not 

going to try to persuade Xerox.” 

Fujifilm is currently calling for Xerox to 

fork out $1 billion (€875.7 million) in 

compensation for the failed deal, describing 

the OEM’s move to call off the deal as “a 

breach of contract.” 

While Fujifilm can still attempt to 

renegotiate acquisition terms, it seems 

unlikely this will come to pass. 

“We have no intention of sweetening the 

financial terms of the January acquisition 

plan,” said Komori, also Fujifilm’s CEO. “A 

large majority of Fujifilm shareholders 

object to an additional contribution. We will 

not consider a new acquisition plan from 

our side.” 

However, despite the slightly rocky 

relationship between the two, Komori 

conceded that his talk with Visentin in 

November had been a positive move. 

“Relations […] have been improving,” 

Komori said. “As a result of the talks […], I 

could gain the understanding […] that 

current relations are good.” 

As for the acquisition, Komori concluded, 

“There are probably some Xerox 

shareholders who will not accept it without 

sweeter terms,” before adding, “It will be 

tough to convince them.” 


NORTH AMERICA ImageNet, Unilink, Acquisition 

ImageNet acquires again 

The office equipment dealer has completed the takeover of Colorado’s Unilink 

Inc., it has been announced. 

Headquartered in Silt, Unilink was 

founded by Sandy Hall and John Linney in 

1988, and is an authorised Ricoh and 

Canon dealer, providing its customers 

with business solutions. It boasts office 

locations in Silt, Minturn, and Grand 

Junction, and has served customers 

“throughout the Roaring Fork Valley and 

entire Western Slope of Colorado” for the 

last three decades. 

Unilink’s new parent company, 

ImageNet, is based in Oklahoma City, and 

describes itself as “an industry leader in 

providing world class network connected 

document management products, professional 

services, and software solutions.” 

It operates throughout Oklahoma state, 

as well as across Texas, New Mexico, 

Colorado, Missouri, and Florida. 

It is the second acquisition for 

ImageNet in as many months, following 

NORTH AMERICA Xerox, Credit Rating, Business 

“Fallen angel” Xerox 

downgraded to junk 

its October purchase of Saint Louis-based 

equipment and services dealer Progressive 

Business Equipment. 

As with that acquisition, the takeover of 

Unilink was aided by Zygoquest Group’s 

Mike Dudek and Rich Wisniewski. The 

Group specialises in advising businesses 

relating to mergers and acquisitions. 

The terms of the transaction are 

confidential. 

The OEM has been downgraded from investment grade to junk by Moody’s 

Investors Service, following a similar move by Fitch Ratings in August. 

According to Fortune, Moody’s cited “an 

uncertain revenue base” as one of its key 

reasons, as well as a “decline in demand 

for copy and printing services.” 

Global competition, described as 

“intense”, was another factor. To 

compound the OEM’s woes, it is also 

currently on review for a downgrade 

from S&P Global Ratings, with that 

company’s watch period due to end 

within the next ten days. 

Xerox could well become the next 

“fallen angel,” an investment-grade 

credit which falls into junk. Many BBBrated 

companies (the lowest possible 

rating in the high-grade space) may well 

end up being downgraded relatively 

imminently, Fortune contends, as 

“several have spent much of the last 

decade issuing debt to take advantage 

of low borrowing costs.” 

Robert Schiffman and Mike 

Campellone, analysts for Bloomberg 

Intelligence, said in October that Xerox’s 

secular declines and execution 

challenges were unlikely to fade away 

any time soon. 

“Ratings pressure is likely to persist, 

with additional non-investment grade 

risk growing each quarter,” the pair 

explained. 

Fortune reports that Xerox’s notes, due 

in 2021, “widened 56 basis points to 300 

above Treasuries in Friday’s session, 

according to Trace price data, and were 

the most active in the investment-grade 

market. The cost to protect against 

losses on Xerox debt also jumped, 

reaching the highest level since 2009. 

Credit-default swaps on the company 

widened 33 basis points to 349, data 

from CMA shows.” 

In other news, the OEM recently 

revealed that it would be hosting a live 

video webcast of its Investor Day 

presentation, held on February 1 2019. 

The webcast, presented by CEO John 

Visentin and CFO Bill Osbourn Jr., will 

provide an overview of the company’s 

strategy and financial objectives. 


AROUND THE INDUSTRY 


GLOBAL Canon, IP, Amazon Removels 

The ins and outs of Canon’s 

legal labyrinth 

2018 was a particularly busy time for the OEM in terms of legal battles, with 

Canon waging war on various fronts against the infringement of its patents, 

maintaining its steady campaign even as the year drew to its close. 

In November, new legal documents 

viewed by The Recycler revealed that a new 

Seizure and Forfeiture Order had been 

issued on behalf of the OEM, following 

the attempt by California Gardens 

Nursing Centre to import toner 

cartridges and components which 

infringe Canon’s general exclusion order 

Inv. No. 337-TA-918. 

California Gardens Nursing Centre 

was subsequently informed that any 

such products they try to import, 

which violate the general exclusion 

order, will be “seized and forfeited to the 

United States”. 

In other legal developments, following 

the OEM’s motion to partially 

determinate the portion of its 

well-documented ongoing USITC 

investigation concerning its ‘826, 

‘021,’729, ‘764 and ‘765 patents, the 

Commission has revealed it has no 

opposition to such a termination, so 

Canon’s motion has been granted. 

As part of the same investigation, 

Canon and the other parties involved all 

filed a joint motion calling to “exempt 

certain uncontested portions of witness 

statements”. 

This motion, filed on 28 November 

2018, has also been granted by the 

USITC. 

At the same time, Aster Graphics, 

Ninestar and Print-Rite all issued their 

own legal responses to Canon’s USITC 

investigation, jointly filing a motion for 

summary determination of noninfringement 

on 28 November 2018. 

In similar developments, Ninestar filed 

two sets of legal documents of its own. 

The first is a supplemental joint discovery 

stipulation between Canon and Ninestar, 

in which Ninestar elaborated on the 

remanufactured cartridges it had 

imported and/or sold into the United 

States and which it had made available for 

inspection. 

Ninestar also issued a Contingent 

Motion for Summary Determination of 

Invalidity for Failure to Satisfy the Written 

Description. 

The “complainants” have “indicated 

that they will oppose this Motion.” 

Print-Rite issued its own Motion of 

Summary Determination of Noninfringement. 

These legal papers, viewed by 

The Recycler, explain that “There is no 

genuine dispute that, under Respondents’ 

and Staff’s proposed claim interpretations, 

the Print-Rite products do not 

infringe. Therefore, there would be no 

infringement as a matter of law.” 

These responses were, in turn, 

answered by Canon and the USITC. 

Regarding Print-Rite’s Motion of 

Summary Determination of Non- 

Infringement for its PR2 products, 

Canon stated that it would not oppose 

such a determination, “should the 

Administrative Law Judge’s claim 

construction ruling make clear that at 

least one disputed term of every claim 

asserted against the Type C, D, and E 

Products requires the claimed coupling 

member to be capable of pivoting or 

inclining with respect to the 

photosensitive drum.” 

However, it also highlighted what it 

claimed were “inaccuracies” in Print- 

Rite’s motion, including the claim that 

the OEM had “offered no expert opinion 

concerning Infringement” and that 

“the asserted claims require the claimed 

coupling member to be capable of 

pivoting or inclining.” 

In a similar vein, Canon called 

Ninestar’s Contingent Motion for 

Summary Determination of Invalidity for 

Failure to Satisfy the Written Description 

Requirement “mistaken” as it claimed 

the disputed patents “must expressly 

disclose a coupling member that can 

move only axially, without pivoting, in 

order to satisfy the written description 

requirement.” 

Regarding Aster, which, like Print- 

Rite, filed a motion for summary 

determination of non-infringement, 

Canon’s response was similar to its retort 

towards Print-Rite. Unlike with Print- 

Rite, however, Canon did not highlight 

any perceived inaccuracies in Aster’s 

motion. 

Also in December, across the pond, 

Canon announced that the District Court 

Düsseldorf had granted the OEM a 

preliminary injunction against Idem 

Rebuilding Di Carbonara Giuseppe, 

trading as “Universocartuccia”. 

The preliminary injunction, which is 

not final and can be appealed, enjoins 

Idem Rebuilding Di Carbonara Giuseppe 

from offering and distributing laser toner 

cartridges comprising a drum unit with a 

certain coupling member. 

Concluding 2018, Canon also 

announced the filing of various 

infringement reports with different 

divisions of Amazon, based on the alleged 

use of claim 1 and 25 of the European 

portion of Canon’s European Patent 

EP 2 087 407. Among these reports 

were forms regarding cartridges 

offered by Neotronics Europe SL, 

Home Media Online Composite 

Containers Ltd, Techtopium Taiwan 

Ecolink International Co. Ltd, and 

Shenzhen DSY Tech Ltd. 

Canon also noted that it had reached a 

conclusion in its patent infringement 

dispute with J&H Greentech and Trading 

Ltd, with the two parties signing a 

settlement agreement. 




EUROPE Biuromax, Business 

From 1 December 2018, Mr. Zsolt Szabo 

took on the role of Managing Director of the 

Hungarian business. 

Szabo is described as having “long 

industry experience”, having served as 

General Manager of Sharp Electronics 

Europe Hungarian Branch, and, 

before that, holding the role of Sales 

Mr. Zsolt Szabo and Dariusz Woźniak 

Buromax Supplies appoints 

new MD 

Buromax Supplies kft, the Hungarian daughter company of Poland’s Biuromax, 

has welcomed a new face to its management team. 

Manager at Konica Minolta Hungary. 

Dariusz Woźniak, Managing Director at 

Biuromax, commented, “With product and 

local market knowledge as well as close 

relation to potential clients I hope Mr. 

Szabo will increase our business share in 

Hungary. 

I wish him and his team lots of success.” 

EMEA IIMAK, EMEA, Business 

IIMAK welcomes Hasan Bagli 

IIMAK has named Hasan Bagli as its new Senior Account Manager Inks (EMEA). 

Hasan, who previously worked at German 

ink manufacturer OCP as Sales Manager 

for Special Applications, has over 15 years 

of experience in the printing industry, 

including aftermarket as well as 

commercial and industrial sectors. 

IIMAK is a manufacturer of thermal 

transfer ribbons, and has diversified into 

the broader consumable supplies 

market offering inkjet inks for Desktop, 

Wide Format, Coding and Marking and 

Textile printing. 

Scott Surma, Vice President of 

New Business Development, said, 

“Appointing Hasan underlines our 

commitment to the inkjet industry and is 

a logical step to drive further growth of 

our ink business for desktop and 

industrial printing. Hasan’s knowledge 

provides us a higher level of support to 

help capture market opportunities for 

our ink customers.” 

Hasan will be based in IIMAK´s 

European HQ in Geel, Belgium. 


25



EUROPE CiT, Events, Charity 

A fresh face and festive cheer for CiT 

2018 concluded on a high for CiT, as the company embraced a new staff member and generated festive goodwill with a 

donation to a children’s cancer fund. 

Midway through December, CiT welcomed 

its latest recruit to its Sales Team, Michele 

Mosciatti. 

Prior to joining CiT, Mosciatti previously 

spent seven years with Ecoservice di 

Santarelli Paolo; he also holds a Bachelor’s 

Degree from the Università degli Studi di 

Macerata, Italy, and can speak four 

languages – Italian, Spanish, French, and 

English. 

Welcoming him to the workforce, CiT 

heralded Mosciatti as “a very skilled 

professional and creative thinker,” and 

declared that he would “fit perfectly in the 

CiT Sales Team.” 

A week after the hiring announcement, 

CiT also revealed its philanthropic side, 

stating that in 2018, instead of spending 

money on Christmas cards and gifts, the 

company had opted to donate funds to a 

cancer charity. 

EMEA Paperworld Middle East, Events 

CiT said, “You may have 

noticed this year we did not 

send X-mas cards or Dutch 

cheese.” 

Instead, the company 

donated €5,000 to KiKa, 

a cancer fund for children. 

In previous years, CiT 

employees have also 

organised running races 

as a means of procuring 

donations for KiKa. 

KiKa is a Netherlands-based 

organisation dedicated to raising funds 

for innovative research in the field of 

childhood cancer, “aimed at less pain 

during treatments, more healing and a 

higher quality of life in later life.” The 

cancer fund also “focuses on providing 

information about childhood cancer.” 

With this philanthropic gesture, CiT 

line with its 2019 ‘More Than Paper’ theme. 

According to the organiser, “a whole new 

world of potential business opportunities 

awaits thousands of regional trade buyers, 

distributors, retailers, corporations, and 

educational institutes at the upcoming 

edition of the Paperworld Middle East 

2019 exhibition in Dubai.” 

‘More than Paper’ is the underlying 

theme of the trade fair’s upcoming show 

and Messe Frankfurt Middle East says it is 

staying on course with an expanded 

product line-up and special programme of 

value-added events. 

