The Recycler Issue 316

www.therecycler.com Issue 316 l MARCH 2019 l £10 

COMING TOGETHER AND 

EMBRACING THE CHALLENGES: 

REMANEXPO 2019 

For four days over the weekend of 26-29 January, thousands of visitors made their way to Hall 

5.1 of Germany’s Messe Frankfurt for 2019’s instalment of Remanexpo, the office imaging and 

aftermarket-focused leg of the annual Paperworld trade show. The review starts page 28 

DecaBDE 

i2ma 

INSIDE: 

IMEX EXPANDS TEAM 

A new hire to the 

European team 

p6 

DELACAMP CELEBRATES! 

The company announces 

140th anniversary 

p6 

IT’S NOT JUST THE PLASTIC 

Xerox finds styrene in 

toner powders 

p12 

Static CEO Lalley 

speaks out. 

Page 4 

The Spanish shredders 

leading by example. 

Starts Page 44 

NEW OPPORTUNITIES! 

MEA region offering 

plenty of prospects 

p20

In this Issue 

City News 

Coming together and embracing the 

challenges: Remanexpo 2019 

For four days over the weekend of 26-29 January, thousands 

of visitors made their way to Hall 5.1 of Germany’s Messe 

Frankfurt for 2019’s instalment of Remanexpo, the office 

imaging and aftermarket-focused leg of the annual 

Paperworld trade show. The review starts page 28 

DecaBDE 

i2ma 

16: Ninestar releases latest quarterly report; 

LaserCycle USA acquires TCR Services 

17: 2019 to bring Chinese slowdown; Kotak and 

Karvy bid for Ricoh India 

18: Novatech acquires Atlanta dealership; Mixed 

news for Adveo as 2019 unfolds; Sharp expands 

with Pink Hat 

Around the industry 

20: Opportunities abound in the MEA region 

21: Turbon kickstarts social media campaign 

22: Legal lows and business highs for HP; ECS 

confirms commitment to circularity 

24: An eventful start to 2019 for Epson 

25: KMP accredited with the Nordic Ecolabel 

26: Canon redoubles efforts to prevent patent 

infringement 

27: Beyond MPS – the SOHO market; Metrofuser 

promotes remanufacturing partnerships 

Static CEO Lalley 

speaks out. 

Page 4 

The Spanish shredders 

leading by example. 

Starts Page 44 

Feature 

28: Coming together and embracing the challenges: 

Remanexpo 2019ure 

44: i2ma – the Spanish shredders leading by 

example 

Interview 

4: DecaBDE: Static CEO Lalley speaks out 

World Focus 

5: Mito warns of fraudulent Amazon sellers 

6: HP targets counterfeiters and Grey importers; 

Delacamp celebrates 140 years in business; A 

fresh face joins IMEX 

8: Positive updates from ARMOR 

10: France rescinds waste status of products for 

reuse; Online retailers face legal dilemmas 

12: Concerns raised over printer-related health 

problems; HYB and Daiken forge new 

partnership 

Editorial 

15: Editorial 

THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 316 • MARCH 2019 

Wide-Format Column 

46: The future: A 3D-printed car in every garage? 

Retail Column 

50: Using a Mentorship Programme in your 

workplace 

Products & Technology 

52: ECS unveils new alternative toner cartridges; 

Apex launches new replacement chips for 

Brother; Aster unveils new remanufactured 

cartridges 

53: IIMAK’s breakthrough aqueous ink technology; 

CET unveils new high capacity compatible toner 

cartridge; Jet Tec reveals its latest 

remanufactured products 

54: New products from wta Carsten Weser; New 

products from Utec 

55: The latest remanufactured cartridges from CIG 

3

DecaBDE: Static CEO Lalley speaks out 

Ken Lalley, CEO of Static Control Components, has spoken to The Recycler about the ongoing 

DecaBDE scandal, which has seen illegal levels of the prohibited substance found in multiple 

companies’ cartridge casings. 

The Recycler: When was the issue first raised and what actions did 

you take to ascertain the scope of the problem? 

SC: We were first alerted to the problem after the Digital Imaging 

article published. As soon as we heard the allegations, we 

immediately contacted a third-party, independent laboratory in 

Germany to conduct testing on both our cartridges and components 

used in remanufactured cartridges. Our plastics are made in-house 

as well as sourced from a variety of vendors. Our in-house plastics 

are made from DecaBDE-free materials and our vendor contracts 

require our vendors to certify their products are RoHS and REACH 

compliant, in addition to other environmental regulations. It was 

important for us to get to the bottom of the issue quickly. 

The Recycler: What were the results of your tests? 

SC: As we publically stated in December, the investigation revealed 

the majority of our cartridges complied with all applicable 

environmental regulations and a very limited number of cartridges 

tested positive for DecaBDE, a fire-retardant chemical. 

However, the test results were inconsistent with what was reported 

in the original article. Our test results showed some of the Static 

Control cartridge models alleged to contain excessive levels of 

DecaBDE were actually found to be compliant with the regulations. 

Albeit the original article was based on a very small sample, we used 

the same models for our tests. 

The inconsistent test results required us to investigate more 

thoroughly. Static Control actually decided to test beyond just our 

cartridges; we decided to conduct an audit and test the plastic parts 

on our entire component line. The issue appears to be related to the 

use of recycled plastics. DecaBDE is used currently quite legally in 

some cases in permissible levels to allow for the reuse of plastics. 

In addition, we tested offerings from a broad selection of the 

industry with both cartridges and components, including - as you 

would expect - some of our competitors. DecaBDE was found in the 

vast majority of the industry cartridge and component samples tested 

and in most of the competitor cartridges submitted to our laboratory. 

These results indicate that the presence of DecaBDE is widespread 

and endemic in the industry, and affects compatible cartridges, 

remanufactured cartridges and components. 

As soon as we discovered that DecaBDE was a far-reaching 

problem, we discussed the implications of our testing with ETIRA. 

We’re sure ETIRA will have more to say about this issue moving 

forward in the coming weeks. However, our tests showed members 

of both ETIRA and the German Recycling Association had product 

with higher than permissible levels of the chemical. We will provide 

results to those customers that we believe face the same challenges 

we did in the coming days. 

The Recycler: To your understanding, what is the law concerning the 

use of DecaBDE in toner cartridges? 

SC: When RoHS went into effect in 2002, it did not apply to 

consumables including toner cartridges. Also, DecaBDE was 

originally exempted from RoHS but was added in 2008 as the result 

of a court decision. 

RoHS was “recast” in 2012 (RoHS 2). Even under this new version 

of RoHS, it was believed that toner cartridges were not covered. 

However, in April 2014 the EU published a “Frequently Asked 

Questions” document where, for the first time, it was specifically 

stated that toner cartridges were Electronic and Electrical Equipment 

(EEE) and thus subject to RoHS DecaBDE limitation. 

The RoHS 2 regulation provided that EEE not covered by the 

original RoHS could still be sold in the EU until 22 July 2019— 

which most understood to allow the sale of toner cartridges 

containing DecaBDE until that date. Yet, not all the EU countries 

used the 22 July 2019 phase in date. In Germany, toner cartridges 

(and the DecaBDE limitations) were covered at least by August 2018 

when the German ElectroG Act came into force. As of January 2019, 

toner cartridges are considered as EEE (and thus are subject to the 

DecaBDE limitations) in most of the EU. 

The REACH regulation will prohibit DecaBDE in all products (not 

just EEE) put on the market in the EU after 2 March 2019. However, 

to be clear - there is no REACH implication for DecaBDE for EEE 

prior to March 2019 in Germany or anywhere else in the EU. 

Further, the Waste Electronical and Electronic Equipment 

Directive (WEEE) requires that EEE is disposed of in a separate waste 

stream. So if cartridges are disposed of in accordance with the WEE 

regulation, they will be recycled and not entered into the waste 

system. Static Control is registered as a producer under WEEE. 

The Recycler: What corrective actions have you taken? 

SC: We’ve implemented more stringent testing to make sure 

something like this doesn’t happen again. We are well aware that our 

in-house made plastic and the majority of our vendors fully meet the 

RoHS and REACH requirements. We plan to test random samples 

of plastic moving forward to ensure our vendors remain compliant. 

Our vendor agreement is clear in setting provisions for providing 

RoHS and REACH compliant materials. 

The Recycler: Are your products “clean” at this time? 

SC: Since our December statement, Static Control’s European 

cartridge offering has been free of DecaBDE. After our in-depth audit 

of all our plastics, I’m happy to say that all components sold in 

Europe also comply with RoHS and REACH standards. 

Throughout this whole investigation, we’ve been as transparent as 

possible with our customers. If any of our customers have any direct 

questions, we encourage them to contact their sales representative to 

discuss their concerns. 

The Recycler: How big an issue do you think this is for the industry in 

general? 

SC: As we determined from our testing, the issue is widespread and 

impacts compatible cartridges, remanufactured cartridges and 

components. At Static Control, we are taking the necessary steps to 

ensure that we are and remain fully compliant and encourage all to 

do the same. 

The Recycler: From your experience, what advice can you offer 

others who find themselves in a similar situation? 

SC: Despite having the most rigorous testing and vendor 

qualification process, mistakes can happen. We’ve taken this whole 

experience and learned from it. The DecaBDE issue has raised 

questions for our industry as a whole, affecting suppliers of 

compatible cartridges, remanufactured cartridges and components. 

We must all look at our offerings and work together to hold plastics 

suppliers to the standards set forth in the environmental regulations. 

To our customers, we want to say that we take every measure 

possible to ensure we are compliant with all the necessary regulations 

around the world. Your Static Control sales representative can guide 

you through any questions or concern you may have. 

The Recycler: Many thanks to Ken Lalley for taking the time to answer 

our questions. 

4 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 316 • MARCH 2019

visit www.therecycler.com for all the breaking news 

WORLD FOCUS 

ASIA Mito, Amazon, Fraudulent Sellers 

Mito warns of fraudulent 

Amazon sellers 

Mito Color Imaging Co., Ltd has issued a statement warning that its “integrity 

and the reputation of its products” are being jeopardised by fraudulent sellers 

“misappropriating” the Mito name to sell their unauthorised toner cartridges 

on Amazon. 

These sellers are purveying their 

unauthorised products via Amazon.com 

using the names “MitoColor” and 

“MitoInk”, explains the company, and in 

so doing they are “fraudulently 

misrepresenting that they are selling 

genuine Mito products.” 

They are also infringing Mito’s 

registered trademark, Chinese Reg. No. 

15159254 and its U.S. intellectual property 

rights in the “Mito” name. 

Mito warns potential buyers of these 

unauthorised cartridges that the sellers 

“are unlikely to provide reliable 

warranty or return service if you purchase 

their products.” 

The company explains that it does 

not sell any of its products using 

Amazon.com, adding that if consumers 

purchase cartridges from the 

fraudulent sellers “MitoColor” and 

“MitoInk” they could be faced with 

more than just unreliable products; 

they may be purchasing a product 

that infringes a U.S. patent and/or 

violates a general exclusion order 

issued by the U.S. International Trade 

Commission. 

“This,” explains Mito, “could expose 

you to litigation, legal expenses, and, 

potentially, to monetary damages.” 

The company also reveals that the 

unauthorised cartridges being sold by 

“MitoColor” and “MitoInk” are described 

as “brand new”, not remanufactured, 

and could “potentially violate” OEM 

patent rights. 

Mito Color Imaging concludes by 

saying that it respects intellectual 

property, and is “committed to 

providing the best products with 

consistent quality and top performance” 

for its customers. 


5

WORLD FOCUS 

EUROPE IMEX, New Hire, 

Business 

A fresh face 

joins IMEX 

The company has announced 

that it has welcomed a new staff 

member to its European team. 

Business Development Manager, 

Nicolas Saillard, has been revealed as 

the latest addition to the IMEX team. 

Mr. Saillard is returning to the 

industry after having worked as an 

international sales director for nearly 

10 years. 

He will be overseeing IMEX 

Business Development in both 

South and Eastern Europe as well as 

focusing on the development of the 

African markets. 

“I very much look forward 

returning to the industry to support 

IMEX clients and growing the 

business with its innovative 

products,” stated Saillard. 

Peter Knak, General Manager of 

IMEX Europe, commented: “We are 

delighted to welcome an experienced 

and skilled person like Nicolas. It is 

good news for our industry if talents 

like him come back and try helping 

to build our future.” 

A new addition to its workforce 

isn’t the only positive change IMEX 

has made of late; at the end of 2018, 

the company also unveiled a brandnew 

website and URL, designed 

to offer visitors “improved 

functionality” and “updated content.” 

The company also altered its email 

addresses in keeping with the 

reinvented site. 

EMEA HP, EMEA, IP 

HP targets counterfeiters 

and Grey importers 

The OEM has been taking a vehement stance against EMEA supply issues, such as 

counterfeits and what the company terms ‘grey goods’ (parallel imports), revealing 

it has created a new watchlist of companies engaged in illegal activities. 

HP began by explaining that the company “is 

currently detecting increased trade in 

counterfeit HP supplies, parallel imports (also 

referred to as grey goods) and other forms of 

illegitimate trade of HP supplies (e.g. VAT 

fraud or HP discounts abuses), particularly 

across EMEA.” 

The OEM goes on to reiterate its 

commitment to protecting consumers and its 

desire to “provide a level playing field among 

its partners”. 

As a result, says HP, from 1 February 2019, 

the company says it will be publishing a Do 

Not Trade List of companies “involved in the 

illegitimate trade of HP supplies” on its 

partner portal. 

HP says it will require its partners not to sell 

products to the companies named on this list, 

adding that it will “impose contractual 

sanctions for non-compliance with the Do Not 

Trade List”, which will be labelled as HP 

Confidential – Subject to HP Partner 

Agreement Confidentiality Obligation, 

meaning it cannot be disclosed to third 

parties. 

HP also released the following statement: 

“HP is committed to protecting consumers 

EUROPE Delacamp, Anniversary, Business 

Founded in 1879 in Hamburg, 

Germany and in Kobe, Japan, 

Delacamp reveals that the 

company has kept a steady 

momentum on its journey to 

becoming a “quality leading 

trading company”, specialising in 

the trade between Asia and 

Europe. 

Since its inception, Delacamp 

says it has evolved into a leader in 

the aftermarket imaging industry 

and has “an international scope”, offering 

a comprehensive product line including OPC, 

chemically produced colour toner, 

monochrome toner, blades, rollers, chips, 

plastic parts and many other products needed 

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

and partners from the illegitimate trade of HP 

supplies and takes steps to identify such 

activity. Efforts include working in close 

cooperation with local authorities, offering 

free delivery inspections to customers, 

performing regular channel partner 

protection audits, attaching security labels 

that regionalize and serialize HP supplies. We 

now publish the HP Do Not Trade List of 

companies against whom HP has reasonable 

evidence that they are involved in a form of 

illegitimate trade of HP supplies. The aim of 

the Do Not Trade List is to help our partners 

source original HP supplies from trusted 

traders.” 

HP’s vociferous campaign against IP 

infringement has been clearly demonstrated 

by its recent series of Cease and Desist letters 

sent to cartridge remanufacturers and 

resellers in Italy and Spain, which echoes 

similar actions in Germany last year. 

Delacamp celebrates 140 years 

in business 

2019 is a momentous year for this aftermarket stalwart as Delacamp announces it 

has reached its 140th anniversary. 

by genuine LBP cartridge 

remanufacturers. The company 

also provides high performance 

polymers for industrial use. 

“Delacamp’s success has been 

built on trust, professionalism, 

competence, passion and a 

commitment to quality. Delacamp 

still is a family owned and run 

business, with plans and ambitions 

of further growth, where it will 

keep looking at the future but not 

forget its past,” says Volker Kappius, CEO 

of Delacamp. 

DELACAMP is the exclusive distributor of 

MK Imaging, DC SELECT, CPT and Kuroki 

branded products in Europe and the CIS. 


WORLD FOCUS 

You can contact The Recycler via Twitter at @RecyclerMedia 

EUROPE Armor, Business, Certifications 

Positive updates from ARMOR 

The French-headquartered company began 2019 in grand style with the announcement of a renewed certification and new 

African subsidiaries. 

As Labels and Labeling reveals, Armor has 

opened a new subsidiary in a Kenya and 

another in the Ivory Coast, noting that “six 

of the 10 fastest growing countries in 2018 

were in Africa.” Ivory Coast was ranked 

fourth on this list. 

The opening of these two new 

subsidiaries follow the unveiling of a 

Moroccan “industrial site” and a thermal 

transfer ribbon plant in South Africa, 

opened in 2013. 

The new facility located in Nairobi, 

Kenya, “has been established to grow the 

market for thermal transfer printing of 

barcode labels”, with Armor stating that 

this “new presence in Kenya” will help the 

company to leverage “the region’s 

industrial dynamism”. 

“This market proximity enables us to be 

highly responsive and flexible in order to 

develop customer service of the highest 

quality,” the company explained. 

Andrew Fosbrook, Managing Director at 

Armor Africa, continued, “We have been 

able to successfully penetrate the South 

African market with our standards of high 

quality. So we are now launching Armor 

East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, in an 

extremely dynamic region of the 

continent.” 

As for the Ivory Coast, Armor’s new 

foothold in this part of Africa “marks the 

beginning of a new deployment phase for 

sustainable organic photovoltaic options in 

Africa”. West Africa has been highlighted 

as a strong area of “potential growth” for 

the company. 

“We are seeking to identify projects that 

meet real needs by joining forces with local 

private and/or public sector partners,’ 

stated Adrien Ranchon, Business 

Development, Armor ASCA Africa. 

In other news, the OWA ARMOR brand 

of Armor, specialising in office printing 

solutions, has revealed that its 

QUALICERT certification has been 

renewed. 

The company explained that at the end 

of December 2018, during the renewal 

audit, Armor Office Printing’s OWA range 

of laser cartridges was once again certified 

for another three years in accordance with 

the Qualicert standard for the following 

sector: Collection, sorting and recovery of 

empty laser printer cartridges - production 

and distribution of remanufactured laser 

printer cartridges. 

At least 36 aspects of the production 

process and services are certified in 

conformity with this standard. The OWA 

sector is, as a result, the first and only one 

to be certified under this standard which is 

awarded by SGS, the global leader in 

inspection, checking, analysis and 

certification. 

As Armor explains, the Qualicert 

standard for the collection, sorting and 

recovery of empty laser printer cartridges - 

production and distribution of 

remanufactured laser printer cartridges 

sector covers the environment, safety, the 

quality of products and includes 2 types 

of services: - Services which are valued 

by consumers: the collection, sorting of 

cartridges, dismantling of materials for 

recycling, customer service and the 

provision of a materials audit. - Services 

which guarantee the quality of 

remanufactured cartridges: organisational 

quality, quality checks, and staff training. 

The standard therefore serves as a set 

of technical specifications for any 

organisation that wishes to have an ethical 

recycling process for laser printer 

cartridges. 

“The renewal of the certification is strong 

evidence of Armor Office Printing’s 

continuing wish to extend its 

commitments to providing quality services 

to its users and to recycle 100% of the 

cartridges collected,” states Gerwald van 

der Gijp, Director of Armor Office Printing. 

At least 36 aspects of the production 

process and Armor Office Printing services 

(distribution, collection, sorting, recovery, 

reconditioning and production) are 

certified by this standard. 

Since the launch of its OWA range of 

eco-friendly cartridges in 2015, Armor 

Office Printing says it has adopted a 

dedicated approach to the circular 

economy. This approach, adds the 

company, stems from Armor Office 

Printing’s ambition to achieve real and 

lasting transparency in its commitments 

thanks to certification by a third party. 

Olivier Trifault, in charge of the audit at 

SGS, particularly notes “the availability, 

competence and involvement of the staff in 

the quality process, the real presence of a 

culture of safety, quality and responsibility 

towards the environment among the 

Armor Office Printing teams. The services 

implemented in recent years, like the 

Armor Connect portal for partners, or the 

collection portal, allow for better tracking, 

greater autonomy and better customer 

service.” 

In general terms, the following were also 

noted: a collection service that is in tune 

with its market, efficient management of 

stock and special congratulations to the 

ESATCO Atlantique for the effectiveness of 

their monitoring. Armor has been working 

with the ESATCO Atlantique for several 

years to package OWA laser cartridges as 

well as to strengthen collection boxes. 


