The Recycler Issue 317

www.therecycler.com Issue 317 l APRIL 2019 l £10 

LOVE ME TENDER: 

GOVERNMENT TENDERS, WHAT THEY ARE, AND 

HOW YOUR COMPANY CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE 

The Recycler’s Owen Collins takes a look at the thorny issue of government tenders, how to make 

the most of them, and both the problems and opportunities that they present. Starts Page 4 

Market Insight 

Trends from the fourth 

largest printer & copier 

market. Page 39 

Inside Romania 

The Recycler takes a closer 

look at Romania. 

Starts Page 36 

INSIDE: 

COUNTERFEITS SEIZED p13 

Over 450,000 cartridges 

seized in UAE 

MORE CEASE AND DESIST LETTERS p16 

HP adds French companies 

to its cease and desist action 

BEROLINA SCHRIFTBILD AND p26 

POLAROID 

The company has added the 

Polaroid brand to its portfolio 

KATUN CELEBRATES 

p29 

40 year anniversary and 

Family Day at headquarters 

DELACAMP AND AEO 

p32 

The company attains AEO 

but closes subsidiary

EDITORIAL 

Editorial 

I feel like BoB 

As a small UK based publishing 

business, we have been planning for 

over two years what we need to do and 

how we would operate in a post Brexit 

world. Leaving the politics to one side, 

as a business we have had to consider 

our intellectual property management, 

our production and distribution 

arrangements, even where our website 

and cloud storage is located and how 

the usage rules might change. We have 

had to delay some improvements to our 

website because we don’t know what 

the new VAT rules might be. Apart from 

exchange rate losses since the Brexit 

vote we have invested about 

5 percent of our income in Brexit 

planning and preparation. 

But with less than three weeks to go 

to Brexit Day this is probably, but might 

not be, the last pre-Brexit issue 

published in the UK. But whatever 

happens the next issue will be with 

you, even if we don’t know which 

contingency plan we will be using. 

By the way BoB is short for bored of 

Brexit. 

Love me tender 

Preparing tenders can help you to win 

big orders, but it is time-consuming, 

can be expensive and consume valuable 

resources. If you don't get the contract, 

the money and time spent is usually 

lost. That said we have bid on tenders 

for publishing services over the last few 

years. We spent hundreds of hours 

researching and writing the first few 

tenders and lost them by a country mile 

or two. But as we did more tenders it 

helped us clarify our aims and our 

strengths and weaknesses and give us a 

better insight into our business. The 

flip side of the time investment was that 

it raised our profile and we did pick up 

work when the winner failed, and we 

have won a tender or two in our own 

right. Not big, but certainly profitable. 

The challenge is to learn and only 

bid on tenders you feel you have a 

strong advantage to exploit and that you 

can win. 

THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 317 • APRIL 2019 

Auto replacement 

We get at least one complaint a week 

from disgruntled HP customers about 

Instant Ink and firmware lockouts. 

Sometimes it feels like we are HPs 

unofficial customer service team. So 

hearing that Oki and Canon are getting 

into auto replenishment makes me 

wonder if I should increase the size of 

out team to help out? 

If what we see from the HP instant 

ink programme is anything to go by 

auto replenishment ends up annoying 

customers and upsets them when they 

realise just how expensive it is. For 

the aftermarket it is another barrier 

that blocks consumers choice and locks 

out access to the aftermarket. The 

challenge for the aftermarket has to be 

to educate consumers on how very 

expensive the decision of activating 

auto replenishment will be. 

Counterfeits 

Let’s not beat about the bush 

counterfeiting is a crime and has links 

back to organised crime and terrorism. 

Between July and September 2018, 

450,000 counterfeit cartridges have 

been seized, which is good news for 

the OEMs and the reuse market. 

Counterfeit products that end up in the 

market deprive the OEMs and the reuse 

community of rightly deserved income. 

The counterfeiters are also free riding 

on your backs. Every counterfeit 

cartridge, whether it works or not, ends 

up in the WEEE channel and everyone 

Stefanie Unland Managing Editor 

pays. What is worse is that if they 

don’t work, they drive the consumer 

back to the OEM and another reuse 

customer is lost. 

It is in everyone’s interest to fight 

counterfeiting. If you know someone 

involved tell us and we WILL report 

them to the appropriate authorities. 

CE mark 

Do you know the difference between 

the CE mark and the CE mark? Well 

one means that by affixing the CE 

marking to a product, a manufacturer 

declares that the product meets all the 

legal requirements for CE marking and 

can be sold throughout the EEA. This 

also applies to products made in other 

countries that are sold in the EEA. 

There are two main benefits CE 

marking brings to businesses and 

consumers within the EEA: 

Businesses know that products 

bearing the CE marking can be traded 

in the EEA without restrictions. 

Consumers enjoy the same level of 

health, safety, and environmental 

protection throughout the entire 

EEA. 

The other CE mark means “China 

Export” and does not carry the same 

benefits. See if you can spot the 

difference on page 19. 

Markman 

As we went to press the Markman 

decision in the Canon case had just 

come in. As mere mortals it can get a 

little dry to keep up with, but the 

essence is that in football terms it is a 

setback Canon would not have wanted. 

However, the implications for the 

aftermarket could be massive. Look for 

our feature in the next issue. R 

3

FEATURE 


Government tenders, what they are, and how your 

company can take advantage 

With issues like the EU’s Green Public Procurement criteria, and the continuing concern over the future of the 

environment, beginning to dominate the headlines, The Recycler’s Owen Collins takes a look at the thorny issue 

of government tenders, how to make the most of them, and both the problems and opportunities that they present. 

What is a government tender? 

It may sound like an obvious question, 

but to make sure you and your 

company are taking full advantage of 

the opportunities of government 

tenders, you need to make sure you 

know what exactly they are, and what 

they constitute. 

Governments – whether at a 

national level, local level, or 

somewhere in between – regularly put 

the supply of goods or services out 

to tender; i.e. inviting private 

companies or businesses to bid for the 

supply contract. 

The goods or services put out to 

tender by governments can vary 

extensively, ranging from massive 

tenders like major construction 

projects, to smaller tenders such as 

office supplies – including, crucially, 

printer consumables. 

The first step, as a business bidding 

for such a government tender, is to 

conduct research in order to find out 

who the relevant purchasing agency is. 

Once you have done this, you can 

begin to register your interest with 

them. As well as being a statement of 

intent from your business, it will also 

offer the dual advantage of helping you 

keep up to date with any further 

information that is released on the 

tender (or indeed, other tenders in the 

future). 

It’s not unusual for a public body 

to run certain tender information 

sessions, at which point the 

purchasing agency will reveal more 

details about the tender in question. 

It’s a great idea to attend as many 

tender information sessions as possible, 

as they represent a worthwhile 

opportunity to make further contact 

with the agency itself and ask any 

burning questions. Sessions like this 

also provide a chance to meet with 

other parties interested in the tenders, 

and therefore a chance to network 

with potential partners in a 

consortium – even if not, they can be a 

useful exercise in knowing who you are 

competing against. 

It’s also worth remembering 

that many governments and their 

respective agencies are not obliged to 

make any information or presentations 

featured at these sessions available 

elsewhere, so they are worth attending 

wherever possible, if your company is 

serious about securing government 

tenders. 

The next key step for a business 

bidding on government tenders is to 

develop a tender response strategy inhouse. 

It’s crucial to carefully consider 

the requirements of the tender, and the 

expenditure of resources involved in 

winning it. 

There are perhaps seven primary 

questions to ask of yourself as you 

prepare to submit a response to the 

tender: How much will it cost to 

prepare (making sure you can afford 

this is important, for obvious reasons); 

what information is it necessary to 

gather in preparation (this is where 

attending information sessions can 

prove helpful); what resources will be 

needed to fulfil the contract, if won; 

what staff will manage and oversee the 

tender project; how the workload will 

be handled, in terms of planning, 

scheduling, and assignment; who else 

is competing for the same tender, and 

by extension, what are your chances of 

being successful; and what plan do you 

have to market your products or 

services, and ensure a successful pitch. 

With the answers to these questions 

in mind, you can begin writing your 

response. Additionally, it’s good to bear 

in mind some other fundamental rules 

– foremost, do not bid if you conclude 

that you can’t deliver. It would be 

disastrous for your company, both in 

the short term, and in regaining trust 

in the long term. Similarly, good advice 

is to not bid for too many tender 

opportunities at once, as it could dilute 

the strength of your bids, and leave 

4 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 317 • APRIL 2019

FEATURE 

you potentially overworked and unable 

to deliver to the highest standard 

should you end up being awarded all 

possible tenders. Focus your attentions 

and efforts on tenders that you have 

the greatest chance of winning. Keep 

in mind, too, that taking on a 

government tender could – if not done 

right – put a strain on your existing 

business and clients. Be absolutely 

certain that the award of a tender 

would not affect delivery of existing 

contracts or commitments before you 

decide to bid. 

It can be helpful to review other 

contracts awarded by the same 

purchasing agency in the recent 

period, both to aid your understanding 

and preparation, and to give you a 

chance to decide if the tender you are 

bidding on is definitely right for your 

business. It’s a worthwhile exercise 

also considering the nature of the 

companies that were awarded these 

contracts, as it can give a morerounded 

idea of the sort of company 

the agency is looking for, and their 

general expectations. With this 

knowledge in mind, you may either 

choose to attempt to replicate that 

strategy, or carve a completely 

different path, in the hope of receiving 

the tender. 

When it comes to writing your 

tender proposal, take as much time as 

is necessary to plan, draft, redraft, and 

finalise your bid. Use any forms 

provided and ensure to answer all 

questions asked by the purchasing 

agency. Be mindful, too, or word or 

page limits, and try to be consistent in 

details like font, font size, and 

numbering. The best tender proposals 

will also be clearly-structured and offer 

clarity in terms of the details of a 

company’s key propositions. It’s 

important to decide what these 

propositions are, because they are 

ultimately what will set your tender 

apart from rival companies. Base your 

response around the evaluation 

criteria available, to make sure that 

your offer ticks the boxes that the 

purchasing agency is looking for in 

particular, and which it will be 

analysing your offer against. If 

necessary, engage the services of a 

professional bid writer to ensure that 

your proposal is professional, detailed, 

and attractive. 

In addition, be sure that you 

understand the payment schedule 


Bidding for Government Tenders - 

the ten-point checklist: 

1 Have you researched to find the right government agency? 

2 Have you registered your interest with them? 

3 Have you attended tender information sessions? 

4 Do you understand the payment schedule? 

5 Can you afford to provide the tender if you win? 

6 Do you have enough resources/staff? 

7 Who else is competing for the tender? 

8 How likely is your success? 

9 Will it affect your other clients? 

10 Remember: If you can’t deliver – don’t bid! 

specified by the tender offer – even if 

you are used to bidding for public 

tenders – as the payment 

arrangements can often differ 

substantially from agency to agency, 

and even from tender to tender within 

the same agency. Furthermore, if 

references are required, be sure to find 

some with an intimate knowledge of 

your company and business, and who 

can honestly recommend the strength 

of your work. There’s nothing wrong 

in helping referees in writing their 

references, and it’s particularly useful 

to share details of the tender request 

with referees, so that they know what 

particular points to emphasise in the 

reference they give you. 

Once your bid is written, be forensic 

in checking it through to make sure it 

fits all the requirements of the 

purchasing agency, as well as being, 

clear, concise, and backed up with 

sufficient evidence. 

When it comes to submitting your 

bid, the procedure varies from 

government to government, and from 

agency to agency, but for some 

contracts, a formal presentation to an 

evaluation panel may be required. As 

with the bid itself, preparation is the 

key to success, so make sure your 

presentation is carefully researched 

and rehearsed, and you know exactly 

what you plan on saying. If you are not 

used to such presentations, it may be 

worth considering investing in some 

professional coaching, to ensure your 

presentation is as faultless as can be. 

After the tender process has been 

completed, it is always worth 

requesting feedback, in the form of a 

debriefing – particularly if your bid has 

been unsuccessful, as you can use the 

feedback to improve your offer for next 

time you submit for a government 

tender. Be mindful, however, that any 

feedback tends to be one way – it’s not 

an opportunity to criticise the 

purchasing agency, nor to gain any 

insight on any other company 

submitting bids. 

The advantages of tenders 

So why are opportunities like 

government tenders so significant, and 

so beneficial? For starters, they can 

provide a fixed contract (the length of 

which varies, but which is typically a 

few years) and therefore guaranteed 

fixed income for the duration of that 

contract. As well as the obvious upside 

of this steady revenue, it can also be a 

great catalyst for growth, as you can 

budget more easily around the 

5

FEATURE 

LOVE ME TENDER: Government tenders, continued 

guaranteed income, and even make 

hiring decisions based upon it. The 

income generated by government 

tenders is also from a reliable source, 

meaning you can relax, to a certain 

degree, knowing it can be relied upon. 

The awarding of a government 

tender also increases the value of a 

company, so in the event that you ever 

wish to sell your company, they can be 

extremely beneficial. It also means you 

can pass on a ready-to-go contract 

to your buyers, which is another 

tempting proposition for anyone 

looking to invest in your company. In 

the event of obtaining loans or credit, 

should you require it, a business with a 

government contract is also viewed as 

a strong, reliable company. 

Counting a government department 

amongst your clients will also boost the 

profile of your business, and make it 

more attractive for other potential 

partners, as well as giving it an image 

of trustworthiness and dependability. 

Tenders like these can potentially 

open doors, and lead to further 

opportunities, whether with other 

government tenders or just other 

businesses keen to network with a 

government-endorsed company. Just 

one contract could lead to dozens of 

others and place your company on a 

real pedestal. 

Even without the financial 

motivations, there is value: A 

phenomenon known as “loss leader 

tendering” is becoming increasingly 

prevalent, which involves bidding for 

tenders that you know will make a 

small, or even negligible, profit for 

your company; however, although 

financially there may be no reward, if 

your company can comfortably “take 

the hit” these tenders can still help 

your business in the long term, in 

terms of access to the new market, 

building a new business relationship 

with a particular client, or generating 

positive new publicity for your 

business. 

The potential barriers, and how to 

overcome them 

However, it is not always such plain 

sailing, particularly with regards to 

government tenders for products and 

services involving things like printing 

consumables and cartridges. In many 

cases, swayed by dubious claims made 

by OEMs, government agencies will 

insist that any cartridges must be OEM, 

or at the least, new build, closing a 

significant door on the aftermarket 

community. 

Laura Heywood, Chair of the United 

Kingdom Cartridge Remanufacturers 

Association (UKCRA), has been 

outspoken on the issue. Heywood, who 

previously welcomed British MP Simon 

Danczuk to her company Kleen 

Strike to discuss the difficulties 

remanufacturers face in competing for 

tenders, complained in 2014 that new 

build clone cartridges were being 

considered in tender offers by public 

bodies, simply on the basis of their 

lower costs, despite having “no place in 

the transition towards a greener 

economy.” 

However, in recent years there has 

been evidence that the wind of public 

opinion is changing, and as the world 

wakes up to the hazards posed to life on 

earth by the plastic waste pandemic 

[see The Recycler Issue 308] calls for 

government tenders to embrace reuse, 

and remanufacturing, are growing 

louder. This is in part thanks to the 

work of bodies like ETIRA, the 

European toner and inkjet remanufacturers’ 

association, which has been 

lobbying for many years on behalf 

of the aftermarket community, 

particularly in fighting against 

exclusionary tenders that shut out 

remanufacturers, which it has said it 

does “almost every week.” The body 

has previously called these tenders “a 

regular nuisance for ETIRA members,” 

recognising the issue is also a 

hindrance to other remanufacturers 

outside of its membership, and 

a worryingly regressive approach 

environmentally. 

This lobbying has borne fruit, with 

multiple victories being celebrated 

after the trade association’s efforts. In 

2014, for example, ETIRA successfully 

took action against a hospital tender in 

southern Germany, which was open 

to “OEM and new-build non-OEM 

cartridges, but explicitly excluded 

remanufactured cartridges.” The 

following year, a similar case involving 

another southern German hospital 

was won by the trade association, 

while a public tender from a “major 

city” in the north of the country 

was withdrawn after ETIRA pressure, 

with new, fairer tenders published 

in its place. 

This may initially seem like an uphill 

struggle, and even with the weight of 

public consciousness behind it, ETIRA 

has a difficult task in changing minds 

at the top levels. Its typical process 

involves the sending of what it terms 

“a protest letter,” explaining that 

the exclusion of remanufactured 

cartridges is illegal, and reminding the 

public body issuing the tender that 

“they should be careful when 

including new-build toner cartridges 

in the tender, as it could make them 

liable for possible infringement of OEM 

patents by these models.” ETIRA also 

regularly reiterates that many newbuild 

toner cartridges “have no end-oflife 

solution, and as a result they may 

wind up in landfills, polluting the 

European environment”. 

Reflecting at the time on its success, 

the trade association called the 

withdrawal of the exclusionary 

tenders “another example of ETIRA’s 

successful lobbying for a level playing 

field for our trade.” Furthermore, 

in January 2014, the European 

Parliament updated European Union 

law so that any government tenders 

were required to “take social and 


FEATURE 

LOVE ME TENDER: Government tenders, continued 

environmental aspects of products into 

consideration, instead of just the 

lowest price.” ETIRA was hopeful that 

the development would “ensure 

better quality and value for money 

when public authorities buy or lease 

works, goods or services,” whilst 

simultaneously removing the barrier 

and making it more feasible for Small 

and Medium Businesses (SMBs) to put 

in bids for procurement contracts. 

“In public tenders, our industry 

has always suffered from unfair 

competition by others,” said Vincent 

Van Dijk, ETIRA’s long-serving 

Secretary General, at the time of the 

update. “Since the start of the 

economic crises, public authorities 

often simply choose the cheapest 

product offered, which in many cases 

was a Chinese patent-infringing newbuild 

cartridge. By doing so, they 

neglected the environmental burden 

and loss of local jobs that these 

products represent. I hope the new EU 

rules will allow remanufacturers, 

being only small and medium-sized 

enterprises, to capitalise on their added 

value: the environment-friendly reuse 

of a product, and produced by local 

workers, thus saving natural 

resources, and creating local jobs.” 

There was another small ray of hope 

in 2015, when the French Federation 

of Cleaning Companies (FEP) 

announced it would provide members 

with the tools and materials needed to 

bid for tenders for the collection of 

non-paper waste, from the following 

year. The initiative followed an 

agreement between the FEP and the 

Ministry of the Environment, 

Sustainable Development and Energy 

some years previously, which 

highlighted the role of cleaning 

companies in collecting toner 

cartridges, bulbs, batteries and other 

electrical waste, and argued that “the 

management of non-paper waste 

offers opportunities for further growth 

with the setting-up of new associated 

services.” 