Now reaching its 9th edition in 2019, 

Paperworld Middle East has over the years 

such as the Wrap Star competition and the 

Green Room for sustainable stationery and 

office supplies, while a three-day seminar 

continually added to its fast-growing programme ensured industry 

product range. In its previous edition in 

February 2018, it added Leatherworld to 

the exhibition floor, presenting the 

region’s only B2B platform for finished 

leather goods and accessories. 

A new Corporate Gifts section was also 

professionals and insiders were kept up-todate 

with the latest Middle East market 

trends. 

Now Messe Frankfurt Middle East 

reveals it is upping the ante and is 

introducing more creative and playful 

introduced to the show in 2018, while a initiatives that further underline 

revamped Playworld Pavilion replete with 

children’s toys and games was well 

Paperworld Middle East’s More than Paper 

tagline when it opens from 18-20 March 

received by more than 7,000 visitors from 2019 at the Dubai International 

90 countries at the Dubai International 

Convention and Exhibition Centre. 

That’s in addition to regular features 

Convention and Exhibition Centre. 

More than 300 exhibitors from 40-plus 

countries are expected to participate in the 

Michele Mosciatti 

follows in the footsteps of 

companies such as Konica 

Minolta, which earlier 

this year partnered with 

THE NORTHERN TRUST 

tournament to support 

Tackle Kids Cancer, and wta, 

which continued its support 

for children’s hospice 

Kinder-hospiz Mitteldeutschland 

Nord-hausen 

e.V. with a donation of 

€6,000 in February. 

2018 had a generally positive 

conclusion for CiT, as in November, it was 

revealed that the company was partnering 

with the Chinese distributor, Intelet 

Electronics Ltd. The partnership will 

be officially signed next month at 

Remanexpo, part of the Paperworld trade 

show, in Frankfurt, Germany. 

Paperworld Middle East diversifies offerings 

The trade show’s organiser, Messe Frankfurt, has revealed that Paperworld Middle East is expanding its offerings in 

next edition of the annual three-day event. 

All the regular features are again 

returning, while among the new 

highlights next year is the Corporate Gifts 

Avenue aimed at the discerning buyer. 

Meanwhile, another new addition to the 

highly-popular Playworld Pavilion early 

next year is the Mystery Box, a balloon 

shaping competition hosted in partnership 

with American balloon manufacturing 

company Qualatex and its Gulf region’ s 

distributor Gravitas International. 

“The Mystery Box competition and 

Corporate Gifts Avenue are examples of 

how Paperworld Middle East continues to 

evolve, as we draw inspiration from, and 

capture the imaginations of professionals 

across a broad range of related industry 

segments,” said Alexandria Robinson, 

Paperworld Middle East’s show director. 

“Whether a wholesaler or distributor, a 

corporation or commercial end-user, a 

buyer of corporate gifts or an owner of 

toys, baby and kids stores, there is really 

something for everyone at Paperworld 

Middle East. We’re continuing to leverage 

the synergies of different industries to 

offer our exhibitors and visitors more 

networking opportunities.” 




GLOBAL Epson, Firmware, Business 

Epson: From firmware fracas to financial growth 

The OEM has faced legal difficulties in the United States over its controversial firmware, while on the other end of the 

spectrum, the Indian subsidiary has revealed it is anticipating substantial growth in the next financial year. 

Epson is facing a class action lawsuit in the 

USA, brought against the company by a 

New York resident on behalf of himself and 

others who have been impacted by Epson’s 

firmware updates. 

Legal documents viewed by The Recycler 

reveal that New York resident, Steven 

Summer, has filed a Class Action 

Complaint against Epson with the United 

States District Court for the Eastern District 

of New York. This complaint regards a 

firmware update which Epson first 

announced in 2016, that subsequently 

blocked the use of third-party ink cartridges 

in Mr Summer’s Epson XP-630. 

The documents explain that the OEM’s 

update made printers “less functional”, as 

devices which had previously accepted 

third-party ink cartridges “now began 

displaying an error message”. 

As a result, both Summer and other 

consumers, who opt to purchase lower-cost 

third-party ink cartridges, “have now been 

injured because their printers have been 

purposefully disabled”. 

Epson’s implementation of the firmware 

update “has damaged the printers in 

violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse 

Act” and the OEM’s conduct violates 

Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act as 

Epson has “monopoly power over the 

Epson printer ink market”. 

Epson is also in violation of New York 

State’s deceptive practices act and common 

law trespass to chattels. 

The documents explain that “All of these 

actions have impacted consumers across 

the country who purchased Epson printers 

and installed the firmware update.” 

They also go on to cite Epson’s 2018 

Annual Report, which “highlighted the 

earnings risk associated with the fact that 

competitors’ ink cartridges can be used in 

Epson printers.” This report recognised that 

Epson “must compete by innovating new 

products or enforcing its intellectual 

property” but did not mention that Epson 

might “make its printers less functional for 

consumers after purchase.” 

The documents explain that firmware 

updates released by OEMs “fix 

vulnerabilities” but they can also be used 

“deceptively to restrict the functionality of 

the hardware.” 

In late 2016 or early 2017, Epson rolled 

out a firmware update for its printers which 

then stopped those printers “functioning 

with third-party ink”. The documents 

revealed that the OEM “never reasonably or 

adequately informed customers” that the 

update would have this effect. Epson’s 

actions “prompted a flurry of complaints 

and criticism from consumers and 

advocacy groups.” 

Mr Summer, who had purchased thirdparty 

ink from E-Z Ink Cartridge 

Replacements and CMTOP Remanufactured 

Ink Cartridges, installed the 

firmware update on his printer in October 

2018, and when his printer refused 

to function with the third-party 

cartridges, he was informed by an Epson 

technician that he would have to use the 

OEM’s brand ink going forward. Mr 

Summer wishes to continue using thirdparty 

ink, which he could if Epson were to 

release an updated version of the firmware. 

He is bringing the class action complaint 

on behalf of himself and others similarly 

affected. Mr Summer is seeking a trial by 

jury for all claims against Epson. 

Fortunes are looking more favourable for 

the OEM in Asia, however, as Epson India, 

which has been honing in on the home 

printing segment, says it is looking forward 

to a potential 20 percent growth next fiscal 

year. As The Hindu Business Line reports, the 

company “has been pitching its ink 

tank-based printers as a ‘cost-effective’ 

alternative to the still popular cartridgebased 

printers.” 

“We have been growing at a compounded 

annual growth rate of 20 per cent and 

targeting a turnover of around ₹2,000 crore 

($284.5 million/€249.5 million) by March,” 

Satyajeet Satpathy, Director – IJP/SCN/ 

SIDM/SP, Epson India, revealed. “The ink 

tank technology-based printers come at a 

lower per page printing cost which will help 

drive sales for the home and retail 

segments,” he added. 

Satpathy also explained that Epson’s ink 

tank printers “target parents of schoolgoing 

children and are presented as an 

affordable solution to address their printing 

needs for projects and homework.” 

There has been a significant rise in home 

printing, with home users now printing 

“some 800 pages a month.” While Satpathy 

admitted that ink tank printers are “nearly 

70 percent more premium” than cartridgebased 

devices, they are “cost-effective.” 

Epson’s Indian competitors are cited as 

Canon, Brother and HP Inc. 


27



GLOBAL Crime, Counterfeit, Convictions 

Cartridge crime, convictions and 

counterfeiting 

December 2018 was an eventful one in terms of countering industry crime, with 

convictions handed out for counterfeiting and scams, while HP continued to 

wage its war against fakes. 

At the beginning of the month it was 

revealed that a number of German men 

had received jail terms for counterfeiting. 

This story began in 2017, when three men 

were arrested during police raids which 

discovered masses of fake Kyocera 

cartridges that were being refilled and 

reimported as originals. Now, the 

Darmstadt Regional Court has jailed 

several of those responsible and given 

others suspended sentences. 

As PBS BusinessPartner reports, several 

of the men – aged between 34 and 53 – 

were given lengthy jail terms for 

“numerous breaches of trademark law”. 

From 2014 – 2017, they were involved in 

a counterfeiting scheme involving the 

refilling of “around 10,000 toner 

cartridges” from Kyocera which they then 

sold as originals. 

The men were originally apprehended 

after Customs noted a container in 

Hamburg which had Kyocera boxes and 

stickers, but which turned out to be fake. 

They subsequently discovered the group’s 

activities, which were carried out in 

Frankfurt, Bad Homburg, Groß-Umstadt, 

Dieburg and the Free Port of Hamburg 

and which had generated revenue of 

approximately €2 million. 

Their workshops and warehouse were 

raided on 2 August 2017. 

The ringleaders of the counterfeiting 

group – brothers, aged 49 and 53 – have 

been given the highest sentences, of four 

years imprisonment, by the Darmstadt 

Regional Court. A 35-year-old received a 

sentence of two years and nine months, 

and other defendants were handed 

suspended sentences. 

Meanwhile, across the pond in 

America, a Florida man has pled guilty to 

his part in the scam to defraud the OEM 

of millions of dollars. 

According to the Democrat and 

Chronicle, Jason Haynes entered a guilty 

plea in the US District Court in Rochester 

to one charge of conspiracy to commit 

wire fraud, and one charge of filing a false 

tax return. 

Haynes was previously co-owner of a 

Florida company which was created to 

carry out the scheme, which saw large 

volumes of toner ordered from Xerox, 

than resold to others in a violation of the 

agreement with the company. 

Prosecutors allege that the scheme cost 

the OEM $21 million (€18.5 million) 

between 2008 and 2013. 

Last month, Haynes’ brother Kyle 

Haynes, and Bryan Day, also of Florida, 

pled guilty to the same charges. Haynes’ 

father also entered a guilty plea to filing a 

false tax return. A fifth man, Robert 

Fisher, still faces pending charges. 

None of the accused have yet been 

sentenced. 

Finally, on a more positive note, HP has 

continued to be proactive in its battle 

against counterfeiters, collaborating with 

the Nigerian police force to crack down on 

fraudsters in the country. 

Its efforts have resulted in the 

confiscation of 67,000 counterfeit 

cartridges, according to a statement 

released by Glenn Jones, the Director 

of HP’s Global Anti-Counterfeit 

Programme. 

Independent Nigeria reported that more 

than a dozen outlets trading in 

counterfeit HP printers were also 

identified and shut down by the 

programme. Premises were also raided in 

Lagos, Abuja, Edo State and Rivers States. 

“The sites raided included outlet stores 

and hidden manufacturing sites for fakes. 

In total, the authorities confiscated 

67,000 illicit print cartridges,’’ said 

Jones, who said the counterfeiting was 

not only criminal, but also caused 

multiple problems for honest users. 

“Should your printer break because of 

using counterfeit printer ink or toner, you 

could also have issues with your 

manufacturer’s warranty becoming not 

applicable,” he explained. “In contrast, 

original HP products are designed to 

meet HP’s strict quality and reliability 

standards, based on a long history of 

inventing and testing. Original HP 

LaserJet and HP inkjet cartridges, unlike 

counterfeits, benefit from superior 

performance and consistent results.” 

Jones added that the OEM was “proud” 

of its ongoing work with local authorities 

and police forces across the continent to 

combat print counterfeiters, such as its 

previous efforts in Uganda, as reported in 

The Recycler last month. 

“We thank the Nigerian Police 

authorities for their cooperation and swift 

action in this successful seizure and 

their determination to apprehend and 

prosecute counterfeiters who break the 

law,” Jones continued. “Through our 

unwavering efforts and commitment to 

removing counterfeit products from the 

market, we continue to focus on the 

protection of our customers through 

our Anti-Counterfeiting and Fraud 

Programme.” 

Over the last five years, around twelve 

million counterfeits and components 

have been seized by authorities across the 

EMEA region, Jones added. He also 

revealed that HP had conducted more 

than 4,500 audits and inspections of 

partners’ stocks or suspicious deliveries 

for customers, whilst also “actively” 

educating customers and partners on the 

importance of vigilance against fakes. 




GLOBAL Xerox, Business, Expansion 

A mixed conclusion to 2018 for Xerox 

The company experienced both highs and lows during the last month of 2018, though the positives seem to outweigh the 

negatives as Xerox says it anticipates expansion, both generally and in Indian SaaS. 

At the beginning of December 2018, 

Xerox’s Pete Peterson, President of Xerox 

Channels, opened up about the OEM’s 

apps, its A4 printer portfolio, and its 

growing number of solution provider 

partners. 

In conversation with CRN, Peterson 

revealed that Xerox remains focused on 

“boosting innovation and expanding into 

new business segments”. 

He also shed light on the OEM’s 

business apps, which are now available 

on ConnectKey-enabled devices, and 

talked about Xerox’s “success so far 

at moving into small and midsize 

businesses with the help of a portfolio of 

A4 devices” and more solution provider 

partners. 

“This isn’t the old Xerox,” Peterson 

said. “We’re a nimble company, and we’re 

a high-tech company in a really hot space 

right now.” 

Questioned about apps, he stated, 

“We’re excited, from a channel 

perspective. This is exciting times to be at 

Xerox, with the major focus on apps. I 

do believe it’s a differentiator in the 

marketplace.” 

When asked how apps assist Xerox with 

acquiring new partners, Peterson 

explained, “In the last 18 to 24 months, 

we’ve had a major focus on attracting 

what we call ‘multi-branded partners’. 

