The Recycler Issue 316

AROUND THE INDUSTRY
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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.
22 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 316 • MARCH 2019