The hard work of ETIRA bore further 

fruit in 2016-17, when the European 

Union announced its Study on the 

implementation of product design 

requirements set out in Article 4 of the 

WEEE Directive – the case of re-usability 

of printer cartridges, which set out to 

assess whether cartridge reuse was 

being promoted by EU member states, 

and also to “suggest recommendation 

for EU supportive action.” 

ETIRA explained that member states 

were already obliged to take measures 

to stimulate reuse of e-waste, under 

Article 4 of the EU’s WEEE directive; 

they were additionally under the 

obligation to ensure devices and 

practices designed to scupper reuse 

were prevented. Yet the study 

acknowledged that “in the case of 

cartridges, little progress has been 

made up till now,” 

“We are happy to see that the EU has 

singled out printer cartridges to 

show that original equipment manufacturers 

(OEMs) do not apply 

ecodesign principles when they design 

their cartridges,” said Vincent Van 

Dijk. “We definitively need more 

proactive EU action to facilitate 

cartridge reuse.” 

“OEMs obstruct cartridge remanufacturing 

in many different ways, and 

member states have not done anything 

about it,” Van Dijk added, at the time 

of the study, explaining that ETIRA 

was seeking to “push for strong 

recommendations for remedial action, 

like making design for easy reuse by 

third parties compulsory,” as well as 

“insisting that government tenders 

buy remanufactured cartridges and 

eco-labelled printers only,” and calling 

for “less stringent rules for handling 

empties.” 

What do the OEMs say? 

Many of the Original Equipment 

Manufacturers have been relatively 

tight-lipped on the subject, but one 

company that has publicly declared its 

position is HP Inc., which commented 

that it “encourages adoption of new, 

forward-looking IT procurement 

models.” 

“We support procurements based on 

objective criteria and internationally 

recognised quality standards, to 

ensure fair competition and access to 

the best global technologies,” HP 

declared, adding pointedly that it only 

supports “science-based justifications 

for any preferences for remanufactured/refilled 

cartridges.” 

Other hurdles on the horizon 

It’s not just the intransigence of the 

OEMs that presents a hurdle to 

small businesses – particularly those 

from the aftermarket – applying 

for government tenders, however. 

Brexit, predictably, is also causing 

consternation across the continent, 

and leaving a trail of difficulties in its 

wake. 

With the imminent withdrawal of 

the United Kingdom from the 

European Union, it has been reported 

that the French President, Emmanuel 

Macron, has called for British 

companies to be “frozen out” of EU 

contracts. Currently, EU legislation 

maintains “an open marketplace for 

public services, with no discrimination 

and a level playing field” for the 28 

Member States. 

With negotiations over the exact 

nature of Britain’s withdrawal still 

ongoing, and the specifications of its 

future relationship with the EU 

somewhat up in the air, there is no 

concrete information over what will 

happen concerning public tenders in 

the EU, but the British Government has 

previously indicated that “there will be 

no immediate change to any EUderived 

law, including therefore public 

procurement law.” 

Were the UK to seek to continue 

its access to public sector marketplaces 

in the EU, it could sign up to the 

World Trade Organisation’s General 

Agreement on Procurement, which 

would grant continued access in both 


FEATURE 

directions, but trade would be required 

to adhere to WTO policies and rules. 

Other companies, such as 

technology solutions provider hSo, has 

claimed that Brexit has led to a fall in 

public tenders, declaring in 2016 that 

“uncertainty around Brexit has caused 

a slowdown in the number of 

government tenders to the technology 

sector,” with the company recognising 

a 20 percent decline in the months 

following the referendum. 

What does the future hold? 

As stated above, despite multiple 

hurdles still presenting themselves, 

public opinion is beginning to change, 

in favour of reuse and remanufacturing, 

and slowly, government 

tenders are beginning to adapt to 

reflect this. 

In Italy, under the country’s Green 

Public Procurement criteria, 20 

percent of products supplied via 

government tender must be ‘green’, 

and it has been a positive step not just 

for the aftermarket, but for wider ecoinitiatives 

too. 

“I think that all countries should 

have to comply with the Green Public 

Procurement,” Adele Berionni, of 

Italian company Ecoservice di 

Santarelli Paolo, told The Recycler, 

explaining that the policy had 

benefitted her company in its sales of 

remanufactured products, but was also 

beneficial “for both the environment, 

and for our future.” 

“We would like that Italian example 

to be copied across Europe,” explained 

Vincent Van Dijk, who observed that 

many public authorities across the 

continent “want to be green.” 

With that in mind, the EU has 

developed its own set of criteria to be 

used by authorities wishing to become 

greener, which includes stipulations 

regarding energy consumption and 

reused paper.” 

ETIRA continues to push for these 

criteria to including specifications 

regarding the use of non-OEM 

products and remanufactured 

cartridges, and Van Dijk is hopeful that 

this milestone could create a sea 

change in attitudes across Europe. 

“That’s what we want to do, have 

the Governments lead by example,” he 

told The Recycler. “They need to 

be the ones to kick it off, and, when 

they are saying ‘we think remanufactured 

cartridges qualify under this 

criteria,’ that will be very good for 

both the visibility and support of 

remanufactured products.” 

Clearly, the battle for acceptance 

of the aftermarket goes on, but 

with each passing year, the door 

begins to open further, aided by 

the continual efforts of bodies like 

ETIRA, and the shift in public 

perceptions towards both remanufactured 

products, and their nonremanufactured 

counterparts. 

If your business intends to start 

reaping the benefits of government 

tenders, make sure you have taken on 

board advice with how best to negotiate 

the complex application process, and 

keep an eye on – and support- the 

ongoing efforts to level out the playing 

field, and increase access for 

remanufacturers to these prestigious, 

lucrative, public contracts. R 


9

In this Issue 


? Government tenders, what they are, and 

how your company can take advantage 

The Recycler’s Owen Collins takes a look at the thorny issue 

of government tenders, how to make the most of them, 

and both the problems and opportunities that they present. 

Starts Page 4 

Market Insight 

Trends from the fourth 

largest printer & copier 

market. Page 39 

Editorial 

3: Editorial 

Feature 

Inside Romania 

The Recycler takes a closer 

look at Romania. 

Starts Page36 

4: LOVE ME TENDER: Government tenders, what they 

are, and how your company can take advantage 

World Focus 

12: EU reinforces pollutant rules to ensure product safety 

13: Potential fire hazard prompts recall of Kyocera MFPs; 

Over 450,000 counterfeit cartridges seized in UAE 

14: An eventful February for Canon 

16: HP adds France to Cease and Desist list; OEMs 

embrace automatic replenishment 

18: Epson wages online war while losing CR 

recommendation; USITC issues new seizure and 

forfeiture orders 

19: Questions over CE mark post-Brexit 

20: New market research sheds fresh light on printing 

City News 

22: Staples adds DEX as Essendant takeover gets green light 

23: Fujifilm celebrates tariff exclusions and record highs; 

Lyreco announces brace of acquisitions 

24: Kodak next for tariff exclusions?; Sharp expands with 

acquisition of Saratoga Technologies; Konica Minolta 

acquires SEQUOÏA subisidiaries 

Around the industry 

26: How recycling cartridges helps cut emissions; Ninestar 

issues statement on “unauthorised substance”; berolina 

becomes distributor of Polaroid ink cartridges 

27: ECS looks back on a victorious Remanexpo 

28: HP faces criticism over Instant Ink and firmware 

29: Celebrations all round for Katun 

30: ARMOR invests in R&D and a new recruit; LD 

Products marks 20 years in business 

31: Aster Graphics awarded Nordic Swan license approval; 

CET celebrates at new factory 

32: Delacamp attains AEO but closes subsidiary; First 

glance of numbers revealed for Paperworld 2019 

33: Static Control: On customer service and cartridges 

34: New faces at Clover, Memjet, and Keypoint Intelligence 

35: Turbon premieres new app at Paperworld; HYB 

welcomes new South American distributor 

Feature 

36: Business booming in Bucharest? 

39: UK Printer & Copier Market 

Wide-Format Column 

40: Dye-sub becomes even more versatile 

Retail Column 

44: Balancing opposing retail goals 

Products & Technology 

46: Static Control launches premium replacement 

cartridges; Multiple new replacement chips from Apex; 

Depot International expands its offerings 

47: New remanufactured cartridges from LMI Solutions; 

Katun North America unveils new toner cartridges; 

ECS reveals their new February product release 

48: Ninestar unveils new patented replacement cartridges; 

PCL Direct offers remanufactured machines; CIG’s 

new remanufactured cartridges and postage supplies; 

New cartridges from LD Products 

49: KYOCERA releases new MFPs; InkTec unveils new 

JETRIX printers 

50: Metrofuser reveals new upgraded packaging; Epson 

broadens voice-activated printing support 

51: UniNet announces Nordic Swan certification; New 

imageCLASS MFPs from Canon 


WORLD FOCUS 

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

EUROPE EU, Regulations, Safety 

EU reinforces pollutant rules to 

ensure product safety 

The European Union is introducing a new slate of rules, with the aim of ensuring 

products on the single market are both safe, and compliant with a range of 

legislation designed to increase safety and security. 

The new rules will ensure that any 

product placed on the internal market is 

in line with previous EU rulings regarding 

health and safety, health and safety in the 

workplace, consumer rights, public 

security, and environmental responsibility. 

The European Council’s Permanent 

Representatives Committee endorsed a 

provisional deal, reached on 7 February, 

between the Romanian presidency of the 

Council and representatives of the 

European Parliament regarding a proposal 

for a regulation, which enhances the 

enforcement of EU rules for noncompliant 

products, while “increasing the 

confidence of consumers and other endusers 

in products placed on the EU 

market.” 

The main objective is to “improve the 

functioning of the internal market with a 

view to ensuring that only compliant 

products are made available.” 

“Non-compliant products that enter the 

EU market distort competition and put 

consumers and professional end-users at 

risk,” read a statement. “Businesses are 

often active both within the EU and 

worldwide, and modern supply chains are 

evolving rapidly, including distance sales.” 

There has been much discussion of the 

nature of compliance of late, in particular 

regarding prohibited substances like 

brominated flame-retardant DecaBDE, 

which has recently been found within 

some cartridge casings, and so these new 

rules should go some way to addressing 

concerns, as the EU tightens control. 

The regulation consolidates the existing 

framework for market surveillance 

activities; “addresses the challenges” of 

international e-commerce and online 

trade; encourages joint actions by market 

surveillance authorities from several 

member states; introduces a “fully digital 

workflow” for improving the exchange of 

information between authorities and the 

Commission; and creates a “strengthened 

framework” for controls on products 

entering the single market and for 

improved cooperation between market 

surveillance authorities and customs 

authorities. 

Market surveillance authorities act in 

the interest of economic operators, endusers, 

and of the general public, to ensure 

that public interests covered by respective 

EU harmonisation legislation on products 

are protected. While performing their 

activities, market surveillance authorities 

ensure a high level of transparency and 

make available to the public any 

information that they deem relevant in 

order to protect the interests of end-users 

in the Union. 

The agreed text, following the usual 

legal and linguistic scrutiny, will now be 

submitted to the European Parliament 

and the Council for formal adoption. 

In addition, the Romanian presidency 

of the European Council reached a 

provisional agreement with the European 

Parliament on updating regulations on 

POPs, including brominated-flame 

retardant DecaBDE, which has recently 

been found in the plastic casings of 

various printer cartridges, and which is 

currently already prohibited in certain 

quantities. 

The EU claims the new, tougher 

regulations will “help protect people and 

the environment against these chemicals.” 

Under the agreement, DecaBDE is 

added to the list of substances and the 

unintentional trace contaminant value is 

set at 10 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) 

for cases where DecaBDE is present in 

substances. In addition, the unintentional 

trace contaminant value is set at 500 

mg/kg for the sum of all BDEs, including 

DecaBDE, where they are present in 

mixtures and articles. A review clause was 

inserted to assess all impacts on health 

and the environment of the limit value of 

500 mg/kg for the sum of all BDEs. 

Furthermore, specific exemptions 

concerning the use of DecaBDE are 

introduced for aircrafts, motor vehicles 

and electronic equipment also in case of 

imports. 

“The agreement we have clinched today 

means that we have reached an important 

milestone in protecting human health and 

our environment,” said Graţiela Leocadia 

Gavrilescu, Romanian Deputy Prime 

Minister and Minister of the Environment. 

“This is about limiting the damage 

from the world’s most dangerous 

hazardous chemicals. By eliminating their 

production and banning their use, we can 

achieve maximum protection.” 

The recast proposal ensures alignment 

of the existing regulation with the latest 

amendments to the Stockholm 

Convention, which provides the global 

legal framework for the elimination of the 

production, use, import and export of 

POPs. Several amendments align the 

regulation more closely with the general 

EU legislation on chemicals. As a result of 

these changes, there will be more clarity, 

transparency and increased legal certainty 

for all parties involved in the 

implementation of the regulation. 

The agreement will now be submitted 

for political endorsement by EU 

ambassadors in the Council’s Permanent 

Representatives Committee. 


visit www.therecycler.com for all the breaking news 

WORLD FOCUS 

AUSTRALASIA Kyocera MFPs, recall, Fire Hazard 

Potential fire hazard prompts 

recall of Kyocera MFPs 

Kyocera Document Solutions Australia has recalled several of its A3 MFPs 

amid concerns of a potential fire hazard, centred around an “optional 

accessory” which has been found to have possibility of “breakage or 

deformation” during installation. 

As CRN reports, the optional part is a “300 

sheet feeding unit/PF – 410” accessory, 

which consumers can opt to install in their 

printers. However, the company found that 

when the accessory is installed, then 

detached and reinstalled, “there is a 

possibility of breakage or deformation 

between the main unit and the paper 

feeding unit electrical connector.” 

As a result, this could trigger smoke or 

even fire, due to failure of the control 

board. 

The printer models being recalled are 

KM 1620/1635/1650/2050/2550 devices, 

which have serial numbers ranging 

between AHZ3 000001 to AHZ3 322326. 

These printers were sold between August 

2004 and December 2010. 

“Affected owners will be contacted 

directly by either Kyocera Document 

Solutions Australia or the dealer from 

where the product was originally 

purchased,” stated a recall advertisement 

issued by the OEM. 

“An inspection and repair of the device 

will be completed free of charge. 

Consumers should not attempt to move 

the main unit from the paper feeding unit 

until repairs have been completed.” 

EMEA HP, UAE, Counterfeits 

Over 450,000 counterfeit 

cartridges seized in UAE 

Working together, HP and UAE authorities have confiscated “significant 

volumes” of illicit HP-branded counterfeits through a series of successful raids. 

As tahawultech reports, between July and 

December 2018 officials in the UAE – in 

collaboration with HP – conducted raids on 

“a number of clandestine workshops and 

private residences”, both in Abu Dhabi and 

Dubai. 

During these raids they discovered 

and confiscated a “significant” number of 

counterfeit cartridges, with a total of over 

450,000 products being seized during that 

time frame. 

The manufacture and sale of such 

counterfeits can cause a variety of 

problems, including damage to consumers’ 

printers in terms of both performance and 

reliability. By contrast, HP’s products have 

been designed to meet “strict quality and 

reliability standards” and are tested 

accordingly. 

“HP is proud of our continued 

partnership with UAE authorities, 

delivering one of our most successful years 

to date in apprehending and prosecuting 

counterfeiters who break the law,” said 

Mathew Thomas, Managing Director, 

Middle East, Turkey and East Africa, HP. 

“Our unwavering efforts and commitment 

to removing counterfeit products from the 

market has delivered this outstanding result 

and is a true testament to the success 

of our Anti-Counterfeiting and Fraud 

Programme.” 


13

WORLD FOCUS 

You can contact The Recycler via Twitter at @RecyclerMedia 

GLOBAL Canon, Legal, Amazon Removals 

An eventful February for Canon 

The OEM has been in the headlines a great deal during the last few weeks, 

mostly for its legal activities as it maintains its virulent campaign against 

patent infringement. 

During February, this campaign saw the 

company obtain a clutch of new 

preliminary injunctions, such as the one 

granted by the District Court Düsseldorf 

against Ines Krämer, doing business as 

“Büroartikelhandel DruFax” and 

“Faxland.” 

Canon was also awarded preliminary 

injunctions against Media Range GmbH, 

which does business as “MediaRange”, 

and its managing directors; against Printklex 

GmbH & Co., doing business as 

“Print-klex” and “123color,” and its 

managing director; against Doree 

Supplies B.V., doing business as 

“AppleToner,” as well as against its 

managing directors; and against Nixim 

Europe Limited, trading as “Top 

Cartridge,” as well as against its managing 

directors. 

Over the last few days, as part of USITC 

Investigation No. 337-TA-1106, Canon has 

also filed a Motion for an Order to show 

Cause and Entry of Default, regarding one 

of the case’s respondents, Ourway US Inc. 

In legal documents viewed by The 

Recycler, the investigation’s complainants, 

Canon Inc., Canon U.S.A., Inc., and 

Canon Virginia, Inc. revealed that, in line 

with Ground Rule 3.2., two days prior to 

filing this motion they contacted counsel 

for the Office of Unfair Import 

Investigations and all respondents 

involved in the case. 

Ninestar and Aster “indicated that they 

take no position on this motion” while 

Print-Rite “indicated they do not oppose 

this motion.” 

As a result, Canon says it is moving for 

an order “to show cause why respondent 

Ourway US Inc. (“Ourway US”) should 

not be found in default for failing to 

respond to the complaint and the notice of 

investigation.” 

The OEM is also moving for an initial 

determination finding Ourway US in 

default “should it fail to show the 

requisite cause.” 

Thus far, states Canon, Ourway US has 

failed to respond to the complaint and the 

notice of investigation and has not 

“appeared, or otherwise participated in 

this investigation.” 

“Therefore,” state the legal documents, 

“Canon respectfully requests that the 

Administrative Law Judge (i) order 

Ourway US to show cause why it should 

not be found in default and (ii) issue an 

initial determination of default for 

Ourway US if it fails to show the 

requisite cause.” 

This motion was filed on 7 February 

2019 before the Honourable Dee Lord, 

Administrative Law Judge. 

However, Canon hasn’t only been 

battling patent infringement in the courts; 

the company has also been filing further 

Report Infringement Forms with Amazon, 

targeting sellers such as SOS Promoting di 

Anastasio Gianfranco, LD Products Inc., 

ARTEMIS GLOBAL, S.L.U, and Shenzhen 

shangren keji youxian gongsi. 

In more positive news, the OEM has 

announced the conclusion of a patent 

infringement dispute with Do It Wiser 

LLC, which also does business under the 

name “Image Toner,” in the U.S. District 

Court for the District of Delaware, 

concerning toner cartridges sold for use 

in various models of HP laser beam 

printers. 