Xerox has a fairly unique partner 

ecosystem.” He went on to state that there 

were two kinds of multi-branded 

partners: document technology partners 

and IT resellers. 

Peterson also elaborated on how adding 

an A4 portfolio to Xerox’s products had 

helped the company target the SMB 

market, commenting, “When we 

launched our new ConnectKey products 

in March of 2017, the expansion into A4 

gave us a huge footprint. We’ve had great 

success so far.” 

Xerox has also been focusing on 

introducing MPS for SMBs, with 

Peterson describing the OEM’s MPS 

offering as “the fastest-growing piece of 

our MPS business.” He added, “I think 

we’ve enabled somewhere close to 100 

partners in this fiscal year – we’ve got 

them certified and enabled so they can 

better understand the solutions and 

offerings.” 

Finally, when queried about how the 

OEM’s leadership reshuffling has 

affected channel investments, Peterson 

stated, “The investment piece hasn’t 

changed and hasn’t wavered. That was the 

piece that was attractive to me when I 

joined Xerox 18 months ago.” He 

described the OEM’s new management 

team as having an understanding of 

services, of channels and the “value of 

channels”, concluding, “And so for folks 

like myself, we’re saying, “This is a great 

opportunity. You can’t really go and 

expand this business until you fix the 

foundation.” 

The future is also looking bright for 

Xerox on a more localised basis, with the 

OEM’s Indian subsidiary announcing 

that it has opted to shift its focus to SaaS 

as a means of increasing its revenue. 

As the India Times reveals, the company 

is “primarily focusing to digitise 

workloads to grow its market share.” 

Xerox India’s Managing Director, Raj 

Kumar Rishi, has explained that “recently 

the company digitised Bangladesh’s 

household census which removed the 

hassle of paperwork in the process and 

enhanced accuracy and efficiency.” 

Now the company is in talks with 

India’s government with hopes of being 

able to digitise more such projects. 

In addition, Xerox has been turning its 

attention to bolstering the security of its 

printers, adding features such as codes 

and voice-command, in order to restrict 

access to the devices. 

Speaking about the state of the printing 

market, Rishi commented that there are 

“some new avenues” just waiting to be 

explored, such as education, which is 

becoming “heavily dependent on printers 

for projects”, adding, “Many such areas 

have now opened up in the printing 

segment.” 

The one dark spot on the horizon for 

Xerox has come in the form of layoffs 

among the higher echelons. Midway 

through December, The Democrat & 

Chronicle reported that the OEM 

has recently laid off staff in a multitude 

of management positions. Unionrepresented 

employees, including 

manufacturing and production workers, 

were not affected by the redundancies. 

Gary Bonadonna, a union leader, revealed 

he first heard of the news when learning 

that his management liaison had lost 

their job. 

According to WHEC, Xerox attributed 

the layoffs to “difficult decisions”; Sandy 

Mele, who was not dismissed, said: “It’s 

always nerve-racking. I’ve heard it was 

happening but it’s been so quiet. I haven’t 

heard much of anything.” Another 

employee, an outside contractor named 

only as Joe, admitted that “everybody’s 

nervous,” adding: “It’s to be expected. 

These rumours have been flying forever.” 

The exact number of staff laid off by the 

Connecticut company is unclear. Earlier 

this year, IT software engineers and 

programme managers were among those 

laid off from its Webster operations, with 

the company confirming that 900 jobs 

had been cut globally during Q3 of the 

financial year. 

“It’s frustrating not knowing where 

we’re going and what we’re doing,” said 

Webster Town Supervisor Ron Nesbitt. 

“The problem is they keep on moving 

employees around and it’s like shooting 

at a dartboard. I don’t know who I’m 

talking to.” 

Nesbitt further revealed that the 

increasing number of vacant buildings on 

the corporation’s campus was also 

becoming an issue. 

“There’s a lot of buildings,” he 

explained. “There’s an empty 450,000 

square-foot building. There is Building 

200 that used to be a call centre that’s 

now empty. We want to fill those 

buildings up and put jobs there.” 


FEATURE 

FIRST AID 

IN THE 

WORKPLACE 

The Recycler takes a look at what 

you need to know as an employer, 

and what the implications could be 

if you don’t! 

What you must remember 

The first thing to note is that 

regulations surrounding first aid in the 

workplace apply regardless of staff 

quantity – meaning that even if you 

have fewer than five staff, or even if 

you’re legally self-employed, certain 

standards must be adhered to. 

Furthermore, in the United Kingdom 

at least, the Healthy and Safety 

Executive (HSE) recommends 

considering the potential needs of 

visitors to your workplace as well, 

although there is no legal obligation to 

do so. 

In terms of providing ‘adequate’ 

first aid, the definition is of course 

subjective; at a minimum, however, 

your workplace provision must 

include a stocked first aid box, 

and at least one appointed person 

responsible for administering 

arrangements. The first aid provision 

must be available at all hours that 

people are working. 

The responsibilities of the appointed 

person vary depending on your 

particular workplace. If it is a small, 

relatively low-risk environment, the 

appointed person’s duties may not 

need to extend any further than 

maintaining the stock of the first aid 

box (details of which are below) and 

taking responsibility for phoning the 

emergency services as and when 

necessary. They are not themselves 

required to have any formal first 

aid training. 

Of course, if your workplace is 

higher-risk, and involves either 

hazardous materials, or operable 

machinery, you may well need a 

trained first-aider as part of your 

workforce. In order to definitively 

establish whether or not the risk is 

sufficiently great to warrant a 

designated, trained member of staff, 

you must undertake a thorough health 

and safety inspection of your business 

and its first aid needs. 

The first aid box itself must be readily 

accessible to all workers, and ideally 

available within a matter of minutes; 

for this reason, if your workplace is a 

large one, spread over multiple floors, it 

would be advised to keep more than 

one first aid box in the building. 

It goes without saying that informing 

employees and colleagues as to the 

location of the first aid boxes is 

essential, as is explaining the facilities 

in place, and introducing the staff 

assigned as appointed person(s.) 

The first aid facilities your workplace 

offers must extend beyond the simple 

box and appointed person, however. 

Depending on the size of your 

premises, you may need to provide, 

somewhere within your workplace, a 

suitable first aid room, where 

treatment can be administered. This 

provision is particularly required in 

larger workplaces, that carry with 

them a higher risk of incident. The 

room must be easily accessible, and as 

far as possible be reserved solely for its 

purpose as first aid room (although 

this may not always be achievable in 

smaller workplaces.) Once again, you 

must appoint a person, or persons, 

responsible for its supervision. 

The room itself should be adequately 

heated, ventilated, and lit, and large 

enough to contain an examination 

couch, at the very least. In an ideal 

world, it will have a sink, and therefore 

hot and cold running water, and it 

should have washable surfaces, as it 

must be kept clean, tidy, accessible and 

available at all times. Furthermore, 

when allocating a room to be your first 

aid room, you must consider ease of 

access if transport to hospital is 

required. The name, location in the 

workplace, and contact details 

where appropriate of your company’s 


FEATURE 

designated first aid staff should also be 

clearly displayed either in the room 

itself, or on the door, as should contact 

details of relevant emergency services 

– ambulance, local hospitals, etc. 

The first aid box is an essential for 

any workplace, and some of its 

contents are practically mandatory. In 

Britain, the National Health Service 

advises that it contain: Plasters, in a 

variety of shapes and sizes; sterile 

gauze dressings in small, medium, and 

large sizes; sterile eye dressings (at least 

two); both triangular and crepe rolled 

bandages; tweezers; scissors; sticky 

tape; safety pins; disposable sterile 

gloves; eye wash and eye bath; and 

distilled water for cleaning wounds. 

Perhaps surprisingly, it is generally 

recommended that you don’t store 

medicines and tablets in your first aid 

box, as it makes you less likely to realise 

when they are out of date. Additional 

contents may be advisable, based on 

the specificities of your workplace; this 

is something you should consider 

when undertaking your health and 

safety inspection. Once again, you 

must advertise to your employees and 

colleagues the exact location of the 

first aid box, so that treatment can be 

dispensed swiftly. Be sure to consider 

special arrangements for those staff 

that may have reading or language 

difficulties. If you have staff that 

frequently travel on business, or are 

regularly away from the office, it is also 

worth contemplating the issue of 

personal first aid kits for those 

employees. 

When first aid is given on-site, 

another key thing you must remember 

is to record all details of the treatment. 

A stock of first aid forms should be kept 

accessibly close, which should be filled 

out by the designated first-aider. It is 

advised that you should record the date 

and time of the incident/treatment, as 

well as the name of the employee; you 

must also write down what symptoms 

they displayed prior to treatment, and 

what treatment was then given. Any 

subsequent referrals – for example, to a 

hospital or ambulance – must also be 

noted. 

Why it’s so important 

The obvious reason for the importance 

of first aid in your workplace is to keep 

people safe. Business Zone reports that 

each year in the UK, as many as 

150,000 people die from injuries that 

would be treatable with first aid. Whilst 

the majority of injuries sustained in 

the workplace will not be lifethreatening, 

Business Zone also states 

that 200,000 minor and major 

injuries are sustained in the workplace, 

per annum – further highlighting the 

need to take first aid seriously. 

That aside, there are also legal 

implications for those companies not 

adhering to health and safety law. Most 

countries now have legislation 

covering this, and stipulate that it is 

specifically the responsibility of the 

employer to ensure first aid provision is 

suitable and accessible. Furthermore, 

following the publication of new 

regulations in the UK in 2013, the HSE 

is no longer required to approve first 


33

FEATURE 

First aid In the workplace, contiued 

aid training, meaning that businesses 

have more freedom in choosing their 

allocated staff – but also more 

responsibility for ensuring said staff is 

up to standard. 

Similarly, legislature known as 

RIDDOR – the Reporting of Injuries, 

Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences 

Regulations 2013 – places the duty of 

reporting incidents on employers, or 

“people in control of work premises”, 

which underlines the importance of 

the recording procedures detailed 

above. 

The HSE has also warned businesses 

that it is prepared to prosecute, “in 

cases where there is a significant risk, a 

disregard for established standards 

or persistent poor compliance with 

the law.” 

In its drafted Enforcement 

Statement, the government-owned 

public body explains that it has “a 

range of enforcement methods to 

secure compliance with the law.” 

These methods include the serving of a 

prohibition notice, which can be done 

even when the law has not actually 

been breached, but when HSE 

inspectors believe “there is a risk of 

serious personal injury associated with 

a particular work activity or process or, 

if a serious deficiency in measures is 

identified” – these are often used preemptively, 

in advance of an incident 

taking place. 

There is also an improvement notice, 

which will be served when inspectors 

find a breach of the law; such a notice 

requires the employer to take 

immediate remedial action. 

“Failure to comply with either type of 

notice is a criminal offence” notes the 

HSE, “and can result in prosecution” – 

34 

something it calls an “essential part of 

enforcement.” 

It further stipulates, however, that 

when deciding over what course of 

action to take, HSE inspectors will 

consider how to undertake their role in 

such a way as to “minimise likely 

negative economic impact” and 

“maximise any likely positive economic 

impact” – which would be a sign of 

hope for any employer who was being 

investigated. 

Several reasons are given by the HSE 

as to why prosecution may be 

necessary – these include “reckless 

disregard” for health and safety 

legislation; failure to comply with the 

probation or improvement notices; 

“repeated breaches which give rise to 

significant risk”; “persistent and 

significant poor compliance”; and 

intentional obstruction of health and 

safety inspectors attempting to execute 

their duties. 

As a further warning, the HSE also 

implies it may seek prosecution if it is 

seen as an appropriate way to “draw 

general attention to the need for 

compliance with the law” and when 

“conviction may deter others from 

similar failures to comply with the 

law”; in essence, non-compliance with 

health and safety law could see your 

business be made an example of, and 

face stern repercussions as a result. 

The specifics of legislation vary from 

territory to territory, so it was worth 

consulting to make sure you are 

acutely aware of what the legal 

consequences for your business may be 

if you fail to ensure the safety of your 

workforce. Far worse, however, could 

be the effects on your workforce, 

should an incident occur and you do 

not have the right first aid framework 

in place. For the safety and security of 

your team, knowing the necessary first 

aid information is vital. 

R 


Reuse for 

a brighter 

future 

Etira reuse campaign – www.etira.org/reuse 


35

WIDE FORMAT COLUMN 

Used small business printers; 

budget-worthy and not 

In the USA and elsewhere, a platform is being erected that is becoming cheaper, more noticed 

and may spell the death of traditional billboard printing. That format is the digital display that 

can shift advertisers in seconds. It can festoon hundreds of advertisers with moving, eyecatching 

displays. The ability is developing to monitor those with smartphones nearby. 

Neal McChristy 

Faced with such competition, 

traditional print providers still have 

a corner in the market: The smallbusiness 

advertisement, such as 

supermarket banners and posters or 

announcements and backdrops for 

booths at trade shows. And some 

businesses are printing floor graphics 

or textured items. Some have 

latex printers, 3D printers or dyesublimation 

printers. 