WORLD FOCUS 


EUROPE France, Waste Regulations, Reuse 

France rescinds waste status of products for reuse 

In December 2018, the country’s environment ministry published a new decree which means that “objects and chemicals 

that have been prepared for reuse” will no longer be categorised as waste. 

As explained on LegiFrance, this decree “sets 

the criteria which […] allows the operator of a 

facility to remove from the waste status” 

any objects or chemicals which have been 

prepared for reuse and “consists of control, 

repair or cleaning of waste”. 

There are 8 Articles included in this 

decree containing the various criteria for 

compliance, and two Annexes. 

In Annex 1, Section 1, among the waste 

items “accepted in the preparation process 

for reuse” are “waste ink containing 

dangerous substances”, “Waste toner 

containing dangerous substances”, 

“Printing toner waste” and “waste electrical 

and electronic equipment covered by one of 

the codes 16 02 13”. 

This new decree is a significant 

development for the remanufacturing 

industry, as it means that empty printer 

cartridges which are prepared for reuse will 

no longer be subject to waste regulations. 

Section 2 of the Annex covers the 

preparation for reuse and the required 

characteristics of the products which enable 

them to be eligible for “the withdrawal of the 

waste status”. 

This section states that “The preparation 

for reuse necessarily includes a technical 

control (visual control, tactile, leak tests, 

electrical tests for example) and 

administrative control (checking the 

coherence between documents 

accompanying the waste and the waste for 

example)”. It goes on to say that these checks 

“ensure that the waste resulting from an 

object has the technical characteristics that 

allow it to perform the same functions as the 

object from which it is derived, in the state or 

after repair.” 

Section 3 of Annex 1 concerns the quality 

of the objects or chemicals which have 

been slated for reuse, and among its tenets, 

states that “The objects or chemicals that 

have been prepared for reuse are 

conditioned or reconditioned and stored 

in a manner that preserves their integrity 

and quality”. 

It also states that the objects and 

chemicals must comply with the 

requirements of the Consumer Code “for the 

placing on the market of products and the 

existing regulatory obligations for this 

type of product.” 

Now that France has published this 

decree, the eyes of the remanufacturing 

industry will surely be fixed on other EU 

countries to see if they follow suit; if so, 

remanufacturers could find their 

procurement of empty printer cartridges 

much easier, as well as the possibility of 

finding their costs reduced – a welcome 

development. 

To see the full decree, visit: 

https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/arrete/20 

18/12/11/TREP1833762A/jo/texte 

GLOBAL Amazon, eBay, Legal 

Online retailers face legal dilemmas 

Amazon and other online retailers have been making legal headlines of late, both in the UK and Germany. 

There was bad news for Amazon in 

Munich, as a lawsuit was successfully filed 

by consumer centre, NRW, against Amazon 

EU Sarl in the Higher Regional Court 

Munich, with the case revolving around the 

Amazon Dash button. 

As verbraucherzentrale reports, the 

Amazon Dash button “massively” violates 

laws as customers were “not sufficiently 

informed about the ordered commodity and 

their price.” 

The purpose of the Dash button is to 

automatically reorder household products 

“for everyday use”, which may occur 

months after the initial product selection. 

However, users who “do not have app at 

hand” may not be aware that Amazon 

“reserves the terms and conditions to ask 

for a different price or even to deliver a 

different product than originally selected by 

the user.” 

However, the price and specific product 

information are “legally required” before 

purchase, and the Dash button should 

make it clear through labelling before the 

order is made rather than after. 

As a result of these failings, NRW 

brought the case against Amazon EU Sarl 

and won, with the judges stating that 

“Amazon must inform the customer 

immediately before sending the order about 

the price” and the details of the goods 

actually being ordered. 

The Amazon Dash Replenishment 

Terms of Use clause was found 

“inadmissible” by the court. 

With its verdict, the “illegal functioning” 

of the Amazon Dash button was confirmed; 

as a result, Amazon will have to make the 

service “legally compliant”. 

“We are always open to innovation,” says 

Consumer Bureau Chief Wolfgang 

Schuldzinski: “But if innovation is to put 

consumers at a disadvantage and to 

make price comparisons more difficult, 

then we use all means against them, as in 

this case.” 

Meanwhile, in the UK, Amazon, eBay 

and other online marketplaces have evicted 

thousands of overseas sellers following a 

VAT-related crackdown by HMRC. 

As the BBC reports, the overseas sellers – 

the majority hailing from China – “sold 

items including British flags, phones and 

fake eyelashes but evaded VAT”. 

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has 

a practice of sending notices to sites if they 

feature the ware of businesses “failing to 

pay the correct VAT”. 

So far, 4,600 sellers have been 

discovered, spread across seven sites – 

among them eBay, Amazon and Etsy. These 

sites, which have “signed a special 

agreement” can be “pursued” by HMRC if 

they continue to harbour such sellers. 

These new regulations were instituted in 

2016, with HMRC saying it had “recouped 

about £200 million ($256.7 million/€224 

million) in VAT after sellers registered to 

pay VAT following an alert”. 

Between 2015 and 2016, there were about 

1,650 applications for VAT registration 

but since 2016 that figure has skyrocketed 

to 58,000. 

“These figures show that HMRC, 

working closely with the major online 

marketplaces, is making real headway 

tackling this serious and damaging 

evasion,” said Mel Stride, financial secretary 

to the Treasury. 

Overseas businesses selling products 

to UK consumers through online 

marketplaces “are required to register for 

VAT in the UK, charge VAT of 20 percent 

on sales and account for that VAT to 

HMRC.” 


25.–28.1.2020, Frankfurt am Main 

paperworld.messefrankfurt.com 

Thank you 

for a great 

Paperworld 

2019! 

See you in 2020! 

Dates: 25 – 28 January 2020 

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WORLD FOCUS 

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GLOBAL Xerox, Toner, Styrene 

Concerns raised over printer-related health problems 

This month, worries over the potential health hazards of printing have been making headlines, and Xerox has been 

weighing in on the issue. 

The aftermarket industry has already 

been troubled by the discovery of DecaBDE 

in some third-party cartridges, but now 

tests conducted by Xerox on Chinese 

manufactured toner have also revealed 

worrying levels of styrene. 

As the OEM explained, some people opt 

to buy third-party toner cartridges out of a 

desire to save money – but the cartridges 

they purchase could potentially pose a 

serious health risk. 

Xerox’s Analytical Services Department 

tested a widely available Chinesemanufactured 

aftermarket toner designed 

for use with the Xerox Phaser 6510 printer. 

“The results,” said Xerox, “shocked us.” 

The styrene levels contained in the 

aftermarket toner were at 650 parts per 

million (ppm) vs. 4 ppm in Xerox genuine 

toner, a difference of 16,510 percent. 

Xerox explained that its safety guideline 

for this substance is less than 25 ppm. 

The OEM went on to warn that “You 

might be putting your health, and the 

health of others, at risk by using bargainbrand 

toner cartridges” as they can 

“introduce higher amounts of styrene into 

the indoor office air you and your coworkers 

breathe each workday.” 

According to the Agency for Toxic 

Substances & Disease Registry, exposure to 

styrene “may harm you”, though to what 

degree will depend on the amount and the 

circumstances of exposure. 

Styrene, which “is widely used to make 

plastics and rubber”, has been found to 

affect the nervous systems of workers 

exposed to the chemical, causing “changes 

in colour vision, tiredness, feeling drunk, 

slowed reaction time, concentration 

problems, and balance problems.” 

In addition, the Department of Health 

and Human Services (DHHS) has listed the 

chemical as “reasonably anticipated to be a 

human carcinogen”, findings reiterated by 

California’s Office of Environmental Health 

Hazard Assessment, which has cited 

studies showing that styrene “increased the 

incidence of combined malignant and 

benign lung tumours.” 

Consequently, in April 2016, the State of 

California put styrene on its list of 

chemicals known to cause cancer. 

Xerox concluded its revelations about its 

styrene tests by explaining that “Through 

the oversight of the Xerox Environmental 

Health & Safety organisation, we’ve long 

worked toward minimising the use of 

hazardous substances in our products.” 

Significantly, the tests conducted by the 

OEM have not been the only studies to raise 

troubling questions over the potential 

dangers of printing. 

As CHEMISTRY WORLD reports, Philip 

Demokritou and a team of researchers has 

led a five-year study into the health 

implications of these nanomaterials, 

conducting in vitro and in vivo studies “to 

assess the specific toxicological effects of 

these nanoparticles in animals.” Their 

findings reveal that these nanoparticles can 

become airborne, “enter the lungs and even 

reach the bloodstream.” 

These nanoparticles are found in toners 

used in laser printers. During the printing 

process, the particles “can react with volatile 

organic compounds to form potentially 

carcinogenic compounds, which people can 

inhale and accumulate in their lungs.” 

Demokritou and his researchers utilised 

nuclear magnetic spectroscopy and gas 

chromatography mass spectrometry during 

their study. They proved that “low 

molecular weight gaseous polycyclic 

aromatic hydrocarbons from toner powders 

interact with these catalytic nanoparticles 

and, under the high temperatures used 

during printing, form high molecular 

weight species.” 

These high molecular species are 

potentially both carcinogenic and 

mutagenic. 

According to Demokritou, “assessing 

the nano-risk early on during product 

development while there is still a window to 

apply “safer-by-design” approaches can 

maximise the benefits of using nanoscale 

materials while minimising the potential 

health implications”. 

As a result of this study’s revelations, 

Demokritou has now become part of 

a partnership between Nanyang 

Technological University in Singapore and 

Harvard, aimed at examining the effects of 

long-term nanomaterial exposure in 

humans. 

ASIA HYB, New Partnership 

HYB and Daiken forge new partnership 

HYB has announced that, following “a fruitful discussion”, the company has entered a strategic partnership with 

DAIKEN CHEMICAL CO, LTD. 

As a result of this new alliance, HYB (full 

name, Zhuhai HaoYinBao Printing 

Consumables Co, Ltd) has become 

DAIKEN’s authorised toner distributor 

for the global market. 

DAIKEN has been in business since 

1951, specialising in “distinctive research 

to develop different kinds of chemicals”, 

as HYB explains, with its core business 

centred around the bulk production of 

colour toner for use in imaging devices. 

According to HYB, DAIKEN is “glad” 

to welcome HYB as its new distributor, 

which should help “drive the growth of 

the business for both parties.” 

Osamu Minokawa, Sales Manager at 

DAIKEN, along with the rest of the 

company’s management team, has “a 

high expectation” of this new 

partnership, which is described as 

“another piece of positive news for 

HYB.” 

Indeed, HYB has been no stranger to 

positive outcomes in recent months, as 

in 2018 the company was able to report 

various fruitful business developments, 

among them the naming of new 

distributors in Zimbabwe and Italy, as 

well as the unveiling of a new multifunctional 

hall in South America, and 

a Ministry certification awarded by 

China’s Ministry of Environmental 

Protection. 


EDITORIAL 

Editorial 

Dash it all 

The Amazon Dash service is a disruptor 

and another market challenge for the 

office imaging sector to compete with. 

Yet the dash has been bashed by the 

German courts following an action by 

the German consumer watchdog. The 

action and ban is an ideal opportunity 

to make consumers aware of the 

“Dash” issues. You might get a different 

product, or a different price. Order a 

reuse friendly cartridge and get who 

knows what. 

Meanwhile 4,600 traders have been 

evicted from Amazon, eBay and five 

other sites following a VAT crackdown 

by the UK’s HMRC. Yet lots of 

companies are still managing to fly 

under the radar on these sites selling 

office imaging consumables and, as we 

said last month, are not registered for 

WEEE. According to Mito, the latest 

scam is sellers pretending to be Mito. 

This is not uncommon and something 

you should be aware of. 

Reuse 

One of the best attended seminars at the 

Frankfurt show was all about reuse and 

the beneficial impact that increasing 

reuse can have. The presentation was 

based on ETIRA’s “Reuse for a better 

future” campaign. You can find out 

more at www.etira.org/reuse. In France 

the country’s environment ministry 

published a new decree which means 

that “objects and chemicals that have 

been prepared for reuse” will no longer 

be categorised as waste. And more good 

news: 

A new study conducted by the 

Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, 

Safety and Energy Technology on behalf 

of environmental service provider 

INTERSEROH has shown how reusing 

toner cartridges can have a significant 

positive impact on greenhouse gas 

emissions. 

According to the study, the reuse of 

a single cartridge compared to the 

production of a new one saves 4.49 kg 

of greenhouse gas emissions. In 

addition, per cartridge, 9.39 kg worth of 

primary resources are spared. 

Remanexpo 

I like trade shows because it is a great 

opportunity to network and see what is 

going on in the world and sit in on 

some great presentations. You hear a 

rumour or two, find out who has moved 

on and get to see some real innovation 

in action. So, what did we get out of the 

show? Several advertising enquiries 

and enough new subscribers to 

consume the branded T Shirts and 

Cups we took to the show. Most of all 

112 new individual and company 

contacts that we did not know. New 

people joining the industry and new 

companies too. 

The show has a mixture of OEM, 

new-build, and reused consumables, 

toner, ink, chips and a host of parts 

supplies. Wide-format, MFP printers, 

3D printers, collectors, brokers, MPS 

software specialists and my apologies if 

I forgot someone. The mix of exhibitors 

typically matches the visitor profile. 

Many of the visitors are from 

companies that five years ago we would 

have thought of as 100 percent 

traditional remanufactures. But that 

model has changed. They still 

remanufacturer, but they also buy and 

sell parts, OEM supplies, 3D printers, 

Wide-format supplies, etc. They are 

adapting their business to suit the 

market and the show is adapting to the 

audience and whatever part of the 

market you are in, it is still the best 

place to meet, trade, network and learn. 

And in case you are interested next 

year’s show will be 25 – 28 January 

2020 and in Hall 6.1. Yes, another 

hall change, but the Hall 6 

refurbishment is ahead of schedule and 

so the taking down of Hall 5, will start 

sometime this year. 

Stefanie Unland Managing Editor 

The Recycler Awards 

Congratulations to all the awards 

winners and all those that were publicly 

nominated by. Almost 48,000 votes 

were cast from across the industry, 

which makes it our biggest vote yet and 

thankfully our website survived. 

Toner chemicals 

And if you thought that decaBDE was 

bad enough now we have unwanted 

chemicals in toner. Xerox has recently 

published details of excess styrene 

found is some non-Xerox toners. At 

the show we were told about some 

aftermarket toners that contained 

formaldehyde and another OEM that 

has discovered an unwanted chemical 

agent in one of their toners. We will 

keep you posted. 

Celebrations 

Congratulations to Katun who are 

celebrating 40 years this year. It has 

been a roller coaster of a journey at 

times, but the team are set fair to grow 

and prosper overt the next 40 years. 

Meanwhile Delacamp are celebrating 

140 years as international traders and 

they certainly seem to be weathering a 

storm at the moment having closed 

their UK business and at the same time 

seen a contraction in their sales in 

recent years. 

Where to next - Quiz 

We are now underway with our 

planning for The Recycler Live summer 

conference. Do you have a favourite 

city or hotel you think could 

host our conference? Just visit 

www.therecycler.com/quiz and let us 

know what you think. 

R 


15

CITY NEWS 

OEM share prices 

February 2019 

Prices correct as of 1st February 2019 

Share Prices 

COMPANY JAN FEB 

Brother Industries (Yen) ¥ 1698 1927 

Canon (Yen) ¥ 3038 3201 

Dainippon Ink & (Yen) ¥ 3389 3520 

Chemicals 

Sun Chemicals parent company 

HP Inc. (US$) $ 21.21 2.80 

Hubei Dinglong (RMB) ¥ 6.53 6.81 

Jadi (MYR) M 0.03 0.04 

LG Chem (S Korean Won) W 352k 368 

Matsushita Electric (Yen) ¥ 1045 1064 

Industrial Co. 

Panasonic parent company 

Mitsubishi Chemicals (Yen) ¥ 864 902 

Ninestar Corporation (RMB) ¥ 24.59 23.87 

Formerly Apex Microelectronics 

Oki (Yen) ¥ 1391 1277 

Seiko Epson (Yen) ¥ 1604 1657 

Turbon AG (Euro) € 3.40 3.12 

Xerox (US$) $ 21.58 29.98 

UK Waste Prices 

price per tonne 

Aluminium €133.55 116.62 

Plastic €105.67 149.77 

Paper € 13.68 16.46 

Currency 

€/US$ 1.14 1.14 

€/£ 0.88 0.88 

£/US$ 1.30 1.30 

Oil Price 

Crude oil - (US$) $ 59.82 61.54 

‘Brent Crude futures, 

1-Pos IPE close’ per barrel 

Shipping Prices 

Europe (Hamburg/Antwerp/ $ 996 960 

Felixstowe/Le Havre) 

Mediterranean (Barcelona/ $ 997 962 

Valencia/Genoa/Naples 

USWC (Los Angeles/ $ 1933 1993 

Long Beach/Oakland) 

USEC (New York/Savannah $ 3119 3054 

Norfolk/Charleston) 

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

Environment Exchange, packagingnews.co.uk 

*Brent Crude price is for February 2019 


ASIA Ninestar, Q3, Financials 

Ninestar releases latest 

quarterly report 

The Chinese company’s most recent financials for Q3, ending December 31st 

2018, have been published, bringing mostly positive news. 

Ninestar reports that the value of its total 

assets rose slightly in Q3, compared 

to the same period of 2017, climbing 0.75 

percent to ¥35.79 billion ($5.27 

billion/€4.64 billion) from ¥35.52 billion 

($5.23 billion/€4.6 billion). 

The company’s operating income also 

increased, in comparison to Q3 2017, 

hitting ¥5.47 billion ($805.9 

million/€709.23 million), up 6.71 

percent. For the nine months to the end 

of Q3 2018, however, there was a slight 

year-on-year decrease, falling 2.21 

NORTH AMERICA LaserCylce USA, TCR Services, Acquisition 

LaserCycle USA acquires TCR 

Services 

The Colorado company has bought the assets of the San Diego-based dealer. 

TCR Services was founded in 1989, and 

has been serving customers across 

Southern California and others states 

with printers, MFPs, copiers, 

compatible toner cartridges and other 

printing supplies ever since. An 

authorised Sharp and Copystar dealer, it 

also offered repair services for laser 

and inkjet printers, copiers, and fax 

machines, as well as providing Managed 

Print Services (MPS). 

It has been acquired by the Louisville, 

Denver-based LaserCycle USA, a 

provider of document management, 

software, and technology solutions, 

including nationwide MPS. Owned and 

operated by Kirk Peck, LaserCycle is also 

an authorised reseller of printers, 

copiers, and MFPs from brands 

including HP, Ricoh, Sharp, Savin, and 

percent to ¥15.89 billion ($2.34 

billion/€2.06 billion). 

In terms of net cash flow from 

operating activities, there was a 

substantial increase for Ninestar in Q3 

2018, hitting ¥514.07 million ($75.73 

million/€66.65 million), an increase of 

784.64 percent. This was also the case in 

the net cash flow from operating 

activities for the nine months up to the 

end of Q3 2018, which increased by 

543.41 percent, to reach ¥1.05 billion 

($154.68 million/€136.14 million). 

Lanier. It offers service and repair of “all 

major brands” of printers, copiers, and 

MFPs. 

The acquisition utilised the services 

of Mike Dudek and Rich Wisniewski of 

Zygoquest Group, which acted as 

advisor to TCR Services. 

The terms of the deal remain 

undisclosed. 



CITY NEWS 

ASIA 

China, GDP, Slow Down 

2019 to bring Chinese slowdown 

A new report on the nation’s growth outlook has cast its predictions for the 

Chinese economy. 

Writing for Business Day, Dan Steinbock 

argues that in the coming year, the Chinese 

economy will be required to “cope with great 

international uncertainty and even more 

extraordinary market volatility.” 

Looking at annualised growth over the 

course of 2018, Steinbock calls last year an 

“exceptional” one, with the fallout from the 

trade war with the USA in the second half of 

the year leading to “substantial collateral 

damage that will be felt even more in 2019, in 

the absence of a constructive reconciliation.” 