In September 2018, Canon sued Do It 

Wiser for infringement of Canon’s U.S. 

Patent No. 9,581,958 B2 based on Do It 

Wiser’s sales of infringing toner 

cartridges, including sales made 

through its websites doitwiser.com and 

imagetoner.com. 

To resolve the lawsuit, Do It Wiser 

agreed to pay Canon an undisclosed 

amount and stipulated to a Consent 

Judgment and Permanent Injunction 

from the District of Delaware, which 

prohibits Do It Wiser from making, 

using, selling and offering for sale in the 

U.S., and from importing into the U.S., 

the toner cartridges that Canon accused of 

infringement. 

Finally, in another piece of positive 

news, Canon India has revealed that 

the OEM has launched its second 

PIXMA Zone. 

This newly inaugurated concept store is 

designed and conceptualised to showcase 

the entire range of Canon Inkjet 

technology and its features. The PIXMA 

Concept stores have been introduced by 

Canon India to familiarise consumers 

with the range of all inkjet printers, 

cartridges and photo media. 

The store was inaugurated in the 

presence of Mr. C Sukumaran, Director, 

Consumer System Products, Canon 

India. Backed by what the OEM described 

as “exceptional sales support”, the 

organisation aims to provide a 

personalised demo experience and one 

stop shop solution, to address the 

printing requirements of all its existing 

and potential customers. 

In Chennai, Canon India PIXMA Zone 

will be located at Oasis India Network Pvt. 

Ltd, Mount Road, Anna Salai. 

Apart from consumer experience, the 

PIXMA Concept stores were designed to 

help the retailers understand and provide 

them with exclusive products schemes 

and offers, keeping pace with the 

latest technology. The product display 

for home and office use would 

include product series such as MG, 

MAXIFY, G, TS and E and professional 

portable printers. 


WORLD FOCUS 


EUROPE 

HP, Cease and Desist, IP 

HP adds France to Cease and 

Desist list 

The OEM is now targeting French, as well as Italian and Spanish companies, 

with a flurry of cease and desist letters. 

Ahead of the last Paperworld / Remanexpo 

event The Recycler is aware that the OEM 

has sent cease and desist letters to several 

cartridge remanufacturers and resellers 

based in France, Italy and Spain, following 

on from similar actions undertaken in 

Germany last year. The letters contain a 

warning that the resellers and 

remanufacturers will face legal action 

unless they cease the sale of 

remanufactured HP inkjet cartridges that 

infringe the OEM patent rights. 

In the European Union (EU) Article 30 of 

the Treaty of Rome allows the free 

movement of goods among Member States 

providing the goods were originally placed 

on the market by the IP holder (OEM). 

Resellers and remanufacturers can process 

and sell such remanufactured inkjet 

cartridges across the EU because the OEMs 

patent rights are exhausted. However, this 

is not the case when importing or 

remanufacturing non-EU cartridges 

because the OEMs patent rights are still 

valid because the cartridges were not first 

sold on in the EU market. 

The IP holder will usually carry out test 

purchases to validate their claims ahead of 

issuing the cease and desist letters. The 

letter is a request to desist from infringing 

an IP holders rights and usually includes a 

clause requesting you to pay a contract 

penalty should you infringe in the future 

and will also insist on full disclosure, 

compensation and legal costs. Frankfurt 

based Seifried IP has published a useful 

guide (in English) that can help if you have 

received a cease and desist letter. 

One inkjet insider who had received a 

cease and desist letter last year told The 

Recycler that “you have to physically check 

the EU part numbers on each cartridge and 

it is a good idea to have a clause in your 

purchase agreements that you will only 

accept and pay for EU regional cartridges, 

and you should also have a similar clause in 

your sales agreements so everyone in your 

chain is covered.” A list of part numbers is 

available on the HP website under: 

http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetPDF. 

aspx/c05320914.pdf. 

In January 2017 HP began regionalising 

printers and cartridges to decrease the 

impact of counterfeiting and at the same 

time have been issuing regular firmware 

upgrades that lock out genuine 

remanufactured cartridges. 

Have you received a letter from HP? If so, 

get in touch and let us know. 

EUROPE 

Auto replenishment, OEM, Consumables 

OEMs embrace automatic replenishment 

OKI and Canon are among the big names who have adopted an automatic 

monitoring system to replenish their customers’ printing supplies, following in 

the footsteps of HP’s Instant Ink and Brother’s Refresh service. 

Canon USA’s auto replenishment service 

uses “advanced printer technology” to 

measure its customers’ ink and toner 

usage, and then “automatically triggers a 

replacement order when your supply 

runs low.” 

According to Canon, this service offers 

free enrolment with no commitment and 

can be cancelled at any time. Ink or toner 

will automatically be delivered “when you 

need it” and the OEM also offers “Free 

standard shipping and handling”. 

Canon goes on to explain that this 

service is “only available at the time of 

purchase and for select printers available 

on the Official Canon Online Store” – the 

full list of eligible devices can be 

found here. 

Once a consumer has bought and 

installed their printer, they can active the 

auto replenishment service. There is no 

enrolment fee, and consumers merely pay 

for the replacement supplies that have 

been ordered, explains Canon. 

Similarly, OKI has jumped on the 

automatic monitoring bandwagon with its 

own Smart Managed Page Services and 

Smart Support. As CRN reveals, this 

automatic monitoring system ensures 

that consumables are “automatically 

ordered and delivered when needed”, so 

that printers are always ready for use and 

the “hassle of ordering and maintaining 

consumables” is eliminated. 

“Smart Support not only reduces 

printer downtime for customers, but also 

reduces consumables costs and reduces 

storage space requirements,” explains 

Erik Piepenburg, Manager of MPS 

Business Development at OKI. “Partners 

who use OKI’s Smart Managed Page 

Services benefit from transparent 

business planning and can respond 

faster and more accurately to their 

customers’ needs. This enables them to 

move from a pure supplier to a trusted, 

long-term partner for their customers 

and build sustainable and profitable 

customer relationships.” 

According to the OEM, its partners can 

easily sign up for this program, and 

qualified retailers in Germany who “are 

not actively participating” can apply for 

inclusion “at any time.” 


WORLD FOCUS 


GLOBAL Epson, CR, Third-Party Cartridges 

Epson wages online war while losing CR recommendation 

The OEM has been making headlines of late, both for its campaign against small businesses selling third-party cartridges 

via online retail platforms, as well as for the loss of its CR recommendation for its printers. 

The OEM has been waging a campaign 

against small UK companies, with a 

series of objections and takedowns on 

e-commerce platforms such as eBay and 

Amazon, leaving beleaguered businesses 

little in the way of self-defence. 

Epson enjoys Verified Rights-Owner 

status on eBay UK (VeRO), and has thus 

been able to use this to remove any thirdparty 

cartridge listings that it feels may 

infringe its patents. It’s a similar story with 

Amazon UK, where the OEM uses the 

platform’s reporting notice system, simply 

informing the websites of any offending 

listing, providing a patent number and 

alleging infringement of that patent. As the 

Open Rights Group writes, “listings are 

always removed, and affected sellers cannot 

prevent, challenge, or appeal removal.” 

The ORG goes on to call this system 

“one-sided” and “fundamentally unfair,” 

asserting that should Epson have a genuine 

belief that patent infringement has been 

committed, it should be willing to challenge 

the accused in court, rather than employing 

such a “blunt tool,” which it “can brazenly 

use to circumvent fair judicial process.” 

The ORG further claims that Epson’s 

primary focus for enforcing its IP rights 

should be the manufacturers and importers 

of compatible cartridges, not the resellers, 

who are referred to as “the least important 

part of the chain.” They are targeted, it is 

suggested, as they have “the disadvantage of 

being visible,” becoming the easiest target 

for the takedown policies of websites like 

eBay and Amazon. 

The damaging aspect of this is being 

most keenly felt by small businesses in the 

UK, who are forced to either lay off 

employees or shut down entirely, as a result 

of such “ruthless patent-trolling.” Actions 

NORTH AMERICA USITC, Seizure Order, IP 

USITC issues new seizure and forfeiture orders 

The USITC has issued two new seizure and forfeiture orders related to investigation No. 337-TA-946. 

Filed on 6 February 2019, both seizure and 

forfeiture orders concern “certain ink 

cartridges and components” imported into 

the United States by a firm called Swift Ink 

LC of 44100 Deep Hollow Ct., Northville, 

Michigan 48168. 

The orders were issued after the U.S. 

Bureau of Customs and Border Protection 

informed the Commission that Swift Ink 

like those of Epson are “damaging UK 

entrepreneurship, competition, and 

independent business activity,” the ORG 

claims. 

Sellers affected by actions like Epson’s 

have no opportunity to respond, counternotice 

or object. With no ability to assert 

their legal right to advertise the compatible 

cartridges, they have no recourse against 

the removal of their listings – and without 

the financial power to fight such a battle in 

court, it leaves many smaller businesses 

virtually defenceless. 

It’s why the ORG is calling for a UK 

legislative mechanism to be put in place, 

allowing traders to assert their rights to 

continue trading. 

“If Epson doesn’t then dare take sellers to 

court, for fear their patent might be 

overruled – well, that’s their choice,” the 

ORG concludes. 

Meanwhile, the OEM’s models have lost 

the recommendation of Consumer Reports 

(CR) over several reliability issues, which 

surfaced in a recent survey. 

The survey of CR members covered 

around 100,000 printers, and also 

unearthed certain problems with some 

models from fellow OEM HP Inc. As a 

result, fourteen printers are losing the 

‘Recommended’ designation in the CR 

rankings, including Epson regular and 

all-in-one inkjets, HP regular inkjets, 

had attempted to import the cartridges – 

which are covered by a general exclusion 

order - into the country. 

Customs also informed the Commission 

that it had denied entry to the products and 

that, “upon such denial of entry, Customs 

provided the owner, importer, or consignee 

of the articles (or the agent of such person) 

with written notice of the aforesaid 

and Samsung regular and all-in-one 

colour laser printers. 

Any printer receiving a ranking of Poor or 

Fair for predicted reliability is ineligible for 

a CR recommendation. CR has explained 

that with the latest criteria and survey 

results, some printers have moved up the 

rankings, but notably, several have gone in 

the opposite direction. 

Maria Rerecich, Consumer Reports’ 

Senior Director for Product Testing, said: 

“There’s an opportunity for manufacturers 

to step up here. Some of the printers that 

are losing recommendations score highly in 

our performance testing. If manufacturers 

can improve the reliability of these 

products, their models should do quite well 

in our ratings.” The survey took in 113,959 

different printers, with many expressing 

frustration with their major branded 

machines. Epson, however, was robust in its 

defence of its printers. 

“Epson does not believe that Consumer 

Reports’ findings accurately capture the 

performance and reliability of Epson 

printers and genuine ink,” said company 

spokesperson Merritt Woodward. “In fact, 

we believe that our sales growth reflects 

user satisfaction. Epson has always been 

committed to responding to and meeting 

the needs of consumers.” 

The most common complaint was the 

cost and hassle of replacing ink cartridges, 

with 28 percent requiring a replacement 

“too often.” Other problems highlighted 

were poor print quality, dropping network 

connections, or stopping working with 

third-party ink or toner. 

Paper jams and misfeeds was another 

reported affliction, with around 10 percent 

of printers susceptible to this, according to 

the survey. 

exclusion order and the fact that seizure 

and forfeiture would result from any 

further attempt to import the articles into 

the United States.”As a result of the 

information passed on by Customs, the 

USITC issued the two seizure and 

forfeiture orders, deeming them 

“appropriate pursuant to section 337(i) of 

the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1337(i))”. 



WORLD FOCUS 

EUROPE CE Mark, BREXIT, Legal 

Questions over CE mark post-Brexit 

The UKCA mark is set to supersede the current CE mark after Britain’s withdrawal from the 

European Union, although both will be recognised during an indefinite “grace period.” 

The UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) mark, 

subject to parliamentary approval, will be used 

for products within certain categories that are 

placed on the UK market in the event of a No 

Deal Brexit, writes Womble Bond Dickinson 

for Lexology. 

The legal firm recommends that all UKbased 

companies involved in the 

manufacture, distribution, or sale of products 

bearing the current CE mark must be aware of 

the changes, and start preparing for them 

immediately, as the draft legislation 

implementing the changes “is expected 

imminently.” 

Following Brexit, which is currently 

scheduled to happen at 23:00 GMT on March 

29 this year, there will be a grace period, 

currently of indefinite duration, wherein the 

EU’s CE mark will continue to be recognised, 

and products bearing it can continue to be 

freely sold in the UK. Those not yet CE 

marked, however, will need to be assessed and 

affixed with the UKCA mark. On the other 

side of the coin, British businesses exporting 

goods to the EU market will need to ensure 

products are reassessed and remarked by an 

EU-recognised conformity assessment body 

before reaching the market. 

Womble Bond Dickinson adds that “a more 

Conformité Européenne 

China Export 

attractive alternative is to arrange to transfer 

existing conformity assessment files to an EU 

Notified Body in advance of 29 March 2019.” 

Furthermore, “where businesses have not 

completed the process of preparing a product 

to be placed on the market and intend to 

continue to rely on conformity assessment 

carried out by a UK-based conformity 

assessment body, the UKCA marking will be 

required instead of or as well as the CE 

marking,” post-Brexit, if said products are also 

to be placed on EU markets. After Brexit, UK 

notified bodies will be granted new UK 

‘approved body’ status, and will assess 

products for the British market against the 

national essential requirements, which will be 

the same as the EU essential requirements in 

the immediate term after withdrawal. Existing 

EU standards will become the UK designated 

standards, so these standards will not be 

changing post-Brexit. 

Following the end of the grace period, 

businesses selling products on the UK market 

will need them assessed by a UK Approved 

Body in order to have the UKCA marking; 

products cannot reach the UK market without 

it. For a time-limited period, manu-facturers 

will be able to choose between the CE and 

UKCA marks; those businesses that selfdeclare 

conformity for the CE mark will be able 

to do the same with the UKCA mark. This will 

also be possible for products moving in the 

opposite direction, being exported to the EU. 

It is also worth remembering for 

distributors, that a UK company distributed 

CE marked products brought in from the EU 

could now be classed as an importer, and the 

same in the opposite direction; this could lead 

to the imposition of additional obligations, 

according to EU legislation, such as including 

the importer’s name and address on the 

product or packaging. During the 18-month 

transition period immediately following 

withdrawal, importers into the UK may place 

this information on an accompanying 

document or label, as opposed to onto the 

product itself. 

The legislation regarding the CE mark is 

expected soon, according to Womble Bond 

Dickinson, which advises manufacturers to 

place as many CE-marked products onto the 

market as possible prior to March 29, in order 

to “delay the immediate impact of Brexit” and 

allow manufacturers to put “longer-term plans 

in place.” Distributors are also encouraged to 

consider whether their status may change, 

and open a dialogue with their suppliers in 

view of this. 


19

WORLD FOCUS 

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

GLOBAL Market Reports, IDC, HCP 

New market research sheds fresh light on printing 

Over the last few weeks, new data derived from market research has been illuminating the current state of the printing 

industry, particularly when it comes to HCP shipments and office consumables. 

For example, research by IDC revealed 

that both worldwide and Western 

European HCP shipments declined 

during Q42018. 

The worldwide market decreased to 

approximately 26.7 million units in 

Q4, contends IDC’s Worldwide 

Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals 

Tracker. 

In Western Europe specifically, the 

market decreased by 6.9 percent in 

unit terms in 4Q18 compared with the 

same period a year ago. 

This is in line with the previous 

quarter and contributed to the 2018 

overall Western Europe market 

contracting by 5.3 percent. This equated 

to a decline of over 1 million units to 

create a market of below 20 million 

units. The negative trend can be clearly 

seen, and it will continue over IDC’s 

forecast period. 

In 4Q18 the inkjet markets suffered 

the most despite the Christmas period 

as shipments declined by 8.8 percent, 

and most of this decline was in 

consumer inkjets as the home print 

market continues to change. Business 

inkjets did dip in 4Q18, but not all 

OEMs suffered as some had positive 

growth. The value for the business 

inkjet market was positive as more A3 

devices shipped. The overall 2018 

shipment figure for inkjet devices was also 

negative. 

Laser shipments were flat in 4Q18, but 

value suffered as there was a skew towards 

lower speed monochrome devices which 

naturally carry lower average sales prices 

(ASPs). 

“Contraction in the hardcopy markets is 

clearly in evidence as many organisations 

transition parts of their business processes 

away from paper to digital,” said Phil 

Sargeant, Program Director in IDC’s 

Western European Imaging, Hardware 

Devices, and Document Solutions group. 

“The printed page will remain a vital 

communication tool for most organisations 

across the vertical spectrum, however, as 

not all processes are ready for digitisation. 

Proof points for this simply include the 

number of laser and business inkjets that 

still ship in their millions every quarter.” 

Meanwhile, for CY2018, India’s HCP 

shipments achieved a record high, posting 

shipments of approx. 0.85 million units, a 

YoY decline of 2.6 percent, as per the latest 

IDC Asia/Pacific Quarterly Hardcopy 

Peripherals Tracker , CY2018Q4. 

“The annual growth was led by Inkjet 

printers, specifically Ink Tank printers 

which grew by 21.4 percent and now 

command 68.4 percent of the overall Inkjet 

market in India. The online sales during 

2018Q3 played a significant role in catering 

to the increased demand from the 

Consumer and SMB segment. The year 

ended with the Inkjet market commanding 

more than half of the HCP market followed 

closely by Laser,” says Bani Johri , Market 

Analyst, IPDS, IDC India. 

“IDC expects the overall HCP market 

to decline in 2019Q1 due to weak 

consumer and SMB sentiment. While 

overall inkjet market is expected to 

decline, Ink tank printers are likely to be 

the only bright spot in 2019Q1 as vendors 

continue pushing them aggressively. 

Shifting the focus to ICT spending, 

IDC found that that the US-China 

trade war, and a “slowing economy”, 

are set to hit ICT spending, but with 

growth rescued by ongoing digital 

transformation. 

“In the short term, the trade war 

between the US and China continues 

to add volatility to the outlook,” said 

Stephen Minton, Vice President in 

IDC’s Customer Insights & Analysis 

Group. “Some firms are also facing the 

double whammy of weaker sales in 

China, an increasingly important 

export market for the manufacturing 

industry. Meanwhile, the impact in 

China itself could persist over a longer 

period of time, with manufacturing 

and financial services firms being the 

most exposed.” 

Concerning aftermarket consumables, 

the news seems rather more 

positive as according to analysts, 

Virtulytix, aftermarket toner is 

responsible for approximately a 

quarter of the revenue generated by 

monochrome toner shipments - and is 

also faring well in colour. 