We have a few machines in this 

article that will keep things a little 

mixed. We have a dye-sub and 3D 

printer in the mix with a few 

traditional printers. 

A dye-sub wide, wide printer 

The d.gen Teleios Grande H6 is a 130- 

inch (330 cm) direct-to-textile dyesub 

printer unveiled at FESPA Digital 

2016. The printer uses a six-colour 

system to print on bedding, curtain, 

blinds, sofa covers and trade-show 

material. It has been a major player in 

the home-textile market. Indoor and 

outdoor soft-signage are possible 

media, such as furniture coverings, 

pillows, curtains, tradeshow graphics, 

large outdoor building murals, flags, 

banners and even backlit graphics. 

It has a capability of a 10-foot wide 

roll (3.048 m) and it prints up to 

1,905 square feet (177 sqm) per hour 

at top speed. 

An inline fixation unit provides heatfixation 

sublimation so inks are 

dispersed into the fabric directly after 

printing. Anything that comes out of 

the d.gen Teleios Grande printer is 

ready to finish, so work can be turned 

around quickly and more costeffectively. 

Dye-sub printers carry a high 

price-tag for the versatility of the 

printer. The new price of the d.gen 

36 

d.gen Teleios Grande H6 

Teleios Grande printer is $165,000 

(€145,325) with an inline fixation 

unit, but online, the printer is listed at a 

used price of $39,000 (€ 34,350). 

A 3D printer almost anyone can 

afford 

Priced $1,800 (€ 1,584) new as the 

manufacturer’s suggested retail price 

or online used priced under $1,400 

(€1,232), The Dremel Digilab 3D45 is 

the PC Magazine choice as 

the “best of the year” for a 

3D printer. 

While many small 

businesses may opt to do 

without a 3D printer, a 

feet-wetting acquaintance 

with one for such a small 

price may tempt many. This 

printer is fairly new, 

The Dremel Digilab 3D45 

introduced in January 2018, by 

Dremel, the 86-year-old Illinois, USAbased 

Toolmaker Company that is 

known mostly for its hobbyist tools. 

Tony Hoffman, writing for PC 

Magazine, wrote that the machine has 

“very good print quality. Easy to use. 

User-friendly yet powerful software. 

Prints via USB, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi, 

and from a USB thumb drive. Safe 

design. Relatively quiet.” 



Hoffman printed 10 test objects and 

said “print quality was good to 

excellent throughout, with no 

significant difference between 

standard and high resolution. Even 

better, there were no misprints, and 

none of the printed objects showed any 

serious flaws. It did very well in 

printing our geometric test object, 

which includes raised text and various 

shapes on a steeply inclined surface. 

Since the Dremel 3D45 is closedframe, 

the front door and lid are closed 

during printing, averting extruder 

burns.The metal extruder nozzle, 

“which gets very hot during printing, 

extends only a short distance below the 

extruder assembly and would be hard 

to reach. With the door and lid closed, 

the 3D45 is very se and printed with 

above-average quality. The only 

drawbacks he found were that it had 

limited filament colours compared to 

competitors and the touch screen is 

not particularly responsive. 

Latex printers 

For the Wide-Format printers, let’s take 

a look at the latex printers. HP has 

competition everywhere, including 

Ricoh and Mimaki and other brands. 

But it has the advantage of being a 

little bit of a trailblazer in latex, so its 

300 Latex series is now under $10,000 

(€8,796) and the older machines are 

even cheaper. 

Why latex? Some latex print 

providers can do just about anything 

from floor graphics to eye-catching 

retail signs to appliques for vehicle 

wraps used by applications such as 

law enforcement One local company 

has combined latex printing with 

wireless-based digital signs to make a 

profitable business. 

HP introduced its “HP Latex 300 

Print and Cut Series” at the ISA Sign 

Expo 2017, ranging from the HP 

Latex 315 (54 inches wide,137 cm) 

and the HP Latex 335 (64 inches or 

163 cm) and additionally, an HP 

Latex 310, same size as the 315, 

which is advertised at under $10,000 

(€8,791), used and reconditioned. 

HP has paired its printers with the 

cloud-based HP Signage Suite for easily 

making signs. HP also has worked on 

the media, providing a new series of 

textiles for applications that are 

primarily soft-signage for items such as 

trade-show use or home textiles. It also 

has a blackout display film. 

One thing to keep in mind with latex 

is that there are internal dryers that 

make the printers hot when running. 

In addition, keep in mind the electrical 

requirements. Many use two 220- 

volt outlets. 

Epson affordable and full-featured 

The Epson SureColor P9000 was 

introduced in 2015 with a 44-inch 

(112 cm.) width and a price tag now at 

about $4,500 (€ 3,989). It uses 10 

inks, designed for photography, but can 

be used for a variety of signs, banners 

and other media. In fact, the printer 

supports almost any media type in cutsheet 

or roll, ups to 1.5 mm thick. 

Parts distributor and 

solutions provider laser & 

copier remanufacturing 

industry. 

Meet us in 

26.–29.1.2019, Frankfurt am Main 

paperworld.messefrankfurt.com 

HALL 5.1 

Booth 

C68 


HP Latex 300 Print and Cut Series 

Contact us now 

for our great show 

deals 

info@citbv.com 

or call 

+31-514581400 

www.citbv.com 

37


Used small business printers; budget-worthy and not, continued 

One drawback is that many other company’s 

printers have built-in hard drives and 

spectrophotometers. With the Epson SureColor 

P9000, an optional print server of 320 gigabytes for 

the printer that costs about $400 (€ 352). There is 

also an optional SpectroProofer with a cost of 

$2,500 (€ 2,190). It does come with a built-in 

rotary cutter. 

The printer will print at 2,880 X 1,440 dpi. It 

prints from a USB drive or LAN. The speed of 20 x 

30-inch (51 X 76 cm) prints is from 3:40 to 12:25 

minutes and production is 7:36 minutes. It has a 

built-in dryer. Media is front-loading. R Epson SureColor P9000 

Wide-Format news in brief 

SAi and Avery Dennison develop specialised RIP 

In fabric printing, garments had to be 

cotton and cotton-polyester blends. 

SA International (SAi), has partnered 

with Avery Dennison to develop 

specialised software for the 

company’s TrafficJet Print System for 

the signmaking industry. 

SA International (SAi), the leading 

provider of software solutions for 

the signmaking, digital printing and 

CNC machining industries, has 

partnered with Avery Dennison to 

develop specialized software for 

the company’s TrafficJet Print 

System. In manufacturing, computer 

numerical control (CNC) or 

automatic control of machining 

tools is done by means of a 

computer. 

The Avery Dennison TrafficJet 

Print System has six dedicated spot 

colours, which can be custom 

blended, that match the regulated 

traffic signage. A spot-color mapping 

tool is also part of the TrafficJet Print 

System. Cut jobs for media can be 

optimised through the SAi’s 

contour-cut True Shape Nesting 

feature, which can save up to 30% 

over other printing features. 

Printed clothing being explored by fabric companies 

While battery-heat is familiar 

to many, the concept of heat 

in fabric usually has 

generated a clumsy piece of 

clothing with obvious wiring. 

But printed electronics is now 

making jackets that generate 

heat and are comfortable. 

The Mult-Tech Commuter 

Jackets are courtesy of a 

coalition of collaborators that 

included Lubrizol, Principled 

Design, Butler Technologies 

and ACI Materials, which are 

New York-based, according to 

David Savastano, editor of 

Printed Electronics magazine. 

“Lubrizol brought its 

materials solutions and 

application expertise; Principled 

Design offered the design and 

development of the garment; ACI 

Materials contributed its expertise in 

conductive inks, encapsulants and 

flexible circuit heater technology 

design; and Butler Technologies 

added its skills in developing the 

printed electronics materials stack,” 

the magazine stated. 

The jacket had to be scalable, so 

used high-precision screen printing of 

the conductive inks, resulting in 

warmth and comfort that can be 

reproduced on a large scale. 

Electronics are as unobtrusive as 

can be possible. 

Mark Paczkowski, Ph.D. Technical 

Fellow, Corporate Technology 

and Externalization, The Lubrizol 

Corporation, told Printed 

Electronics that a number of 

clothing companies are working on 

integrating printed electronics into 

clothing. 

R 

Editor’s Note: Neal McChristy is a 

freelance writer with over 35 years 

journalism experience in magazine, 

newspaper and Web-based work. He has 

been contributing editor for magazine 

columns in the wide-format industry for 

18 years. He also has over 20 years’ 

experience as reporter and editor in the 

printing and imaging area. He likes to 

correspond with readers and can be reached 

at freelance9@cox.net. 


FEATURE 

LightWords celebrates 

a decade in business 

2018 is a special year for LightWords Imaging as the business 

reaches its first double-digit birthday. By way of marking the 

occasion, The Recycler caught up with Director and Senior Analyst, 

Peter Mayhew, to find out more about LightWords and how it has 

secured its place in the industry. 

LightWords Imaging is a 

UK-based company which 

specialises in custom research 

and consulting projects, 

during which it conducts 

research, and then provides 

analysis, interpretation and 

consultation based on its 

market findings. 

As its new website 

declares, “We focus on revealing 

the details other research houses 

cannot possibly even start to identify or 

track. Simply, they do not have the 

network to reach and reveal such 

valuable insights.” 

When asked how LightWords first 

came to be founded, Peter Mayhew 

explained, “It was as a result of joining 

Lyra Research in 2004, representing 

their research and consulting services 

in Europe, that led to the formation of 

Lightwords four years later. We never 

initially intended to trade the 

Lightwords brand but, following the 

acquisition of Lyra Research by the 

Photizo Group, we decided to change 

direction and “go-it alone”. We chose to 

focus the company initially on wide 

format markets because this market 

was exploding, and demand was high 

for insight into applications.” 

As with any business, however, it 

has not always been smooth sailing, 

with Mayhew commenting that 


Peter Mayhew 

LightWords has faced 

challenges over the past 

decade. 

“The financial market crash 

meant that research budgets 

were slashed overnight, that 

was a tough and interesting 

time,” he said, adding wryly, 

“Also, in our business, you 

have to keep on top of market 

trends, which is a full-time occupation 

as the pace of change is fast, but that 

makes it fun.” 

Despite the obstacles LightWords 

has faced, Mayhew clearly delights in 

his work. 

“When you produce a report or 

conclude a project for a client and you 

then watch them implement the results 

and yield the success, that is very 

rewarding. Especially when major 

brands cite your research in the public 

domain.” 

2018 is a special year for the 

company, as it turns ten years old. 

LightWords has “a small, dedicated 

team” which is “spread around the 

world,” as Mayhew explains, “so 

celebrating together will be difficult. 

But, we will all gather around the Skype 

webcam and take a moment to mark 

the occasion.” 

The business has also marked 

2018 by launching a new improved 

website, offering potential clients 

an upgraded user experience. 

When asked in what other ways 

LightWords has adapted and evolved to 

remain relevant and meet the needs of 

its clients, Mayhew responded, 

“Research and consultancy markets 

have become more competitive and 

everyone likes to think that with the 

help of Google, they can become a 

research expert. But, it’s much more 

than that. We have invested heavily in 

developing and maintaining our 

research network and, penetrated 

deeply into channels to better capture 

the insights which can make or break 

our clients’ strategies.” 

As the business has burgeoned, it has 

formed several fruitful partnerships 

along the way. Mayhew said, “It is 

essential if you are going to grow your 

business in such a small market, to 

understand when you might need help 

and, to be humble enough to ask for it. 

It can be surprising just how helpful 

and cooperative, even your competitors 

can be. If you approach collaboration 

with a win-win attitude, then success 

will be the result.” 

Looking to the future, he adds, “We’re 

not planning to build an enterprise. I’ll 

be happy if we can remain profitable, 

lean and agile. Most of all, I would like 

to see us simply respected for the depth 

of the industry knowledge and insight 

of our people.” 

While LightWords is enjoying 

celebrating its first decade in the 

business, Mayhew himself is an 

industry veteran with 36 years of 

experience under his belt. 

Questioned about the changes he has 

witnessed over the years, and the 

developments he expects to see in the 

future, he explained, “As the only 

copiers used camera’s and photo 

chemicals when I started work, the 

industry has changed beyond 

recognition. But, the fundamental 

drivers, although disrupted, have not 

changed much. For example, we are 

already seeing the millennial workforce 

appreciating the tactile feel of paper 

and its effect on persuasion and recall. 

Going forward, we are just at the start 

of supply chain disruption. Additive 

manufacturing (3D Printing) is going to 

change how and where products are 

made and, when you add robotics, 

artificial intelligence and augmented 

reality, the role of the printed page only 

is going to become more important 

than ever. 

Why?” he concludes. “Because, we 

are all only human.” 

R 

39

RETAIL COLUMN 

The year of the plan 

As we start the year, one thing every store manager, assistant and clerk 

can do to make this year more lucrative – personally and professionally – 

is to have a plan. Failure to have a plan is listed as the #1 reason 

that businesses go under. A closing may be quick or eventual for a 

store or website without a plan, but it will be inevitable. 

A plan for your growth 

Let’s start with YOU – the reader. 