However, forecasts for growth remain 

around the 6.5/6.6 percent mark, and Chinese 

GDP could grow by around 6.2 percent across 

the Full Year – “assuming policymakers 

succeed in the challenging balancing act 

to sustain higher-quality growth while 

suppressing faster debt accumulation.” 

Despite this, Steinbock also asserts that the 

Chinese government’s own GDP growth 

target, which may not be officially announced 

until March, will likely reflect a steady 

deceleration, again owing to the trade war, and 

other “more secular” pressures, including 

environmental, debt, and real estate market 

issues. This deceleration is referred to as 

expected, following China’s recent history of 

speedy industrialisation and growth. 

Steinbock also admits that China “could 

achieve more rapid growth,” but this would 

come at the cost of ignoring its commitments 

to higher living standards, sustainability, and 

eradicating poverty. Despite the expected 

deceleration, living standards in the country 

should rise. The slowdown will also foster 

stability, it is opined, compared to a more 

abrupt decline. 

In the long-term, the growth rate is 

currently set to fall from 9.6 percent, as it was 

in 2008, to 5.6 percent by 2023. Yet in that 

period, GDP per capita will increase to more 

than $21,200 (€18,549) from less than $7,900 

(€6,912) in 2008. 

Steinbock finishes his summary by warning 

that the world’s major advanced economies 

are “heading toward a complicated, 

economically challenging and politically 

divisive stagnation. Unfortunately, much of 

these downside risks remain under-valued in 

the West. The greater the gap between 

misguided perceptions and economic realities, 

the more challenging will be the awakening.” 

EMEA Kotak Investment Advisors, Karvy Data Management Services 

Kotak and Karvy bid for 

Ricoh India 

Kotak Investment Advisors and Karvy Data Management Services have 

submitted bids to acquire Ricoh’s troubled Indian subsidiary. 

As the Economic Times reports, the 

“distressed” Ricoh India has almost 

Rs 3000 crore ($421.7 million/€369.7 

million) in unpaid dues and owes 

Ricoh Japan and Ricoh Asia Pacific 

approximately Rs 1,500 crore ($210.8 

million/€184.8 million). 

Kotak and Karvy submitted their bids to 

Ricoh’s committee of creditors, helmed by 

Deutsche Bank, “which will choose the 

new owner of the company.” Ricoh India’s 

lenders may suffer a 5-10 percent loss on 

their loans. These include Bank of India 

and Citibank. 

Ricoh India’s troubles began in 2016, 

when the company “admitted its accounts 

appeared to have been ‘falsified’ and that it 

estimated to have incurred a loss of Rs 

1,123 crore ($157.8 million/€138.4 million) 

for the financial year concluding March 

2016. 

Minority shareholders claimed 

compensation both from Ricoh India and 

its Japanese parent company. 


17

CITY NEWS 

NORTH AMERICA 

Acqusition 

Sharp, Pink Hat, 

Sharp expands 

with Pink Hat 

The OEM has announced the 

acquisition of Pink Hat Technology 

Management’s service contracts. 

The company states that the acquisition 

will allow it to expand its direct regional 

sales coverage of managed network 

services across Los Angeles, California. 

Since 2012, Pink Hat Technology 

Management has been providing cyber 

security services and managed network 

services, including installing and 

maintaining servers, desktops, cloud 

solutions, backup and disaster recovery 

solutions and mobile devices in the Los 

Angeles area for its clients. To ensure the 

transition is as smooth as possible, the 

employees of Pink Hat Tech have been 

asked to join the Sharp team and will 

continue to provide service to new and 

existing customers. 

“Our employees are very pleased to join 

Sharp,” declared Pink Hat Technology 

Management’s owner, Joy Beland. 

“Becoming a part of the Sharp Business 

Systems team will allow us to leverage the 

many benefits that come from being a part 

of an award-winning, multinational 

company, all of which will be passed along 

to our current and future customers.” 

Senior Vice President of Sharp Business 

Systems Anthony Sci added: “We chose 

the Pink Hat Technology Management 

team because of their dedication to 

service, rock-solid IT skills, and robust 

cyber security platform. The company has 

an exceptional reputation as a premier 

cyber solutions company in the Los 

Angeles area, which made this asset 

acquisition a logical choice for us.” 

Since its first branch opening in 

Arizona in 2006, the OEM has 

established 16 local Sharp Business 

Systems branches in 52 locations through 

growth initiatives within the organisation. 

NORTH AMERICA Novatech, USA, Acquisition 


Novatech acquires Atlanta 

dealership 

Novatech has announced the purchase of Consolidated Copier Services (CCS), 

an independent document management and copier dealership servicing the 

Greater Atlanta, Georgia, area. 

“For the past 32 years, Consolidated 

Copier Services has built a professional 

and well-respected reputation throughout 

the Greater Atlanta area with its 

customers and local business 

communities,” said Novatech CEO 

Darren Metz. “We are very excited for 

both companies as we move forward.” 

With the acquisition, Novatech will 

retain the Consolidated Copier Services 

name, office and staff. 

As the company explains, Novatech has 

been recognised a record 12 times by Inc 

Magazine as one of the fastest-growing 

companies in the United States with 13 

branches throughout the South and 

revenues of $100 million (€87.3 million). 

“Novatech was Consolidated Copier 

Services’ choice to ensure continued 

industry-leading solutions for its 

customers,” said Pat Nunnally, CCS 

President. “We believe the efforts of our 

combined teams will bring added value 

and greater opportunities with enhanced 

services and even more state-of-the-art 

equipment and solutions to our 

customers and communities.” 

With the acquisition, CCS President 

Pat Nunnally is retiring. His son Lincoln 

Nunnally has become part-owner of 

Novatech with the full backing of the 

NORTH AMERICA Adveo, Liquidation, Bankruptcy 

Mixed news for Adveo 

as 2019 unfolds 

company and its private equity funding to 

not only carry on the family tradition but 

also expand services throughout the 

Greater Atlanta area. 

“Working with the team at Novatech, I 

will help ensure we continue to build 

upon my father’s success in providing 

top-rated customer support to businesses 

throughout the Atlanta area,” said 

Lincoln Nunnally. 

Founded in 1998 in Memphis before 

moving its headquarters to Nashville in 

2004, Novatech is continuing with plans 

to expand its footprint throughout the 

South. This is the 13th acquisition for 

Novatech and the fifth in the past 

two years. 

“As we seek to grow throughout the 

South, we’re reminded of Novatech’s 

mission to flourish as a team by 

delivering caring, efficient service and 

support to our customers and to each 

other,” Metz said. “We deliver 

outstanding equipment and service 

performance beyond our customers’ 

expectations, with the fastest on-site 

service available. That’s what sets us 

apart from all the rest.” 

Following its declaration of bankruptcy in November 2018, after the failure of 

several takeover attempts, Adveo has now revealed that it has accepted a 

binding offer, while its Spanish units are initiating liquidation proceedings. 

As Reuters reports, Adveo stated that it 

had received and accepted a binding 

offer from “investment funds managed 

by Sandton Capital Partners”. 

This offer is for the acquisition of 

“certain assets and units of Adveo” and is 

for between €13.3 million and €13.5 

million. 

The companies that fall under this deal 

are named as Adveo France SAS, Adveo 

Italia SPA, Adveo Belgium NV and 

Adveo Global Services SL; it does not 

incorporate acquisition of stakes in 

Adveo Espana, Adveo Digital Systems 

Portugal, Adveo Deutschland or Adveo 

Group International. 

Instead, as Reuters reports, Adveo 

Group International Sa has announced 

that both Adveo España and Calipage 

España have made a court request to 

open the liquidation phase of both 

companies. 


AROUND THE INDUSTRY 


EMEA EMEA Region, Opportunities, Printing 

Opportunities abound in the 

MEA region 

In recent weeks, the Middle East and Africa has been in the spotlight, slated to 

proffer plenty of prospects in the world of printing and office supplies. 

Among the organisations citing the region’s 

potential was Messe Frankfurt Middle East, 

which has described the Middle East and 

Africa as “a happy hunting ground” for 

European brands, representing potential as 

“a major growth market.” 

As Messe Frankfurt explains, the Middle 

East and Africa’s potential as a major 

growth market for paper, stationery, and 

office supplies, is catching the attention of 

European manufacturers, with top brands 

preparing to establish a larger presence at 

the industry’s dedicated regional trade fair 

in Dubai. 

Since its inaugural edition in 2011, the 

annual three-day event has consistently 

welcomed a healthy number of manufacturers 

and suppliers from the Old 

Continent, with exhibitors hailing from 

Russia in the East and the UK in the West, 

to Italy, Germany, and Spain in between. 

That trend follows on in 2019, and 

when the 9th edition of Paperworld 

Middle East opens from 18-20 March at 

the Dubai International Convention and 

Exhibition Centre, more than 50 of the 

300-plus exhibitors will come from 

Europe. Visitor registration is now open 

for this event. 

Paperworld Middle East has always 

enjoyed a robust European presence keen to 

tap into the fast-evolving MEA market, and 

the upcoming edition will continue to see a 

strong push from continental exhibitors. 

Apart from a dedicated German Pavilion, 

Paperworld Middle East 2019 will see 

representation from Austria, Finland, Italy, 

Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, 

Spain, Turkey, and the UK. 

Shifting the focus to Africa, Chris de 

Beer, Regional Director at infoSource SA 

has said that opportunities are plentiful for 

printer manufacturers throughout the 

continent. 

As INTELLIGENT CIO reveals, de Beer 

posits that the continent’s 54 independent 

nations “could represent spectacular 

growth for many”, with eight economic 

regions “stretching the length and breadth” 

of Africa. These include the Southern 

African Development Community (SADC) 

and the Economic Community of West 

African States (ECOWAS). 

In 2017 alone, Southern Africa (which 

includes nations such as Lesotho, Namibia 

and South Africa) garnered approximately 

80,000 copier/MFP unit sales, with 

production print sales numbers reaching 

over 800. 

Angola and Zambia registered copier/ 

MFP unit sales in the region of 1,500 while 

West Africa generated copier/MFP unit 

sales of over 31,000 “and over 250 

production units.” East Africa “collectively 

represented nearly 8,000 unit sales of 

copier/MFPs in 2017” with 86 percent 

being black and white. 

In Southern Africa, sales of 20-39ppm 

black and white devices has decreased since 

2015 as 40-59ppm devices supersede their 

demand; South Africa’s “steady GDP 

decline” is also cited as a factor in this drop, 

as the country registered a low in 2016 and 

then “entered a technical recession in 

September 2018”. 

Zambia is described by de Beer as a 

bigger market than Angola, but adds that 

Angola “is, perhaps, set for exceptional 

growth in the future” as the country 

implements “progressive government 

policy supporting legislation to diversify the 

economy.” 

Nigeria is named as “the largest single 

market in the region”, showing a marked 

preference for black and white devices, 

while in East Africa “86 percent of the units 

sold in Kenya are BW devices, while the 

number is 98 percent in Ethiopia, 90 

percent in Tanzania, and 87 percent in 

Uganda.” 

De Beer concludes that opportunities 

“abound for the print vendors” but warns 

that they are “spectacularly different from 

one region to another” due to the “variety of 

cosmopolitan cultures” in Africa. 

Taking a broader look at the Middle East 

and North Africa region in general, 

commercial printing is predicted to reach 

$32 billion (€28.1 billion) in 2019. 

According to the Saudi Gazette, research 

by Smithers Pira has revealed that inkjet 

printing will stay “the region’s fastest 

growing print technology,” achieving a 

compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 

12.7 percent this year, with electrophotography 

and gravure following. 

The figures were revealed ahead of Gulf 

Print & Pack 2019, a regional industry event 

for the commercial print and packaging 

industry. 

Andy Thomas-Emans, Strategic Director 

of the event’s organisers, Tarsus Group, 

said: “The MENA region presents a vast 

opportunity for companies in the 

commercial printing business, which the 

report estimates will grow by 6.2 percent by 

next year. This is way ahead of the growth 

rate for the world print market, which, at 1 

percent is struggling to adjust to declines in 

demand for traditional print products as 

media products become increasingly 

digitised.” 

Thomas-Emans further stated that the 

MENA region possesses “a huge untapped 

market for digital technologies, that could 

spur the growth of the industry in the 

future.” 

The most valuable end-use application 

for print in MENA is said to be package 

printing, with a worth of $20 billion (€17.5 

billion) in 2019. 




EUROPE Turbon, Social Media, Business 

Turbon kickstarts social 

media campaign 

Turbon Products GmbH has announced the launch of a new social media 

campaign aimed at engaging with partners. 

Turbon Products, an EU remanufacturer, 

has launched its new social media 

engagement campaign – #turboneu - 

which the company explains is designed to 

“share brand, product, events and 

company news with partners and the 

wider industry.” 

Christof Frei, Turbon Products 

Marketing Director, said “#turboneu is 

part of our new vision and strategy 

positioning Turbon at the core of 

the remanufacturing circular economy, 

with a brand centric product range and a 

focus on innovation. The challenges 

faced by all players in the office 

imaging industry are pushing us to 

constantly evolve and it is important to 

communicate quickly and effectively to our 

audience.” 

The #turboneu campaign will be 

showcased on Facebook, LinkedIn and 

Twitter. 

Frei commented, “Social media is an 

important channel to strengthen and 

extend our network and keep up to date 

with industry trends and developments. A 

presence on social media is essential to 

doing business.” 

Turbon exhibited at Booth B70 in Hall 

5.1, Remanexpo’s new location. This 

was the company’s first Paperworld 

appearance since undergoing a major 

reorganisation in mid-2018, when Turbon 

united all its units under the Turbon 

Products GmbH umbrella. 

Christof Frei, speaking at the show, said 

the company had enjoyed a “really good” 

experience at the show, receiving lots of 

“very positive” feedback from both existing 

and new potential customers. 


21



EUROPE ECS, Circular Economy, 

Business 

ECS confirms 

commitment 

to circularity 

Effective Consumable Solutions 

(ECS) has been reiterating its “longterm 

dedication” to the circular 

economy as well as to the reduction 

of plastic pollution. 

The remanufacturer has revealed that the 

company’s recycling branch, The 

Greener Side, has been “instrumental for 

all of their Partners” and has been 

“improving the industry’s green 

credentials considerably for the last ten 

years.” 

Director of Recycling, Adrian Lovatt, 

said, “As well as being a key factor for our 

success and aiding our ability to function 

as a remanufacturer, The Greener Side 

also highlights our dedication to reducing 

plastic pollution, which is currently a 

monumental problem. The Greener Side 

operates on a national scale, and last year 

alone we recycled over half a million 

empty toner cartridges, which we were 

rewarded for by receiving the Best UK 

Cartridge Recycler award.” 

ECS also stated that its role as a 

remanufacturer is “vital” in the current 

climate, as increasing pollution and 

damage to the environment demands 

a “more circular approach from 

businesses” based upon a ‘reduce, re-use 

and recycle’ policy. 

“Our solution helps both ourselves and 

our Partners to support the notion of a 

circular economy by producing and 

providing high quality remanufactured 

products to our customers,” said 

Operations Director, Adam Lighton. 

“Using ECS products not only provides 

our Partners with affordable quality that 

they can rely on, but it also allows them to 

support us to continue to work towards 

our goal of a circular economy.” 

GLOBAL HP, Legal, 3D Technology 

Legal lows and business highs for HP 

January has brought a mixed bag of news for the OEM, as the company faced 

legal cases, welcomed a fresh face and revealed how it uses its own 3D 

technology to bolster manufacturing. 

On the legal side of things, following 

a 9-year court battle involving HP 

salespeople who sued the 

company over payment issues 

before it split into two entities, a 

court has now approved a 

settlement arrangement. 

As Business Insider reports, the reason 

for the lawsuit brought by HP sales 

employees was that “HP’s computer systems 

weren’t tracking commissions properly and 

they weren’t getting paid in a timely 

manner.” 

These complaints arose before the 

company split into HP Inc and Hewlett 

Packard Enterprise, and “dragged on for 

years”, long after the separation took place. 

Thousands of staff were “not being paid 

properly”, as sales managers informed then- 

CEO Meg Whitman, and the situation was 

becoming so dire that “some salespeople 

couldn’t make their mortgages and were 

facing foreclosure, while others were behind 

in their alimony payments”. 

Finally, in 2017, “an HP executive 

apologised to salespeople about the ongoing 

problems in a mass email” and the company 

also agreed to a $25 million (€22 million) 

settlement, which a court has now agreed. 

As a result, the money “should soon be 

forthcoming to the plaintiffs”. 

A spokesperson for HPE has commented, 

“HPE is pleased that the mediated resolution 

in this dispute that was reached by the parties 

in 2017 has been approved by the Court.” 

As well as this legal case, a settlement has 

been reached with HP in a class action 

lawsuit about Dynamic Security, a 

technology HP placed on certain of its inkjet 

printers. Plaintiffs allege Dynamic Security 

caused printers to stop working if they were 

using certain non-HP replacement ink 

cartridges. HP agrees under the settlement 

not to reactivate Dynamic Security in the 

Class Printers and to pay $1.5 million (€1.3 

million). 

HP denies that it did anything wrong. 

Class Members are included in the 

Settlement if they owned a Class Printer 

between 1 March 2015 and 31 December 

2017. The Class Printers are: 

• HP OfficeJet Pro 6230, 6830, 6835 

• HP OfficeJet 6812, 6815, 6820 

• HP OfficeJet Pro 8610, 8615, 8616, 8620, 

8625, 8630 

• HP OfficeJet Pro X451dn, X451dw, 

X476dn, X476dw, X551dw, X576dw 

To get money from the Settlement, 

Class Members must have had a 

Class Printer experience a print 

interruption while using a 

working non-HP replacement 

ink cartridge between 1 March 

2015 and 31 December 2017. In 

more positive news for the OEM, HP 

Inc. Africa has named Elisabeth Moreno as its 

new Vice President and Managing Director. 

As hypertext reports, Moreno replaces 

David Rozzio, who is transitioning to join 

HP’s “executive operation in Europe.” 

“In this new role, Moreno will be 

responsible for providing country leadership 

for South Africa and driving profitable growth 

across the company’s Printing, Personal 

Systems and Services businesses across the 

Africa region,” explained the company. 

“It is a privilege to take up this leading role 

at HP, a company that is as passionate about 

making a positive impact in the world with 

technology, as I am. I look forward to 

working with my new team on helping our 

customers and partners in the African 

region use breakthrough solutions and 

technologies to help them reinvent their 

organisations,” commented Moreno. 

Finally, turning the spotlight on 3D 

printing, the OEM has been explaining how 

it has been using its 3D printing program to 

revitalise its own manufacturing processes. 

As TCT explains, when HP first 

introduced its first 3D printing platforms, 

the purpose behind its Multi Jet Fusion 

technology was “to hand manufacturers a 

new tool.” 

With HP itself being the kind of business 

it was trying to target with its 3D printing 

division, Stu Pann, the Head of Supply 

Chain, said, “Hey, go and see how many of 

those parts inside the 3D printer make sense 

to be 3D printed,” predicting that “maybe 

three or four of the parts would be 

economically viable for 3D printing.” 

Instead, analysis found that 60 of the 112 

plastic parts required for the printer “could, 

and should, be printed by a 3D printer”. 

This discovery led to the launch of HP’s 

internal “Reinventing HP with Multi Het 

Fusion” initiative. 

“We want to see this migrated into 

customer environments, but there’s no 

better place to start than home, and we have 

one of the biggest plastic supply chains in 

the world,” Scott Schiller, HP’s Global Head 

of Customer and Market Development, 

explained during Formnext 2018. 




GLOBAL Epson, IP Infringement, Business 

An eventful start to 2019 for Epson 

The New Year has only just dawned, but the past few weeks have already been very busy for Epson as the OEM revealed a 

new Asian investment, the winning of an Energy award, and the revelation of a legal case opened in Florida. 

The legal case was the first news from the 

OEM in 2019, as Epson revealed that in 

December 2018, the company filed a 

Complaint for Patent Infringement and 

Damages in the United States District 

Court for the Southern District of Florida, 

Palm Beach Division. 