“Aftermarket toner cartridge 

suppliers are targeting the growing 

mid-high speed colour MFP segments 

where cartridge usage is quite high,” 

says Ron Iversen, Vice President of Market 

Intelligence at Virtulytix. “With almost 80 

per cent of the toner cartridge market 

existing in the colour area, this is clearly the 

biggest risk to OEM manufacturers.” 

Finally, IDC itself has been voicing its 

confidence in the printing industry at large, 

making the bold declaration that “Print is 

not dead.” In a new infographic, IDC has 

unveiled the reasons behind this 

declaration, with the infographic displaying 

its various predictions for the print industry 

in Western Europe in 2019. 

These predictions include the emergence 

of new pricing models e.g. subscription, 

license, per seat, per user; a shift to 

contractual from transactional business in 

the worlds of Enterprise and SMBs; the 

formation of more acquisitions and 

strategic partnerships; and the continuation 

of consolidation amongst channel, 

hardware and software providers. 


CITY NEWS 

OEM share prices 

March 2019 

Prices correct as of 1st March 2019 

Share Prices 

COMPANY FEB MAR 

Brother Industries (Yen) ¥ 1927 2069 

Canon (Yen) ¥ 3201 2069 

Dainippon Ink & (Yen) ¥ 3520 3590 

Chemicals 

Sun Chemicals parent company 

HP Inc. (US$) $ 20.80 19.36 

Hubei Dinglong (RMB) ¥ 6.81 9.82 

Jadi (MYR) M 0.04 0.04 

LG Chem (S Korean Won) W 368k 373 

Matsushita Electric (Yen) ¥ 1064 1012 

Industrial Co. 

Panasonic parent company 

Mitsubishi Chemicals (Yen) ¥ 902 862 

Ninestar Corporation (RMB) ¥ 23.87 27.45 

Formerly Apex Microelectronics 

Oki (Yen) ¥ 1277 1321 

Seiko Epson (Yen) ¥ 1657 1638 

Turbon AG (Euro) € 3.12 3.10 

Xerox (US$) $ 29.98 31.09 

UK Waste Prices 

price per tonne 

Aluminium €116.62 87.17 

Plastic €149.77 129.11 

Paper € 16.46 16.85 

Currency 

€/US$ 1.14 1.13 

€/£ 0.88 0.86 

£/US$ 1.30 1.31 

Oil Price 

Crude oil - (US$) $ 61.54 65.45 

‘Brent Crude futures, 

1-Pos IPE close’ per barrel 

Shipping Prices 

Europe (Hamburg/Antwerp/ $ 960 796 

Felixstowe/Le Havre) 

Mediterranean (Barcelona/ $ 962 810 

Valencia/Genoa/Naples 

USWC (Los Angeles/ $ 1993 1549 

Long Beach/Oakland) 

USEC (New York/Savannah $ 3054 2640 

Norfolk/Charleston) 

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

Environment Exchange, packagingnews.co.uk 

*Brent Crude price is for March 2019 


NORTH AMERICA Staples, Dex Imaging, Acquisition 

Staples adds DEX as Essendant 

takeover gets green light 

The Essendant acquisition had been postponed, due to the shutdown of US 

federal government at the beginning of this year, with the two companies 

providing a series of tender offer extensions. 

The Essendant acquisition had been 

postponed, due to the shutdown of US 

federal government at the beginning of 

this year, with the two companies 

providing a series of tender offer 

extensions. 

With the shutdown over, however, the 

US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has 

now approved the $482.7 million (€422.3 

million) acquisition of Essendant by 

Staples, albeit with conditions. 

“Staples, which is owned by the privateequity 

firm Sycamore Partners, will 

establish a firewall separating Staples’ 

business-to-business sales operations 

from Essendant’s wholesale business,” 

the Commission declared. “This firewall 

will restrict Staples’ access to the 

commercially sensitive information of 

Essendant’s customers.” 

The green light for the acquisition 

comes following a long run of extended 

tender offers across the Winter months. 

Prior to the confirmation from the FTC, 

Essendant 

and Staples announced the successful 

completion of the previously announced 

tender offer by Egg Merger Sub Inc. and 

Egg Parent Inc., two affiliates of Staples, 

to acquire all outstanding shares of 

Essendant common stock at a purchase 

price of $12.80 (€11.16) per share. 

The tender offer expired at 6:00 pm, 

New York City time, on 30 January 2019. 

As of the expiration of the tender offer, 

25,794,684 shares of Essendant common 

stock were validly tendered and not 

properly withdrawn pursuant to the 

tender offer (excluding 901,097 shares 

tendered pursuant to guaranteed delivery 

procedures but not yet delivered). The 

shares tendered in the tender offer, 

together with the 4,203,631 shares already 

owned by Egg Parent, Egg Merger Sub or 

any of their respective “affiliates”, 

represent approximately 79.7 percent of 

the outstanding shares of Essendant 

common stock. 

Each of the conditions of the tender offer 

has been satisfied (or validly waived) and 

Egg Merger Sub has accepted for payment, 

and will promptly pay for, all shares validly 

tendered and not properly withdrawn 

pursuant to the tender offer in accordance 

with the terms of the tender offer. 

The Essendant takeover was the first of 

two recent acquisitions for Staples, with 

the company also agreeing to purchase 

independent document imaging 

technology dealer DEX Imaging. 

Dan Doyle, Jr., President and Chief 

Executive Officer of DEX Imaging, Dan 

Doyle, Sr., Chairman of DEX Imaging, 

and their existing executive team will 

continue to lead the business going 

forward. Customers will continue to 

receive the same industry leading service 

they’ve come to expect from DEX 

Imaging while gaining access to the many 

benefits that come from joining forces 

with Staples. 

“Staples will continue to strategically 

invest in companies that can bring added 

value to our customers in the form of 

enhanced products and services,” said 

Sandy Douglas, Chief Executive Officer, 

Staples, Inc. “DEX Imaging has created 

strong relationships with their customers 

through exemplary service and 

tremendous industry knowledge in office 

technology.” 

“Over the past 16 years, DEX Imaging 

has taken great pride in our ability to 

continually offer quality products and 

services, and most of all, provide a 

superior customer experience,” said 

Doyle, Jr. “Being a part of Staples will 

allow us greater access to industry leading 

technology, and a world class supply 

chain to accelerate our position as the 

premier North American print 

management provider.” 

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 



CITY NEWS 

NORTH AMERICA 

Kodak, Tariffs, Financials 

Fujifilm celebrates tariff 

exclusions and record highs 

The OEM’s North American subsidiary has been granted tariff tax exclusions on its 

aluminium offset printing plates, while the latest financial results for the overall 

company show a “record high” operating income. 

Although the US Commerce Department’s 

Section 232 tariffs on imported aluminium 

remain in place, Fujifilm North America 

Corporation’s Graphic Systems Division has 

received exclusions on the majority of the 147 

Exclusion Requests it filed, making it the only 

major printing plate manufacturer in the 

United States to earn these exclusions. 

“Although the current Federal Government 

shutdown prevents Fujifilm from receiving 

further updates as to the status of our 

remaining Exclusion Requests and the 

process, timing and amount of refunds 

Fujifilm can expect on tariffs paid since 1 June 

2018, Fujifilm remains committed to 

crediting plate customer accounts for every 

dollar of tariff tax that the Commerce 

Department returns to Fujifilm,” said Todd 

Zimmerman, Division President of Fujifilm 

NA’s Graphic Systems Division. 

“Our resolve to challenge these tariffs has 

led to this outcome for our valued customers,” 

he continued. “I sincerely appreciate our 

customers’ patience and understanding as we 

worked through this difficult situation. We 

will provide updates on this process as soon as 

we receive further information from our 

contacts in the Commerce Department.” 

There was further good news in Fujifilm’s 

financial results for Q3 of the current financial 

year (the three months up to December 31 

2018). 

Summarising the results, Fujifilm explained 

that its operating income was “in line with the 

plan”, and that although compared to the 

EUROPE Lyreco, Acquisitions, Europe 

Lyreco announces brace of acquisitions 

The workplace supplies solutions distributor has revealed it acquired both 

Intersafe and Elacin at the end of 2018. 

The two new acquisitions are described as 

“major players in the PPE market in the 

Netherlands, Belgium, France and 

Germany.” With a €125 million ($140.9 

million) consolidated turnover and 360 

employees, the group formed by Intersafe 

and Elacin has a leading position on the PPE 

distribution market in the Netherlands, 

Belgium, France and Germany. Intersafe 

and Elacin supply generic and specialist PPE 

products (including custom-made hearing 

protection, protective glasses, respiratory and 

gas detection, and welding solutions) as well 

as safety service solutions (risk assessment, 

training and education, products 


previous fiscal year, revenue was “flat”, 

operating income had “largely increased.” 

The company reported revenue in Q3 of 

¥1.7 trillion ($15.3 billion/€13.5 billion), down 

0.5 percent from the same period last fiscal 

year, while its operating income was cited at 

¥158.3 billion ($1.4 billion/€1.2 billion), an 

increase of 28.6 percent from the same time 

last year. 

Going by segment, Fujifilm revealed that its 

Document Solutions segment achieved 

revenue of ¥737.1 billion ($6.6 billion/€5.8 

billion), a decrease of 5.9 percent compared to 

Q3 of the previous year. 

As for operating income, the Document 

Solutions sector earned operating income of 

¥66.9 billion ($605.2 million/€534.2 

million). 

Fujifilm explained that “though overall 

sales volume decreased from the previous 

fiscal year, the sales of multifunction devices 

developed for the Chinese market remained 

solid. In the office printer business, we 

reduced low-profit printer business.” 

“Although revenue declined due to a 

reduction in low-profit, low-end printer 

business etc.,” the OEM added, “operating 

income largely increased by a positive impact 

from structural reforms and improvements in 

profitability.” 

maintenance, and vending solutions). 

Aiming to become a workplace supplies 

multi-specialist, Lyreco “reinforces its 

expertise” on the PPE market, reaching 

with Intersafe and Elacin combined PPE 

revenues above €200 million ($225.5 

million). 

“Combining Intersafe and Elacin strong 

expertise with our excellence in logistics and 

sales operations will cement our ambition to 

become a European leader in PPE”, said 

Hervé Milcent, CEO of Lyreco. 

Completion of the transaction will take 

place after the approval by the competition 

authority in the Netherlands. 

23

CITY NEWS 

EUROPE Konica Minolta, Acquisition, 

Business 

Konica Minolta 

acquires SEQUOÏA 

subisidiaries 

Konica Minolta Business Solutions 

France says it is strengthening its 

presence in the Grand-Est and 

Reunion Island regions by acquiring 

seven SEQUOÏA Group subsidiaries. 

The SEQUOÏA Group, headquartered in 

Metz, France, was founded by Jean-Michel 

GUYOT in 2006. Konica Minolta and the 

SEQUOÏA Group have just concluded an 

agreement to acquire the following 

SEQUOÏA Group subsidiaries: Sequoïa 

Logistique, Est Multicopie, Dyctal 

Bureautique, Global Bureautique, A4A3 

Bureautique, REPRO BUREAU and 

Alliance Bureautique. 

This operation is part of Konica Minolta’s 

medium-term development plan aimed at 

consolidating its presence in strategic 

regions such as the Grand-Est region, 

explains the OEM. In this way, Konica 

Minolta wishes to deploy its IT service offers 

as well as the Workplace Hub, its new 

services platform to support the digital 

transformation of SMBs. 

At the end of this operation, Konica 

Minolta will hold 100 percent of the capital 

of the SEQUOÏA Group’s subsidiaries. Jean- 

Michel GUYOT remains Chairman of the 

SEQUOÏA Group in charge of development. 

“This operation has the advantage of 

bringing together a very high performance 

distributor network that are well established 

locally with the power of the Konica Minolta 

Group. Our skill sets will enable us to meet 

today’s customer needs more globally 

through an expanded offering,” comments 

Jean-Claude Cornillet, President of Konica 

Minolta Business Solutions France. 

“Konica Minolta is a historic partner that 

we share same strategy and values. This 

synergy will enable us to secure the 

company’s future. The SEQUOÏA Group’s 

subsidiaries will join an innovative company 

that creates added value for its customers 

and contributes their growth by providing 

them with the IT management technologies 

and services that optimise their efficiency,” 

states Jean-Michel Guyot, President of the 

SEQUOÏA Group. 

“The strategic direction taken by the 

Konica Minolta Group reflects its 

determination to improve work environment 

and customers’ performance with 

collaborators and innovative services,” 

concludes the OEM. 

NORTH AMERICA Kodak, US Tariffs, Exclusion 


Kodak next for tariff exclusions? 

Following last week’s announcement that Fujfilm had received tariff tax 

exclusions on its aluminium offset printing plates, Kodak now reveals it could be 

next in line. 

As Aluminium Insider 

reports, the Eastman 

Kodak Company has 

announced that “tariff 

exclusion requests it 

lodged with the United 

States Commerce Department 

for an exception to 

the Trump Administration’s Section 232 

blanket tariffs on imported aluminium” 

have been approved or, in other cases, are 

“on track for approval.” 

Kodak began petitioning for the 

exclusions from the 10 percent tariffs 

shortly after they were put in place, with 

the OEM collaborating with “several 

members of Congress and industry trade 

associations.” 

John O’ Grady, President of Kodak’s 

Print Systems Division, described the 

NORTH AMERICA Sharp, Acquisition 

government shutdown as 

merely delaying “the 

inevitable”, saying: 

“We’re pleased to report 

that prior to the U.S. 

government shutdown, the 

Commerce Department has 

granted exclusions for a 

number of our requests, and we expect all 

of our exclusions to be approved once 

the federal government reopens for 

business.” 

“We will continue to provide our 

customers with regular updates on this 

situation as it develops,” he added. 

Currently, Kodak has placed a “passthrough 

surcharge” on its printing plates 

sold to US customers, but the company 

says these will be refunded once its tax 

exclusions are approved. 

Sharp expands with acquisition 

of Saratoga Technologies 

Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America’s (Sharp) direct sales 

division, Sharp Business Systems (SBS), has revealed a new acquisition. 

SBS announced that it has expanded its 

direct regional sales coverage for both 

document systems and managed network 

services in Eastern Tennessee and 

Southwest Virginia through the 

acquisition of Saratoga Technologies, Inc. 

Since its first branch opening in 

Arizona in 2006, Sharp has established 15 

local SBS branches in 56 locations 

through growth initiatives within the 

organisation. Saratoga Technologies’ 

commitment to providing all sizes of 

organisations with virtually all their 

technology requirements is in line with 

Sharp’s promise to provide total office 

solutions for its customers, explains 

the OEM. 

For the past 18 years, Saratoga 

Technologies has provided business, 

medical, academic and other clientele with 

computer hardware, networking services, 

printing solutions, software and 

communications services in Knoxville, 

Johnson City and Chattanooga, 

Tennessee, and in Abingdon, VA. 

“We chose Saratoga Technologies 

because of the company’s dedication to 

adding value to its customers by reducing 

costs, improving efficiency and protecting 

equipment and data,” said Anthony Sci, 

Senior Vice President of Sharp Business 

Systems. “These values closely coincide 

with Sharp’s commitment to provide the 

highest quality solutions and services to 

each one of our customers through 

personalised, local service.” 

The employees of Saratoga 

Technologies will join the SBS team and 

will continue to provide service to new and 

existing customers. Saratoga Technologies 

President and CEO David Temple will also 

continue working with Sharp to ensure a 

continued, smooth transition. 

“We are very excited about the 

opportunities this will bring to not only 

our employees but to our customers too,” 

said Temple. “Becoming a part of the 

Sharp team will allow Saratoga 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.” 


AROUND THE INDUSTRY 


EUROPE berolina Schriftbild, 

Polaroid, Distributor 

berolina becomes 

distributor of 

Polaroid ink 

cartridges 

berolina Schriftbild, a European 

supplier of solutions for printing and 

document management, has 

announced that it has become a 

distributor of Polaroid ink cartridges 

as of the beginning of this year. 

The Brandenburg-based company, 

established in 1968, explains that, 

through this new distribution deal, it is 

“repositioning itself in the field of ink.” 

With the Polaroid brand, berolina is 

further expanding its ink business, as 

well as “expanding its customers’ supply 

of first-class ink cartridges”. 

“The Polaroid brand fits in excellently 

with our portfolio of strategic 

partnerships; It stands for quality with 

high colour brilliance, innovation and 

tradition alike,” affirms Alexander Busch, 

Managing Partner of berolina. 

Polaroid is known to the general public 

in the field of photography, especially 

through its instant cameras. Berolina 

reveals that its Polaroid ink cartridges are 

“precisely reconditioned modules that 

not only reach, but even exceed, the 

capacity of the printer manufacturer’s 

cartridges.” 

The Polaroid ink cartridges also score 

points in terms of sustainability: as 

remanufactured products, they are an 

environmentally friendly alternative, as 

they are, according to the manufacturer, 

up to 82 percent more CO 2 -friendly than 

a newly produced cartridge. In addition, 

the packaging of the Polaroid ink 

cartridges is made of fully recyclable 

plastic. 

berolina distributes 16 Polaroid inkjet 

cartridges that are compatible with 

approximately 150 Canon, Epson and 

Hewlett Packard printers. Further 

products are currently in the planning 

stages, concludes the supplier. 

EUROPE Research, Carbon Emission, Remanufacturing 

How recycling cartridges helps 

cut emissions 

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. 

By comparison, the recycling of a defective 

cartridge saves 0.41 kg of greenhouse gas 

emissions and 1.94 kg of resources. 

The investigation provides evidence of the 

environmental benefits of a consistent Reuse 

strategy. As a result, according to the will of 

the Federal Government, used toner 

cartridges will increasingly be reprocessed 

and refilled in the future; an appropriate 

regulation for the treatment of WEEE is said 

to be “in the works”. 

Tom Reidick, Managing Director of 

INTERSEROH Product Cycle GmbH, has 

commented: “By processing and recycling 

the toner cartridges collected by Interseroh 

alone, we were able to save as many climatedamaging 

greenhouse gases in 2017 as 3.530 

cars in Germany emit in one year. The 

potential is huge.” 

“Our study shows once again the 

indispensable contribution of the recycling 

of products for climate and resource 

protection,” emphasised Dr. Markus Hiebel, 

Head of Sustainability and Resource 

Management at Fraunhofer UMSICHT. 

“Reusable toner cartridges significantly 

ASIA Ninestar, DecaBDE, Business 

Ninestar issues statement on 

“unauthorised substance” 

Following the recent furore surrounding the discovery of DecaBDE in some newbuild 

cartridges, Ninestar has issued a statement regarding the status of its own 

third-party printing products. 