What do YOU want to get out of 

2019? Sounds daunting, but just say 

out loud what you want: A better job? 

A promotion? More fun in your 

current role? To learn new skills? 

Whatever it is (and it could be MANY 

things) you begin by saying it out 

loud. Then think about each goal and 

divide it into 12 steps that would bring 

you closer to that goal. Add that thing 

as a scheduled event on your monthly 

calendar for each month of the year. 

As that event comes up in your 

calendar, do not check it off until it is 

done so you will get closer to your goal 

in a year. (Move it to the next day if 

you do not complete it.) 

If your goal is to improve financially 

in your current job, you need to start 

by asking your boss to talk with you. 

Explain that you want to have a raise 

in 2019. Ask your boss what it would 

take to get that raise. Then listen 

closely. Show management you are 

connecting the dots and want to make 

change happen. For example, if your 

manager said that sales have to 

increase, ask if that would be by 

increasing sales to current customers 

or to acquire new ones. 

If the target is too far away, ask for 

indicators that would help 

your manager know you 

are on the right track. Talk 

about specific things your 

manager could do to help 

you reach the targets. 

Perhaps you need to learn 

new systems or take on 

more responsibility in the 

store. Whatever it is, do 

not get defensive about 

what you already do or 

know. Simply ask how 

you can have more 

opportunities to expand in 

whatever direction your manager 

suggests. Then set a timeline and 

begin to make changes in how you 

show up to work. Show even an iota 

of rejuvenated energy toward your 

job and chances are your manager 

will begin to send more opportunities 

to grow your way. Maybe your 

manager sees something that you do 

not. Get that person to verbalize what 

they expect. Then at least you both 

will have the same definition of a plan 

for your growth. 

Flora Delaney 

A plan for your team’s growth 

If you are the owner or the manager, 

the paragraphs above may set you on 

your heels. But guess what? EVERY 

employee is regularly looking for 

other jobs when they work in retail. It 

comes with the territory. Retail has 

notoriously high turnover and much 

of it is caused by how retail managers 

use their teams. Giving your team 

varying schedules with very little 

warning, causes upheavals that 

they cannot navigate when 

children, spouses and roommates 

are involved. Put yourself 

in their shoes when thinking 

about your workplace to see the 

world through their eyes. 

Step one in planning for your 

team’s growth is getting them 

to stick around. So it is up to 

you to have conversations with 

each one to understand what 

they want in 2019 and to 

work with them to attain their 

goals. Maybe their goal is to 

leave your employment. That’s 


honest. Find out why and their 

timing. Then see what you can do to 

either help them find more 

satisfaction in their current job or 

help them to move along so you can 

hire a team member who may be more 

dedicated. Importantly, you have to 

have clear eyes when talking with 

each person so you can understand 

their true plans and how that fits in 

with your store. 

A plan for your store’s growth 

Now is the time to create a plan for how 

your store or website ought to perform. 

Take time to study the measurements 

that you usually overlook. Evaluate 

2018 sales trends and seasonality to 

anticipate customer needs in 2019 so 

you are better prepared this year. Look 

at units per transaction, euros per 

transaction and number of customers 

served by day of week. 

If you are a brick-and-mortar store, 

evaluate the Gross Margin Return on 

Labour (GMROL) by dividing profit by 

labour hours. Does it improve when you 

add people to your sales floor? Or does it 

depend on who is in the store? How can 

you expand on your best GMROL days 

or hours to replicate those levels more 

frequently? How can you share with 

your best employees are doing with 

everyone else? 

If you are an ecommerce retailer, 

evaluate the returning visitors to your 

site and your acquisition paths. Make 

sure your welcoming email campaign 

as well as your lapsed customer 

campaigns are fresh and automated so 

that they deliver sales without hands-on 

intervention. Finally, look closely at 

how well social media is working for you 

and consider a change to your content 

and frequency to make improvements. 

Put marketing under a microscope. 

Marketing is an investment. When you 

advertise do you see sales spikes? How 

do you measure advertising 

effectiveness? If you are disappointed 

with marketing expenditures because 

you cannot connect the investment 

with brand awareness and sales, 

consider trying something new. 

2019 will be the year when video 

marketing will become mainstream. 

That means it is table stakes for 

retailers. Use your phone’s camera to 

bring your brand to life. It can be 

anything from highlighting your 

customers and their creative uses of 

your product to slice of life videos that 

RETAIL COLUMN 

capture behind the scenes looks at your 

store and staff. Select a tone that 

matches your brand (friendly, funloving, 

reliable, scientific – whatever!) 

and use impromptu videos to show your 

facebook, twitter, Instagram and 

pinterest community what sets you 

apart. 

Plans are documents 

Whatever you decide to do, a plan 

doesn’t exist if it lives in your head. 

You have to write it down – or at least 

create a document on your computer 

or phone. To make your plan even 

more powerful, share it with someone 

you respect and ask them to help you 

hold yourself accountable to the plan. 

Or not. Choose to shrug off these 

suggestions and plow into your work 

tomorrow like you did every day in 

2018. See where you are in a year. R 


41

RETAIL COLUMN 

Grooming your replacement 

While you may not like to think about someone doing your job as well as you, there are far more 

positives than negatives to finding and grooming someone to replace you. Even if you are not 

the owner or in the top position of the company, it always makes sense to help someone learn 

what you do and, more importantly, why and how you do it that way. 

The obvious circumstances that 

require someone to know as much as 

you is when you become ill or wish to 

take a holiday. If you have someone 

competent to leave the shop with 

your recovery and relaxation will be 

easier – especially knowing that you 

will not have a pile of unfinished 

work waiting for your return. 

Frankly, you cannot know when an 

unforeseen accident or crisis will take 

you away from the business for a long 

while. A back up will make those 

traumas easier. 

If you have aspirations to move 

ahead within your company, you are 

likely to find that by holding your 

knowledge closely, you have created a 

circumstance where you simply are 

“too valuable” to be promoted or 

move into another position. Once you 

hit that career obstacle, you may wish 

you had spent more time helping 

build skills in the people around you. 

Thus, in both the short- and longterm 

view of your work life, helping 

someone learn your job (completely) 

is a benefit to you. 

Notice, that I did not say, “train 

someone to do your job exactly as you 

do it.” Let’s face it: everyone does 

work a little differently. If you are 

honest with yourself, you have 

changed and adapted what you do 

and how you do it since you first 

began in your role. Maybe you 

prioritise things differently than in 

the past or you created a shortcut 

that helps you ensure accuracy in a 

new way. Whatever it is, you learned 

what needed to be done and now you 

do it “your own way” to complete the 

job. In the same fashion, the person 

who will replace you will do things in 

their own manner. Some of their 

changes will make things better or 

worse (in your opinion.) Stay focused 

on the outcome and taking care of 

customers and allow your 

replacement to create their own style 

as they learn the ropes. 

Selecting your replacement 

Look at your work and decide if you 

need to teach one person how to do 

everything you do or if you can 

logically spread different tasks 

to different people. Spreading 

your tasks across several other 

people works well in a shortterm 

situation like when you 

are on vacation or ill. Teaching 

one person to become your 

replacement works better if you 

want to move on in your career 

or make a more permanent 

change to your role. (Like 

retirement!) There are two 

indicators that can become a 

successful replacement for you: 

1. Someone eager to move 

ahead and has said they wish to 

learn or do more in the shop. If 

someone has already indicated they 

are ready for more responsibility, it 

will be easy to partner with them in 

your endeavor to teach them your 

duties. 

2. Someone who is easily bored and 

underutilised – they may even be 

disruptive at times if their current 

role doesn’t allow them to use all 

their capabilities. They may require 

more convincing to take on more, 

but a sharp mind will typically rise 

to the challenge. 

HOLD ACCOUNTABLE 

How to teach 

DEMONSTRATE 

Using the training triangle, it is 

important that you explain, 

demonstrate and then hold your 

apprentice accountable. 

When you explain, begin with the 

outcome expected and why it is 

important. Merely saying “on Tuesday 

you have to review the PO’s and 

incoming orders and make sure they 

align to the monthly budget” isn’t 

42 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 315 • FEBRUARY 2019 

EXPLAIN

RETAIL COLUMN 

enough. Explain that incoming 

inventory dollars must align to the 

budget or be adjusted so that the shop 

doesn’t miss sales due to lack of 

inventory or disrupt cash flow with 

largescale purchases. If you review 

them by Tuesday of each week, there 

is time to make changes to orders 

before they are released to vendors. 

Then go through the steps of 

monitoring PO’s and how to make the 

changes when necessary. By focusing 

on the outcomes and the reasons, the 

steps to complete a task will be logical. 

Demonstrate what you do and how 

you do it. Begin with the “usual 

situation” which should be the 

stripped down, essential core of what 

you are doing. Make sure your trainee 

understands the basics before 

throwing in variances that you 

follow when there are unusual 

circumstances. As you are training 

and demonstrating, it is an excellent 

time for your trainee to document the 

steps. Review the documentation and 

use it to create a job aid for your 

various tasks. A job aid is a tool that is 

at the ready whenever someone needs 

to understand how or what to do. It 

can be as simple as an ordinal list of 

steps or as complicated as a flow 

chart. Keep the documentation on a 

shared server location or binder for 

easy retrieval. 

Finally, allow them to do it on their 

own and review for accuracy. Increase 

the complexity and the autonomy for 

your replacement until you both feel 

they can achieve the same outcomes 

as you. The training triangle is a 

simple mnemonic for you to use to 

make sure you are always thorough in 

your training approach. 

What to teach 

Prioritise your tasks from the most 

essential and common to the most 

atypical. Begin with the things you do 

every day and every week and then 

expand to those things that are 

required of you once a quarter or 

yearly. Prioritise everything that 

a customer experiences, then 

everything that impacts employees, 

then vendors and finally landlords or 

other stakeholders. Remember that in 

retail, what is most critical is that 

customer service remains high when 

a key staff member is away or 

changes. 

The person you have selected to 

learn the ropes also has their own job 

and priorities. If you have the ability 

to adjust their schedule or hours to 

give them more time to devote to 

learning, that is ideal. Otherwise, 

make sure that you blend your work 

together so that you take some of their 

tasks while they are learning new 

skills to reduce stress in completing 

their own responsibilities. 

Making the transition 

Once you are confident that your 

replacement could step into your role, 

make the announcement official. If 

you are looking for a new position 

within the company, put your 

replacement in a position to be 

noticed by your superiors and express 

your confidence in their capabilities. 

In a private conversation, make sure 

that your superior knows that you 

have created your own replacement so 

that you can be ready for the next 

posting in the company. If you are an 

owner or manager, recognize the 

effort by making an official 

announcement letting the staff know 

that you have trained a person to do 

your job in your stead. Let them know 

that in case of your absence they 

can rely on operations running 

smoothly with your replacement in 

your position. 

Use this new freedom to take care of 

important duties outside the shop. 

Marketing and networking outside 

the store to bring in new customers is 

the most productive use of your 

new freedom. Or use the time to 

investigate new technology or 

solutions that could be leveraged in 

the store. Watch the store dynamics as 

you make your transition and give 

your staff or replacement coaching to 

ensure that they are fair and 

appropriate in your absence. 

With a replacement in place, you 

will have new freedom to build your 

business or your career. You will 

reduce your stress because you will 

know that should you be away from 

the shop, you have a team that can 

meet your standards. 

R 

Flora’s upcoming book: Retail The 

Second-Oldest Profession: 7 Timeless 

Principles to WIN in Retail Today will be 

released on 26 February 2019 and will 

be available via Amazon, Kobo, Tolino 

and in bookstores (or special order) 

worldwide. It is available as both a 260 

page paperback and an ebook on all 

tablets and readers. 

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. 


43

Advertising conditions of acceptance 

1 In these terms and conditions, “Advertiser” means the party 

who books the space and/or any agent acting on his behalf 

and “Publisher” means Recycler Publishing & Events Ltd. 

2 These terms and conditions shall apply to all advertisements 

accepted for publication by the Publisher except insofar as 

shall otherwise specifically be agreed in writing by the 

Publisher, notwithstanding that the Advertiser may choose to 

provide confirmation, purchase order or any other document 

containing other terms and conditions. The Advertiser shall 

not be entitled to rely on any representation or warranty, 

express or implied, which is not contained herein. 

3 All advertisements are accepted subject to the Publisher’s 

approval of the copy and the required space being available. 

The Publisher will try to place an advertisement in the product 

section apparently most relevant to the Advertiser but reserves 

the right to make the final decision as to the position of the 

Advertisement. The Publisher reserves the right to place the 

word “advertisement” with copy which (in the Publisher’s 

opinion) resembles editorial matter. 

4 The Advertiser warrants and represents that the 

advertisement (a) does not contravene any law, statute or 

regulations in England and/or in any other country where the 

advertisement might appear as a result of its publication by 

the Publisher (b) is not in any way defamatory or illegal or an 

infringement of the rights of any third party (c) complies in all 

respects with the British Code of Advertising Practice and any 

other relevant advertising standards prevailing (in England 

and/or in any other country where the advertisement might 

appear as a result of its publication by the Publisher) at the 

time the advertisement is published. 