In legal documents viewed by The 

Recycler, it was revealed that Plaintiffs Seiko 

Epson Corporation, Epson America, Inc. 

and Epson Portland Inc. are suing Floridabased 

companies STS Refill Technology, 

LLC, STS Group Holding, Inc., STS 

Designer Inks LLC and 8300 Congress LLC 

for alleged patent infringement. 

Epson is claiming infringement of its US 

Patent No. 8,794,749, also known as the 

‘749 patent, and describes the infringing 

products as “aftermarket ink cartridges for 

use with Epson printers.” 

The ‘749 patent is part of a general 

exclusion order issued by the USITC 

prohibiting the importation into the United 

States of such infringing items. 

Epson describes the defendants in this 

case as “wilful infringers” and violators of 

the exclusion order, and says it is seeking a 

preliminary and permanent injunction, as 

well as damages “and other relief”. 

The OEM is requesting a jury trial in 

this case. 

This was swiftly followed by more 

positive news from India, as Siva Kumar, 

the General Manager of Inkjet Printers at 

the OEM’s Indian subsidiary, reflected on 

the company’s evolution, and its future 

prospects. 

Talking to the Times of India, Kumar 

discussed the recent rebranding of Epson’s 

InkTank printers, which became EcoTanks, 

in order “to differentiate ourselves from the 

market,” as well as the driving principles 

behind the machine itself. 

“We understood Epson printers were 

good printers with several features, but 

none of the customers were happy about 

the cartridges,” Kumar explained. “Since 

the time we introduced InkTank printers, 

we have seen successful growth ratio in 

respect to volume. If you see the current 

situation, in the overall printer market, 68 

percent is InkTank and 32 percent is ink 

cartridge. The advantages of InkTank is 

being accepted from all the verticals, be it 

home, office, or corporate.” 

Kumar also discussed early hurdles 

that the InkTank presented, including 

customers thinking it to be prohibitively 

expensive, saying “it took us some time to 

communicate the advantages.” However, 

following investment in promotion of the 

product, and its various advantages, “even 

the media supported us in writing about the 

new technology.” 

Across the interview, Kumar also 

reflected on the growth that the EcoTanks 

and InkTanks have spurred, and how Epson 

can harness this to continue pushing 

forwards over the next decade. 

Speaking of growth, this month Epson 

was also able to announce its investment in 

a new Thai plant. 

This new premises in 

Chachoengsao province will 

produce quartz devices for exports. 

According to The Nation, this 

will help the OEM generate 

revenue growth of 4 percent in the 

2018 fiscal year, rising to 5 percent 

in 2019. 

The new plant is expected to see 

more than a thousand new 

workers hired, with the 

manufacturing line expected to go 

“on stream” in the middle of 2019. 

Epson Thailand’s Director, 

Yunyong Muneemongkoltorn, stated that 

the OEM would focus mainly on three 

business units in the 2019-20 financial 

year: Printing solutions, projectors, and 

wearables and robotics. 

The Nation reports that “the overall 

printer and projector markets are declining 

or seeing flat growth in the domestic 

market,” leading Epson to focus on the 

industrial and commercial printing 

markets, and their respective high 

demands. 

“I think the overall IT market in Thailand 

this year will have flat growth. The stable 

politics and the upcoming local elections 

will be factors to drive the economy 

and the IT market as a whole,” said 

Muneemongkoltorn. 

Last but not least, Epson has revealed that 

it won an award courtesy of the FY2018 

Grand Prize for Excellence in Energy 

Efficiency and Conservation awards 

programme. 

Triumphing in the Product Category & 

Business Model Category, Epson claimed 

The Director-General’s Prize, The Agency 

for Natural Resources and Energy, for its 

LX-10000F series and LX-7000F series of 

high-speed linehead inkjet multifunction 

printers, sold in the Japanese market. 

Koichi Kubota, Representative Director, 

Senior Managing Executive Officer and 

Chief Operating Officer at Epson’s Printing 

Solutions Operations Division, said: “We 

have been working hard to increase office 

energy efficiency through inkjet innovation. 

This prize is tremendously encouraging, 

and we intend to continue to provide 

innovative products and services to meet 

the needs of environmentally aware users.” 




EUROPE KMP, Certification, Nordic Ecolabel 

KMP accredited with 

the Nordic Ecolabel 

The German-based company has announced that, as of this month, it now offers 

Nordic Ecolabel-certified printer supplies. 

This certification attests that KMP’s toner 

cartridges meet Nordic Ecolabel’s 

standards of quality and environmental 

protection, explains KMP, and the 

ecolabel confirms the tested products’ 

low impact on the environment, 

encompassing all stages of their life cycle. 

Market surveys show that Nordic 

Ecolabel is recognised and accepted by 

consumers worldwide. State-owned nonprofit 

facilities audited KMP’s Czech 

production site and found it to fulfill all 

their requirements, the company explains. 

For instance, the auditors confirmed that 

the production process satisfies the 

environmental objectives of international 

standard ISO 14001 to which KMP’s site 

was already certified in 2010. 

The saving of resources is an important 

criterion of sustainability and thus a 

sine qua non for the Nordic Ecolabel 

certification. KMP successfully proved 

that their re-manufactured toner 

cartridges consist of at least 75 percent 

recycled components. 

The company also convinced 

Ecolabelling Sweden, the responsible 

body, that they produced durable goods, 

thus efficiently managing the used raw 

materials. Single-use products – on the 

contrary – bind resources that the 

consumer has to dispose of after a short 

while. In order to assess the quality of the 

cartridges, Ecolabelling Sweden evaluated 

customer satisfaction by looking at the 

complaint rates. In all of the cases, KMP’s 

cartridges scored less than 1 percent of 

complaints and thus reached the target set 

by Nordic Ecolabel. KMP also gave proof 

of their cartridges’ high print quality and a 

comparable print capacity figures that 

have been attested by independent 

institutes. 

In measuring sustainability, Nordic 

Ecolabel goes well beyond inspecting the 

production process. To reduce the 

exploitation of resources to a minimum, 

certified companies have to collect their 

empty cartridges and recycle or dispose of 

them according to law. KMP’s own 

recycling center “Save Resources” remanufactures 

used cartridges and 

forwards those beyond repair to recycling 

companies. In doing so, KMP saved 

around 600 tonnes of raw material from 

incineration in 2018. 


25



GLOBAL Canon, Legal Battles, IP 

Canon redoubles efforts to 

prevent patent infringement 

The OEM has maintained its war against patent infringement on Amazon over 

the festive period and into the New Year, revealing the filing of more Report 

Infringement Forms and the award of a preliminary injunction. 

Among the reports filed by Canon, the 

OEM announced the filing of a form with 

Amazon.es based on the alleged use of 

claim 1 and 25 of the Spanish portion of 

Canon’s European Patent EP 2 087 407 

regarding the cartridge model CE505X 

offered by CONSUMO INFORMATICO 

S.L. Canon also filed a form with 

Amazon.es regarding the cartridge model 

“CE505A” and “CF280A” offered by 

WIN-WIN INTERNATIONAL (H.K) 

HOLDINGS LIMITED under the ASIN 

B07B65V4TP. 

Further forms were filed with 

Amazon.es regarding cartridges offered 

for sale by Maria Carmen García Fornet, 

and GOLDAN COLOR S.L.U. 

Canon claimed that they violated the 

Spanish portion of its European Patent, 

EP 2 087 407. 

The infringing products were removed 

from sales by Amazon.es, which also 

notified the vendors, who maintain the 

right to object. 

Canon also filed a similar report with 

Amazon.com, seeking the removal of 

listings of toner cartridges for use in HP 

laser beam printers, which were offered 

for sale by Carlos Imaging. 

The OEM claimed that the HP 126A 

toner cartridges in question violated its 

patent, US Patent No. 8,688,008. The 

aforementioned products are no longer 

available for sale on the e-commerce 

platform. 

In other legal news, Canon revealed this 

month that the District Court Düsseldorf 

has granted Canon a preliminary 

injunction against 5-Sterne Handel UG 

(limited liability), doing business as 

“Starlet24,” as well as against its 

managing director. 

The preliminary injunction is based on 

the infringement of the German portion 

of Canon’s European patent EP 2 087 407 

relating to a drum unit and a process 

cartridge. The preliminary injunction 

enjoins 5-Sterne Handel UG (limited 

liability) from offering and distributing 

laser toner cartridges comprising a drum 

unit with a certain coupling member, via 

www.amazon.de and www.starlet24.de for 

example. The infringing cartridges can 

replace the OEM cartridge models HP 

CE505X, HP CE505A, HP CF280X and 

HP CF280A, which are compatible with 

HP laser beam printers. Furthermore, the 

preliminary injunction contains a claim 

for sequestration, so the infringing 

cartridges have been handed over to a 

bailiff until the matter is finally solved. 

Defendants have the option to file an 

objection against the preliminary 

injunction. However, as service on 

Defendants was effected, Canon can 

enforce this decision. 

As well as the announcement of the 

preliminary injunction, Canon broke the 

news of further infringement reports filed 

with Amazon. Among them was a report 

which alleged that certain model CE255A 

toner cartridges sold by Express via 

Amazon.com infringed Canon’s U.S. 

Patent Nos. 8,280,278; 8,630,564; 

8,682,215; 8,688,008; and 8,676,090. 

Canon requested that Amazon remove 

Express’s listings for those products, 

namely, Express’s listings with Amazon 

Standard Identification Number (“ASIN”) 

B01MG1SZVV. 

At the time of this announcement, the 

above-identified Express listings were no 

longer available on Amazon.com. 

Canon also filed a Report Infringement 

Form with Amazon Italy regarding the 

cartridge model “CF280A” offered by 

ilcompatibile di massimiliano Abbagnara 

and announced the filing of a Report 

Infringement Form with Amazon.co.uk 

regarding the cartridge model “CF280X” 

offered by Solar Electronics Ltd under the 

ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification 

Number) B01HEXP8HK. 

In more positive patent news, Canon 

was able to reveal that it has once again 

achieved high rankings in the latest 

preliminary patent results issued by IFI 

CLAIMS Patent Services. 

The OEM ranked third for the number 

of U.S. patents awarded in 2018, 

becoming the only company in the world 

to have ranked in the top five for 33 years 

running. In addition, Canon once again 

ranked first among Japanese companies, 

for the fourteenth year running. 

Canon says it actively promotes the 

globalisation of its business and places 

great value on obtaining patents overseas, 

carefully adhering to a patent-filing 

strategy that pursues patents in essential 

countries and regions while taking into 

consideration the business strategies and 

technology and product trends unique to 

each location. 

Among these, the company explains 

that the United States, with its many hightech 

companies and large market scale, 

represents a particularly important region 

in terms of business expansion and 

technology alliances. 

Canon also adds that the OEM 

promotes the acquisition and application 

of intellectual property rights, not only 

for fundamental technologies required 

for next-generation products, but also 

such technologies as the wireless 

communication and image compression 

technologies shared by next-generation 

social infrastructure. Canon says it 

contributes to the realisation of 

technology that serves society by 

continuing to provide even better 

products, greater convenience and by 

contributing to the development of 

manufacturing. 




EUROPE Nubeprint, App, SOHO 

Beyond MPS – the SOHO market 

Nubeprint launches WinTarget, an “innovative and disruptive” app-based strategy 

to win SOHO business. 

Nubeprint SL, the leading EU 

specialist managed services 

software developer launches their 

WinTarget app-based strategy to 

win SOHO business at the 

upcoming Remanexpo/Paperworld show in 

Frankfurt, Germany, over 26 – 29 January. 

Antonio Sanchez, Nubeprint CEO, said: 

“WinTarget focuses on the most profitable 

SOHO market that typically place small 

orders and buy OEM products. SOHO 

businesses usually employ less than ten 

people and has less than three printers. 

WinTarget enables you to successfully 

connect and retain this valuable market 

segment.” 

According to Sanchez, “WinTarget is the 

tool for large retailers, distributors and 

remanufacturers wanting to capture and win 

the millions of small SOHO customers that 

are currently free from any subscription. 

The dealers can use the WinTarget features 

as a value-added service offered by his 

wholesaler. There is no investment in 

technology and WinTarget delivers a 100 

percent service. WinTarget is maintenance 

free and there is no DCA, so no hassle to 

install a DCA. There are no ongoing 

commitments and is ideal for 

your smallest customers (less 

than 9 employees in general). 

Any costs are a cost of sale. 

Really the cost is 100 percent 

associated to your sales and there is no 

infrastructure costs. It is a unique solution 

for Retailers. Just ask about our various 

package models, you will be amazed!” 

Sanchez will be launching WinTarget at 

the Remanexpo/Paperworld show at Messe 

Frankfurt over 26 – 29 January. To find out 

more take in his presentation on Sunday 

27th January at 12.10, in Hall 5.1’s Seminar 

Theatre, or contact him directly to arrange 

a meeting. You can reach him at 

asanchez@nubeprint.com 

Nubeprint was founded in 2010 by the 

inventors who, in 2000, developed and 

patented the first data collection agent 

(DCA) to monitor printers and copiers 

remotely. According to the company, “the 

office print market is changing dramatically 

between now and 2020, and Nubeprint is 

committed to help dealers, distributors and 

end-customers to take the maximum benefit 

of the new opportunities that will arise. 

WinTarget is the next generation solution.” 

NORTH AMERICA Metrofuser, Aftermarket, Business 

Metrofuser promotes 

remanufacturing partnerships 

Laser printer parts manufacturer Metrofuser has introduced a new program for the 

toner remanufacturing industry which the company says is improving aftermarket 

toner performance and customer satisfaction. 

According to Metrofuser, the popularity of 

after-market toner continues to rise as 

consumers have started to accept OEM 

alternatives as a less expensive, viable 

option. In recent years, however, some of the 

toner particulate used to refill these 

cartridges has seen a greater degree of 

variability, whether it be size, coarseness or 

melting point when compared to original 

equipment manufacturer toner. These 

variables sometimes cause image defects, 

such as blurred print and poor toner 

adhesion. 

Metrofuser explains that the company 

developed its variable fusing technology to 

allow the company to benchmark the 

biometric markers of toner remanufactures 

then work backward to develop solutions. 

“Essentially what we are doing is “tuning” 

the fuser to match the chemistry of a 

particular toner remanufacturer,” said 

William DeMuth, Chief Operating Officer. 

“Marrying our technology with their 


chemistry offers a better outcome for the 

customer. It also allows toner remanufacturers 

to hone their quality to a greater 

degree and take custody of their downstream 

supplies market.” 

Metrofuser is developing a database and 

cataloguing various toner remanufacturers’ 

markers. The company has matched various 

toner remanufacturers’ chemistry and is 

working with industry leaders to develop 

solutions for the popular HP M600 and 

P4015 series printer. Metrofuser reveals the 

company has working relationships with 

numerous aftermarket companies and nondisclosure 

agreements (NDA) are available 

for new partners. 

“Boutique manufacturers like Metrofuser 

are positioned ideally for this growing 

market segment,” DeMuth said. 

“Metrofuser has pioneered the experience 

and blueprinted the system. Customised 

programs and direct customer experience 

are also hallmarks of Metrofuser.” 

27

FEATURE 

Coming together and embracing the 

challenges: Remanexpo 2019 

For four days over the weekend of 26-29 January, thousands of visitors made their way to Hall 5.1 of Germany’s 

Messe Frankfurt for 2019’s instalment of Remanexpo, the office imaging and aftermarket-focused leg of the 

annual Paperworld trade show. With more than 120 exhibitors packing the hall looking to trade, network, and 

connect with customers both old and new, the event will be remembered for its defining atmosphere of 

optimism. 

Many who spoke so glowingly of the 

show did so with an awareness of its 

vitality to the aftermarket. “If you are a 

leader in the industry, you need to be 

here,” explained Armor’s Gerwald Van 

Der Gijp, who said that the company had 

“always been here.” 

“It’s a place that really represents 

what is happening in the industry, and 

its tendencies,” Van Der Gijp added, 

declaring the event had been “a success, 

from our perspective, with lots of good 

customer meetings. We are very 

satisfied.” 

Equally satisfied was Wendy Duan, 

Vice President of Mito Color Imaging, 

who said that “the show was good for 

us,” particularly as “we had more 

visitors than last year.” 

Duan’s comments were echoed by 

Ashley McCall, of Trade Copiers, 

which was returning to Frankfurt after 

its debut appearance in 2018. “It’s 

great to be back,” he told The Recycler on 

Day One, “last year was a very fast year 

for us, so it’s gone really quickly – it 

doesn’t feel like twelve months since we 

were last here, but it’s good to be back 

and hopefully we can get loads 

of good contacts.” Meanwhile, there was 

similar positivity from Polish supplier 

Biuromax, whose Business Development 

Manager Karolina Wrześniak-Cwyl was 

pleased to have “a full booth.” 

Show stats 

•Twenty years of a dedicated 

European Trade Show 

(Remax and Remanexpo) 

•48% of visitors attended for an 

average of 2 days and 38% of 

visitors attended for one day only. 

•Busiest days of the show were: 

1. Sunday 

2. Saturday 

3. Monday 

4. Tuesday 

•25 exhibitors have already 

rebooked for 2020. 

65% 72% 58% 

The 2020 show dates are 25 – 28 January 2020 

and in the newly refurbished Hall 6.1 and 

Hall 5 is being taken down. 

28 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 316 • MARCH 2019 

SATURDAY 

38% 

SATURDAY 

VISITORS BY DAY 

SUNDAY 

48% 

SUNDAY 

MONDAY 

MONDAY 

27% 

TUESDAY 

AVERAGE VISIT DURATION 

33% 27% 

TUESDAY

FEATURE 

CET Group’s Teresa was also positive, 

praising the international reach of the 

event: “The majority of our customers 

have come from Europe,” she said, “but 

we also have some customers from 

Africa and the Middle East.” 

Apex’s Cindy Zhang agreed, stating 

that the company’s booth had 

welcomed “many old friends, lots of 

customers, and lots of people from 

India and Russia.” Zhang also 

highlighted the importance of 

Remanexpo’s timing, with its position 

at the beginning of the year valuable in 

setting the agenda for the coming year. 

“We’ve met the people we want to 

meet,” explained Data Direct’s Peter 

Cowan, who called the show “a good 

meeting place,” with Frances Chen, 

Sales and Marketing Manager of 

GPI/Cartridge Web in agreement: 

“This is a good chance to meet all the 

customers, it’s a really good chance. 

We have a lot of existing customers, 

who are coming from across Europe to 

meet us.” 

“For us, it’s the most important event 

of the year,” said Adele Berionni of 

Ecoservice di Santarelli Paolo. “It’s 

always really interesting to meet our 

suppliers, to meet our customers, and 

to meet new potential customers,” she 

explained, revealing that fifty percent 

of the company’s meetings had been 

with new customers. 

“It has been very interesting,” 

concurred Joachim Kretschmer, of 

PRP Solutions. “There have been many 

people, and we’ve had some very 

interesting talks.” 

Charlie Ray, of Zhuhai, China-based 

company Gikar, was especially 

enthusiastic, telling The Recycler that 

the company had enjoyed “a really 

good show,” with dozens of customers 

making their way to the remanufacturer’s 

booth. 

Paul Needham, General Sales 

Manager of Static Control, was also 

effusive, saying that the show had 

been “educational, with interesting 

things to learn about the industry as 

a whole. There is energy in the air 

about this show and it’s been exciting 

and busy.” 

“For us, it’s a great opportunity to 

meet a lot of our European partners,” 

Needham elaborated. “It’s one of our 

few chances to sit down, talk and 

reflect on the previous year, and to 

deeply discuss what our plans are for 

the coming year.” 


29



31

FEATURE 

Coming together and embracing the challenges: Remanexpo 2019 

Peter Stefanov, the Managing Director 

of Bulgarian company Freckles, who 

was once again attending Remanexpo 

as a visitor, agreed, calling it “a good 

opportunity to meet all our different 

guys,” and said he had had “lots of 

meetings – positive meetings.” 

Milan Banjac, of Romanian-based 

remanufacturers TIN Factory, was also 

attending as a visitor. Discussing what 

drew him to the show, Banjac said the 

most important thing was “to meet the 

people, to meet your existing partners, 

to contact your potential partners, and 

to prospect the market, to see how it 

works in other countries. It is like a 

scan of our industry, so we can see 

what the situation is like in the 

European market.” 