The company has stated: 

“G&G is extremely concerned about the 

recent unauthorised substance issue 

occurring in the European Union. Due to 

this concern, G&G has conducted an 

internal inspection, and has also sent 

products to a third-party laboratory for 

testing. The results show the tested G&G 

products complied with all applicable 

environmental regulations.” 

relieve the burden on the environment - and 

can still be recycled at the end of their 

product life cycle.” Wherever possible, the 

Fraunhofer experts recommend that 

professional reprocessing and reuse of 

recycling should be preferred. 

INTERSEROH Product Cycle GmbH has 

been providing various collection systems 

for empty printer cartridges and toner 

cartridges for many years. In 2017 alone, it 

was able to take back around 1.4 million used 

cartridges. Of these, half were recycled; the 

other 50 percent mostly went into recycling 

due to damage or lack of demand. According 

to calculations of the Fraunhofer Institute, 

this recycling practice saved some 6,300 

tons of greenhouse gas emissions and 13,100 

tons of primary resources. 

The statement goes on to reveal that 

“G&G confirms all current stock and future 

shipments of products sold in Europe are in 

compliance with all applicable European 

environmental regulations.” 

The company concludes, “G&G will 

continue to provide customers with products 

that are fully compliant with all applicable 

environmental regulations from different 

regions.” 

Photo - ALBA Group 




EUROPE ECS, Paperworld, Events 

ECS looks back on a victorious Remanexpo 

The British company has been celebrating double award success at another thriving Paperworld trade show. 

2019 saw Remanexpo, a long-standing 

part of the annual Paperworld show, 

change location, moving from Hall 6.0 

of Messe Frankfurt to Hall 5.1, with the 

new location receiving multiple positive 

comments from exhibitors and visitors 

alike. 

Among the over 120 exhibitors in 

attendance in Frankfurt was British 

remanufacturer ECS (Effective 

Consumable Solutions), which enjoyed 

a particularly successful four days, 

receiving two honours at The Recycler 

Awards 2019. 

Beating off tough competition to be 

crowned Remanufacturer of the Year, the 

company then added to this with the 

Rising Star Award, bestowed upon the 

firm’s Jack Anderson. 

The company said it was “ecstatic” with 

its victory, with Director Felicity Rabbitte 

explaining: “We couldn’t have done this 

without a huge effort throughout the year 

from every single person involved with 

ECS in every single department. Our 

Partners, customers and authorised 

distributors also made this possible - we 

couldn’t have done it without them.” 

Managing Director Chris Fink added 

that it was “proof of recognition” of the 

company’s remanufactured products, 

which he said were “without doubt the 

best on the market, in every aspect.” 

The company also highlighted the 

importance of their annual visit to 

Paperworld and why the exhibition is so 

important to their success. Operations 

Director Adam Lighton said “Paperworld 

allows us to meet face-to-face with many 

Partners and distributors from around 

the world. It’s also a great platform to 

share and discuss ideas and plans for the 

future, particularly heading into the 

uncertainty of Brexit.” 

Thousands of visitors from across the 

industry and from around the world made 

their way to Hall 5.1 from 26-29 January, 

for a trade show described by various 

exhibitors as “fantastic,” “exciting,” and 

“full of opportunities.” 

“We are delighted with the large 

number of exhibitors,” explained Stephan 

Kurzawski, Senior Vice President, Messe 

Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH, who said 

that the staggering attendance “proves 

that Paperworld is the world’s most 

important trade fair for the paper, office 

supplies and stationery sector.” 

In 2020, Remanexpo will be on the 

move once again, taking up residency 

in Messe Frankfurt’s Hall 6.1 from 

25-28 January. If you are interested in 

exhibiting, and taking advantage of the 

many benefits that can bring to you 

and your company, go to: 

https://paperworld. messefrankfurt.com/ 

frankfurt/en/planning-preparation/ 

exhibition-appearance.html. 

You can learn more about everything 

that happened at Remanexpo 2019, 

look back at our bumper review in Issue 

316 of The Recycler, or relive our online 

coverage. 


27



GLOBAL HP, Instant Ink, Firmware 

HP faces criticism over Instant 

Ink and firmware 

The OEM has been placed under the critical microscope of late, both over its 

Instant Ink service and its firmware updates, which are still causing 

consumers problems with their printers. 

The Recycler has been made aware of 

continuing issues caused by HP’s printer 

firmware updates, which block the use of 

third-party cartridges, and asks whether 

more education or information is required 

from the company on this controversial 

subject. 

HP’s firmware is a topic of debate that 

stretches back to September 2016 and 

beyond, when an update which blocked the 

use of remanufactured and refilled 

cartridges in various HP printer models 

triggered outrage from consumers. 

Bombarded by complaints, the OEM 

told The Recycler, “HP is constantly 

improving security for its products and 

customers. Beginning in late 2015, HP 

implemented updates to the security chip 

in HP OfficeJet, OfficeJet Pro and OfficeJet 

Pro X printers that maintains secure 

communications between the cartridge 

and the printer. 

“The purpose of this update is to protect 

HP’s innovations and intellectual property. 

These printers will continue to work with 

refilled or remanufactured cartridges with 

an Original HP security chip. Other 

cartridges may not function. In many 

cases this functionality was installed in the 

HP printer and in some cases it has been 

implemented as part of an update to the 

printer’s firmware.” 

The problems with the use of third-party 

cartridges caused by the update prompted 

comments from ETIRA, with the 

remanufacturing association stating it was 

“assessing the impact” of the update. 

Fast forward more than two years, and 

the firmware fracas is still rumbling on in 

the background, with HP Australia finding 

itself in trouble in 2018 when 220,000 of 

its printers failed to work with aftermarket 

cartridges. 

Most recently, just this week, The 

Recycler has been informed that 

consumers are still receiving error 

messages on certain printer models, such 

as the HP Officejet Pro 8630. This is one 

of the printers involved in a recent class 

action lawsuit that has been brought 

against the OEM through the United 

States District Court for the Northern 

District of California, in which HP has 

agreed to pay compensation to consumers 

whose printers failed when they tried to 

use non-HP replacement ink cartridges. 

With legal issues and consumer 

complaints continuing to arise around the 

issue of firmware, The Recycler questions 

whether there is more HP could do, on its 

part, to educate and inform buyers about 

firmware and what it means for them as 

consumers. 

The OEM has also been handed some 

gentle criticism regarding its Instant Ink 

service in a new article penned by Josh 

Hendrickson for How To Geek, which 

reveals the “other price of admission” 

consumers may not be aware of when they 

sign up for HP’s Instant Ink service. 

As Hendrickson explains, he opted to 

sign up for Instant Ink in order to combat 

the “recurring issue” he was facing of 

being “always out of printer ink” and 

having to fork out for expensive new 

cartridges. 

He bought a new inkjet printer that was 

enrolled in HP’s subscription program, 

saying, “For a low cost, I would always 

have all the ink I needed—as long as I kept 

to a page limit, that is.” 

However, a few years down the line, 

Hendrickson says he realised “there was 

one other price of admission”; namely, that 

the ink sent by HP belongs to the 

company, not to him, and if he cancelled 

the subscription at the end of the billing 

cycle they required the ink to be sent back. 

On the plus side, Hendrickson describes 

Instant Ink as being “very easy to set up” 

and explains that “If you don’t use all your 

allotted pages in the month, the extra 

pages roll-over and you can use them 

next month.” 

However, the “kicker”, as he puts it, 

comes during the cancellation of the 

service, because “as soon as your billing 

cycle ends the printer will not accept the 

ink anymore and you’re required to send it 

back to HP”, although the company does 

cover the cost of postage and packing. 

An HP support agent explained to 

Hendrickson when he contacted them that 

“HP ships specially marked ink as part of 

this process, and your printer recognises 

that it is intended for Instant Ink 

subscribers only.” This is “essentially 

DRM”, states Hendrickson, designed so it 

“locks down” the ink in your printer. 

Posing the question of whether or not 

Instant Ink is “a good deal”, the article 

declares that “it depends” on the number 

of pages you will need to print on a 

regular basis. 

However, Hendrickson concludes that, 

for him personally, “I want my printer to 

be mine and controlled by me. All I have to 

do is convince myself that freedom is 

worth the cost of all new ink.” 




NORTH AMERICA Katun, Anniversary, Family Day 

Celebrations all round for Katun 

Katun Corporation has been enjoying plenty of festivities of late as it enters its 40th year of business, representing 

another significant milestone for the company. 

Katun has announced that it is both 

excited and proud that 2019 is the 

company’s 40th anniversary in the 

imaging industry. 

Throughout the year, Katun says it 

will be introducing campaigns, 

promotions and events to help celebrate 

this significant milestone and to help 

customers grow their businesses, 

reduce costs and increase their 

profitability. 

One of these events was the recent 

Family Day held for employees at 

Katun’s HQ. For this event, revealed 

Katun, staff members were encouraged to 

bring their kids, grandchildren, spouses 

and other family members into work so 

that they could learn about the “behind 

the scenes” happenings at Katun. 

Children were entertained by a range of 

activities, including a magician, movies, 

face painting, pizza and more. 

Katun has also had a number of other 

celebrations and heart-warming events to 

mark of late, such as its CEO and 

President, Bob Moore, celebrating 3 

decades at the company in October 2018. 

Last year, Katun also had some fun with 

football, as a way of showing appreciation 

to loyal customers, and took part in a 

charity initiative with Bridging, which 

distributes furniture and household items 

to families in need. 

Katun was founded in 1979 with a 

mission to be the world’s best and mosttrusted 

OEM-alternative source for office 

equipment imaging supplies and parts. 

Since its humble beginnings, Katun 

helped legitimise the office equipment 

aftermarket and has long been considered 

one of the leaders in the global imaging 

industry. The company’s goal continues 

to be to provide dealers and distributors 

with the optimal combination of high 

quality, cost savings, innovation and 

support to enable their businesses to 

grow and prosper – with Katun regarded 

as their invaluable and most trusted 

business partner. 

According to Bob Moore, “We are very 

thankful to our many customers and 

strategic business partners for their 

support and loyalty over the past four 

decades. We look forward to celebrating 

this milestone with them during the year 

while continuing to focus on developing 

and introducing new products, programs 

and services that will make dealers and 

distributors more profitable.” 

The company explains that customers 

can visit Katun’s social media sites 

throughout the year, including 

LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and 

YouTube, as well as Katun’s website at 

www.katun.com and the Katun Online 

Catalog at www.katun.com/kolc, for 

more information regarding 40-year 

anniversary events, promotions, 

discounts and other opportunities. 


29



EUROPE Armor, R&D, Investment 

ARMOR invests in R&D 

and a new recruit 

ARMOR Office Printing has been opening up about its investment in R&D in 

2018, as well as revealing that the company is looking for a fresh face to join 

its EMEA team. 

ARMOR Office Printing has revealed that 

it funnelled €150,000 into R&D during 

2018, in line with EU Directives. 

The company has commented, “The 

management of the OEM and 

remanufactured cartridges in Europe is 

very strict. The various regulations include 

the conformity of the cartridges with 

European standards (WEEE, REACH and 

RoHS directives) and the intellectual 

property framework. They are intended to 

protect the health and living environment 

of the European Union citizens while 

ensuring the sustainability of the products. 

These regulations apply to printing 

consumables produced in Europe, but 

according to ETIRA, European border 

control is not enough to protect the user 

and inform them towards the composition 

of these “new-built” non-OEM cartridges 

imported in Europe.” 

On 27 September 2018, ARMOR went 

on to explain, ETIRA issued a statement 

alerting the presence on the European 

market of “new-built” non-OEM 

cartridges with a hazardous level of 

chemical content (including DecaBDE). 

“As of today, more than 5 million “newbuilt” 

non-OEM cartridges, and so 

potentially not reusable, are present on the 

European market. This is the overall 

quality of the offer and the security of the 

users, which are at stake. Choosing a 

cartridge remanufactured by ARMOR 

means choosing a consumable that is ecoresponsible,” 

stated Gerwald van der Gijp, 

Managing Director of ARMOR Office 

Printing and member of the Board of 

Directors of ETIRA. 

Citing its “thirty years of industrial 

know-how”, ARMOR Office Printing 

says it has become “an expert in the 

production of remanufactured printing 

consumables”. 

In 2018, ARMOR Office Printing reveals 

the company invested €150,000 in R & D 

to remanufacture printing consumables 

complying with the REACH, CLP, RoHS 

and WEEE European directives. 

Furthermore, ARMOR Office Printing 

says it commits itself to respect the 

European Intellectual Property Directives 

for the design of its cartridges. 

On the recruitment front, Armor Office 

Printing Solutions EMEA has announced 

its search for a new Trade/Brand Manager 

to join the team in Nantes. 

The company’s VP & Managing 

Director, Gerwald van der Gijp, announced 

the search for a Trade/Brand Manager to 

join his leadership team, based in Nantes. 

As he explains, the ideal candidate needs 

to speak both English and French, adding, 

“Preferable experience in non Printing 

industry.” 

He encourages people to get in touch, 

whether they are putting themselves 

forward for the job or think they may know 

“the perfect candidate”. 

NORTH AMERICA 

LD Products, Anniversary, 20 Years 

LD Products marks 20 years in business 

The company has revealed that it is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. 

LD Products was founded by its CEO, 

Aaron Leon, back in 1999, when he began 

building his own online cartridge store 

“in between classes as an undergraduate 

student at USC”, the company explains. 

LD Products says, “We’ve grown a lot 

since those early days. Today, our printer 

cartridges have proudly printed in 

millions of homes and offices nationwide, 

we employ over 200 ink and toner experts 

stretching across three states and offer 

more than 9,000 types of cartridges. 

Time flies!” 

The company also remarked that it 

owed its customers a “special thanks” for 

all their continued support as they 

“couldn’t have done it without the loyalty 

of our customers”, adding, “we appreciate 

you printing with us now for two 

decades.” 


EUROPE 


Aster, Nordic Swan, Certifications 

Aster Graphics awarded Nordic 

Swan license approval 

The company has announced that it has recently achieved Nordic Eco-label 

license No. 3008 0052 for its line of remanufactured toner cartridges. 

The Nordic Swan Ecolabel 

is used across five 

Scandinavian countries; its 

criteria work to reduce 

environmental impact and 

indicate that a given 

product has been approved 

to meet high standards of 

quality and capacity. 

Aster Graphics also 

holds 7 other certifications, 

among them RoHS, which 

stands for Restriction of 

Hazardous Substances, 

and represents a set of criteria formulated 

by the EU to regulate the use of certain 

hazardous materials in various types of 

electrical and electronic products. 

In addition, Aster holds ISO 19752, ISO 

19798:2017, ISO 9001:2015 and 

ISO 14001:2015 certifications, and 

has been named an STMC-compliant 

company. A company that is STMC 

certified attests to using STMC test 

methods with the correct test equipment to 

ensure their cartridges are “equal to or 

better than” OEM cartridges. 


ASIA CET, New Factory, Business 

CET celebrates 

at new factory 

The Chinese company has 

announced the hosting of its Annual 

Meeting, on this occasion at its 

brand-new factory in Cao Feidian 

Tangshan City. 

As CET revealed, this year’s Annual 

Meeting was held on 19 January 2019 and 

gave the company an opportunity to 

“celebrate the amazing year and 

recognise the fantastic work done in 

2018”. The Meeting was an action-packed 

event, including “tons of exciting 

performances, traditional dances” and 

even a performance by The Beijing 

Opera. 

CET enjoyed a particularly eventful 

2018, with the year marking its entrance 

into the pulverised toner manufacturing 

segment and bringing the award of a new 

patent. In addition, CET completed its 

new factory, announced the success of its 

Distributor Strategic Seminars, and 

acquired North American business Q2. 


31



EUROPE Delacamp, AEO, Certification 

Delacamp attains AEO but closes subsidiary 

The German company has been certified as an Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) by the European Union, in the same 

month that it announced the closure of its British subsidiary, Delacamp UK, after more than two decades of business. 

The AEO concept was established by the EU 

based on “internationally recognised 

standards” and is a programme which 

“aims to enhance international supply 

chain security and to facilitate legitimate 

trade,” according to the European 

Commission. 

“Traders who voluntarily meet a wide 

range of criteria work in close cooperation 

with customs authorities to assure the 

common objective of supply chain security 

and are entitled to enjoy benefits 

throughout the EU,” the Commission 

explains. “Any economic operator 

established in the customs territory of the 

Union who is part of the international 

supply chain and is involved in customsrelated 

operations, may apply for the AEO 

status.” 

Delacamp, which is celebrating its 140th 

anniversary as a company in 2019, declared 

that as a newly-recognised AEO, it enjoys a 

“special status.” 

“We are considered to be particularly 

reliable and trustworthy and are able to get 

special treatment as well as benefits in 

customs clearance,” the company said. 

Also this month, Delacamp announced 

that Delacamp UK, its British subsidiary, 

which has been in business for 23 years, 

will cease trading. 

The subsidiary was started in January 

1995, and specialised in the distribution of 

components for laser printer cartridges, 

compatible and remanufactured cartridges, 

and components and spare parts for copier 

machines. In 2016, the company employed 

a total workforce of 34 people. 

Volker Kappius, the COO at Delacamp 

Germany, told The Recycler: “It is true that 

we stopped trading at Delacamp UK Ltd. 

after 23 years in business. In these past 23 

years Mr. Day [Richard Day, Controller and 

Director of Delacamp UK] and his team had 

done a great job of growing Delacamp UK 

from a small garage-like warehouse with an 

office in Frome to 30-plus employees and a 

2,700-plus square metre self-owned 

operation in Shepton Mallet, serving the 

office printer supplies remanufacturing 

industry in the UK.” 

“Unfortunately, the office printing 

industry has changed dramatically in the 

last five years,” Kappius conceded, stating 

that “more and more former UK 

remanufacturers turned away from quality 

and offering a greener alternative, to the 

single use plastic OEM cartridges, only to 

embark on price competition with newly 

built cartridges from the far East in pursuit 

of what they believed is fast and easy 

money.” 

“This development has now reached its 

sad peak with the many no-stock dealers 

offering me-too products from a few 

importers of NBCs in the UK,” Kappius 

continued. “This development has pretty 

much dried out the market for Delacamp 

UK Ltd. Even the addition of a small 

product range of finished products that 

Delacamp UK Ltd. was offering to smaller 

remanufactures and small local dealers in 

the UK did not make up for the loss of 

business with components and toner. Plus 

selling finished products is not what a 

quality centred distributor of components 

and toners for the genuine reman industry 

should be doing and thus we could no 

longer tolerate this.” 

Reflecting on whether the UK’s 

impending withdrawal from the European 

Union, and the ongoing instability that 

presents, was a factor in the closing of the 

subsidiary, Kappius revealed that it had 

been a factor. “Yes, the extreme uncertainty 

of Brexit also played a small role in making 

the final decision to stop trading through 

Delacamp UK Ltd. and to support the 

few remaining quality oriented 

remanufacturers in the UK from our 

Headquarter in Hamburg,” he said. 