5 Any free listing facility is offered ex-gratia and whilst the 

Publisher will consider the wishes of the Advertiser, the 

Publisher reserves the right to make the final decision as to 

whether to include the same and as to its format and wording 

and shall not be required to obtain the approval of the 

Advertiser thereto. 

6) The Advertiser will indemnify and keep the Publisher fully and 

effectively indemnified from and against any losses, costs and 

expenses howsoever incurred by the Publisher arising out of 

or in connection with the advertisement and/or in respect of 

any breach by the Advertiser of paragraph 4 of these terms 

and conditions. The Publisher will consult with the Advertiser 

as to the way in which any claim against the Publisher (in 

respect of which indemnity is sought by the Publisher from 

the Advertiser) is handled. 

7 The Publisher reserves the right (in its absolute discretion) to 

omit, suspend or exclude an advertisement at any time; any 

such omission, suspension or exclusion shall be notified to the 

Advertiser as soon as possible. If the Publisher exercises its 

rights under this paragraph at any time, the Publisher shall 

not be liable for costs, claims, liabilities or damages of any kind 

as a consequence of so doing. 

8 All reasonable care will be taken to avoid mistakes but the 

Publisher does not accept liability for any errors or omissions 

due to the acts or defaults of third parties or sub-contractors 

or due to inaccurate or ambiguous copy instructions or due to 

any other acts, circumstances or defaults beyond its 

PRINT ~ INBOX ~ ONLINE 

General Information and Advertising Conditions of Acceptance 

Effective 1st January 2019 

reasonable control. The Publisher shall not be liable for any 

errors or omissions in the advertisement unless the proof is 

returned in ample time for corrections to be made before the 

publication goes to press or is otherwise finalised prior to 

The Publisher does not warrant any particular publication 

date for the advertisement unless otherwise expressly agreed 

in writing with the Advertiser and, in any event, time shall not 

be of the essence as regards the publication date. 

10 The Publisher shall have no responsibility if the advertisement 

is not published on the agreed date as a result of strike, lockout, 

fire, storm, flood, riot, explosion, power failure, breakdown 

or failure of systems or machinery or any other event 

beyond the Publisher’s reasonable control. 

11 All advertising insertions shall be submitted by the Advertiser 

by the closing copy date in the form stipulated by the Publisher 

and otherwise in accordance with the Publisher’s instructions 

from time to time. Unless the Publisher receives the 

advertising insertion in the proper form and as per the 

Publisher’s instructions, or if the Publisher is required to 

perform additional production work as a result of the 

Advertiser's failure to conform to the Publisher’s requirements 

and/or instructions, the Publisher (in its absolute discretion) 

reserves the right (a) to make additional charges to the 

Advertiser for the cost of any such production work or (b) 

rerun the most recent insertion available (c) to treat the 

Advertiser as having cancelled. 

12 Copy must be supplied by the Advertiser without application 

or request from the Publisher. Proofs will be supplied where 

copy is submitted for setting at the printer provided that such 

copy is received by the quoted copy date. Proofs will not be 

supplied for advertisement copy supplied as complete artwork 

or film unless specifically requested in writing by the 

Advertiser. 

13 If the Publisher elects to place the advertisement 

(notwithstanding the late supply of copy by the Advertiser) no 

promise or assurance is given that proofs will be supplied or 

corrections made. 

14 Advertisement rates may be revised at any time. Orders are 

accepted on the basis that the price binds the Publisher only in 

respect of the next issue to be published by the Publisher. If 

there is a rate increase which the Publisher wishes to charge 

to the Advertiser, then the Advertiser will have the option 

either to cancel the remainder of the order without surcharge 

or to continue the order at the revised advertisement rates. 

15 If the Advertiser cancels the balance of a contract for a series 

of advertisements except in the circumstances set out in 

paragraph 14 above, then the Publisher has the right to 

surcharge previous advertisements in the series where series 

discount had been applied. Series discounts apply only to 

orders placed in advance and completed within one year from 

the date of first insertion. The Publisher reserves the right (in 

its absolute discretion) to surcharge if the insertions are not 

completed within (a) such one year period or (b) the agreed 

period. 

16 Notice of cancellation or suspension of an advertisement must 

be received in writing by the Publisher strictly in accordance 

with the relevant publication’s rate card cancellation terms. 


Cancellations or suspensions received without sufficient 

notice will be charged for in full by the Publisher. 

17 The publisher is hereby authorised to record, reproduce, 

publish, distribute and broadcast (or to permit the same) all 

advertisements (including but not limited to text, artwork and 

photographs) and to include and make them available in any 

information service electronic or otherwise. 

18 The copyright for all purposes in all artwork, copy and other 

material, which the publisher or its employees have 

originated, contributed to or reworked, shall vest in the 

publisher. 

19 The Publisher’s general payment terms are strictly 14 days 

from the date of invoice. Without prejudice to any other rights 

or remedies available to it, the Publisher reserves the right to 

charge interest on overdue amounts at the rate of 2% above 

the base lending rate from time to time of Santander Bank plc, 

such interest to accrue on a daily basis from the due date to the 

date of actual payment. 

20 The Advertiser’s property, artwork and any other items are 

held by the Publisher at the Advertiser’s risk and should be 

insured by the Advertiser against loss or damage from 

whatever cause. The Publisher reserves the right to destroy all 

such property, artwork and/or other items which have been in 

its possession for more than twelve months. Additionally, the 

Publisher reserves the right to retain all such property, 

artwork and/or other items until the Advertiser's account has 

been settled in full. 

21 In no event shall the liability of the Publisher for any breach of 

contract or in tort exceed the price paid by the Advertiser for 

the advertisement. 

22 In no event shall the Publisher have any liability either in 

contract or in tort for any consequential or indirect loss or 

damage suffered or incurred by the Advertiser, including 

(without limitation) loss of profit or damage to reputation or 

goodwill. 

23 These terms and conditions and all other express terms of the 

contract shall be governed and construed in accordance with 

English law and the Advertiser submits to the non-exclusive 

jurisdiction of the English courts in connection with all 

disputes, claims or actions arising out of or in connection 

therewith. 

Accounting & credit control policy 

If you have any problems regarding your account or require help 

with your banking please contact our Customer Service Team at 

customer.services@therecycler.com, telephone: +44 1993 899 

800, Fax: +44 1993 226 899 

Advertising & Subscription Accounts 

All customer advertising and subscription accounts are billed in 

Sterling and where other currencies are shown on the invoice this 

is for guidance only. 

The Recycler Event Accounts 

The currency used for a particular event will be determined on an 

event by event basis and notified in the relevant event publicity 

and the event contract. 

Remanexpo Events 

All goods and services provided within your Remanexpo contract 

will be billed by Messe Frankfurt, and to whom all payments 

should be made. The Recycler cannot accept payments intended 

for Messe Frankfurt. 


Exchange Rates 

Unless a specific rate is required by law the exchange rates used 

are based on the official exchange rates issued by the United 

Kingdoms Revenue & Customs and adjusted by a single conversion 

commission of 3.5%. 

All invoices and credit notes will be issued in the billing currency 

and will show the value in Sterling. 

Credit Accounts 

All applications for credit are subject to status and we may ask for 

suitable references and guarantees. Until such times as a credit 

account is established your all orders will be on a pre-payment 

basis and can be paid by cheque, drawn on a UK bank, wire 

transfer or by credit card. 

Payment 

The Publisher’s credit payment terms are strictly 14 days from the 

date of invoice. Without prejudice to any other rights or remedies 

available to it, the Publisher reserves the right to charge interest 

on overdue amounts at the rate of 2% above the base lending rate 

from time to time of Santander Bank plc, such interest to accrue 

on a daily basis from the due date to the date of actual payment. 

Subscription renewals are due on or before the renewal date. 

Subscription renewals outstanding more than 14 days will be 

suspended 

We will accept Sterling, Euro or US Dollars to settle your account 

providing you are paying by Cheque or Wire Transfer; however 

only the net amount we receive will be credited to your account. 

Please ensure you quote the correct account details as indicated 

on the invoice to ensure your payment is correctly allocated will 

be credited to your account. 

If you wish to pay by credit card we will charge your card the 

sterling value indicated on your invoice. We are unable to process 

currency transactions by credit card. 

The existence of a query on any individual invoice will not affect 

the due date of payment for the balance of the account. 

Managing your account – 

If you: 

• Exceed your credit limit or, 

• You have invoices outstanding more than 45 days or, 

• Enter into an agreement with your creditors or, 

• File for bankruptcy or protection from bankruptcy. 

We reserve the right to: 

• Withdraw your credit facilities with any amount outstanding 

on your account then becoming immediately due for payment 

• Discontinue any planned advertising. 

• Cancel any agreed discounts. 

• Apply interest on overdue amounts at the rate of 2% above the 

base lending rate from time to time of Santander Bank plc, such 

interest to accrue on a daily basis from the due date to the date 

of actual payment. 

• Apply an account administration fee of £12 if we have to send 

you an Account Default Notice. 

• Pass your account to a third party for collection and apply an 

administration fee of £250. 

Full terms and conditions and our data and privacy policies can be 

found online at https://www.therecycler.com/tandc2019/ 

The Recycler 

Wittas House, Two Rivers, Station Lane, 

Witney, OX28 4BH, United Kingdom. 

Tel: +44 1993 899800 www.therecycler.com 

PRINT ~ INBOX ~ ONLINE 

45

PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY 

GLOBAL Static Control, Parts and 

Components, Remanufacturing 

Static Control 

launches new 

components 

In the last three months, Static 

Control has released several new 

component items for use in 

remanufactured cartridges, 

including more than 115 

replacement chips. 

There were 50 replacement chips 

released for various Okidata cartridges, 

including those used in MC363, C532 

and C910 printers. These chips are 

regionalised to work in the proper 

cartridge, and both low and standard 

yield options are available. 

Chips were also released for use in 

cartridges for the HP LaserJet Managed 

Flow MFP E77822/E77825/E77830 

series printers. These printers were 

released in mid-2017 and offer a page 

yield of 34,000 pages for black and 

32,000 for cyan, magenta and yellow. 

Replacement chip solutions were also 

released for Brother TN-2411/2421, TN- 

730/760/770, TN-2410/2415/2420/ 

2430 /2445/2449/2450 cartridges, along 

with Kyocera TK-8335 and Utax 2506, 

3206,4056, 5006, P-4020, and P-5030 

series cartridges. 

In addition to chips, Static Control 

released replacement toner for use in 

Brother HL-9310 cartridges in dedicated 

and 1 kg sizes and an Odyssey drum for 

use in Samsung ML-1610, 2010 and 

related cartridges. 

Year to date, Static Control reveals 

the company has released more 

than 625 component products for 

remanufacturers and has more than 500 

components in development. 

For more information go to www.sccinc.com. 


ASIA Ninestar, Cartridges, New Products 

Ninestar’s plethora of patented 

new products 

The company has unveiled multiple new products for use in various OEM 

machines. 

Ninestar has released new patented 

replacement ink cartridges with chip for use 

with the Brother LC3033/3133/3233 series 

cartridges which can be used with Brother 

MFC-J995DW/MFC-J5845DW/MFC- 

J5945DW/ MFC-J6545DW/MFC-J6945DW/ 

DCP-J988N/MFC-J1500N/HL-J6000CDW/ 

MFC-J6999CDW/MFC-J6997CDW/MFC- 

J1300/DCP-J1100DW/HL-J6100DW/MFC- 

J6947DW/MFC-J1300 printers. 

Targeted at the SOHO market, Brother 

released a series of printers in North 

America on 4 April 2018. Different from the 

previous launch, all released printers are A4 

format printers. In July, the same year, 

Brother released a series of A3 format 

printers, positioning these devices at 

business and enterprises users. Since then, 

Brother’s new printers (the 4th generation) 

have swept the global market. 

Ninestar said: “Compared to the similar 

printers in the market, we can see the 

advantage of Brother’s new printers is with 

high page yield. Users don’t need to replace 

cartridges frequently.” 

The company continues: “The appearance 

of the new 4th generation’s cartridges has 

changed a lot when compared to previous 

generations’. The size enlarges so the ink 

volume and page yield increase accordingly.” 

“Inside the cartridges, the lever structure 

design was cancelled. At the same time, the 

printer structure has been greatly changed. 

For example, the photoelectric sensor (was 

originally in ink cartridge) 

was moved to printer. And 

an ink chamber was added in 

the printer. That results in a 

higher requirement for the 

ink quality. Ninestar selfdeveloped 

high-end pigment 

ink and dye ink perfectly 

meet the requirement.” 

Prior to this release, 

Ninestar also announced the release of 

patented replacement toner cartridges with 

chip, again for use with Brother products. 

The patented CMYK replacement 

cartridges with chip are for use in the 

Brother HL-L321CW/HL-L3230CDW/ 

HL-L3270CDW/HL-L3290CDW/MFC- 

L3710CW/MFC-L3750CDW/MFC-3770CDW 

machines. 

The “first to market” products boast 

Ninestar’s “self-developed patented 

technology,” as well as a “stable printing 

performance.” 