“It’s a good opportunity to meet and 

interact with the industry and with the 

market,” concurred Katun’s Cinzia 

Gandini. “We’ve met with suppliers 

and customers, not just from Europe 

but from the Middle East and Africa 

too, and we’re learning a lot.” 

Another who was pleased with the 

opportunity to meet and discuss in 

Frankfurt was ETIRA Secretary 

General Vincent Van Dijk. 

“The show went well, very well,” said 

Van Dijk, who explained that across 

the show, he had 

managed to meet with 

over half the trade 

association’s members, 

as well as having 

positive discussions 

with a number of 

potential new ones. 

“For me, it’s the best, if 

not the only, real way to 

meet face-to-face with 

the highest number of 

members,” he said. 

Among the more than 120 

exhibitors at Remanexpo were several 

making their long-awaited return to 

the show, after a hiatus of a few years. 

Among these were both Turbon, and 

KMP. The latter’s CEO, Jan-Michael 

Sieg, called the show “a success - 

suppliers and customers likewise 

welcomed our returning after five 

years.” 

“The whole KMP team was highly 

motivated and as far as I can say, our 

discussions with current and 

prospective business partners seemed 

promising,” Sieg added. 

Turbon’s Christof Frei, Marketing 

Director, gave a similarly positive 

report: “We have been away from the 

show for many years, and have only 

been coming as visitor, but this year 

we’ve been exhibiting as the newlyreorganised 

Turbon, and it’s been 

really good, really good,” he asserted. 

“The response has been great.” 

For some exhibitors, on the contrary, 

their 2019 appearance was the latest 

in a long lineage of Remanexpos. “We 

have been here for many years,” 

declared Paramjit Singh of Indian 

Toners and Developers Ltd., who said 

the company was in Frankfurt with the 

objective of “meeting existing 

clients, and finding new leads.” 

“It’s been very positive,” agreed 

Hubei Dinglong’s Ian Copsey. 

“For us, we know the key players 

we want to work with, in the 

printer/copier remanufacturing 

channels, and I would say we 

met at least 90 percent of our 

active customers, and a 

number of prospects as well. 

Overall, we’re very pleased!” 

“It’s been really positive,” said Peach 

CEO Alfred Wirch. “The meetings I 

have had, we have had some very good 

discussions, and we’re looking forward 

to building up some new relationships 

with new customers.” 

He continued: “The booth is always 

busy – what more can I ask?” 

Wirch also reserved warm words for 

the decision to move Remanexpo 

from its previous location in Messe 

Frankfurt’s Hall 6.0 to its new home of 

Hall 5.1. 

“The change of place, I think was 

good,” he said, offering his view that 

“there are more visitors than before, at 

least that’s my impression.” 

“Because we are a little separated 

[from the rest of the Paperworld show], 

here, it’s really about the printing,” 

Turbon’s Christof Frei said. “The 

visitors may be fewer, but it is a more 

refined audience.” 

Cross Imaging Supplies CEO Simon 

Weiss was in agreement, saying that, 

in his opinion, “it’s good that the show 

has been moved. It seems to me that 

this hall is more suitable: The ceiling is 

not so high, so it creates a different 

atmosphere, which I think is more 

convivial. Everyone is closer together.” 

Weiss also called Cross’ experience of 

the show “definitely positive, very 

positive,” having made “some 

promising new contacts” at what he 

described as “a multipurpose show.” 


FEATURE 

Innovation, innovation, innovation 

As always, for many, Remanexpo was 

not just a chance to meet with 

customers and clients, but also an 

opportunity to unveil or launch the new 

products and services that companies 

will be releasing throughout the 

coming year. 

Apex Microelectronics was unveiling 

its brand new Duracor chip 

technology, which Cindy Zhang 

explained was “the first time anyone 

had brought this technology to 

cartridge chips,” and that many 

customers were “very interested.” 

CET Group, meanwhile, was in 

Frankfurt displaying “a wide range of 

Kyocera products,” with the company’s 

Teresa declaring that the customer 

“really liked this group of products.” 

“We not only sell just one part, we 

sell the series, so it’s very good for the 

customer,” Teresa continued. “We have 

also launched some new products, like 

the HP fuser assemblies, which is a 

very good product in the market, and is 

a very popular one.” 

Speed Infotech was using the trade 

show as a chance to exhibit its 

recently-launched line of refurbished 

copier machines. The company’s CEO 

Benjamin Young told The Recycler that 

the new series was “receiving a lot of 

interest.” Elsewhere in Hall 5.1, UKbased 

ECS was publicising not just its 

remanufactured products, but also its 

collection programme, The Greener 

Side, which Operations Director Adam 

Lighton called “the largest collection 

programme in the United Kingdom.” 

“We’ve had a fantastic response,” 

admitted Lighton, adding that the 

interest in the company had been 

boosted by its being crowned 

Remanufacturer of the Year at The 

Recycler Awards on the Sunday 

evening (see page 35). 

There was also a pleasing response to 

Hubei Dinglong’s range, with Ian 

Copsey explaining that “we’ve had a 

number of new products, and those 

have all been received well,” specifying 

particularly that the company had 

“had a lot of interest in some new 

Brother and some new Konica that 

we’ve got coming out.” 

KMP was displaying a range of its 

new products, including those for use 

with the Canon PGI-580/CLI-581 

XXL, and toners for use with the 

Brother TN2410/2420, which 

Marketing and Product Management 

Team Leader said had received “a great 

response, really good feedback”; CEO 

Jan-Michael el certification, was also 

very well received.” 

Adele Berionni, the Head of Exports 

at Ecoservice Di Santarelli Paolo, 

revealed that her company had also 

enjoyed a prosperous weekend with 

regards to its new products. “We’ve 

had several demands for products for 

use with the Lexmark MS321,” she 

said, adding it had been very popular 

with customers, which she attributed 

to it being “quite a cheap printer, and 

so it’s become very popular in Europe.” 

Berionni revealed the company was 

only waiting on a chip before it could 

release the cartridge, with a launch 

date currently scheduled for the end of 

March 2019. 

“I think customers have found our 

general range of new products really 

interesting,” she added. “We have more 

than 4,000 models in our catalogue, 

ink, laser, and copier, so we can provide 

our customer with as wide a range as 

possible.” The Italian company’s other 

new products included compatible 

cartridges for Brother, Canon, Epson, 

HP, and Kyocera machines, as well as 

those for models from OEM brands 

such as OKI, Ricoh, Sharp, Xerox, 

Samsung and Panasonic. 


33

FEATURE 


For Gikar, its primary new products 

for 2019 included its remanufactured 

ink and colour toner cartridges, 

including brand new replacements for 

the Canon PG-580/CL-581 and the 

Epson T3591/T3594. The company’s 

Charlie Ray explained that its new 

products were boosted by its “very good 

strategical cooperation with chip 

suppliers,” giving it the advantage of 

getting a good price. “We can lower 

our costs, and therefore lower our 

customers costs,” Ray explained. “It’s 

another way we provide value to our 

customers.” 

Ninestar, meanwhile, was focussing 

its attentions on its brand new handheld 

and portable thermal label 

printers, which the company’s Media 

Specialist Ruby Wei explained was its 

“main focus” at Remanexpo 2019. 

“The market for label printers is 

increasing, especially in Europe, the 

USA, and some developing countries,” 

Wei explained. The company’s two 

products comprised a hand-held label 

printer, described as “very convenient 

for barcode printing and QR code 

printing.” The model offers a “practical 

design,” and “all kinds of symbols and 

file modification, so the text can be 

edited in many ways.” 

“Even more special,” according to 

Wei, is the second product, the 

portable thermal label printer, which 

comes with its own mobile app, 

downloadable from the Appstore, and 

allows users to design content on their 

device before downloading and 

printing from the machine. The 

portable model also offers Bluetooth 

and USB connection options, as well as 

“low power consumption” and “a long 

printing life.” 

Other innovations on display from 

Ninestar included its range of 

consumables for printers and copiers, 

with the latter range featuring “more 

coverage of the popular brands, such 

as Kyocera, Canon, Ricoh, and 

Xerox also.” 

Value added services was also a key 

market for Ninestar, with the addition 

to its Managed Print Solutions (MPS) 

provision of Print Helper. 

“The traditional MPS solution is 

basically for the big enterprises,” Wei 

explained. “We have a solution for the 

small enterprises.” Wei told The 

Recycler that both the Print Helper 

solution, and the new label printers, 

had received “a really good reaction” 

from the Chinese company’s clients. 

Ninestar wasn’t the only company 

diversifying of late, with Katun also 

taking a second booth this year, to 

focus purely on its MPS and printing 

control software, including its new 

Infinity user management software. 

“This year is a really good 

opportunity to show our customers 

that Katun is not just about toner and 

consumable products,” declared EMEA 

Marketing Director Cinzia Gandini. 

“We are putting a focus on everything 

else we offer as well, and it’s been really 

successful – we’ve had lots of interest 

from customers old and new, and a 

really good response from the market.” 

3T Supplies/Peach was another 

company that saw the value in offering 

its customers a wide range of choice. 

“We are a company that recycles 

mainly ink, but we also do some toner,” 

explained CEO Alfred Wirch. “Besides 

this, we offer to our distributors other 

products which are related to paper – 

so for example, if you’re printing out 

something which is confidential, you 

might need to destroy it, so we offer a 

shredder; you might think it’s very 

important, so we offer a laminator; you 

might want to present it, so we offer 

binding machines; or you might want 

to cut it to a certain size, so we offer a 

cutter. We have added these products 

to our range, whatever is related to the 

paper and to our consumer base, those 

are the products you’ll find with us.” 

3T was also exhibiting products and 

services from its new division, Peach 

Industrial, with Wirch voicing his 

pleasure that the company’s booth had 

been “busy, all the time.” 

Turbon’s Christof Frei, meanwhile, 

discussed his excitement at the 

company’s newly-launched app, Cart- 

E, which it launched in Frankfurt. 

“This is a big highlight for us,” he 

explained, “because it’s brand new, 

and it’s the first app for the SOHO 

market for printing supplies.” 

“It’s had a really good reaction,” Frei 

continued, “people were very 

interested.” The company was also in 

Frankfurt to promote its reorganised 

company structure, which Frei said 

had provoked “a really good response 

from existing customers, and from 

new prospects too, so it was very 

positive for us.” 

Elsewhere, Cross Imaging Supplies’ 

CEO Simon Weiss explained that his 

company had already publicised its 

new products in its invitations to 

customers, with the new line-up 

comprising new bulk toner for use with 

Kyocera, HP, Konica Minolta, as well as 

new toner for use with certain Canon 

machines. “We always emphasise the 

quality of our products,” Weiss said. 

“We are not competing on price – we 

are competing on quality, on being 

patent [infringement]-free, on 


2019 

Ninestar with 

‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’ 

ECS with 

‘Remanufacturer of the Year’ 

Congratulations 

to the 

2019 

awards 

winners 

The Recycler’s 

Stefanie Unland presented: 

Katun with 

‘Reseller of the Year’ 

Jack Anderson, ECS with 

‘Rising Star of the Year’ 

(collected on his behalf by Adam Lighton) 

Static Control with 

‘Customer Service of the Year’ 

Bioservice with 

‘Collector of the Year’ 

Biuromax with 

‘Supplier of the Year’ 

www.therecycler.com

FEATURE 


respecting IP rights, on the availability 

of the product – they are the key 

advantages we can offer customers.” 

Weiss added that the “response 

overall is good – customers were asking 

for samples, which is always a good 

indication, and a good starting point. 

They can test the toner, see the quality 

is good, and then we can take it from 

there.” The CEO further explained that 

Remanexpo had given the company 

a chance to discuss results with 

customers who had taken samples 

previously, and “show them test results 

from our side. In this sense, the show is 

especially useful.” 

The Recycler Awards 

Sunday evening at Remanexpo also 

saw another annual highlight, the 

presentation of The Recycler Awards 

2019. Following weeks of voting, 

thousands of votes, and several very 

close contests, the prestigious honours 

were presented by The Recycler’s Editor 

and Publisher, Stefanie Unland, 

alongside colleague Owen Collins and 

Lightwords Director Peter Mayhew. 

Taking home the much-sought after 

prize for Remanufacturer of the Year 

was British company ECS, with a 

second award soon following in the 

shape of the 2019 Rising Star Award, 

won by the firm’s Jack Anderson. 

Speaking afterwards, company 

director Felicity Rabbitte spoke 

glowingly of her colleague, stating that 

the brace of honours was “like 

winning the Oscar for Best Picture, 

and then getting the Best Actor award 

as well.” 

“It’s absolutely fantastic,” said 

Managing Director Chris Fink. “It’s 

been brought about by a massive team 

effort, we’ve had a fantastic year with 

our remanufactured products, and I’m 

just pleased that everyone is starting to 

see the fantastic good and products 

that we’re producing at ECS.” 

The Reseller of the Year Award was 

won by Katun, following the 

company’s previous victory in 2018. 

Heidi Boller, Katun’s General Manager 

for EMEA, explained that “it’s our 

second win in a row, so we’re very, very 

happy.” 

Also basking in victory was the team 

from Biuromax, which was honoured 

in the Supplier of the Year category. 

“We are happy, very, very happy, of 

course,” said Marzena Bourguignon, 

the Polish company’s Key Account 

Manager for Europe. “We will do our 

best now to continue our success, and 

we want to do even more!” 

Further awards went to Chinese 

company Ninestar, which won 

Marketing Campaign of the Year; 

Spain’s cartridge collector Bioservice, 

which was named Collector of the Year 

for the second successive year, and 

Static Control, which tasted victory in 

the Customer Service of the Year 

category. 

“We’re absolutely delighted,” 

explained Static CEO Ken Lalley, “and 

at the end of the day, it’s a reflection of 

our commitment to our customers. 

We’re thrilled – thank you to our 

customers, and all who voted for us!” 

The challenges ahead 

Despite such an atmosphere of 

positivity across Hall 5.1, throughout 

the weekend, conversation inevitably 

turned to the hurdles ahead for 

the remanufacturing industry, and 

beyond. 

Unsurprisingly, the imminent spectre 

of Great Britain’s withdrawal from the 

European Union, currently scheduled 

for the 29th of March, was one of the 

challenges at the forefront of 

exhibitors’ minds in Frankfurt, 

although there was a range of opinions 

on what Brexit may actually mean. 

“We live in disruptive times,” 

commented Integral’s Jan Hagemann, 

who said he personally believed that 

the ongoing saga “will keep Europe 

busy for the next five or six years” – if 

indeed it happens. “Toner is subject to 

a zero percent duty anyway, so there 

will not be duties on the product, but 

from an administrative point of view it 

will be a little difficult.” 

3T Supplies/Peach boss Alfred Wirch 

was more effusive in his thinking, 

stating that the process will be “a 

disaster,” pointing out that companies 

can only remanufacture products that 

have been first-sold in their country, 

and that Britain’s withdrawal from the 

EU means empties collected in the UK 

will require separate remanufacturing 

– “otherwise, there is no business for us 

in England anymore, and vice versa.” 

“It’s going to be a disaster for our 

industry,” Wirch reiterated, “for the 

Europeans, and for the British. It’s not 

good for anybody. We are very 

concerned, and hope that there will be 

a good solution from the governments 

to avoid this, because it will make life 

very difficult. We already have a lot of 

international competition, we don’t 

need extra competition on top.” 

Other exhibitors were more cagey, 

with Katun’s Cinzia Gandini describing 

the whole thing as “a big question 

mark,” a view shared by Cross CEO 

Simon Weiss. 

“If there is a Hard Brexit,” said 

Gandini’s colleague, Heidi Boller, 

“there will be lots and lots of confusion 

between the UK and the EU, over 

responsibilities, and who is responsible 

for what, which could cause a potential 

gridlock, and impact on the British 

pound too.” 

Boller asserted that Katun “has 

enough inventory” to continue 

business as usual, and that the 

company “isn’t pressuring customers 

to build up a backstock,” but 

nevertheless, she said, “a Hard Brexit 

is a real risk, and we need to be 

prepared.” 

Gandini added that “short term, the 

logistics are a big concern,” and 


FEATURE 

observed that “nobody in government 

is really prepared for what will 

happen.” 

One company that was preparing 

was ECS, with Adam Lighton saying 

that despite everything being “up in 

the air”, the company has “lots of 

contingency plans in place to ensure 

that whatever happens, our consistent 

supply to our distributors will 

continue.” 

The full breadth of opinions was on 

display throughout the show, however, 

with a good proportion of exhibitors 

finding reasons to be optimistic about 

Brexit. Trade Copiers’ Ashley McCall 

explained that his company “still feel 

confident, and we still think people will 

want to trade with us, and I still believe 

that’ll happen.” 

“The pound will probably drop, so it 

will be good for people to buy from us,” 

McCall continued, admitting that 

despite this, it was still unclear what 

the outcome of these “interesting 

times” will be. 

“It’s not going to be a smooth ride, 

but we’re positive – you’ve got to look 

forward and see what you can do. At 

the end of the day, we’ve got a product 

that someone wants, if it’s the right 

price they’re going to want it whether 

we’re in the EU or not.” 

Data Direct’s Peter Cowan took a 

similar view, believing that “if we can 

get out of the grip of Europe, and some 

of the trademark restrictions and 

everything else, it could be a whole 

new world.” 

“It’s not a concern, because our 

business is very strong in the UK,” 

continued Cowan. “If we shut the 

borders tomorrow, I guess we’d have 

some logistics issues, but we have 

enough other options of places other 

than Europe that we can supply 

products to.” 

“We’re not worried about Brexit, 

more annoyed,” he elaborated, calling 

on those responsible to “just get it 

done.” 

“We had a referendum, there was a 

decision made… Just get on and do it, 

so that then we know what we’re 

dealing with, so we know how big the 

elephant is that we’ve got to wrestle.” 

For ETIRA’s Vincent Van Dijk, the 

imminent upheaval had not provoked 

any “major concerns from members,” 

although he acknowledged that “if all 

of a sudden, you have to start paying 

duties,” there could be a potential 

bump in the road. 

“The most physical problem would 

be the logistical nightmare – you see 

these forecasts of 1,000 lorries 

standing at the quay at Harwich every 

day, going to Rotterdam. If your client 

says, ‘I need to have that model 

tomorrow, you might not be able to do 

that anymore.’ This could be a major 

problem in both directions.” 

“If you’re a UK company and 

continental business is your thing, you 

may need to prepare for the worst-case 

scenario.” 


37

FEATURE 


Away from Brexit, the other main 

challenge being discussed at 

Remanexpo was the behaviour of the 

OEMs, and what this might mean for 

the future of the remanufacturing 

industry. 2018 saw increasingly 

hostile behaviour from the big 

companies towards the aftermarket, 

with HP’s recent spate of cease-anddesist 

letters following Canon’s wideranging 

legal crusade to clamp down 

on patent infringement and IP 

violations. 

However, Freckles’ Peter Stefanov 

had a different explanation: “I think 

it is more of a money-making plan for 

the OEMs, than a serious attempt to 

put people out of business,” he opined. 

This was just one of a diverse range 

of opinions on the OEMs’ behaviour of 

the past twelve months, with some 

defending it, and others saying it was 

necessary for the health of 

remanufacturing companies. 

Frances Chen, of GPI/Cartridge Web, 

stated her belief that “the OEMs have 

been getting very aggressive,” but 

explained her company’s commitment 

to compatibility without infringement. 

“IP protection will make our product 

more valuable,” she explained, adding 

that the company was always prepared 

to support its customers were they to 

have any issues. 

“If we can keep our relationship with 

the OEMs more neutral, and more 

comfortable, that would be perfect,” 

Chen added, acknowledging that 

confrontation between the OEMs and 

the aftermarket was part of “the 

nature of the industry.” 

Many exhibitors were nonchalant 

about the ‘threat’ posed by the OEMs, 

explaining that this was based upon 

their confidence in their own products. 

“We are not worried by the OEMs,” said 

Ninestar’s Ruby Wei, “because we 

respect their intellectual property, and 

that has always been a must.” ECS’ 

Adam Lighton said similar, revealing 

that the British company has “put a lot 

of time and effort into making sure 

that all the remanufactured products 

we offer are completely noninfringing.” 