Delacamp’s UK-based customers will 

now be served from the company’s 

Hamburg base, while Richard Day, 

Controller and Director at Delacamp UK, 

has recently launched a new company, DC 

Supplies Ltd. According to its website, the 

new business is “a trade supplier offering 

great value compatible and remanufactured 

printer consumables.” 

Delacamp is celebrating 140 years in 

business this year, but has also been under 

pressure in recent years, with year-on-year 

earnings declining from €26.5 million ($30 

million) in 2013 to €16.5 million ($18.7 

million) in 2016. 

The Recycler’s industry tracker shows the 

double impact of the number of active 

remanufacturers declining in the UK, 

mainly as a result of Cartridge World store 

closures and most small remanufacturers 

now also buying new build cartridges. 

EUROPE PrintReleaf, Environment, Business 

First glance of numbers revealed for Paperworld 2019 

The team behind the hosting of Paperworld 2019 in Frankfurt this week have unveiled some figures which reveal 

the success of this year’s event. 

Among these figures, the team explained 

that a grand total of 33,010 visitors from 

143 countries attended the event, with 94 

percent saying they were “satisfied or very 

satisfied” with their attendance. 

In addition, 61 percent of these trade 

visitors were revealed to “play a decisive 

or contributory role in purchasing 

decisions”. 

On the exhibitor side, an impressive 

1,668 came to the show from 64 

countries, garnering 85 percent 

“internationality” for the event. 

Next year, Paperworld will be held from 

25-28 January 2020 in Frankfurt am Main 

and there is exciting news for the 

Remanexpo section of the show, which 

will be hosted in the “revamped” Hall 6.1. 




EUROPE Static, Awards, Blog 

Static Control: On customer 

service and cartridges 

This month, Static Control has been offering some helpful tips on cartridge page 

yields, as well as celebrating its recent Customer Service of the Year Award, 

received at Paperworld 2019. 

On the technical side of things, the 

company has published a blog explaining 

the ins and outs of cartridge page yields and 

the “variables” that can affect them. 

As the company describes, page yield is “the 

number of pages a toner or inkjet cartridge 

prints until it runs out of toner or ink” and 

each cartridge SKU “has an advertised 

expected page yield.” 

These will determine how often 

cartridges must be replaced, and the page 

yield will vary according to the size of the 

cartridge, with high yield cartridges being 

able to print more pages than standard yield 

versions. 

Static states, “The aftermarket sometimes 

also offers extended yield cartridges” which 

“typically print 30 percent more than 

standard or high yield cartridges sold by 

the OEM”. 

However, the company continues, “It’s 

important to note that there are many 

variables that can impact how many pages 

your cartridge will print”. These variables 

include the paper size and type, and even 

the temperature and humidity of the printer 

environment. 

Static Control reveals that there are two 

industry test procedures that have been 

designed to “evaluate the page yield of a 

toner cartridge: ISO 19752:2004 & ISO 

19798:2006.” 

In addition, the company says it has 

evolved its own page yield testing 

procedures which are “specifically designed 

to evaluate print performance through the 

entire life of the cartridge in various 

environmental conditions.” 

As well as revealing its methods behind 

the testing of its cartridges, Static Control 

has also been celebrating in recent weeks, 

having won the Customer Service of the 

Year Award at The Recycler Awards, during 

this year’s Remanexpo show in Frankfurt, 

Germany. 

It was the second time that Static Control 

had been named winners of the award, and 

the latest in a remarkable run of success 

that has seen the company win a Recycler 

Award every year since the ceremony’s 

inception in 2015; previous accolades 

include Innovation of the Year, and being 

named Supplier of the Year twice. 


Ken Lalley receiving the award at 

Paperworld 2019 

“We’re absolutely delighted,” explained 

Static Control’s CEO Ken Lalley, who 

accepted the award for the company. “It’s a 

reflection of our commitment to our 

customers. We’re thrilled – thank you to our 

customers, and all who voted for us!” 

“Without the continued support of the 

remanufacturing industry, we wouldn’t 

have been nominated,” Lalley added. “We 

will continue our deep commitment to 

working hard and maintaining the highest 

level of service our customers deserve.” 

The award was “the zenith” for the 

company during a successful Remanexpo 

show, during which Static Control played 

host to a consistently packed stand, with 

many face-to-face meetings between 

customers and sales team members. 

Static Control’s General Sales Manager 

Paul Needham presented information at the 

show about the DecaBDE issue rippling 

through the industry. 

“The issue is widespread, and it impacts 

compatible and remanufactured cartridges, 

along with components. As an industry, we 

must work together to hold plastic suppliers 

to the standards that have been set forth in 

environmental regulations,” Needham 

explained, adding that Static Control’s 

European cartridge and component 

offering complies with RoHS and REACH 

standards. 

“For us, it is a great opportunity to meet 

with a lot of our European partners,” 

Needham reflected on Remanexpo 

generally. “It’s an important time in our 

industry, and it’s a great opportunity to 

discuss the many changes along with the 

growth opportunities, with our customers.” 

33



GLOBAL Hires, Business, New Faces 

New faces at Clover, Memjet, and 

Keypoint Intelligence 

It’s been a busy month for in-goings, with all three companies welcoming new members to the team in the last few weeks, 

while Print-Rite has celebrated the longevity of some of its own staff. 

Clover Imaging Group announced the 

appointment of Dominique Moine as the 

company’s new Director of MPS 

Professional Services, EMEA. 

In his new role, Moine will determine 

with Clover’s senior management the 

direction and expansion of its Axess MPS 

programme activities in EMEA, as well as 

working with the regional Clover sales 

teams to help introduce a more servicesbased 

model to their channel partners. 

Moine arrives at Clover as a true MPS 

expert, with over 25 years’ experience in 

the imaging industry. He previously 

worked for a total of 14 years at Hewlett 

Packard, culminating in 4 years as HP 

Solutions Architect, forming the initial 

plans for HP’s MPS programme in 

Europe. 

After leaving HP, Moine ran his own 

MPS consultancy for a number of years, 

and then spent 7 years with Konica 

Minolta Business Solutions in France, 

running the OEM’s MPS programmes. 

Most recently, he has worked as Group 

Printing Solutions Manager for Lyreco. 

“We are delighted to have such an 

experienced MPS professional as 

Dominique join our management team in 

EMEA,” said Mark Perry, Clover’s 

Managing Director. “The combination of 

our Axess MPS solutions plus the fully IP 

and environmentally compliant nature of 

Clover’s remanufactured cartridges will 

give our reseller partners a powerful 

combination that enables their clients to 

maximise the efficiency of their printer 

installed base, whilst helping the 

environment by utilising genuine 

remanufactured cartridges that respect all 

OEM patents.” 

Meanwhile, Memjet has revealed that 

Sunil Gupta has joined the company’s 

Board of Directors. Gupta has held a variety 

of leadership positions over the last forty 

years, with multiple large enterprises, 

including Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific, and Xerox 

International Partners. From 2016 until 

September last year, he was Managing 

Director of Fuji Xerox Australia, with the 

OEM saying at the time of his stepping 

down that his efforts had been pivotal in 

putting the company “back on the path to a 

bright future, financially and operationally.” 

Gupta also sat on the Board of Directors 

of the OEM’s Australian division for two 

years, from 2016 to 2018. Prior to his role 

at Fuji Xerox Australia, Gupta was 

managing director of Fuji Xerox Asia 

Pacific, Malaysia operations, where he 

provided the vision needed to realign the 

company, reverse a sharply declining 

trend, and deliver two consecutive years of 

double-digit revenue, profit, market share, 

and customer satisfaction growth. 

Prior to this, he served as President and 

CEO of Xerox International Partners (XIP) 

from 2002 to 2012, a role in which he 

actively engaged key stakeholders to 

execute a shared vision. The strategic plans 

Gupta developed set the stage for new 

technologies, product platforms and valueadded 

services that resulted in revenue 

growth and customer loyalty in a flat 

market. 

“Mr. Gupta joins Memjet’s board of 

directors at a time of great growth and 

opportunity for our company,” said Len 

Lauer, Chief Executive Officer at Memjet. 

“Today, our modular technology provides a 

growing number of global OEM partners 

with the speed, simplicity, and profitability 

needed to shorten their development time 

and bring products to market more 

efficiently. Mr. Gupta’s senior leadership 

experience with tier one imaging OEM 

partners, combined with his in-depth 

industry experience, adds to the diversity 

of our board. We welcome him and look 

forward to his contributions.” 

Elsewhere, Keypoint Intelligence was 

also opening the door to a new face, with 

Eric Zimmerman joining the company as 

Director of the Wide Format (WFP) 

advisory service. 

In his new role, Zimmerman will 

assume responsibility for forecasting, 

market analysis, research, and custom 

consulting related to wide format digital 

printing including graphics and technical 

applications. 

Zimmerman has 20-plus years’ 

experience in the wide format market, 

specialising in consultative, solution-based 

sales, marketing, and product 

development. After eight years of 

successfully operating his own sign 

business, SSB Sign Design, he took a role 

as the regional manager of Southern 

California at Signarama. Since 2011, he 

has also held positions with Roland DG, 

where he was most recently General 

Manager for the Sign Business 

Development Unit. 

Zimmerman’s various fields of expertise 

includes: Competitive analysis; market 

sizing and opportunity analysis; market 

trend analysis; product/brand development; 

go-to-market & positioning 

strategies; industry forecasts; and industry 

and technology research. 

“It is a pleasure to welcome Eric to the 

Keypoint Intelligence - InfoTrends team” 

commented Ron Gilboa, Group Director of 

Production Services. “Eric’s wealth of 

industry knowledge and extensive market 

experience make him a valuable addition 

to our diverse team of professionals.” 

“I’m excited to be working with such 

highly qualified industry analysts and 

consultants at Keypoint Intelligence - 

InfoTrends,” commented Zimmerman 

himself. “I look forward to applying my 

knowledge to help clients discover new 

business opportunities and improve their 

operations.” 

Finally, Print-Rite’s European division 

was celebrating not the arrival of new staff, 

but the longevity of some of its veteran 

team members. 

Taking to social media, Print-Rite 

Europe congratulated employees Shelley 

Doherty and Andrew Doherty for reaching 

two decades with the company, thanking 

them “for their hard work at Print-Rite for 

20 years.” 

Furthermore, the company also offered 

“big congratulations” to team member 

Karen Clarke, who was also marking a 

milestone, and expressed its gratitude for 

Clarke’s “loyalty and dedication to Print- 

Rite for 35 years!” 


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


EUROPE Turbon Products Group, Cart-E, App 

Turbon premieres new app at Paperworld 

Turbon Products GmbH has launched its brand new Print Services app, Cart-E, which it unveiled at the recent Paperworld 

2019 trade show, held in Frankfurt at the end of January. 

“Automatic print services for your printer 

environment? Up to now, these were only 

worthwhile for large corporations,” Turbon 

explained. “But now the “Cart-E” app has 

come into play”. 

With “Cart-E”, says Turbon, you will 

never again read the words “Cartridge 

Empty” or “No toner” at the wrong 

moment, either in a small or micro 

enterprise or even in your home office. 

Not only can you say goodbye to those 

unwelcome status indicators, the company 

states, but also to inefficient and expensive 

printing and uncertain maintenance and 

repair processes. 

“It’s brand new, and it’s the first app for 

the SOHO market for printing supplies,” 

declared the company’s Marketing Director, 

Christof Frei, speaking to The Recycler in 

Frankfurt. 

Described by Turbon as “an innovative 

and sustainable solution”, the app may also 

be used in conjunction with recycled 

products. Access is so simple, assures 

Turbon, and is also free of charge: the “Cart- 

E” app developed by Nubeprint can easily be 

downloaded from Google Play and will soon 

be available on iTunes too. 

With this unique app, Turbon Products 

GmbH says it is offering its customers the 

opportunity to build up a lasting 

relationship with their own customers. 

The company revealed its new product 

for the first time at Remanexpo, during the 

annual Paperworld trade show that took 

place at Messe Frankfurt, Germany, in the 

last week of January, and Christof Frei was 

delighted with the reaction from customers. 

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

explained, “people were very interested.” 

The company was also in Frankfurt to 

promote its reorganised company structure, 

which Frei said had provoked “a really good 

reaction from existing customers, and from 

new prospects too, so it was a very positive 

show for us.” 

ASIA HYB, Distributor, South America 

HYB welcomes new South American distributor 

The company has announced its expansion in the region, with the addition of a new South American distributor 

located in Paraguay. 

This news was announced by HYB 

LATAM Sales Manager, Omar Moreno. 

The Paraguayan distributor has 

requested to remain anonymous for the 

time being, explains HYB, “until their 

first shipment arrives at their warehouse”, 

but adds that they wished for the 

announcement to be made so that So far, says HYB, the HYB and Zeus 

local dealers could begin scheduling toner trademarks have been distributed in 

their orders. 

seven countries throughout South 

America, with the longest-serving 

distributor having partnered with HYB for 

over 9 years. 

HYB states, “The demand from the 

market for the extremely high quality 

copier consumables is getting stronger 

and getting them from a distributor who 

regularly import products from 

manufacturers has become a trend for 

local dealers.” 


35

FEATURE 

Business booming in Bucharest? 

Three decades since the revolution, and twelve years on from its 

ascendancy to the European Union, the Romanian economy looks to be 

moving towards the light, after years of being seen as the ‘sick man of 

Europe.’ But with plenty of challenges, new and old, ready to rear their 

head, are the times of turmoil truly over, and is Romania ready to 

embrace the present, and the future? 

Towards the end of 2017, The Guardian 

reported that the Eastern European 

nation’s economy was “booming,” owing 

to a combination of EU accession, 

government-led injection measures, and 

“communist-era educational excellence.” 

Its economic growth has been boosted 

further in recent years by the arrival of 

many major global players, including 

mobile phone titan Siemens, personal 

exercise technology company Fitbit, and 

household appliance monolith Bosch, all 

of whom have either set up new 

operations or expanded pre-existing ones. 

Car giants Ford recently announced plans 

to hire 1,000 new workers for its plant in 

Craiova, in the south of the country 

(taking its total workforce to nearly 

4,000) and has invested more than €1.2 

billion ($1.35 billion) in its Romanian 

operations since 2008. 

In terms of pure numbers, the 

Romanian economy grew 5.7 percent 

year-on-year in the second quarter of 

2017 – more than double the average EU 

growth rate of 2.4 percent. This follows a 

GDP rise of 3.9 percent and 4.8 percent 

in 2015 and 2016 respectively, with the 

International Monetary Fund forecasting 

at the time that the economy would have 

grown by 5.5 percent for the whole of 

2017. 

The tech sector is showing particularly 

fast expansion, owing partly to the legacy 

of excellent scientific, mathematic and 

technical education left over from the 

nation’s Communist past. Although, like 

many former Communist states, 

Romania has a chequered history, it is 

now seeing one of the benefits of its 

previous didactic regime. 

The country’s strong language skills 

have also contributed, helping to 

establish Romania as a hub for IT 

outsourcing. This flair for linguistics can 

be partially explained by the language’s 

Latin, rather than Slavic, roots, but also 

by more societal factors, such as that 

foreign programming on Romanian 

television is subtitled, rather than 

overdubbed, ingraining an exposure to 

other tongues into the consciousness of 

wider society. 

Industry insiders predict the tech sector 

will double its share of the GDP by 2025, 

taking it to 12 percent - partially thanks 

to some of the fastest broadband speeds in 

the world, that in 2017 were behind only 

four countries in the world (Singapore, 

Hong Kong, South Korea, and Iceland). 

Similarly, the services sector continues 

to expand, as do exports and 

manufacturing. Private consumption, 

meanwhile, hit a nine-year high in 2016 

and increased by 8 percent again in the 

first half of 2017. 

Whilst accession to the EU has 

contributed to Romania’s increased 

economic stability, so too have 

Government measures: A 5 percent cut in 

VAT, to 19 percent, since 2015, and a 

doubling of the minimum wage have 

both helped stimulate growth. 

Wages still present an interesting 

conundrum, however, as despite recent 

growth, they still sit well below the EU 

average, and in 2017 were the second 

lowest in the whole bloc, with only 

Bulgaria paying its employees less on 

average. Whilst problematic for workers, 

it has had the effect of turning Romania 

into an attractive outsourcing option, 

which has provided the national 

economy with a ‘shot in the arm.’ 

“The establishment of the Single 

European Market has allowed the free 

movement of goods, capital, and labour,” 

observed Victor Matache, General 

Manager of Romanian distributor Toko, 

who explained to The Recycler that “the 

free movement of goods allowed large 

European wholesalers to enter the 

Romanian market directly,” but that on 

the other side of the coin, “the 

distribution business model for 

Romanian capital companies is restricted, 

due to the big European distributors.” 

As well as the big worldwide names 

like Bosch, Fitbit, and Ford, Romania’s 

remanufacturing industry has also felt 

the benefit of the economic upturn, 

with both Turbon and Static Control 

planting a flag for the aftermarket in 

recent years. 

Static Control partnered with three 

separate resellers in the country in 2016, 

with new alliances inked with Toko, Sky 

Group, and Timi Import Export. Speaking 

at the time, Static Control made clear its 

delight with the move, which brought on 

board “a combined total of more than 50 

years’ knowledge and experience of the 

imaging industry in Romania.” 

“Static Control is committed in its 

support of the Eastern European region 

and the territories within it,” said 

Regional Sales Manager Andrzej Jaswin. 

“Sky Group, Toko and Timi Import Export 

all bring a wealth of expertise from the 

perspective of both the territory and the 

industry itself, placing us in the best 

possible position to deliver the timely and 

efficient service this growing region 

demands.” 

Jaswin added he was “delighted to 

make this development within the 

Romanian market with these highly 

respected resellers.” 

Another aftermarket player making 

huge waves in Romania is remanufacturer 

TIN Factory, which has opened 

two brand new shops in recent years, as 

part of a shift in business strategy. 

“It was our way to survive,” the 

company’s CEO Milan Banjac told The 

Recycler. “We stopped distributing, 

stopped selling at small Chinese prices 

and greater quantities, and started to sell 

just to end users. It was a good decision.” 

Toko’s Matache also extolled the 

virtues of transforming a business in 

response to the changes. “For Romanian 

companies, it becomes more sustainable 

to develop a business that adds value,” he 

explained. “Because the volume and 

value of our affiliate business have been 

declining for years, we have begun to 

develop a new business model. We 


FEATURE 

develop service delivery in the fleet 

administration of printing/copying 

equipment for end user customers.” 