Finally, Ninestar released its patented 

replacement toner cartridges for use in the 

HP LaserJet P3015 series of printers. 

Targeted at medium sized business and 

enterprises, HP launched the printers in 

August 2009. Featuring Sidewinder dongle 

gear technology, Ninestar’s patented 

replacement toner cartridges are for use in 

the HP LaserJet Enterprise MFP M525c/MFP 

M525f/MFP M525dn/P3015n/P3015d/ P3015dn/ 

P3015x/Flow M525c, as well as the LaserJet 

Pro M521dn MFP/M521dw MFP and Canon 

i-Sensys LBP 6750dn/6780X and Canon 

imageClass MF515dw machines. 

The replacement cartridges are again 

produced with “self-developed patented 

technology” and Ninestar states that they 

offer an “outstanding and stable printing 

performance.” 

For more information, visit www. 

ninestarimage.com or www.ggimage.com. 




EUROPE CiT, Parts, Remanufacturing 

CiT’s array of new products 

revealed 

The supplier has announced a range of new products for the 

remanufacturing community. 

The first products announced are a 

complete toner cartridge refilling set for 

cartridges for use in Konica Minolta Bizhub 

C3100/3110P and Olivetti d-colour 

MF3100/3110 machines. 

As CiT explains, this entry level colour 

machine, offers a fairly simple way to refill 

and re-use the toner cartridges. CiT is 

offering a set of toner powder and 

replacement chips for the refilling of these 

toner cartridges. The replacement chips are 

unicolour and multi brand for use in 

Konica Minolta TNP50, TNP51 and Olivetti. 

CiT continues: “For those interested in 

the challenge of remanufacturing the drum 

unit: we offer the drum chips (one per 

colour) too.” 

Also announced were OPC’s for use in 

cartridges for use with Kyocera TaskAlfa 

1800/1801/2200/2201 in two yields. One is 

available as a replacement high yield OPC 

with guaranteed 150,000 pages and a 

replacement a low yield OPC with 

guaranteed 60,000 pages. 

As CiT explains: “Together with the wiper 

or cleaning blade, the drum chip and the 

suitable PCR. Using these four components 

this drum unit is now possible to give a 

professional second life.” 

EUROPE Biuromax, New Poducts 

These new compatible toner cartridges are 

designed for use in Kyocera-Mita ECOSYS 

M4125idn/M4132idn models. The 

compatible cartridge replaces the Kyocera- 

Mita TK6115 monochrome cartridge. 

Kyocera’s ECOSYS M4125idn printer can 

produce up to 25/12 pages of A4/A3 per 

minute, offers print, copy, colour scan and 

fax functions, and features a full colour 

touch pane, long-life components and a 

HyPAS solution platform. 

The ECOSYS M4132idn produces up to 

32/17 A4/A3 pages per minute, ensures 

minimum installation and operation 

requirements, promises low power 


CiT also announced parts for the 

remanufacturing of Brother’s TN2410, 

TN2420, DR2400 cartridges. Available are 

the replacement toner, OPC’s, chips, 

developer roller, logo cover, fillcap and 

ReSET lever (set of spring and gear) for the 

remanufacturing of the above-mentioned 

cartridges. 

Finally, the company also unveiled 

replacement chips and toner for use 

with cartridges compatible with the 

Oki C823/833/834/843, which have a page 

yield of 7,000 pages, in all four CMYK 

colours. 

CiT has also released another 

replacement chip, for just the Oki C833/843 

– once again in all four CMYK colours, and 

boasting a page yield of 10,000 pages. 

For more information go to 

www.citbv.com. 

Biuromax launches new 

compatible toner cartridges 

The Polish company has unveiled new compatible toner cartridges for use in 

Kyocera devices. 

consumption to save energy, and also 

includes the HyPAS solution platform. 

For more information, go to 

www.biuromax.com.pl. 

NORTH AMERICA LD Products, 

Extended-Yield, Cartridges 

LD Products 

release new 

extended yield 

cartridges 

LD Products Channel Partner 

division has announced the launch 

of new extended yield monochrome 

printer cartridges. 

This product is the latest addition to 

their Gold Line Series of new build 

printer cartridges for Imaging dealers 

and Managed Print providers. 

Designed for use in the higher 

volume monochrome HP M605 and 

HP M630 enterprise printers, LD’s new 

CF281X extended yield cartridges are 

said by the company to deliver 40,000 

impressions at 5 percent coverage. 

“This new member to our LD Gold 

Line series extends our industry leading 

quality leadership position with 

virtually no loss of image density from 

the first page printed with 100 percent 

black coverage to the toner out alert,” 

stated Christian Pepper, President of 

the LD Channel Partners Division. 

“Dealers using extended yield 

remanufactured products often report 

that in the last 20 percent of life, the 

image density of a cartridge can begin 

to fade well before it is empty. This then 

triggers an end user call to the supplies 

helpdesk requesting an early 

replacement which destroys predicted 

MPS profit margins. In our Gold Line 

Extended yield series, we guarantee this 

will not happen, or the cartridge is 

free!” 

Interested parties should contact their 

LD Channel Partner representative for 

more details, says LD Products, or you 

can visit the company’s website at 

www.cpd.ldproducts.com. 

47



GLOBAL Apex, Chips, Remanufacturing 

Apex releases a raft of replacement chips 

In November and December 2018, Apex released a plethora of new replacement chips for use in a variety of OEM devices. 

Among the releases were released 

replacement chips for use in Brother and 

HP machines. 

In July 2018, Brother released a series 

of new A4 colour laser printers HL- 

L3270CDW series in North America, 

Europe, and Australia. This series Canon 

defined as a series of economical colour 

printers covering both single-function and 

multi-function printers. Print rich, vivid 

colour documents at up to 24ppm. This 

series of printers adopts LED printing 

technology, which makes the printer 

smaller in size and faster in printing speed. 

Together with the first use of duplex 

printing, scanning and faxing, this series 

could meet the different printing needs of 

small and medium-sized enterprises. 

Apex says that the ASIC design chips are 

in “stable supply” and “easy to install in 

recycled cartridges”. The chips are for 

CMYK versions and are for use with 

Brother HL-L3210CW, Brother HL- 

L3230CDW, Brother HL-L3270CDW, 

Brother HL-L3290CDW, Brother MFC- 

L3710CW, Brother MFC-L3750CDW, 

Brother MFC-L3770CDW, Brother DCP- 

L3510CDW, Brother DCP-L3550CDW, 

Brother MFC-L3730CDN and Brother 

MFC-L3745CDW machines. 

Also just released were replacement 

chips for use with the monochrome 

cartridges for use with HP Laserjet Pro 

M17a/17w, HP Laserjet Pro M15a/15w, HP 

Laserjet Pro MFP M28a/28w and HP 

Laserjet Pro MFP M29w machines. The 

chips are in the company’s SoC design and 

are said to be “design with consistent 

performance” and “easy to install in 

recycled cartridges”. 

In November 2018, HP released two new 

printers HP LaserJet Pro M17a/17w with 

OEM cartridge CF247A in China. The 

models come with a compact size (100 

square inches) and can be placed in almost 

any narrow space. With a print speed of 

20ppm and a monthly load of up to 8,000 

pages, the new printers use HP Smart for 

mobile devices to print, copy, scan. 

Apex also unveiled replacement chips for 

use with Canon GPR-58/C-EXV-55 series 

cartridges. 

In 2018, Canon launched award-winning 

second edition portfolio of third generation 

imageRUNNER ADVANCE devices for 

secure, cloud-based document solutions. 

This series of copiers focuses on 

humanisation operation, high-quality 

output, safety and reliability. It brings 

delicate and reliable printing experience to 

business users. 

Used with Canon V2 technology, small 

lines can be wonderfully presented. The 

new copiers also employ Canon’s new CS 

(PQ toner before), which the company 

claims will produce sharp, vivid and dense 

images with a smooth finish. 

The latest replacement chips launched 

by Apex are ASIC design chips for use 

in Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE 

C5535/C5540/C5550/C5560, Canon 

imageRUNNER ADVANCE C5535i II/ 

C5540i II/C5550i II/C5560i II, Canon 

imageRUNNER ADVANCE 4525i II/ 4535i 

II/ 4545i II/4551i II, Canon imageRUNNER 

ADVANCE C356iF II/C256iF II and Canon 

imageRUNNER ADVANCE C256i II/ 

C356i II/C356P II machines. The 

replacement chips come regionalised and 

with various page yields. 

Apex says the company’s ASIC design 

chips are “with consistent performance” 

and “easy to install in recycled cartridges”. 

In addition, Apex launched replacement 

chips for use with Brother LC3033/ 

3133/3233 series cartridges. 

Brother released a series of new printers 

since July 2018. Apex explained that they 

were defined as Brother IV series according 

to the naming rules of consumables by the 

OEM. In the Brother III series, the new 

printers have upgraded consumable 

capacities for home printers and 

commercial printers. With the maximum 

yield of 6,000 pages for black and 5,000 

pages for CMY cartridges, Brother IV series 

meets customers’ needs of high volume 

printing according to the OEM. 

The replacement chips released are ASIC 

design chips for “consistent performance” 

and “easy to install in recycled cartridges”, 

according to Apex. 

Apex launched these “first-to-market” 

replacement chips for use with 

LC3033/3133/3233 series cartridges which 

can be used with Brother MFC-J995DW, 

Brother MFC-J5845DW, Brother MFC- 

J5945DW, Brother MFC-J6545DW, Brother 

MFC-J6945DW, Brother DCP-J988N, 

Brother MFC-J1500N, Brother HL- 

J6000CDW, Brother MFC-J6999CDW, 

Brother MFC-J6997CDW, Brother MFC- 

J1300, Brother DCP-J1100DW, Brother 

HL-J6100DW, Brother MFC-J6947DW, 

Brother MFC-J1300 printers. 

All chips come in regionalised forms and 

in various page yields. 

Also released by Apex were replacement 

chips for use in multiple Lenovo machines. 

Featuring a SoC design and boasting 

“consistent performance,” according to 

Apex, the new replacement chips are 

compatible with the Lenovo LT1821 series 

cartridges. 

These cartridges are for use with the 

LenovoCS1831/CS1831W/CM7120W/CS1821 

/CS1821W/CM7110W. 

Apex’s “first to market” replacement 

chips offer a page yield of 1,000 pages in 

CMY or 1,500 pages in black. 

The aforementioned Lenovo printers are 

described by Apex as being “compact size”, 

and featuring “energy-saving materials.” 

They are also “easy to operate,” and “mainly 

aimed for small and medium-sized 

enterprises and home users.” 

Finally, Apex also launched replacement 

chips for use in various Sharp machines. 

The first-to-market replacement chips are 

SoC design, and offer “consistent 

performance,” according to Apex, as well as 

being “easy to install in recycled cartridges.” 

They are available for use in the Sharp 

MX-B355W/B455W/MX-B350P/MX- 

B450P/MX-B350W/MX-B450W, compatible 

with black cartridges and with a page yield 

of 30,000 pages. Replacement chips for 

drum units compatible with the same 

printers have also been released, with a 

page yield of 100,000 pages. 

The Sharp models were released in 

March last year, and boast “all the speed and 

efficiency you’d expect from a larger device, 

but small enough to be used wherever you 

need,” according to Apex. 

For more information, visit 

www.apexmic.com. 


26.–29.1.2019, Frankfurt am Main 

paperworld.messefrankfurt.com 

The Recycler 

Awards 2019 

Join us at 5:30pm at stand D54 

on Sunday 27 January 

Powered by 

Visit www.therecycler.com/live for more information



EUROPE Katun, Cartridges, New Products 

Katun unveils new cartridges, eyes expansion 

The company has announced that Media Sciences compatible colour toners for various Dell machines are now available 

for purchase, whilst also revealing plans to expand its product base. 

The compatible colour toners are for use 

with Dell C2660/C2665-series, Dell 

C5765-series and Dell E525W-series 

printers. According to Katun, these newbuild, 

compatible toner cartridges “offer 

vibrant colour, excellent print quality 

and yields equivalent to the original 

manufacturer’s toner cartridges.” Media 

Sciences black, cyan, magenta and yellow 

compatible toner cartridges for Dell 

C2660/C2665-series machines are 

available “at significant cost-per-print 

savings when compared to the original 

manufacturer’s cartridges.” 

Likewise, the Media Sciences colour 

compatible toner set for Dell C5765-series 

printers provides “consistent high-quality 

colour prints and equivalent yields at 

prices significantly lower than original 

manufacturer’s cartridges.” 

The third colour toner set, designed for 

use in Dell E525W-series printers, also 

offers users risk-free, high quality colour 

prints. These Media Sciences cartridges 

offer similar performance and equivalent 

yields as the original manufacturer’s 

counterparts. 

Katun states that Media Sciences newbuild 

toner cartridges and remanufactured 

toner cartridges are subjected to rigorous 

testing to ensure they meet Katun’s very 

high-quality standards. These test results 

are reviewed and approved in Katun’s stateof-the-art 

Research and Development lab in 

Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Meanwhile, the company’s European 

wing has revealed that it is expanding its 

already broad selection of high-quality 

colour products for copiers, printers and 

multi-functional devices. 