“Before we even look at developing 

new products, we have to be aware 

of all the various different patents that 

go into all the products we offer, 

so we have part of the Research 

& Development team specifically 

focussed on researching the patents,” 

explained Lighton, who said the 

OEM pressure “doesn’t particularly 

worry us.” 

“As long as we put that effort in, and 

that effort into the research, it will only 

put us in a stronger position.” 

Adele Berionni of Ecoservice di 

Santarelli Paolo echoed this, believing 

that the behaviour of the OEMs was 

“always the same,” but as they had no 

IP-infringing products, “we are not 

really feeling the pressure.” 

Mito Color Imaging’s Wendy Duan, 

on the other hand, thought the OEMs 

were being “too aggressive,” although 

Benjamin Young of Speed Infotech said 

he was “not worried,” explaining that 

“the rules change, and so we need 

change as well. The company needs to 

be adjusted, but I do not worry too 

much.” 

Static Control’s Paul Needham was 

also confident, explaining that as far as 

his company was concerned, “we 

welcome it, and we’d like to see more 

of it.” 

“Any OEM activity which eliminates 

anyone that doesn’t recognise or 

respect IP or design patents, thostnte 

companies deserve to be held up and 

held accountable. We’ve been in 

existence for over thirty years, and we 

have always put IP, quality and safety, 

at the forefront of what we do.” 

“Things like IP are, and should be, of 

the utmost importance,” Needham 

continued. It was a view shared by 

both Ian Copsey, and Simon Weiss, 

who said that while he was “a bit 

surprised, initially,” by the moves made 

by the OEMs, there was also “a positive 

effect for our own activities.” 

“Our cartridges are IP-friendly,” 

Weiss continued, “so it helps us to 

promote our cartridges, and it puts us 

in a strong position with our products, 

which respect these IP rights.” 


FEATURE 

Ian Copsey agreed, saying he was in 

favour of the OEM’s action. “To be 

honest, I welcome it. I think the 

remanufacturing industry is trying to 

provide a legitimate service and supply 

choice for customers, and absolutely I 

welcome the OEM activity on patents 

and IP, that is really forcing the mostly 

new-build material to really think 

about what they release.” 

“At the distribution level, people are 

nervous about being on that radar, 

they’ve seen some of the activity that 

Canon, and HP, and Epson, have taken, 

and I hope that plays on the mind 

of those company owners and 

stakeholders.” 

“From our point of view,” Copsey 

continued, “everything we develop is 

compliant with IP, but clearly there’s a 

lot of product that’s flooded into the 

market in the last few years that hasn’t 

been, so the fact the OEM is 

challenging that more and more can 

only be a good thing, both for us and 

for the industry.” 

“I think it’s really good,” agreed 

Armor’s Gerwald van der Gijp, “I think 

the OEMs need to react. I’m not 

convinced they still really understand 

how the aftermarket is really working, 

but all the actions they’re taking, I 

think is good.” 

“I think they should really focus on 

the Chinese new-build products, 

and be more flexible with the 

remanufacturing industry,” he added. 

KMP’s Jan-Michael Sieg was another 

to defend the OEMs’ conduct in the last 

twelve months, observing that “those 

who take the effort to create or design 

something have the undeniable right 

to protect their intellectual property, 

and this should be respected by 

everyone.” 

Peter Cowan, meanwhile, was fairly 

ambivalent, calling the constant legal 

pressure “exactly what I would do in 

their position”; he explained that Data 

Direct had a different concern, 

however, with the OEMs’ ongoing 

advances in chip technology posing 

more of a potential challenge. 

“Twenty years ago, the only thing 

you worried about chips was, what 

kind of chips we were going to get with 

our steak,” Cowan explained. “But 

now, OEMs just rule the roost with 

making more and more complicated 

chips. They get in the way of 

remanufactured products and 

compatible products, they rule the 

roost by just making more and more 

complex chips, and I think that’s the 

biggest element of challenge to many 

sides of our business.” 

“Making a good toner powder, 

making a good drum unit, etcetera, is 

much, much less of a challenge, it is 

the complexity of the chips that’s the 

difficulty.” 

Cindy Zhang of Apex also called the 

OEMs’ chip technology “a really big 

hurdle to break through,” explaining 

that the time spent working on a new 

chip had stretched from six months to 

one-two years. However, she added 

that developments such as the spate of 

lawsuits in 2018 was “normal,” and a 

sign of the OEMs “just trying to protect 

their customers.” 

“They are fighting for their business 

– it has always been the same,” 

reflected a pragmatic Alfred Wirch. 

“They need to fight for their business. 

They will make life hard for us – they 

always have done, they always will do. 

Sometimes it’s a disaster, like with the 

firmware updates, but what comes 

next, I don’t know.” 

As ever, the threat of a race to the 

bottom in terms of prices was also a 

recurrent concern for many in Hall 

5.1. Van der Gijp observed that 

“Amazon having fifty different brands 

on their platform, which are not WEEE 

compliant, ROHS compliant or REACH 

compliant, and which don’t pay VAT,” 

are still very visible to many 


39

FEATURE 


customers, which “is driving our 

industry down to price points, and 

which is hurting our industry. That 

needs to change.” 

“We are very concerned about the 

price war with Chinese suppliers,” 

GPI’s Frances Chen declared. “The 

customers are comparing your product 

with others, and although they know 

your product offers better quality, they 

are always looking for better prices. 

This will definitely be an issue in the 

future.” 

Chen further claimed that these 

Chinese suppliers “don’t keep the 

supply chain healthy,” and said that 

retailers were “offering crazy prices, 

that don’t make any sense.” She added, 

however, that the company had had 

several customers who shifted away 

from GPI based on lower prices 

elsewhere, “but after maybe two years, 

they came back to us,” because they 

were “not happy with how the other 

companies do business.” 

Hubei Dinglong’s Ian Copsey went 

further, calling price erosion “the 

biggest threat to the industry,” saying 

that “the margin has come out of the 

business.” 

“You’ve seen vendors come out of 

the market, on all sorts of products, 

whether it be toner, OPCs, developer 

rollers, blades. The fear I have is that 

we’re seeing that a little bit on the chips 

at the moment too, and it’s becoming a 

last-man-standing game, and I think 

that’s very dangerous for the industry.” 

Copsey added that this price erosion, 

and the constant clamour for lower 

margins, was “stifling the development 

of new products.” 

Mito’s Wendy Duan also named 

“price competition” as the biggest 

challenge the industry was facing, 

with an economic downturn posing “a 

real problem.” Cindy Zhang was in 

agreement, and claimed that many 

companies were visiting trade shows 

such as Remanexpo to investigate the 

prices of their competitors, “then going 

home and putting their prices ten 

percent lower!” 

GIkar’s Charlie Ray was also 

concerned over price pressure, calling 

it “a big challenge to the industry,” 

with many big factories “getting their 

customers because of their very low 

prices. Some people say we are a good 

company, but our prices are too high, 

but for us, quality is always more 

important. That’s our company 

principle, and it’s always very exciting 

when new customers come to us, 

knowing us initially for our quality.” 

“The challenge the whole market 

faces is the cheap products being sold 

on Amazon,” wta Carsten Weser’s 

Head of Marketing Thomas Lentes 

agreed. “There is a lot of pressure on 

price, and you see that in the market, 

a lot of the smaller dealers and 

stationery shops get more and more 

problems, so you have to support them 

so they can stay in the market.” 

“The market is getting more difficult 

for these small companies,” Lentes 

continued, arguing the secondary 

challenge was “bringing them to the 

point where they trust you, so you can 

help them. A lot of these businesses do 

not trust anybody, because they see 

enemies everywhere.” 

Another common topic which 

surfaced over the weekend was 

regarding the recent revelations on the 

presence of prohibited brominated 

flame retardant DecaBDE in the plastic 

moulding of certain cartridges. One of 

the companies named in the recent 

reports was Static Control, with the 

company’s Paul Needham giving a 

seminar on the issue at Hall 5.1’s 

Seminar Theatre, in which he urged 

the entire remanufacturing industry to 

“get its house in order.” 

“As an industry,” he said, “we have to 

be transparent, we have to be 

compliant, we have to work together.” 

“The issue is widespread,” said 

Needham, “and it impacts compatibles, 

remanufactured, and components. As 

an industry, we must work together to 

hold plastics suppliers to the standards 

that have been set forth in the 

environmental regulations.” 

He added that the OEMs were 

“always scrutinising the aftermarket, 

so it needs to be watertight.” 

wta’s Thomas Lentes revealed that 

the company had been running tests 


FEATURE 

on its own products, in response to the 

scandal, and that it was expecting 

the results soon. “Health, and the 

environment, these are too important 

for us not to check,” Lentes explained, 

but added that if the companies 

responsible were to change their 

practices, it would be “not only good 

for the future, but good for the 

environment too.” 

“It’s terrifying that these products 

are here,” said Turbon’s Christof Frei, 

who observed that the recent 

revelations “may only be the tip of the 

iceberg,” with regards to other possible 

contents of the plastic. 

“It is very alarming. With these 

revelations we feel even more 

reassured that only remanufacturing is 

the right alternative and sustainable 

solution - for man and environment,” 

added Frei, explaining that “it 

absolutely shows us we are on the 

right path.” 

Working together for the greater 

good 

At Remanexpo 2019, a further 

recurring suggestion was that of 

working together, in various ways, 

with teamwork and collaboration top 

of the future agenda for a number of 

companies. In an extremely wellattended 

seminar, ETIRA President 

David Connett highlighted the current 

market share of the OEMs and the 

aftermarket, making the point that 

companies should be looking to take a 

slice from the OEM’s share, rather than 

continually fighting for each other’s 

thinner wedge. 

This was an idea which was 

frequently discussed by both exhibitors 

and visitors, who spoke glowingly of 

the need to work together against a 

common adversary. 

TIN Factory’s Milan Banjac 

expressed his desire for Remanexpo to 

be seen as a starting point for this 

collaboration, saying that “we must 

make this an exchange of information. 

Networking is really important. 

“We hope for more networking with 

our colleagues in Europe,” he 

continued. “We are not so much 

competitors, in our profession, as 

colleagues, and we all have the same 

technical programme, technical 

challenges, and challenges from the 

OEMs.” 

GPI’s Frances Chen echoed this call, 

saying that the company was aiming to 

gain more market share from the OEM, 

rather than from the aftermarket. 

“Everybody should focus more on the 

OEMs, because they have more than 

ninety percent of the market share. 

Why are we competing against each 

other for less than ten percent? That 

way, you’re not making money, we’re 

not making money, so who wins? The 

OEM.” 

“The goal should be to improve, as 

companies, and take market share 

from the OEMs and not from each 

other,” agreed Apex’s Cindy Zhang. 

Adele Berionni was also convinced that 

collaboration was the way forward, 

stating that “in the past, maybe, we 

only focussed on the Italian market, 

but now, working with other countries 

is a really good opportunity, because 

you can offer different products to 

different markets.” 

Armor’s Gerwald Van Der Gijp and 

Turbon’s Christof Frei observed the 

need for collaboration of a slightly 

different kind, both believing that 

closer link-up with the OEMs 

themselves was necessary for the 

future of the industry. 

“What I wish is that the OEMs work 

closely together with us, to define and 

work out how to deal with the issues 

that we have in the market, such as 

illegal products, and IP issues, and 

politics,” said Van Der Gijp. “It’s started 

opening up, we have started working 

with OEMs, but there must still be more 

cooperation.” 

“We should work closer, maybe, with 

the OEMs,” considered Frei, who 

added: ‘An exchange between the 

OEMs and the remanufacturers 

doesn’t exist, but would maybe be 

something to aspire to.” While 

conceding this would be an uphill task, 

Frei also acknowledged that in the 

aftermarket, “there is a higher purpose 

than just sales and figures – it is the 

fact that we should try to raise 

awareness of the environmental 

benefits of remanufacturing. We want 

to join forces on different activities, to 

keep the industry alive.” 

This time next year… 

As the show drew to a close, many 

exhibitors looked the year ahead, and 

shared their ambitions for the coming 

twelve months with The Recycler. Speed 

Infotech’s Benjamin Young shared his 

hope that the company would “keep 

growing, and get ready – I think the 

market will change, we cannot use the 


41

FEATURE 


same old structures for the 

future. Everything needs to be 

ready for the change.” 

Data Direct was also eyeing a 

new company structure, saying 

that it was setting its sights on “a 

complete new business flow.” 

“If we could sit here in a year’s 

time having achieved that,” said 

Peter Cowan, “with all the ducks 

in a row, and all the boxes ticked, 

that would be a very, very good 

position to be in. If we achieve all 

the targets we’ve set ourselves for 

2019, we’ll be delighted, and the 

champagne will be flowing.” 

Hubei Dinglong’s Ian Copsey 

explained that company was focussing 

on its new products, such as new 

toners for use with Konica Minolta and 

Brother machines, saying it would be 

“good to see that moving well in 

2019.” 

Teresa from CET was also hoping for 

continued success with the company’s 

key products, in particular for making 

the case for quality as the overarching 

factor: “If we focus on speed of 

production, there is a risk that we will 

ignore the quality of the product, or 

the real needs of the market,” she 

explained. “This year, we want to 

provide a very high-quality product to 

our customers, so we will go slowly, to 

focus on quality and compatibility.” 

“The most important thing in 

business is for your customer to trust 

you,” Teresa continued. “We are 

seeking a win-win-win situation, not 

just a win-win! A win for our 

customers, a win for our suppliers, and 

a win for CET too!” 

Teresa further explained that the 

company was hoping to “develop the 

CET brand” in the near future. “A few 

years ago, we didn’t have a lot of 

publicity for our brand, but next year 

we will change our packaging, and we 

will have more exposure for our brand, 

and our brand image. We want to 

become an international company.” 

Integral’s Jan Hagemann was also 

thinking of branding, revealing the 

company’s new packaging that was on 

display for the first time in Frankfurt. 

“We’ve been upgrading our design, 

so our boxes are featuring more of the 

corporate design, with the corporate 

colours more integrated. We hope to 

represent to the customer the value of 

our products this way, and I think it’ll 

have a positive impact.” 

On a similar note, for Christof Frei 

of Turbon, the key ambition for 2019 

was to further establish the Turbon 

brand, following 2018’s company 

reorganisation. 

“We want to establish the brand 

Turbon in Europe in a positive way, to 

show it in print media, in social media, 

using the campaign around our 

#turboneu hashtag, everywhere, so 

that people are aware of us,” he said. 

“In the second half of the year, our 

ambition is to push our brands, such as 

IBM, Agfa Photo, Emstar, and to offer 

to our resellers and customers a 

modern platform, the best platform, for 

being able to resell the products.” 

2019 will see the 40th anniversary 

of Katun, and the company’s Cinzia 

Gandini and Heidi Boller were hopeful 

it will be a year to remember for the 

Dutch reseller. Gandini explained that 

the company was hoping to “spread 

the good message associated with our 

anniversary – that we’ve been in the 

industry for forty years, we’ve always 

been growing, and we’ve had great 

success across the globe. We want to 

make sure our successful story is 

known in the market, and this 

milestone is a great way to 

communicate that.” 

Other companies had different 

ambitions for the year ahead, with 

both Ninestar and Armor looking to 

make ground in the provision of 

value-added services for its customers. 

“The traditional channel is full,” 

explained Ninestar’s Ruby Wei, “so we 

are seeking potential new strategies 

for new business.” Citing the example 

of the company’s new label printers 

as “part of our strategy to expand 

our business,” Wei explained that 

Ninestar is “not sticking to the current 

consumables, we’re expanding to other 

lines of business.” 

“We want to educate our customers, 

and to push them towards a healthy 

industry,” Wei continued. “We want to 

show them the value of cartridges that 

are high-quality and IP-safe, and we 

hope for a win-win in 2019.” 

For Armor, meanwhile, the key 

ambition was twofold: Further growth 

for the company’s newly-launched 

copier range, which Gerwald Van Der 

Gijp explained was “already growing a 

lot,” and in addition, more success for 

Armor’s OPS managed print services 

(MPS) programme. 

“The signals I’m getting about that 

programme are very positive, Van Der 

Gijp explained, “and we have been able 

to transform from a traditional 

transactional business model to a 

contractual one. What Armor is doing 

is transforming ourselves from 

supplying just cartridges, into a 

services -based company.” 

“It could be services we add to our 

products,” he continued, “it could be a 

contractual approach, it could be 

services in logistics, services in the 

supply chain, services in sales – we are 

strongly focussed on how we can add 

value to our partners, and how we can 

add value to ourselves.” 


FEATURE 

KMP, Cross Imaging Supplies, and 

Mito Color Imaging all named their 

ambitions as further growth for the 

company, with Mito’s Wendy Duan 

explaining that the company was 

hoping to “keep our stable quality, 

continue providing good service, and 

grow in business with the customer 

together”; Simon Weiss, meanwhile, 

explained that after many years of 

growth for Cross, “at a certain point, it 

becomes difficult to continue, when 

the market conditions are not 

getting any easier; so to continue 

growing, in these situations, would be 

a great result, and a very positive 

highlight of 2019.” 

“I hope that we will continue to grow 

sustainably,” opined KMP’s Jan- 

Michael Sieg, who said that the 

company has “everything it takes” to 

achieve this, including “a prominent 

market presence, eco-friendly, highquality 

products ‘made in Europe’, and 

a more than competent sales team.” 

Discussing Static Control’s main 

ambition for the year, Paul Needham 

stated that he would like to see 

continued growth and increased 

profitability, as well as a continuation 

of the company’s success. “We were 

recognised for Customer Service of the 

Year after winning Supplier of the Year 

last year; people are realising that the 

solutions Static Control offers are the 

best solution for the future.” 

“2019 is going to be an exciting year. 

Static Control will be releasing new 

components, new cartridges, and we’ll 

continue to push that boundary and 

expand the range of products that 

we’ve got. Whatever customers want, 

Static Control can have the solution. 

Whichever way the market moves, and 

whichever way it develops, Static 

Control, being part of the group that 

we’re part of now, have the ability to 

move with the market very quickly.” 

Thomas Lentes, of wta Carsten 

Weser, explained that his company’s 

objectives were to continue expanding 

the wta product portfolio, and to carry 

on helping its customers wherever 

possible, while Adele Berionni, 

speaking about the hopes of Ecoservice 

di Santarelli Paolo, stated that “the 

challenge is to increase exports, to 

widen our product range, and to be 

competitive in terms of timing, and 

when we release our new products 

onto the market.” 

“We want to always have products 

that are updated,” Berionni continued, 

“we want to always have an updated 

stock of chips to help our customers 

avoid the problems of the OEM 

firmware updates.” 

Berionni also voiced her hopes that 

the Green Public Procurement, which 

is commonplace in Italy, will spread 

further afield in 2019. “I think all 

countries should comply with a Green 

Public Procurement strategy [whereby 

public bodies are required to use 

environmentally-friendly products],” she 

said, “not just for the benefit of 

the remanufacturing industry, but for 

the sake of the environment, and for 

our future.” 

On a similar subject, ETIRA’s Vincent 

Van Dijk was also hopeful for the 

future, observing that 2019 will see 

the industry “reap the benefits of the 

seeds ETIRA has been planting over the 

last couple of years,” in terms of the 

organisation’s policy initiatives with 

the European Union. These include 

the voluntary agreement that 

manufacturers will construct printers 

and systems in “the most environmentally-friendly 

way possible”; 

the hope that the Green Public 

Procurement criteria, already adopted 

in Italy, will be adopted across Europe; 

and the new Ecolabel, to replace the 

previous attempts launched by the EU 

that were all-too-easily circumvented 

by the OEMs. 

“I am optimistic,” declared Van Dijk, 

capturing the ambience of Remanexpo 

2019 in a nutshell. “I am always 

optimistic.” 

R 


43

FEATURE 

i2ma – the Spanish shredders 

leading by example 

The Recycler speaks to Rubén Barberà Toribio, of Spanish cartridge shredding business i2ma, to find out his 

perspective on the aftermarket industry, recent changes in legislation, and the environmental impact he hopes 

to have, across Iberia and beyond. 

Barberà has been Director and General 

Manager of i2ma since 2014, and tells 

The Recycler that although it is now 

gaining a foothold in the market as a 

cartridge shredding business, the 

company originally started life in a 

different guise. 