Matache also revealed that Toko had 

been forced to adapt as a result of the 

increased competition from large foreign 

companies entering the market. “We, for 

example, invest in IT hardware and 

software, in the security of the IT system, 

in the permanent training of employees,” 

he said. 

Despite recent economic advances, TIN 

Factory’s Banjac was realistic about the 

difficulties of being a remanufacturer in 

the country. 

“Romania is still one of the poorest 

countries in Europe,” he explained, 

commenting that the higher prices of 

remanufactured cartridges proved a 

barrier, when people were not yet wealthy 

enough to consider the environmental 

implications of their buying choices. “A 

very important element is the price of 

products. When you are a richer country, 

you can think about ecology, but at the 

moment, it is a luxury.” 

Reflecting on the state of the country 

overall, Banjac admitted that recent years 

had brought a boom to Romania, but that 

problems – rooted in its history of 

economic difficulties – remain. 

“The economy is getting better, but we 

are starting to miss the people,” he 

observed. “The Romanian people are in 

the UK, in Spain, in Italy, in Germany, so 

we have lost – unofficially – about four 

million people, between the age of 20 and 

40. They are all over Europe with their 

families, and probably they will not 

return, and they are missed.” 

Banjac elaborated that as a result of 

this exodus of the working generation, 

many big projects in the country, 

particularly around the construction 

industry. “We, as a country, are looking at 

importing labour from Vietnam – it’s a 

paradox, it’s nonsense.” 

“We need these young people to come 

back,” he continued, whilst adding that 

the United Kingdom’s impending 

withdrawal from the European Union 

could yet have a knock-on benefit 

for Romania. 

“I think Brexit, while not good for the 

UK, maybe will be good for Romania,” 

Banjac reflected. “A lot of Romanian 

people in the UK are in uncertain legal 

conditions, so maybe we will see them 

back. That would be good for us.” 

Two steps forward, one step back? 

Although economic progress has been 

relatively rapid in Romania, there remain 

considerable potholes in the road that 

have yet to be addressed, and there are 

fears that for all the success of recent 

years, a backwards step is on the horizon. 

Infrastructure, particularly transport 

infrastructure, remains substandard in a 

number of ways, with only 747 

kilometres of motorway across the entire 

country. A recent report from the World 

Reuse for 

a brighter 

future 

Etira reuse campaign – www.etira.org/reuse 


37

FEATURE 

Business booming in Bucharest? continued 

Economic Forum, centred around Global 

Competitiveness, put Romania in the 

bottom ten out of 128 countries surveyed 

for their road infrastructure, and a better, 

but still unimpressive, 79th out of 138 for 

railways. 

Efforts were made to modernise the 

railways in recent years, with Toko’s 

Victor Matache telling The Recycler that 

between 2009 and 2012, “great progress 

was made in infrastructure development 

by allocating funds for investment, and 

spending these funds. Developing road 

infrastructure, promoting democratic 

reforms in the judiciary, modernising 

banking legislation, and supporting the 

free initiative has allowed a sustainable 

development of the private sector.” 

“The banking system has been 

strengthened, many production facilities 

and technical support have been set up by 

multinational companies and, last but 

not least, the private sector with 

Romanian capital has developed,” 

Matache reflected. “It was a period of 

sustainable economic growth.” 

However, since that golden, albeit 

short, epoch, the return to power of the 

Social Democratic Party (PSD), the 

successor to the former Communist Party, 

has resulted in “a period of investment 

stagnation and proliferation of 

corruption,” in which “the economy has 

stalled due to a lack of investment and 

misappropriation of public funds,” 

according to Matache. 

This ongoing corruption is a much 

more sinister problem for Romania than 

its creaking train tracks, with The 

Guardian claiming it has “long been 

considered one of the most corrupt 

nations in the EU.” 

Two years ago, a government decree 

that was set to decriminalise low-level 

corruption provoked massive protests 

across the country, until it was ultimately 

cancelled in an emergency decision from 

the national court of appeal. Before this, 

tens of thousands had taken to the streets 

in condemnation of the Romanian 

government’s actions, which the 

influential Orthodox Church had said 

would allow corrupt politicians to escape 

punishment. In an ironic summary of the 

problem, the leader of the governing 

party, Liviu Dragnea, has been barred 

from becoming Prime Minister due to his 

previous convictions for vote-rigging. 

Such a flashpoint caused considerable 

distrust in the government, with 

President Klaus Iohannis saying at the 

time that his faith was in the protestors, 

not the ruling party, and calling for 

“European values” to prevail. 

Victor Matache blamed corruption in 

the country on “the effects of the long 

communist propaganda on the one hand, 

and the poorly understood freedom on 

the other hand,” offering a counterpoint 

to the beneficial Communist legacy of the 

country’s education system. 

“The most serious form of corruption is 

that of the political class, a phenomenon 

that manifests itself with all its adverse 

consequences,” Matache continued. 

“Many politicians have made their 

participation in the ‘political life of the 

country’ a profession to enrich 

themselves. Over the last thirty years, the 

evolution of the economy has been 

dictated by the interests of the political 

class in power.” 

2019 has brought a fresh set of 

challenges to the country, in the form of 

the increasingly-prevalent bank tax. 

Such a levy was first seen in Europe after 

its introduction in Hungary in 2010, and 

the idea has since caught on in Poland, 

Slovakia, and now, Romania. 

Applied properly, a tax on the assets of 

the banking sector could in some 

scenarios be justified, but in the case of 

that introduced by the ruling PSD, it has 

been described by Euromoney as 

“fundamentally inequitable and 

misconceived,” “unjust,” and “shortsighted 

to the point of stupidity.” 

The tax is being introduced as a way of 

controlling interest rates, which are kept 

artificially high, according to the 

country’s Finance Minister, Eugen 

Teodorovici, who has nicknamed it “a tax 

on greed.” 

But Euromoney’s Lucy Fitzgeorge- 

Parker attests that the inflation currently 

witnessed in the country is in actuality 

due to the PSD’s “increasingly freespending 

ways,” warning that in the last 

few years, the government’s “openhandedness” 

with pension increases, 

wage rises, and energy subsidies has put it 

“in danger of breaching the EU’s 3 

percent budget deficit cap this year.” 

In 2018, the Financial Times also 

linked Romania’s “record economic 

growth” with a worrying rise in inflation, 

as it reported that the central bank was 

raising interest rates by 0.25 percent, to 2 

percent, the first such rise in a decade. 

While recognising that such a move was 

an endorsement of “the strength of the 

economic recovery in central and eastern 

Europe,” the Financial Times also claimed 

it reflected “fears of overheating” within 

the Romanian economy. Central bank 

governor Mugur Isarescu, however, said 

at the time that although they were 

expecting inflation to increase, it was due 

to recede again by the end of the year. 

“We increased the key rate because of 

inflation and because we want to anchor 

inflationary expectations from the start,” 

Isarescu said. “If you fail to act in due 

time, expectations don’t tend to be 

anchored and we wanted to avoid that.” 

It is this anchoring of expectations that 

has perhaps proved the biggest stumbling 

block for Romania, and the PSD, as it 

makes its way from ‘sick man of Europe’ 

to a flourishing modern economy. There 

remains a risk that, buoyed with the 

success of recent years, the ruling party 

will simultaneously take its foot off the 

gas and its hand off the tiller, leading to a 

series of reckless decisions – such as the 

bank tax – which could reverse all the 

positivity of the last ten years. 

Fitzgeorge-Parker identifies this as a 

natural endpoint of what she terms the 

government’s “greed,” and warns that 

the PSD “wants to have its populist cake, 

eat it and make the banks pay for it – 

whatever the cost to the economy.” 

Toko’s Matache was pessimistic about 

the country’s economic prospects going 

forwards, stating that the economy “is 

unstable, in decline and without 

sustainable perspectives of revival.” He 

further identified the increase in taxation, 

business interest rates, the inflation rate 

(“the highest in Europe”), and the “rapid” 

deterioration of the national currency 

exchange rate as “the most significant 

signs of the economic downturn.” 

“We are in fact in a very difficult and 

unpredictable economic environment,” 

said Matache. “It is a great challenge to 

develop a sustainable business in 

Romania today.” 

It seems that although the boom of the 

last decade has brought vastly increased 

prosperity to the country, a plethora of 

problems remain rooted. Until these 

issues are remedied, the country looks set 

to struggle to maintain the economic 

advances of recent years; it is achieving 

stability, as well as prosperity, that 

remains the biggest challenge for the new, 

modern Romania. 

R 


FEATURE 

UK Printer & Copier Market 

According to Statista.com the UK is the fourth largest market in 

the world so we have been looking at the data and getting 

feedback from partners in the independent reseller and reuse 

(remanufacturing) channel. 

The numbers 

The UK market for new printer and copier 

sales is the fourth largest in the global 

market but has a year on year decline of 

1%. (source: statista.com) 

In the same period reused printer and 

copier sales is growing and is forecast to 

reach €24 million in 2019 and continue 

to grow through 2021(source: The 

Recycler.com) 

The market channels 

The OEM channel - OEM owned or 

independently owned, but aligned to one 

or more OEM brands. The challenge of a 

slowly, but year on year, declining market 

and increased pressure from OEMs to 

increase margins and profitability. At the 

New sales figures include OEM and newbuild 


same time independent dealers have been 

proactive in offering better deals to 

traditional OEM customers. 

The Reuse channel – Despite the year 

on year market contraction, the sales of 

Reuse product is growing and is expected 

to reach €24 million in 2019 and 

continue to grow through 2021. The 

growth is mainly driven by independent 

copier dealers and IT/VAR companies 

looking to source premium reuse 

products to compete with OEM business 

in the secondary MPS sector. 

The independent channel – In 

September 2018 there were 

approximately 250 dealers. Up 3% on 

2015. Most of the dealers are SME’s and 

ten percent are micro businesses of less 

than 10 employees. 

When it comes to reuse, there is a shift 

away from volume towards margin and 

value. The is a greater emphasis on 

reusing OEM cores, premium 

components to deliver a high quality and 

stable product. As opposed to the highvolume 

low margin model that does not 

deliver value and is difficult to compete 

with imported new build products. 

The low popularity for HP among the 

Reuse community is that the HP brand 

sector is fiercely competitive and margins 

are low or non-existent and other brands 

are more popular. 

Popular Reuse Brands 

• Kyocera Mita 

• Konica Minolta 

• Ricoh 

• Canon 

• Lexmark 

• Sharp 

• Utax 

• Develop 

• Olivetti 

• Brother 

• HP 

• Xerox 

Market view 

Several dealers and remanufacturers we 

spoke with felt that there are good 

aftermarket opportunities and specifically 

in the reuse sector, especially those 

focused on remanufacturing. OEMs like 

Konica Minolta Develop and Lexmark are 

offering “Cartridge Return Programmes” 

and are refilling their own empties so the 

message of “Return & Reuse” is one that 

OEMs and Reuse businesses are seeking 

growth opportunities with. All agreed 

that quality is the key for successful 

placement of Reuse products and when 

you win this business you are invariably 

taking OEM business. 

New build and other imported products 

operate in the budget segment and do not 

have a Reuse ethos. This is the biggest 

threat to the marketplace and impacts on 

OEM and the Reuse community equally. 

The Bob (Bored of Brexit) effect 

Bob (or bored of Brexit) will impact on the 

UK market, but in the absence of a 

negotiated exit it the new sales market 

could contract 2% -3% above the year on 

year decline of 1%. Sales of reuse 

printers, copiers and consumables could 

increase Brexit 

R 

39

WIDE FORMAT COLUMN 

Dye-sub becomes even 

more versatile 

Instead of liquid ink, dye-sublimation uses a gas-conversion process. 

The printing process is becoming easier with machines capable of 

direct printing to media and becoming more attractive for various 

businesses. 

Neal McChristy 

Sublimation is the process of 

converting a solid, such as ink, to gas, 

then back to solid on the media. The 

ink is converted to a gas that disperses 

onto the printed surface using solvent, 

oil or water-based inks, differing with 

the carrier for pigment in the ink. 

Printers can be over five feet (1.524 

metres) wide and usually have piezo 

print heads. Admittedly, many of the 

machines are expensive and in the 

$30,000 (€26,388) range, but some 

are in the $7,000 (€6,158) range and 

some even lower-priced. 

The media is almost endless, 

including performance apparel, soft 

signage, banners, interior décor, 

exhibit graphics, backlit fabrics, 

interior décor and fashion textiles. But 

mouse pads, cellphone covers and even 

coffee cups, too. In fact, about any 

surface can be used, as long as the 

media has a polyester coating. 

Photography has used the process 

for decades, since dye-sub prints 

have brilliant colours unmatched 

with other printing methods. Much 

of the attraction is to have more 

colour “pop,” a wide range of media 

for prints and a diverse amount of 

media for projects. 

Most ink sets used in the 

machines vary from the CMYK inks, 

with CMYO being the standard. The 

“O” stands for overcoating. But in 

addition to CMYK or CMYO, other 

colours from neon yellow to 

turquoise are available in some 

printers. 

Process from 1950’s 

The dye-sublimation process started 

in 1957, when Noel de Plasse, who 

worked for Lainiére de Roubaix, a 

French company, founded a process 

40 

for dye-sublimation printing. Wes 

Hoekstra, formerly of the Jet 

Propulsion Lab (JPL), Pasadena, 

California, USA, invented the 

computer-output sublimation printing 

process using dot-matrix impact 

printers. It wasn’t long after 

electrostatic printing began that 

sublimation solids in toner cartridges 

were being marketed. In the 1990s, the 

advent of ink jet printers inaugurated 

the use of transfers with special ink 

that competed with screen printing. 

Later, Alps Electric, Tokyo, and other 

Japanese companies worked to develop 

the first dye-sublimation printer for 

home use. JVC, Yokohama, Japan, 

released a thermal head heatcontrolled 

dye-sub printer in 1989 and 

JVC marketed re-transfer printing 

machines in 1997. 

Direct-to-fabric newer technique 

In dye-sublimation printing, transfers 

are often used. That involves printing 

an image on a special, coated dyesublimation 

paper, which transfers the 

image to the polyester- material. Then 

the media is run through a device 

called a calendar that fixes the image 

into the material using heat and 

pressure. 

But now new processes are 

eliminating transfer paper and the 

heat-transfer devices in the process, 

such as for fabric. Printers using directto-garment 

printing are becoming 

more numerous in the Wide-Format 

field. 

Flags and soft-sign applications are 

among the capability of this type of 

printing, but making custom garment 

The Epson SureColour F6200 dye-sub printer is one of the more affordable Wide-Format dye-sub 

printers, designed for direct-to-garment printing (Photo courtesy Epson) 

THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 317 • APRIL 2019


The Mutoh RJ-900X Dye Sublimation Printer 

fabric is an option. The material is still 

coated with polyester, and smoother 

materials, such as Poplin, a woven 

fabric, work better than knit. 

Used Wide-Format dye-sub 

printers within reach 

While new Wide-Format dyesublimation 

printers are pricey in terms 

of dollars, pounds or Euros, some 

highly-regarded machines from Epson 

are available used or refurbished at a 

reasonable price. 

For example, for $14,00-17,000 

(€12,314-14,953), online is a Epson 

SureColour F7200 Dye Sublimation 

Printer that prints up to 64 inches at 

634 square feet (59 square metres) per 

hour. The four-colour printer has a 

Wide-Format news in brief 


resolution up to 1440 x 

720 dpi. The piezo print 

head is a one-inch wide 

print head (2.54 cm) 

with 720 nozzles per 

colour. 

For about $7,000- 

$8,500 (€ 6,157- 

7,476), an Epson 

SureColour F6200 44” 

Dye Sublimation printer 

is available. Its fourcolour 

speed is 634 

square feet per hour (59 

square metres per hour) or 119 square 

feet/hour (11.05 square metres/hour) 

for high-quality printing (1440 x 720 

dpi). It was designed exclusively for 

direct-to-garment printing. 

The Mutoh RJ-900X Dye Sublimation 

Printer, at about $8,000 (€7,037), is a 

reasonably-priced printer for a small 

businessman wanting to venture into 

this area. The 44-inch (112 cm) printer 

can create point-of-purchase signs, 

banners, decals, apparel, flags, trade 

show graphics, fine art reproduction 

and outdoor and indoor signage, too. 

It has four colours with 360 nozzles 

per colour, enabling a high-resolution 

printing at 2880 dpi. The speed for 360 

dpi printing is 676 square feet per hour 

(62.8 square metres per hour). R 

3D printing helps bring past to life 

Stratasys and Google Arts and 

Culture are teaming up to recreate 

historical artifacts to share as files 

available for download worldwide. 

The J750 3D Printer from 

Stratasys, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, 

USA, is used because of broad colour 

ranges that yield realistic models – 

over half a million colours and 

materials. 

Google Arts and Culture, formerly 

the Google Art Project, releases 

high-resolution images of artwork 

online and is capitalizing on 

Stratasys technology for this Open 

Heritage Project. The project designs 

and creates historical pieces with 

multi-material and multi-colour 3D 

printed prototypes. 3D printing 

allows these remains to be preserved 

and shared more effectively through 

sharing files worldwide. 

“The project was to explore 

physically making these artifacts in 

an effort to get people hooked and 

excited about seeing pieces in a 

museum or research context. That’s 

when we turned to 3D printing,” 

said Bryan Allen, Design 

Technologist at Google, in a 

Stratasys news release. “With the 

new wave of 3D Printed materials 

now available, we’re able to deliver 

better colours, higher finish, and 

more robust mechanical properties – 

getting much closer to realistic 

prototypes and final products right 

off the machines.” 

Parts distributor and 

solutions provider laser & 

copier remanufacturing 

industry. 

The 

Component 

Engineers 

For Kyocera® 

and OKI® 

As well as Adler®, 

Brother®, Canon®, 

Dell®, Epson®, 

Lexmark®, Minolta®, 

Olivetti®, QMS®, 

Samsung®, Tally®, 

Triump® UTAX® & 

Xerox® 

Contact us now 

for your 

solutions 

info@citbv.com 

call 

+31-514581400 

www.citbv.com 

41


Wide-Format news in brief 

Windows may power office equipment some day – and more 

Energy Department funded research 

and development. Recently, a group 

of National Renewable Energy 

Laboratory (NREL) scientists recently 

made a significant breakthrough in 

solar windows, according to the US 

Department of Energy. 

NREL scientists invented solar 

windows that use thermochromism— 

the property of substances to change 

colour due to a change in 

temperature—to transform from 

transparent to tinted, and convert 

sunlight into electricity in that 

tinted state. 

The innovative switchable photovoltaic 

window is called SwitchGlaze. 

The SwitchGlaze solar windows 

tint at warmer temperatures, 

especially on sunny, hot days, then 

convert sunlight into electricity in 

much the same way conventional 

rooftop solar panels do. 