The company claims it has remained true 

to its mission that sets it apart from 

competitors in the aftermarket: Providing 

unsurpassed colour quality and value, 

including OEM-equivalent yields, excellent 

image quality and outstanding colour 

reproduction. 

“Colour quality and value have always 

been our key differentiators and give us a 

distinct advantage over other suppliers,” 

said Heidi Boller, Katun EAME General 

Manager. “It’s been that way since 2008 

when we launched our first successful 

colour product and it is just as true today. 

Katun excels in providing OEM-equivalent 

toners and components for a broad range of 

colour MFDs – it is our value add. We do 

this by adhering to stringent product 

testing and quality assurance procedures, 

performed in our research and 

development laboratory in Minneapolis, 

Minnesota by our expertly trained 

technicians and engineers.” 

Boller continues: “Not only in the 

lab – Katun Corporation conducts testing 

in the field with our EAME technical 

team – a group of more than 12 people 

responsible for customer field tests, full 

Q&A validation and ongoing testing of 

production runs – key reasons that 

make Katun the best aftermarket partner 

that an office equipment dealer or 

distributor can have.” 

“We estimate that over 40 billion pages 

have been printed worldwide using Katun 

colour imaging supplies – a sure sign of the 

quality, consistency and reliability of Katun 

and its products,” Boller concludes. 

For more information, visit www. 

katun.com or www.mediasciences.com. 

EUROPE KMP, Ink Cartridges, Remanufacturing 

Latest product releases 

from KMP 

The German remanufacturer has released replacement Brother ink cartridges. 

The latest of the company’s releases are 

replacement ink cartridges for use in 

Brother DCP J 785 DW and Brother MFC- 

J 985 DW printers. The replacement 

cartridges are available in all four colours 

and replace Brother’s LC22U series 

cartridges. 

The black cartridge comes with a page 

yield of 2,400 and the CMY cartridges 

come with page yields of 1,200. 

This follows the recent release from 

the company which was replacement 

cartridges, for use in HP’s OfficeJet Pro 

6860 Series and the OfficeJet Pro 

6868/6960/6968/6970/6978/6975. 


www.kmp.com. 

ASIA Gikar, New Products, Drum Unit 

New Gikar 

remanufactured 

drum unit 

The Chinese company has released 

a new remanufactured drum unit for 

use with multiple Xerox machines. 

The remanufactured drum unit is for use 

with the Xerox WorkCentre X3260/ 

X3060/3215/3225/3052. 

These machines are described by Gikar 

as “compact, yet powerful” and feature 

“fast, automatic two-sided printing, with 

crisp, clear text and graphics.” 

Designed to support either a single 

user or a small work team, the Xerox 

3260 series has a printer output of 

30,000 pages. Gikar adds that it also 

offers compatible cartridges for use with 

the machines. 


www.gikar.com.cn. 




GLOBAL Aster, Cartridges, New Porducts 

Aster unveils a host of new products 

Among the new releases launched by Aster to conclude 2018 were replacement toner cartridges and replacement drum units. 

At the beginning of December 2018 Aster 

Graphics announced the release of new 

compatible cartridges for use in HP laser 

monochrome devices. 

As Aster explains, its HP CF248A 

cartridge series is compatible with the HP 

LaserJet Pro M15a laser monochrome 

printer. 

These new compatible cartridges offer a 

page yield of 1,000 pages and, according to 

Aster, offer “excellent and stable print 

quality”. 

Next to be unveiled were Aster’s new 

compatible toner cartridges designed for 

use with the HP Colour LaserJet Enterprise 

M652dn/M652n/M653dn/M653x/MFP 

M681dh/MFP M681f/Flow MFP 

M681z/Flow MFP M682z and provides a 

page yield of 12,500 pages in black or 

10,500 in CMY. 

The second of these new compatible 

toner cartridge from Aster is for use in HP’s 

Colour LaserJet Enterprise M652dn/ 

M652n/M653dn/M653dh/M653x, and 

boasts a page yield of either 27,000 (black) 

or 22,000 (CMY). 

Aster has also released a compatible toner 

cartridge for the HP Colour LaserJet 

Enterprise MFP M681dh/MFP M681f/ 

Flow MFP M681f/Flow MFP M681z/ 

Flow MFP M682z, which offers a page yield 

of 28,000 pages in black, or 23,000 pages 

in CMY. 

In addition, the company launched new 

replacement drum units compatible with 

various Brother machines. 

Aster’s patented replacement drum units 

are described by the company as “selfdeveloped” 

and offering a “consistently 

stable and high-quality output.” 

They are for use with Brother’s MFC 

JOIN US AT THE 

RECYCLER AWARDS 2019 

Join us at 5:30pm 

at stand D54 on 

Sunday 27 January 

L2750DW/DCP L2550DN/DCP L2530DW/ 

DCP-L2510D/HL-L2375DW/HL- 

L2370DNHL-L2350DW/HL-L2310D/MFC 

L2730DW/MFC L2710DW/MFC L2710DN. 

Aster Holland also recently released new 

replacement toner cartridges for use in the 

HP Colour LaserJet machines which were 

introduced by the OEM in May 2017. 

These machines include the HP Colour 

LaserJet Enterprise M652dn, M652n, 

M653dn, M653x, M681dn, MFP M681f, 

Flow MFP M681z, and Flow MFP M682z 

models. 

The Colour LaserJet M652 and M653 

replaced the Colour LaserJet CP4025 

and Colour LaserJet Enterprise M651 

respectively, while the M681 and M682 

replaced the Colour LaserJet Enterprise 

MFP M680 series. 

Aster says its new toner features 

“patented structure which avoids infringing 

the OEM’s patent”, adding, “The developer 

roller of the new toner applies superior 

silica and its surface covers curable coating, 

ensuring stable performance and 

outstanding printouts.” 

A full colour set of replacement toner 

cartridges are available for use in HP 

HP Colour LaserJet Enterprise M652dn/ 

M652n/M653dn/M653x/MFP M681dh/ 

MFP M681f/Flow MFP M681z and Flow 

MFP M682z devices. The black cartridge 

offers a page yield of 12,500 pages while the 

CMY cartridges provide a page yield of 

10,500 pages. 

A full colour set of replacement toner 

cartridges are available for use in 

HP Colour LaserJet Enterprise M652dn/ 

M652n/M653dn and M653x models. The 

black cartridge offers a page yield of 27,000 

pages while the CMY cartridges offer a page 

yield of 22,000 pages. 

In addition, a full colour set of 

replacement toner cartridges are available 

for use in HP Colour LaserJet Enterprise 

MFP M681dh/MFP M681f/Flow MFP 

M681z and Flow MFP M682z. The black 

cartridge offers a page yield of 28,000 

pages and the CMY cartridges offer a page 

yield of 23,000 pages. 

Finally, at the end of the month, the 

company announced the release of a new 

replacement toner cartridge, for use with 

certain HP machines. 

The “first to market” replacement 

cartridges are described by Aster as offering 

“consistently stable and high-quality 

output,” as well as being “independent 

R&D patented.” 

The replacement cartridges are for use 

with the HP M118 series, that was launched 

by the OEM earlier this month, as well as 

the M148 series, the M148dw, and the 

M148fdw. 


www.goaster.com. 


51

marketplace or 

To advertise here 

Call: 01993 899800 

email: info@therecycler.com 

The 

TONER MANUFACTURER 

COLLECTOR 

COLLECTOR 

CBC (Europe) GmbH 

toner@cbc-europe.com 

Tel: +49 211 530670 

www.cbc-europe.com 

FBO Organisation, S.L. 

fbo@fbo-org.com 

Tel: +34 936724863 

www.fbo-org.com 

LVL 

bp.sales@lvlcartridge.com 

Tel: +33 251709249 

www.lvl.fr 

REMANUFACTURER 

RESELLER 


wta Carsten Weser GmbH 

info@wta-suhl.de 

Tel: +49 3681 4529710 

www.wta-suhl.de 

Copyclic 

info@copyclic.com 

Tel: +33 01 60 78 78 78 

www.copyclic.com 

Integral GmbH 

info@integral-international.de 

TEL: + 49 (0) 28 33 60 60 

www.integral-international.de 

MARKET INTELLIGENCE 

COLLECTOR/SUPPLIER – EMPTIES 

SUPPLIER 

LightWords Imaging 

admin@lightwords.co.uk 

Tel: +44 1270 878850 

www.lightwordsimaging.com 

Eco Wave Trade Pvt. Ltd. 

info@ecowavetrade.com 

Tel: +919971533209, 

+919810899501 

www.ecowavetrade.com 

TOKO Srl 

toko@toko.ro 

Tel: +40212327270 

www.toko.ro 

SUPPLIER 

BROKER AND RECYCLER 


Freckles Ltd 

info@freckles.bg 

Tel: +359 2 955 5560 

www.freckles.bg 

The Greener Side 

info@greener-side.co.uk 

Tel: +44 1427 700 700 

www.greener-side.co.uk 

Primedia Products 

tmiller@primediamicr.com 

Tel: +1 304-277-2050 

www.primediamicr.com 


To advertise here 

Call: 01993 899800 

or email: info@therecycler.com 

marketplace 

Airbags for Toner 

Cartridges 

Ideal for 

packing 

and repacking 

toner cartridges 

•Universal and reusable 

•Fast, free delivery throughout the EU 

•European stocks at affordable prices 

•Terms available 

Visit our new webstore now! 

www.tonerpak.com 

ETIRA: WORKING FOR ALL REMANUFACTURERS AND PARTNERS 

ETIRA membership 

benefits include: 

Email d.connett@candugbr.com 

to find out about an EU based 

solution to handle 10,000 tons 

per year. 


Meeting new clients and partners at our 

network meetings! 

A strong fight against clever chips, unfair 

patents,waste transport rules etc.! 

PR-work to tell the world about 

remanufactured cartridges and why they are 

good for both consumers and the environment! 

Promotion of top-quality remanufacturing 

(standardisation)! 

Join our business Code of 

Conduct, and sell more 

cartridges thanks to our logo! 

Meeting 60 top 

remanufacturers already 

member of ETIRA........... 

ETIRA brings the remanufacturing 

Industry together. Be part of the family! 

Grieglaan 7 • 4837 CB Breda • The Netherlands 

Tel: + 31 6 414 614 63 • Fax: + 31 76 564 04 51 

info@etira.org 

www.etira.org 

53

NEXT ISSUE 

THE RECYCLER - ISSN 2045-2047 

(Print) FEBRUARY 20 19 EDITION 

315 PUBLISHED 

23 January 2019 

THE RECYCLER TEAM 

Managing Editor 

Stefanie Unland 

s.unland@therecycler.com 

+44 1993 899 800 

Editorial Assistants 

Amy Van De Casteele 

a.vandecasteele@therecycler.com 

Owen Collins 

o.collins@therecycler.com 

News Team 

news@therecycler.com 

+44 1993 899 800 

Production & Distribution Team 

production@therecycler.com 

Publishing Consultant 

Anthony Critchley 

a.critchley@therecycler.com 

Get in touch with us about news or features at news@therecycler.com 

ISSUE 316: MARCH 2019 

HALL 5.1 

THE HOME OF REMANEXPO 

SHOW REVIEW 

THE SMALL PRINT 

Articles may be photocopied for the private 

use of paid subscribers only. For other 

copying or republication please contact 

The Publishers Licensing Society, or visit 

www.plsclear.com 

The Recycler (ISSN 2045-2047 [Print]) is 

published 12 times per year by Recycler 

Publishing & Events Ltd on behalf of the 

owner. 

Copyright 1992 – 2019 Recycler 

Publishing & Events Ltd. 

The editorial content does not reflect the 

opinions of the publisher or editorial team. 

The Recycler is printed in the United 

Kingdom by Buxton Press Limited. 

The regular retail price of The Recycler 

is £120 for 12 months (12 issues) 

worldwide and is delivered free to your 

home or office worldwide. 

COMPLAINTS & CORRECTIONS 

The Recycler’s policy is to correct substantial 

errors as soon as possible. Corrections 

appear on the relevant web page and/or in 

the magazine and significant corrections are 

collated in our corrections and clarifications 

column. 

To complain or advise of a correction please 

visit our “How to Complain” web page at 

www.therecycler.com/about-us/how-tocomplain/ 

We are a member of the Independent Press 

Standards Organisation and commit to 

abiding to the Editors’ Code. More 

information about IPSO and the Code is 

available at www.ipso.co.uk 

THE RECYCLER 

Wittas House, Two Rivers Estate, 

Station Lane, Witney, OX28 4BH, 

United Kingdom 

Phone: +44 (0) 1993 899 800 

Fax: +44 (0) 1993 226 899 

Email: info@therecycler.com 

Website: www.therecycler.com 

BUREAU OFFICE – GERMANY 

Stefanie Unland 

Phone: +49 (0) 2582 991 0701 

Email: s.unland@therecycler.com 

www.therecycler.com/contactus 

news@therecycler.com

The Recycler Issue 315

Transform your PDFs into Flipbooks and boost your revenue!

Delete template?

Save as template ?