“When the company was born,” 

Barberà explains, “it was dedicated 

to selling second-hand computer 

equipment.” However, it was during 

that iteration that Barberà and his 

colleagues noticed a gap in the market, 

arising from environmental concerns 

over the fate of printer cartridges 

fter use. 

“We realised that the recycling cycle 

of the cartridges was not complete,” he 

says, “because many of them, after 

their useful life, ended up in the 

landfill.” 

This created what Barberà describes 

as “an ecological problem,” and i2ma 

responded accordingly, shifting the 

focus of its business towards reuse, 

rather than simply resale. “We decided 

to use our effort to find an effective 

method to reuse all the components,” 

recalls Barberà, who adds that from 

the beginning, the company was 

aiming high – “fixing our objective in 

the 100 percent recycling rate.” 

It was from this decision that led to 

i2ma in the business form that it is in 

today, predominantly shredding used 

cartridges in order to recover the raw 

materials. It was something of a 

visionary step from Barberà and his 

colleagues, becoming the first 

company in the whole of Spain to 

specifically focus on shredding empty 

toner cartridges. 

As Barberà explains, this was partly 

due to the firm’s environmental 

commitment, but also as a result of 

other factors. “Up to now, there was 

the legal obligation,” he comments, 

reflecting on why such an obvious 

niche in the market hadn’t previously 

been filled before i2ma. Barberà also 

points to the financial costs involved in 

setting up such a plant – “it needs 

important investment” – as well as the 

specific demands, regarding WEEE 

legislation. 

“The plant has to be dedicated 

exclusively to cartridge shredding,” he 

explains. “It’s not possible to mix 

cartridges with other WEEE material, 

because it needs a specific process, 

due to the complexity of their 

components.” 

In addition, “the business ceiling is 

not so high to attract the attention of 

large corporations.” For now, it seems, 

i2ma is flying under the radar, but as 

the worldwide conversation turns in 

the direction of greater environmental 

responsibility, Barberà is hopeful that 

soon the cat will be out of the bag. 

“We know there are other 

initiatives,” he admits, when 

discussing whether other companies 

are likely to follow the trend he and his 

colleagues have set; these other 

initiatives are welcomed by i2ma, he 

says, as the ecological need to promote 

and maintain the focus on a circular 

economy is greater than the need for 

i2ma to corner the market. “We are 

convinced that it’s important that 

other plants appear,” he insists, “to 

ensure recycling for all cartridges in 

Europe.” 

Barberà also discusses the recent 

Europe-wide WEEE legislation, which 

sees printer cartridges fall under the 

umbrella of EEE, and the effect this will 

have on i2ma; indeed, the company’s 

director highlights this as one of the 

key challenges facing the company, 

saying that “since the fifteenth of 

August [when the new legislation 

came into force], a company like ours 

shares the same challenges are the 

other companies in Europe.” 


FEATURE 

“[The WEEE legislation] is a very 

important milestone for our business,” 

Barberà continues, arguing that the 

new laws forces companies to become 

aware of the importance of recycling 

empty cartridges. “It has made 

producers improve their collection 

systems, and take responsibility for 

recycling” – a positive development, no 

doubt. 

“It has also made administrations 

worry about following the stream of 

these materials to prevent them from 

going to landfill,” says Barberà. “Up to 

now, the only option for recycling was 

refilling, but we have taken recycling 

one step further, and we can recover 

close to 90 percent of the materials.” 

Barberà further claims that the 

WEEE legislation has pushed his 

company into achieving “a maximum 

level” of urgency and effort in its flow 

tracking and recycling rates, as the 

directive has placed the cartridge 

recycling process “at the same level as 

any other WEEE procedure.” 

These challenges are specific, but the 

General Manager says that running 

such a company as a cartridge 

shredding plant brings other trials, of a 

more general nature. “Our main 

challenge,” Barberà states, “is to 

improve day by day, extending our 

services and broadening our 

presence.” 

“We seek to work with the main 

cartridge producers, and help them to 

close the loop, so that no cartridges go 

to the landfill.” 

“NO MORE 

CARTRIDGES 

IN THE 

LANDFILLS!” 

What about on a personal level, 

however? How has Barberà himself 

coped with the pressures since 

assuming the leadership role five years 

ago? 

“You need to be a hard worker to face 

difficulties and not fail,” Barberà 

concedes, citing the research and 

accumulation of knowledge involved 

as “the most challenging aspect of this 

experience. This makes you grow both 

as a person, and as a businessman.” 

i2ma is headquartered in the 

Barcelona region, in Catalonia, which 

remains part of Spain despite declaring 

its secession towards the end of 2017. 

Since the independence referendum, 

the region has been plagued by 

ongoing political uncertainty, 

although Barberà insists that 

thankfully, this has had no impact on 

his business. 

“We don’t think so, no,” he confirms, 

but adds that i2ma has various 

contingency plans in place should such 

strife begin to take its toll: “Just in case 

any political issue could affect our 

business, we have tools to avoid that, 

and avoid any circumstantial change 

that wouldn’t let us meet our goals.” 

In conclusion, Barberà considers 

which of his company’s successes he is 

most proud of, or that means the most: 

“We are proud to achieve this recycling 

solution for cartridges,” he reveals, 

“and contribute to the sustainability of 

the planet.” 

On his hopes for the years to come, 

Barberà is preparing to widen the 

reach of i2ma, beyond the boundaries 

of Barcelona. “We are preparing for 

assuming the recycling demand from 

Spain, and other countries that could 

need our help,” he says. “We know 

some countries haven’t yet got a toner 

cartridge shredding plant. In the 

future, we would like to be one of the 

leading companies in this field.” 

Barberà’s vision is admirable, as is 

most of the philosophy which seems to 

underpin i2ma – putting the 

environment first, and focussing on 

achieving the greenest impact possible. 

It was this set of values which first took 

i2ma from a simple second-hand 

equipment reseller to a landmark 

company, highly unique within Spain. 

Especially in light of his positivity 

regarding further companies following 

its example, it seems it’s also a 

philosophy which will take both 

Barberà and i2ma into a successful 

future, as the environmental message 

reaches a larger, and more eager, 

audience. 

R 

For more information on i2ma 

and its work, visit www.i2ma.es 


45

WIDE FORMAT COLUMN 

The future: A 3D-printed 

car in every garage? 

3D printing is spreading into about every industry, whether lasersintered 

or through stereolithography. But one industry that has 

embraced 3D printing on a grand scale is the automotive industry. 

Neal McChristy 

You may have heard of some 

experiments in Canada, the United 

States and China using 3D printing to 

make automobiles. One of the most 

successful is one in 2014 by Local 

Motors, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, 

in collaboration with Cincinnati 

Incorporated, Harrison, Ohio, and the 

USA government’s Oak Ridge National 

Laboratory. 

It is the Strati. 

This electric car travels 100-120 miles 

(160-190 kilometres) at 50 miles 

per hour (80 kilometres per hour) 

on a charge, though not yet cleared 

to be used on highways because of 

test requirements for safety. Its 

price is $18,000-$30,000 (€15,741- 

26,234). The fully-recyclable car was 

printed in less than 45 hours from 

carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. The 

3D printer is a Big Area Additive 

Manufacturing (BAAM) machine. The 

large FDM 3D-printer uses a printing 

process forming items from a 

continuous filament of a thermoplastic 

material. 

Local Motors CEO John B. Rogers, Jr., 

has moved the company into intensive 

testing and development phases for the 

LM3D Swim, a road-ready series of 

cars, which use direct digital 

manufacturing. Now, a self-driving 

model, the Olli, has been introduced at 

the opening of the new Local Motors 

facility in June 2016 in National 

Harbor, Maryland. 

Composites Manufacturing Magazine 

reported the carbon-fiber composites 

used for the vehicle are 80 percent 

acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) 

and 20 percent carbon fiber. Between a 

fourth and a third of the vehicle was 3- 

D printed, which included the shape 

that was used to make the Olli mold. 

China, which has also adopted 3D 

printing in numerous pioneering 

46 

The Olli by Local Motors has from a fourth and a third of the vehicle 3-D printed. The shape used to 

make the Olli mold is 3D-printed 

areas, has its own version of the 3D 

car. Manufacturer Sanya Si Hai, China, 

has 3D printed a Shuya vehicle, 

though printed in five days and with a 

speed of 25 miles per hour (40 

kilometres per hour) and costing only 

$1,770 USD (€1,548). 

This Strati travels 100-120 miles (160-190 

kilometres) at 50 miles per hour (80 kilometres 

per hour) on a charge, The 3D-printed vehicle, 

developed in 2014 by Local Motors, Phoenix, 

Arizona, USA, had partnerships with Cincinnati 

Incorporated and Oak Ridge National 

Laboratory 

Also, in this column some time ago, 

you might have read about Jim Kor, a 

Canadian, who developed the Urbee, a 

car with body panels printed by 

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA-based 

Stratasys, a major firm in the 

development of 3D printing. Kor 

developed the urban-based vehicle in 

2010 and told BBC he hoped other 

parts would be produced with 3D 

printing in the future. 

In addition to these manufacturers 

and entrepreneurs, major OEMs are 

making a trail now to 3D printing. 

On the road again with 3D, but some 

drawbacks 

The concept of 3D printing goes back 

to a patent filed in 1980 by Dr. Hideo 

Kodama of Nagoya Municipal 

Industrial Research Institute, Japan, in 

which he outlined a rapid prototyping 

system using photopolymers. However, 

he never commercialised the UVexposing 

process. Chuck Hull invented 

the stereolithography process in 

THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 316 • MARCH 2019


1986, later founding 3D Systems 

Corporation. 

Since this process is almost 40 years 

old now, there are many who have seen 

use of stereolithography or laser 

sintering in the manufacture of motor 

vehicles. Now manufacturers are 

starting to pick up speed in using 3D 

printing in design, development and 

manufacture. It’s most outstanding 

trait is to make the time shorter for 

product development in addition to 

cheapening the costs for prototyping 

by printing prototypes instead of 

outsourcing it. 

Fleets of printers experiment with 

different designs. Companies such as 

General Motors, Chrysler, Mitsubishi, 

Mercedes Benz and Ford use 3D 

printing technology. 

In a 2015 article in Automotive 

Megatrends magazine, Ford was said to 

“apply the technology to prototype 

parts that are of such strength that 

they are installed on running test 

vehicles. The company uses engine 

parts, such as intake manifolds, from 

3D printing white silica powder, to 

install it in its running test vehicles. 

With the use of 3D printed prototypes 

of components such as cylinder heads 

Wide-Format news in brief 


and intake cylinders in test vehicles, 

Ford is successful in avoiding the 

requirement of investment castings 

and tooling, and in turn saving 

significant amount of time and 

dollars.” 

Other advancements include using 

innovative materials. Chrysler uses 

transparent plastic in 3D prototyping 

so engineers can view inside the part, 

such as whether a gear will be welllubricated 

in the design. Many of the 

parts, though, still need welded. 

Metal, Automotive Megatrends 

magazine says in the article, is being 

used by manufacturers such as 

BMW, which used a 3D-printing 

stereolithography process to make a 

metal water wheel pump for a 

racing car. 

Still, there are drawbacks, the article 

says, including that its “current speed 

cannot match the production volume 

requirements, thus inhibiting the use 

of this technology for direct part 

manufacturing. This in a large way 

restricts the use of 3D printing for mass 

production. While there is ongoing 

research into high-speed additive 

manufacturing, it still remains a 

concept.” 

R 

Fusion coming more within reach 

Every day, milestones are being 

reached in use of energy. These 

technologies may some day power the 

equipment we use in everyday living, 

or even help Man reach into space. 

If fusion becomes an achievable 

power source, multiple scientific goals 

will be achieved. The Tokamak 

reactor, often touted as a possible 

system for fusion power plants or 

propulsion for outer-space 

exploration, is a fusion reactor that 

uses powerful magnetic fields to trap 

super-heated plasma in a circular 

doughnut-like shape before it propels 

the ship with the ions. 

The experiments at Princeton in the 

USA were shut down in 1997. Now 

Futurism magazine Writer Jon 

Christian writes about solutions to its 

Sun-like temperatures to heat the 

plasma with United Kingdom 

researchers finding a way to keep it all 

cooler by venting and making its path 

around the “doughnut” longer. 

An international team is working 

on ITER, a French experimental 

reactor, and the hope is to use the new 

exhaust system on this reactor, 

Christian writes that the team hopes 

it will be the first reactor in history 

to produce net energy and a 

meaningful step toward practical 

fusion power plants. 

Atomic Energy Authority executive 

director Ian Chapman, speaking to 

Reuters, said, “We’re here to 

commercialize fusion power. I mean, 

fusion offers this enormous potential. 

There’s no long-lived radioactive 

waste, there’s effectivel inexhaustible 

fuel, there’s no carbon emission. 

It sounds perfect, but it’s really hard 

to do.” 

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47


Wide-Format news in brief 

3D-printed cartilage increasingly possible 

Pain, stiffness and swelling between 

joints are major symptoms of 

arthritis. The disease breaks down 

the flexible cartilage joint tissue. 

Horizon, a European magazine, 

reports that bioinks – 3D printed 

cartilage from a person’s own cells, 

inserted into the joint, may stimulate 

the joint to heal. These bioinks 

contain stem cells printed to make 

living tissue inserts. It is hoped to 

reduce the effects of the disease in 

those who suffer from it. 

The 3D printer engages in 

bioprinting – printing tissue on 

demand using patients’ own cells as 

the building blocks. 

Horizon magazine reports that 

Professor Jos Malda is using 3D 

bioprinting within his lab at the 

University Medical Centre Utrecht in 

the Netherlands in a project called 

3D-JOINT. The idea is to implant 

bioprinted tissue into living joints, 

replacing those damaged, and the 

tissue becomes like the original 

healthy cartilage. 

Complex bioprinted tissues using 

stem cells are already in current 

technology. But Professor Malda 

explains that is only one step in the 

process, with needed time and 

correct chemical and biophysical 

cues to become tissue that is 

functional. 

Plastic is used in sintering 3D 

printers, shot through a printer’s 

nozzle at a high enough temperature 

to keep it shape. Maintaining shape is 

part of the challenge with bioinks 

using living cells. Hydrogel, which 

consists of polymers swollen with 

water, are being experimented with 

as one solution. Even hydrogel can 

break down in the friction of a joint. 

Professor Malda and his team is 

working with additives that will 

make the hydrogel additive stronger 

so it can replace cartilage. 

The professor’s team uses melt 

electrowriting, a 3D-printing 

technique that combines melted 

polycaprolactone, a type of polyester, 

with a fiber-creating electrical fieldcreating 

fiber as thin as a hair. Using 

these microfibers, Horizon magazine 

reports “the team creates scaffolding 

to be combined with the cellcontaining 

hydrogel – already with 

good results.” 

Some are using similar techniques 

in the body to repair damaged 

tissues. 

JointPrinting is what Professor 

Daniel Kelly at Trinity College in 

Dublin, Ireland, calls its system. They 

have had some success regenerating 

damaged tissue in animals. His 

bioinks are printable and spur stem 

cells to make new cartilage by 

altering the molecules that support 

and surround the printed cells, 

instructing them to generate the 

correct type of tissue, Horizon 

magazine reports the idea is that 

newly-printed stem cells can help 

repair damaged tissue after they are 

implanted in the body. Growth 

factors stimulate formation of blood 

vessels in injured tissue, and 

stimulating substances are 

introduced into the body. R 

3D filament made from recycled trash 

Recycled waste is now being used for 

filament for 3D printing material, 

according to 3D Printing Materials 

magazine. In a full-circle project, you 

could even make a wastebasket out of 

the material using a 3D printer. 

To make the “Landfillament,” Solid 

waste is subjected to pyrolysis, which 

is defined as the chemical 

decomposition of organic (carbonbased) 

materials through the 

application of heat. 

3D Printing Materials magazine 

reports a number of companies are 

working to make greed products to 

make 3D printing more environmentally 

sustainable, as 3D printing 

can demand a lot of energy. 

3-D Fuel, a North Dakota, USA 

materials company, makes the 

Landfillament, by removing metals 

from the mixture, before using 

pyrolysis, according to 3D Printing 

Materials magazine, and thorough 

thermochemical decomposition, a 

“char” byproduct results that can be 

used as 3D printing filament. To make 

MSW into a printable material, 3D- 

Fuel first removes all metals from the 

mix, before running the remaining 

waste through a process called 

pyrolysis. Through this process, 

which involves the thermochemical 

decomposition of organic material at 

high temperatures in the absence of 

oxygen, a char byproduct is created, 

which can eventually be used as 3D 

printing filament. For each spool, the 

Landfillament saves 0.909 pounds 

(0.41 kilograms) of carbon dioxide 

released into the atmosphere, of 

about the amount of greenhouse gas 

from car emissions in 1.1 miles (1.6 

kilometres). 

3D-Fuel has also developed 

materials made from coffee, beer, and 

hemp. 

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. 


Reuse for 

a brighter 

future 

Etira reuse campaign – www.etira.org/reuse 


49

RETAIL COLUMN 

Using a Mentorship Programme 

in your workplace 

Peer mentorships are just a continuation of a long-standing practice of masters teaching 

journeymen and journeymen teaching apprentices. But as a manager or team leader, 

consider the benefits of creating a more formal peer mentorship program. 

Implementing peer mentor relationships 

gives employees a safe place to 

learn and helps reduce errors. On the 

job, that means more profit for your 

operation and more time for you to 

focus on other priorities. Employees 

are more likely to ask questions and 

express their fears or concerns to a 

peer than a manager. If you can keep 

the engagements positive (more on 

that later), it is fertile ground for 

problem-solving and new innovation 

in your workplace. 

Mentors learn important leadership 

skills. For high-potential performers, 

mentorship can be a proving ground 

before taking a management role. 

Some say there is no better way to 

learn a process than to teach it to 

someone else. By taking a good 

performer and giving them the 

additional responsibility of teaching 

fellow employees, you reinforce their 

knowledge. As they solve problems for 

their peers, they gain insight into 

additional facets of the work. For 

example, your best employee puts 

away orders faster than anyone. Give 

them the role of teaching order 

processing and they will recognise 

that they combine several steps to be 

more efficient. Once they teach 

others, that more efficient process will 

become standard in your store. 

By interconnecting across various 

departments, a mentorship program 

can improve company communication 

and morale. 

How to begin a mentorship 

program 

First, define what you want out of the 

mentorship program. Is it meant to 

train less experienced employees 

or improve cross-departmental 

communication? Is it meant to 

challenge the mentors to be better 

leaders or the mentees to become 

more professional? As with all 

initiatives, it is important that you 

define a single goal and not mix 

messages as the mentorship program 

begins. 

It is important that your mentorship 

program be seen as recognition of 

good work. Not everyone will be in the 

mentorship programme. Select strong 

performers who are focused on 

improving company productivity and 

morale. There are high potential 

people at every level. A mentorship 

programme can challenge them to 

demonstrate their readiness for the 

next step in their career. Partner 

people who have different skill sets 

or approaches then explain what 

each of them do well that they 

Flora Delaney 

can teach one another. Make sure that 

top management supports the 

mentorship programme and actively 

participates. It will not guarantee 

success, but without top management 

advocates, a mentorship programme 

will surely fail. 

When pairing up partners, look for 

some natural alignment in their 

interests or styles. Young moms, 

sports fans and video gamers can have 

something to bond with outside of 

work to make building a relationship 

easier. They need to genuinely 

connect with their mentors/mentees 

to make progress on professional 

goals. Ignoring that advice 

means that your pairs can have 

friction and dissolve. Is it important 

to have successes early in the 

programme so make sure you have set 

up each person to succeed in the 

programme. 


First Meetings 

Mentors and mentees should start by 

clarifying what they individually want 

from the arrangement and how they 

prefer to operate. Mentees may want 

to understand how to do their current 

job more efficiently and quickly or 

they may want to learn new skills. 

They may have interpersonal skills 

that need attention to overcome 

shyness with customers or vendors. 

Mentors should be clear about how 

they will make themselves available 

and what channels of communication 

they prefer. Some people are very 

flexible while others prefer scheduling 

devoted time for their mentees. 

Make sure that they both 

understand that this is a process and a 

relationship that will build over 

months…even years. A typical 

meeting should include plenty of time 

for mentee questions and might even 

be driven entirely by the mentee’s 

agenda. Mentors should expect to 

prepare mentees for new or highanxiety 

interactions like negotiating 

with a vendor, taking on a large client 

or preparing quarterly reports. 

Helping a mentee prepare is as 

important as dissecting past 

experiences. Mentors should be placed 

in a position to observe their mentee 

regularly so that they can give honest 

feedback and improve the mentee’s 

skills and confidence. 

Monitoring Mentor Programmes 

Watch your mentor programme and 

schedule regular check-ins to see if 

each member is meeting their 

commitment to the programme. 


With Mentors: 

Rather than insert yourself into their 

relationship, coach mentors to help 

them become more capable leaders. 

This is a time for them to practice 

being more accessible and responsible 

for more than their own performance. 

Ask how they are structuring their 

time with the mentees and see how 

they have organised progressive skill 

building with their mentees. 

Help them use new communication 

tools to be clear and direct. Suggest 

that they keep an issue log that helps 

them hold their mentee accountable 

and to help chart their growth. For 

some staff members, using written 

emails or notes will be new. Help them 

get comfortable in documenting 

conversations as a way to prepare for 

future career growth. 

When you see opportunities, 

suggest that the mentor find an 

approach rather than proscribing a 

solution. Take them into your 

confidence and ask them to apply 

their unique style to addressing gaps. 

It is important that you allow your 

mentors to learn and develop their 

own leadership style, and not simply 

adopt your way. In giving team 

members space to resolve issues their 

own ways, you will gain a more 

diverse team and increase their 

confidence. Respect and confidence 

are two keys to reducing turnover. 

With Mentees: 

Ask what they are learning and 

observe them to see if or how they put 

new skills into practice. Mentees 

RETAIL COLUMN 

should feel that they have reasonable 

access to their mentors and that they 

have a career partner who is invested 

in their success. They should not feel 

as if they have two bosses. That is a 

common complaint if the mentee is 

being held accountable to change 

their approach by a mentor. 

Strengthen the mentor’s messages 

and set high expectations for your 

mentee’s to reach. By reinforcing the 

mentorship programme as a path to 

career growth, you should be able to 

steer mentees to a positive view of the 

programme. 

Promote from within. To the degree 

that you can select people from the 

mentorship programme (mentors or 

mentees) for career growth you 

reinforce the importance of the 

programme. Selecting outside talent 

for open positions will only serve to 

negate the purpose of a mentorship 

programme in your company. 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. 

51

PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY 


EUROPE ECS, Cartridges, Remanufacturing 

ECS unveils new alternative toner cartridges 

The UK remanufacturer has revealed the latest additions to their range of alternative Xerox toner cartridges. 

The latest addition to the company’s 

inventory is a full colour set of Xerox 

C400/405 Alternative Toner Cartridges 

for use with Xerox Versalink C400 and 

C405 devices. 

The company stated that all compatible 

products come with a 100 percent no 

quibble guarantee, whereby if the product 

doesn’t meet the customers’ needs and 

expectations, in terms of quality, 

performance and reliability, then they can 

have their money back with no questions 

asked. 

ECS also stated that they only 

manufacture, source, sell and distribute 

ultimate high quality OEM alternative 

toners and parts, in addition to supplying 

the OEM whilst maintaining the allimportant 

quality, performance and 

reliability that their partners deserve. The 

remanufacturer and recycler added that all 

of this is done while maintaining their 

green credentials. 

Director Felicity Rabbitte finished by 

saying ‘We have three dedicated ISO 

9001 remanufacturing plants in the UK 

including one in Scotland, where we 

employ some of the highest technically 

skilled engineers in the field, trained to 

produce and provide the highest quality 

products and solutions that we promise to 

our partners’ 

For more information go to 

www.ecs-uk-ltd.co.uk 

GLOBAL Apex, Chips, Remanufacturing 

Apex launches new replacement chips for Brother 

The latest replacement chips released by the company are for use with Brother’s new A4 colour laser printers MFC- 

L3710CW series, released in New Zealand. 

As Apex explains, 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’s new replacement chips are 

ASIC design to provide “consistent 

performance” and Apex states that they 

are “easy to install in recycled cartridges.” 

They are compatible with full colour 

sets of cartridges designed for use in 

Brother HL-L3210CW, Brother DCP- 

L3551CDW, Brother MFC-L3710CW and 

Brother MFC-L3770CDW printers. 


www.apexmic.com. 

GLOBAL Aster, Cartridges, Remanufacturing 

Aster unveils new remanufactured cartridges 

Aster Graphics has launched a range of new black remanufactured cartridges for use in a variety of Lexmark devices. 

Among the new releases are 

remanufactured black cartridges for use 

in Lexmark’s MS310 printer series, which 

includes the Lexmark MS310d, MS310dn, 

MS312dn, MS315dn, MS410d, MS410dn, 

MS415dn, MS510dn, MS610de, 

MS610dn, MS610dte, and MS610dtn. 

The page yield for these remanufactured 

black cartridges is 5,000 pages. 

Also released for use in the MS310 

printer series are re,anufactured black 

cartridges for use in Lexmark MS317dn, 

MS417dn, MS517dn, MS617dn, MX317dn, 

MX417de, MX517de and MX617de 

models. The page yield for these 

remanufactured black cartridges is 2,500 

pages. 

Aster Graphics has also launched black 

remanufactured cartridges for use in 

Lexmark MS710dn, MS711dn and MS817n 

devices, with page yields of 25,000 pages. 

Among Aster’s new releases you will 

also find remanufactured black cartridges 

designed for use in Lexmark’s C734 

Colour Series, which includes Lexmark 

C734n, C734dn, C734dtn, C734dw, C736n, 

C736dn, C736dtn, X734de, X736de, 

X738de and X738dte models. The page 

yield for these cartridges is 8,000 pages. 

Aster has also launched black 

remanufactured cartridges for use in 

Lexmark’s C310 series, including the 

C540n, C540dw, C543dn, C544n, C544dn, 

C544dtn, C544dw, C546dtn, X543dn, 

X544n, XX544dtn, X544dw, X546dtn, 

X548de, and X548dte printers. The page 

yield for these cartridges is 2,500 pages. 

Also targeted at the C310 series are 

remanufactured black cartridges designed 

for use in Lexmark CS317dn, CS417dn, 

CS517de, CX317dn, CX417de, and 

CX517de models. The page yield for these 

cartridges is 3,000 pages. 

Finally, Aster has released new 

remanufactured black cartridges for use 

in Lexmark’s E-series, comprising the 

Lexmark E250d, E250dn, and E350d 

devices. The page yield for these 

cartridges is 3,500 pages. 


www.goaster.com. 




NORTH AMERICA IIMAK, ResinJet, Replacement Ink 

IIMAK’s breakthrough aqueous 

ink technology 

The global developer and manufacturer of consumable solutions for the 

graphics industry, has announced the worldwide launch of its ResinJet Series 

replacement inks. 

The replacement inks are described as 

“the industry’s first high-quality, 

compatible alternative for use in 

Hewlett-Packard latex printers” and 

profess to offer “outdoor durability.” 

Demand for outdoor durable, VOCfree 

inkjet inks used by sign shops 

and print providers has grown 

dramatically, according to IIMAK, 

giving rise to the need for a reliable, 

economical aftermarket alternative. 

The company invested 18 months to 

develop the industry’s first aqueous 

replacement ink, capable of producing 

“robust, vibrant signs and graphics 

without compromising quality, durability 

or throughput.” ResinJet’s chemistry is 

“so revolutionary,” IIMAK states, “that a 

patent is pending.” 

James Andreottola, IIMAK’s Channel 

Manager for Wide Format Inks, said: “Our 

R&D team’s ingenious approach to the 

ResinJet’s chemistry enabled us to achieve 

a true ‘plug and play’ water-based digital 

ink. Our solution withstands the rigours 

of both outdoor and indoor graphics.” 

“This ink series significantly reduces 

cost per print and delivers vibrant images 

resistant to fading, scratching, cleaning, 

ASIA CET, High Capacity, Cartridge 

CET unveils new high capacity 

compatible toner cartridge 

The Chinese company has announced the launch of a new high 

capacity compatible toner cartridge and waste toner container for use 

in Kyocera devices. 

This new high capacity compatible toner 

cartridge is designed for use in Kyocera 

FS-3040MFP/3040MFP+/3140MFP/FS- 

3140MFP+/3540MFP/FS-3640MFP and 

3920DN devices. 

The compatible pack consists of a high 

capacity toner cartridge with waste toner 

container. 

According to CET, this compatible 

cartridge offers a yield of 20,000 pages. 

To find out more, please visit 

www.cetgroupco.com. 


and moisture,” Andreottola added. 

The “groundbreaking chemistry” of 

ResinJet is said by IIMAK to have been 

“fully qualified and tested, proving its 

high compatibility with the OEM.” 

Furthermore, the company explains that 

“changeover is easy as no flushing and no 

new colour profiles are required. ResinJet 

is virtually odourless and offers excellent 

adhesion on a variety of media, including 

cast and calendared vinyl, wall coverings 

and banner materials.” 

The ink-set includes 6 colours available 

in bulk or remanufactured cartridges. 

ResinJet comes with a “two-year shelf 

life” and a “100 percent satisfaction 

guarantee.” 

For more information, visit 

www.iimak.com. 

EUROPE Jet Tec, Cartridges, 

Remanufacturing 

Jet Tec reveals 

its latest 

remanufactured 

products 

The UK-based company has unveiled 

a range of new remanufactured 

cartridges to kickstart 2019. 

Among the company’s latest releases are 

remanufactured cartridges for use with 

various HP machines. 

Available in all four CMYK colours, Jet 

Tec’s remanufactured cartridges are 

designed to replace the HP 953 XL 

cartridge, and are for use in HP’s OfficeJet 

Pro 8210/8218 printers, OfficeJet Pro 

8710/8715/8720/8725/8730 All-in-One 

printers, and OfficeJet Pro 7720/7730/7740 

Wide-Format All-in-One printers. 

“Our Product Development team are 

constantly researching, developing and 

testing new products to ensure we offer the 

latest range of products,” declared the 

company, adding that it strives “to ensure 

that we can offer a variety of products across 

various popular brands.” 

Jet Tec has also unveiled further new 

remanufactured products. 

As Jet Tec explains, among these new 

releases are “Brother 223 ink cartridges in 

both colour and black” and “Brother 421 

toner cartridges.” 

The remanufactured Brother 223 ink 

cartridges are suitable for use in the 

following Brother printer models: 

DCP-J4120DW, MFC-J4420DW, MFC- 

J4620DW, MFC-J4625DW, MFC- 

J5320DW, MFC-J5620DW, MFC-J5625DW 

and MFC-J5720DW. 

The remanufactured Brother 421 toner 

cartridges are designed for use in Brother 

DCP-L8410CDW, HL-L8260CDW, HL- 

L8360CDW, MFC-L8690CDW and MFC- 

L8900CDW devices. 

Jet Tec explains that these products are 

now available to be purchased. 


www.jettec.com. 

53



EUROPE wta Carsten Weser, Cartridges, Remanufacturing 

New products from wta Carsten Weser 

In the weeks prior to Remanexpo 2019, the German-based remanufacturer has unveiled a range of new products, for use 

with various OEM machines. 

The first new product is a remanufactured 

drum unit, for use with the Brother HL- 

L5000D/5100DN/DNT/DNTT/5200DW/D 

WT/6250DN/6300DW/DWT/6400DW/D 

WT/DWTT, DCP-L5500DN/6600DW, and 

MFC-L5700DN/DW/5750DW/6800DW/ 

DWT/6900DW/DWT, which boasts a page 

yield of 50,000 pages. 

Secondly, wta has released a 

remanufactured black toner cartridge, for 

use in the Brother HL-L2310D/2350DW/ 

2357DW/2370DN/2372DN/2375DW, DCP- 

L2510D/2512D/2530DW/2537DW/2550DN, 

and MFC-L2710DN/DW/2712DN/DW/ 

2730DW/2732DW/2735DW/2750DW, 

which offers a page yield of 3,000. 

Another remanufactured black toner 

cartridge is also now available, with a page 

yield of 20,000, which is for use in the 

Brother HL-L6400DW/DWT/DWTT and 

MFC-L6900DW/DWT. 

wta has also released remanufactured 

toner cartridges for use in the HP Colour 

LaserJet Pro MFP M180FNDW/N/181FW. 

These are available in all four CMYK 

colours, which a page yield of 1,100 (black) 

or 900 (CMY). 

Newly-released remanufactured toner 

cartridges are also now available for use in 

the Lexmark C2132 and XC2130/2132, once 

again in all four CMYK colours, and with a 

page yield of 6,000 and 3,000 in black and 

CMY respectively. 

Further remanufactured toner cartridges 

have been made available for use with 

Lexmark’s CS317DN/ 417DN/517DE 

and CX317DN/417DE/ 517DE, in all 

four CMYK colours and with a page 

yield of 3,000 in black and 2,300 in 

CMY. 

Remanufactured toner cartridges 

for use just in the Lexmark 

CS417DN/517DE and CX417DE/ 

517DE have also been released, with a 

page yield of 6,000 in black and 3,500 

in CMY. 

Finally, wta has released a 

remanufactured black toner cartridge for 

use with the Lexmark MS417/517/617 and 

MX417/517/617, with this product offering 

a yield of 8,500 pages. 

wta Carsten Weser will be exhibiting at 

Remanexpo 2019, as part of the annual 

Paperworld trade show at Messe Frankfurt, 

Germany. Situated at Booth A44, the 

company will be displaying its latest 

products and welcoming customers old and 

new from around the world. 

For more information on all of 

the above, visit www.wta-suhl.de or 

www.mygreentoner.de. 

ASIA 

Utec, Cartridges, Drum Unit 

New products from Utec 

This month, the company has announced the release of new products, including remanufactured colour laser 

cartridges, and a new monochrome compatible toner cartridge and drum unit. 

Among the new releases are 

remanufactured colour laser 

cartridges which Utec says “will deliver 

right to the last printing page.” 

The first remanufactured laser 

cartridge released by the company is 

available in all four CMYK colours, 

offering a page yield of 2,500 pages in 

black and 2,000 in CMY. The 

remanufactured cartridge is for use with 

the Lexmark CX310N/CX310DN/ 

CX410DE/CX410E/CX410DTE/CX510D 

HE/CX510DE/CX510DTHE. 

Secondly, Utec has released another 

remanufactured laser cartridge, again in 

all four CMYK colours, offering page 

yields of 4,000 (black) or 3,000 (CMY). 

This is for use in Lexmark’s 

CX410DE/CX410E/CX410DTE/ 

CX510DHE/CX510DE/CX510DTHE/CS3 

10DN/CS310N/CS410DTN/CS410N/CS4 

10DN/CS510DTE/CS510DE. 

Thirdly, the company has also released 

a remanufactured laser cartridge, for use 

in Lexmark’s CX510DHE/CX510DE/ 

CX510DTHE/CS510DTE/CS510DE. Also 

available in all four CMYK colours, this 

remanufactured cartridge offers page 

yields of 8,000 (black) or 4,000 (CMY). 

Also launched by the company is a 

“high quality and IP safe” monochrome 

compatible toner cartridge and drum 

unit. 

The replacement cartridge promises an 

“innovative design with PR2 gear” and 

features a “magnetic roller solution,” 

offering “stable printing with a small 

torque.” 

The corresponding replacement drum 

unit, meanwhile, claims to offer “German 

technology OPC” and a “higher page 

yield, more than 12,000 pages.” 

Both products are for use in the 

Canon’s LBP112/LBP113w and image 

CLASS MF112/MF113w. 

For more information, visit 

www.union-tec.com. 


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GLOBAL CIG, Cartridges, Remanufacturing 

The latest remanufactured 

cartridges from CIG 

January 2019 brought a plethora of new remanufactured cartridges from 

Clover Imaging Group (CIG), for use in a variety of OEM devices. 

Among the new releases are high-yield 

remanufactured cartridges, launched in 

the United States. These products are 

available in all four CMYK colours and 

offer a page yield of 3,200 pages in black 

or 2,500 in CMY. 

They are for use with HP’s Colour 

LaserJet Pro M254DW and Colour 

LaserJet Pro MFP M281FDW. 

Also launched was a remanufactured 

black cartridge, with a page yield of 

2,300, for use in Canon’s i-SENSYS LBP- 

6300DN/LBP-6650DN and image 

CLASS LBP-6300DN/LBP-6650DN/ 

MF5850DN/ MF5880DN/MF5950DW/ 

MF5960DN. It is also compatible with 

the HP LaserJet P2030/P2050/ 

P2055DN/P2035/P2055/P2055X/ 

P2035N/P2055D. 

CIG’s next new release is a 

remanufactured black cartridge for use 

with the HP LaserJet P4014/ P4015N/ 

P4515N/P4014DN/P4015TN/P4515 

TN/P4014N/P4015X/P4515X/P4015/P451 

5/P4515XM/P4015DN/P4515DN. It offers 

a page yield of 10,000 pages. 

The company has also released a 

remanufactured black cartridge with a 

page yield of 2,000, for use in the HP 

LaserJet 1010/1022N/3055AIO//1012/ 

1022NW/30AIO/1015/3015AIO/M1005M 

FP/1018/3020AIO/M1319FMFP/1020/30 

50AIO/1022/3052AIO. 

CIG has also released a remanufactured 

high-yield black cartridge, with a 

page yield of 20,000, for use with the 

HP LaserJet 4250/4250N/4350DTNSL/ 

4250DN/4250TN/4350N/4250DTN/4350 

/4250DTNSL/4350DTN modes. 

Furthermore, the company has 

released a remanufactured high-yield 

black cartridge for use in the HP LaserJet 

P4015DN/P4515/P4515X/P4015N/ 

P4515DN/P4515XM/P4015TN/P4515N/P4 

015X/P4515TN devices, which offers a 

page yield of 24,000 pages. CIG has also 

released a remanu-factured black 

cartridge for use with the HP LaserJet 

4240/4250DTN/4350/4240N/4250 

DTNSL/4350DTN/4250/4250N/4350DT 

NSL/4250DN/4250TN/4350N, which 

offers a page yield of 10,000 pages, and a 

remanufactured black cartridge for use 

with the HP LaserJet Pro M1536DNF/ 

P1566/ P1606DN and Canon LBP- 

6200D and imageCLASS LBP- 

6230/LBP-6200D, which has a yield of 

2,100 pages. 

The company has also released a highyield 

remanufactured toner cartridge in 

black, which offers a page yield of 30,000 

pages and which is for use with the HP 

LaserJet 9000/ 9040/M9040 DNMFP/ 

9000DN/9040DN/ M9040 MFP/ 

9000HNF/ 9040MFP/M9050 DNMFP/ 

9000HNS/9040N/M9050MFP/9000L 

MFP/9050/M9050NMFP/ 9000MFP/ 

9050DN/M9059MFP/9000MFS/9050 

MFP/9000N/ 9050N. 

Also newly-released is a remanufactured 

toner cartridge for the HP 

LaserJet 4200/4200DTNS 4200N/ 

4200DTN/4200DTNSL/4200TN, which 

has a page yield of 12,000, and a 

remanufactured high-yield toner 

cartridge for the LaserJet P2050/ 

P2055D/ P2055X/P2055/P2055DN, and 

the Canon i-SENSYS LBP-6300DN/ LBP- 

6650DN and imageCLASS LBP- 

6650DN/ MF5950DW/ MF5850DN/ 

MF5960DN/LBP-6300DN/MF5880 

DN/MF6160DW, which has a page yield 

of 6,500. 

CIG has also released a remanufactured 

high-yield toner cartridge for use 

in certain Dell printers. Available in all 

four CMYK colours, with a page yield of 

3,000 in black in 2,500 in CMY, the 

remanufactured cartridges are for use 

with Dell’s H625CDW/ H825CDW/ 

S2825CDN. 

For more information on all of the 

above, visit www.cloverimaging.com. 


55

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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 

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packing 

and repacking 

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•Universal and reusable 

•Fast, free delivery throughout the EU 

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•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 

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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 

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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 

57

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