Solar windows have been available 

for decades, but SwitchGlaze has 

tinted, light-absorbing designs. 

Previous designs were more opaque. 

Lance Wheeler, who joined NREL as 

a postdoctoral research scientist in the 

summer of 2014, discovered the 

property of the perovskites, which 

are highly-efficient material for 

converting sunlight to electricity, 

according to Printed Electronics Now. 

The initial version also used singlewalled 

carbon nanotubes to capture 

the light, along with layers of titanium 

dioxide and tin oxide, Printed 

Electronics Now states. When light hits 

this transparent glass, it prompts the 

release of molecules of methylamine. 

In turn, the glass darkens and as 

meanwhile, electricity is generated. 

The researchers say technology 

absorbs some of the sunlight as it is 

transmitted through the window and 

converts it into electricity, so windows 

act like solar cells. 

When the sun isn’t shining, the 

molecules are reabsorbed, and the 

glass becomes clear again. The 

publication says part of the 

continuing research will center on 

better ways to make the windows 

switch states. 

SwitchGlaze initially converts 

sunlight into electricity at an 

efficiency of 11.3 percent. 

Conventional rooftop solar panels are 

roughly 20 percent efficient, with a 

theoretical maximum of 32 percent. 

Meanwhile solar windows that only 

convert non-visible (infrared and 

ultraviolet) light are limited by a 

theoretical 20 percent efficiency. 

The project is funded for three years, 

according to the US Department of 

Energy. Cost for adding SwitchGlaze 

solar cell layers is expected to be a cost 

cancelled out by the payback from 

energy cells using the windows. In 

addition, the SwitchGlaze tinted 

windows may save on airconditioning. 

R 

FESPA: Wide-Format sustainability customer-driven 

A census by the Federation of 

European Screen Printers 

Associations, Munich, Germany, in 

2018 showed businesses are 

becoming more environmentalconscious 

at the behest of their 

customers. 

Seventy-two percent of printerservice 

providers report having been 

able to invest in sustainability 

without increasing the cost to their 

customer, according to FESPA, 

enabling them to stay competitive 

Lance Wheeler (left), a researcher with the USA's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, holds a 

sample of the SwitchGlaze window. He is pictured with Robert Tenent, the laboratory's programme 

lead for window technology (Photo courtesy USA National Renewable Energy Laboratory) 

while meeting customer demand for 

‘greener’ services. FESPA reports 

that from packaging through to 

advertising and even interior décor, 

“environmental sustainability is 

increasingly high on the agenda for 

consumers and thus for the brands 

and companies they buy from.” 

FESPA reports 32 percent of the 

print census respondents have 

responded to sustainability 

demands with investments in 

energy-efficient or environmentallycertified 

equipment. 

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 R and imaging area. He likes to correspond 

with readers and can be reached at freelance9@cox.net. 


25.–28.1.2020, Frankfurt am Main 

paperworld.messefrankfurt.com 

25-28 January 

2020 

Hall 6.1 – The new 

home of Remanexpo 

for 2020 

See you there! 

Powered by 

Visit www.therecycler.com/live for more information

RETAIL COLUMN 

Balancing opposing 

retail goals 

At this time of year, annual retail goals can seem out of reach. With just a few months into the new 

year, sales and profits are tough to predict. Adding to the difficulty of forecasting the remainder of 

the year, many retail goals are purposefully at odds with one another. The truth is, mature retailers 

have to balance goals that are at cross-purposes to one another to succeed. 

Flora Delaney 

For example, driving sales and 

increasing inventory turns are 

actually at odds with one another. A 

store manager that wants to capitalize 

on every sales opportunity, always 

wants to have a deep well of inventory 

to never risk running out of stock on 

any single SKU. Meanwhile, an 

inventory manager wants to ratchet 

up inventory productivity. The goal is 

to minimise the money invested in 

inventory and increase the speed of 

inventory turnover. They want to keep 

inventory levels as lean as possible – to 

the degree that sales could be at risk. 

In truth, a well-run retail operation 

cannot focus solely on one or the 

other demand. Instead, a savvy 

operator has to balance the risk of 

excess inventory against the risk of 

unmet customer demand. 

How to do that is to balance 

inventory based on “Days of 

Supply.” 

Rather than measuring inventory by 

the case pack or facing, a retailer 

should look at the number of days of 

supply each SKU has on hand. (Some 

retailers measure “on hand” as in the 

store while others only count what is 

merchandised on the shelf.) When a 

retailer can get a delivery every week, 

the usual optimal Days of Supply level 

is ten days. Some SKU’s have a more 

volatile sales rate. That means there 

can be unpredictable large-scale 

purchases, like when a customer 

suddenly loads up on twenty cases of 

paper. In those cases, a smart retailer 

carries more than the standard ten 

days of supply and may target twenty 

Sales 

Sales 

Labour 

Hours 

vs 

vs 

vs 

Loss 

Prevention 

Inventory 

Turns 

Customer 

or more days of supply to cover 

unexpected high-volume purchases. 

For a retailer trying to balance sales 

against the cost of inventory, using 

Days of Supply to drive replenishment 

purchases is the best way to channel 

inventory investments into the bestselling 

items. When vendors entice 

retailers to make deep purchases into 

slow-selling items, Days of Supply gets 

misaligned and inventory capital can 

get stranded for months or years. 

Another opposing set of retail goals 

are loss prevention and sales. To 


guarantee the bare minimum amount 

of shrink in a store, inventory would 

be under lock and key and customers 

would only handle products after 

checking out. Floor models tarnish as 

customers try out printers and they 

have to be sold at a discount – 

sometimes even a loss. Products are 

stolen and broken on the sales floor, 

which all leads to profits draining 

away. Items that are small and 

expensive (like OEM ink cartridges) 

are predictable targets for shoplifters. 

In other words, “shrink.” 

But a sales team knows that 

customers need to hold and handle 

products as part of the selling process. 

A twenty-one year study by Procter & 

Gamble found that shoppers were 

more willing to purchase – and pay a 

higher price – for products they could 

touch and feel than items they could 

not. It is called the “Endowment 

Principle” and it is part of how 

human beings create an emotional 

connection to the things we touch. In 

fact, the mere act of touching or 

holding something begins to create a 

sense of ownership. Imagine the 

ownership you would feel if you were 

holding up a shirt to see if its size and 

then having another shopper take it 

from you. That’s the idea behind 

having customers hold items as they 

move through the sales process. It 

helps them feel ownership and move 

toward a purchase. 

So most retailers balance the need 

for security with sales by using a 

number of theft-deterring tactics. 

Some use locking peg hooks that 

require a store associate to unlock 

merchandise. Clear plastic securitytagged 

“keeper boxes” are common in 

stores that want to showcase their 

merchandise but still keep it safe. RF 

tags inside boxes can set off alarms as 

they pass through the doorway. But in 

the end, securing inventory by 

making it difficult to handle, can have 

a chilling effect on sales. Sales and 

security are a common opposing set of 

retail goals. 

Similarly, payroll hours and 

customer service levels are opposing 

goals that need to be balanced. A store 

manager who wants to provide 

exemplary customer service cannot 

also run a shop with such a lean staff 

that they are unable to devote time to 

talking with customers. A store 

operator who creates a schedule needs 


to acknowledge that the staff cannot 

process deliveries, merchandise and 

clean the store as well as serve 

customers unless there are enough 

hours built into the schedule. 

Overscheduling and then sending 

staff home early will quickly lead to 

high staff turnover. So a manager has 

to build a schedule that will allow 

flexible hours when store traffic is 

high and ensure that staff members 

fill their non-selling time with 

productive tasks around the store. 

As a store owner or manager, it is 

your job to ensure that your team 

understands the idea of balancing 

opposing goals. Too many times, staff 

members get focused on the one goal 

that matters most to them (increasing 

sales or reducing inventory or labor 

hours or theft) and that can be the 

genesis of conflict on the team. Your 

role is to ensure that every person on 

the team understands that there is not 

a single goal that usurps all others. A 

RETAIL COLUMN 

successful retailer can make progress 

against all goals at once. 

One way to ensure that team 

members give appropriate attention to 

balanced goals is to include all goals in 

their personal goal setting for the year. 

If the head of loss prevention is 

rewarded for both reducing shrink 

and the store achieving its sales goals, 

that person is more likely to be flexible 

and creative when solving the 

problem of securing inventory while 

improving sales. Conversely, if the 

Sales Manager is also rewarded for 

reducing shrink, that person may be 

more open to supporting security 

measures even if it means a longer 

sales process on the floor. It is your job 

to help your staff see that opposing 

goals can be achieved in balance. Each 

area that a store measures is 

important. Achieving one goal should 

not be achieved at the cost of missing 

another opposing goal within the 

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. 

45

PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY 

NORTH AMERICA Depot International, 

Remanufactured Printers 

Depot 

International 

expands its 

offerings 

Depot International is expanding 

their sales options to include 

remanufactured, certified 

reconditioned and new OEM 

printers. 

Each printer group provides partners 

with a choice as to what they want for 

their printer fleet. 

Chris Sinibaldi, Senior Vice President 

and General Parts Manager, states, “We 

couldn’t be happier to be able to provide 

our partners with access to quality 

printers through our remanufactured, 

recondition and new OEM programs 

complete with a warranty on the fully 

refurbished units. DPI is renowned for 

our worldwide distribution capabilities, 

and this gives our customers one more 

way to move their business forward with 

the best printer options.” 

The Depot International Remanufactured 

printer is fully restored with any 

broken or defective parts replaced, and 

the unit tested to ensure is in its original 

condition and performance. The 

remanufactured units come with a oneyear 

printer warranty. 

Depot International Certified Reconditioned 

printers are reconditioned using 

the same basic guidelines as the 

manufacturer uses when testing new 

units. All printers are guaranteed to be 

restored to their original working 

condition and performance and come 

with a one-year DPI warranty, assures the 

company. 

With all three printer options, 

remanufactured, certified reconditioned 

and new OEM, Depot International says 

it offers an extensive line of LaserJet 

printers. 

For more information, please visit: 

www.depotintl.com. 


GLOBAL Static Control, Cartridges, New Products 

Static Control launches premium 

replacement cartridges 

The company has announced the release of new premium replacement 

cartridges for use in HP devices. 

Static Control Components explains that 

these new replacement cartridges are 

designed for use in HP LaserJet M203 and 

M227 printer models and “deliver OEMcomparable 

performance in page yield and 

image density.” 

The company also states that these 

replacement cartridges come with Static’s 

two-year warranty. 

At the end of 2018, Static Control released 

a mammoth haul of new products, 

consisting of over 115 replacement chips, as 

well as replacement toner for use in Brother 

cartridges, and an Odyssey drum. 

For more information, go to www.sccinc.com. 

GLOBAL Apex, Chips, Remanufacturing 

Multiple new replacement 

chips from Apex 

The company has unveiled its latest releases for printer models from three major 

OEMs: Epson, HP, and Xerox. 

Among these new releases are new 

replacement chips for use in full colour sets 

of recycled cartridges, designed to be 

compatible with the HP PageWide Pro MFP 

777z/MFP772dn/ 750dw, PageWide Colour 

MFP 774dn/dns/MFP 779dn/dns/755dn, 

and HP PageWide Mngd Clr MFP 

795z+ devices. 

Apex explains that these new SoC-design 

replacement chips are only applicable in 

recycled cartridges, provide “consistent 

performance”, and cover Europe, North 

America, Asia Pacific and South America. 

Apex has also released ASIC-design 

replacement chips for use in full colour sets 

of recycled cartridges designed for Epson 

Expression Home XP-5100/XP-5105 and 

Epson WorkForce WF-2860DWF/WF- 

2865DWF devices. 

As Apex explains, in March 2018, Epson 

released a series of new printers XP- 

5100/WF-2860 series with cartridges 

502/502XL series. This series of printers is 

described as “stylish and compact,” and 

claims to be more cost-effective than 

previous generation printers. The new 

Expression Home XP-5100 will replace the 

Premium XP-540 series and the Home 

XP-442 series, which is functionally 

equivalent and less expensive than the 

Ecotank ET-3700. 

Finally, the company has also unveiled 

SoC-design replacement chips for use with 

cartridges for the Xerox WorkCentre 

3335/3345 and Phaser 3330 machines, with a 

page yield of 3,000 in black. 

The printers themselves hit the market 

in 2016, and boast two formats and 

configuration for customers’ choice. 

According to Apex, this means 

“improvement for customers in the printing 

size, printing speed, toner utilisation rate 

and consumption,” as well as holding a 

physical resolution in 1200*1200 dpi, which 

enables “clear printing and cost saving.” 

All of the above replacement chips 

are promoted as offering “consistent 

performance” whilst being “easy to install in 

recycled cartridges.” 

For more information, visit www. 

apexmic.com. 




NORTH AMERICA LMI Solutions, Cartridges 

New remanufactured cartridges from LMI Solutions 

The company has unveiled a range of remanufactured cartridges for use in various HP machines. 

The first release is a full colour set of 

remanufactured cartridges, for use with the 

HP Colour LaserJet Enterprise M552dn/ 

M553n/M553dn/MFP M553dnm/M553dh/ 

M553x/MFP M577dn/MFP M577dnm/ 

MFP M577f/MFP M577z devices. 

The black cartridge offers a page yield of 

12,000 pages, while the CMY cartridges 

offer a page yield of 9,500 pages. 

The second release from LMI Solutions is 

a full colour set of remanufactured 

cartridges, for use in the HP Colour 

LaserJet Pro M254dw/M254nw/MFP 

M280nw/MFP M281cdw/MFP M281fdn/ 

MFP M281fdw printer models. 

The black cartridge boasts a page yield of 

1,400 pages, with the CMY cartridges 

offering a yield of 1,300 pages. 

For more information, go to 

www.lmisolutions.com. 

NORTH AMERICA Katun, Cartridges 

Katun North America unveils new toner cartridges 

The company has announced the launch of new colour and monochrome toner cartridges for use in both Konica Minolta and 

Kyocera devices. 

The Katun Performance colour toner 

cartridge set for use in Konica Minolta 

C458-series machines provides “excellent” 

colour reproduction. This product has 

been tested and approved in Katun’s 

Research and Development laboratory in 

Minneapolis, Minnesota, to ensure it 

meets Katun’s high image quality and 

performance standards. 

The company continues, “Dealers 

servicing Kyocera Taskalfa and ECOSYS 

applications will be excited to learn Katun 

has introduced reliable toner products 

that can help these dealers become 

more profitable.” 

The new Katun Performance colour 

toner cartridges for the Kyocera 

Taskalfa 3252ci and equivalent 

PLDs offer great print quality and 

excellent colour reproduction. Katun 

Performance monochrome toner 

cartridges for use in Kyocera Mita 

ECOSYS P 3055 DN devices also offer 

outstanding print quality and OEMequivalent 

yields. 


www.katun.com. 

NORTH AMERICA ECS, Cartridges, Remanufacturing 

ECS reveals their new February product release 

The UK-based remanufacturer has been discussing its latest developments in their range of Kyocera Toner Cartridges. 

The latest product release by the 

remanufacturer of the year includes 

three full colour sets of alternative 

Kyocera toner cartridges including 

TK5195, TK5205 and TK5215 sets for use 

with Kyocera TASKalfa 306ci, 356ci and 

406ci respectively. 

The company stated that all 

alternative 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. 

Director Chris Fink said, “We were 

nominated and voted for as 

remanufacturer of the year for a reason. 

Our products are the best on the 

market, and we’ll continue to 

maintain the level of quality, 

performance and reliability in every 

single ECS product.” 

The remanufacturer stated that ECS 

toners as well as OEM products are 

the best options available when it 

comes to achieving the all-important 

quality and performance. Partners can 

be fully confident in ECS products as 

they are 100 percent manufactured in 

the UK, including the filling of the 

products, which is all done in the 

remanufacturer’s own UK based filling 

plants. 

For more information, go to www.ecsuk-ltd.co.uk. 


47


NORTH AMERICA LD Products, 

Cartridges 

New cartridges 

from LD 

Products 

The company has launched a new 

range of “premium quality” new 

build colour cartridges, as part of 

its Gold Line Series. 

According to the company, “these new 

colour cartridges strengthen LD’s 

product portfolio of Gold Line products, 

sold exclusively through copier dealers, 

imaging resellers, and managed print 

providers.” 

The new compatible cartridges are for 

use with the Xerox Workcentre 

C400/C405 series, and come in all four 

CMYK colours. The page yield is 10,500 

pages for black, and 8,000 for CMY. 

LD Products adds that “the LD Gold 

Line series boasts a pristine reputation 

for quality and in 2018, zero colour 

cartridges were returned from customers 

– a 100 percent quality record never 

before seen in the aftermarket. Designed 

by industry experts, the new aftermarket 

colour products offer advanced colour 

matching technology, making print 

output virtually indistinguishable versus 

OEM toner with the human eye.” 

Matt Geisel, Vice President of the 

Channel Partners Division Sales for LD 

Products, said: “Dealers tell us it’s been 

difficult to convert customers who buy 

OEM colour cartridges, so we’ve 

developed a premium quality aftermarket 

alternative for a lot less. Our entire Gold 

Line of monochrome and colour 

cartridges are perfect for dealers looking 

to step up in quality and grow their 

bottom line with an OEM alternative they 

can finally count on”. 

ASIA Ninestar, Cartridges 

These cartridges are designed for use in 

Epson WorkForce Pro WF-C8690a/8190a 

and C8610a models. These printers can 

print a monthly load of between 500 and 

5,000 pages and have an A4 print speed of 

35 pages per minute (ppm). 

These new patented replacement 

cartridges come in a range of page yields, 

varying from 4,600 to 11,500 pages. 

According to Ninestar, the cartridges are 


Ninestar unveils new patented 

replacement cartridges 

The company has announced the release of new patented replacement inkjet 

cartridges for use in Epson devices. 

Announcing the news on its LinkedIn page, 

the company declared that its “fully certified” 

machines have been “fully refurbished in 

our UK workshop,” with all hard-drives 

wiped. Furthermore, all machines are preequipped 

with “new remanufactured and 

OEM consumables fitted.” 

The refurbished Konica Minolta, Olivetti, 

and Develop 22/28/36/45 A3 colour 

machines include a “full set” of toner, 

CMYK drum units and developer units, 

transfer belt and fuser units, feed tyres on all 

cassettes, and ozone and toner filters 

(depending on model). 

also water-proof and UV-resistant and offer a 

“smooth printing experience.” 

For more information go to www. 

ggimage.com. 

EUROPE PCL, Remanufactured Copiers 

PCL Direct offers 

remanufactured machines 

The company has unveiled its range of remanufactured machines under its 

Eco Direct label. 

In recent months, PCL Direct has 

unveiled a range of new products, 

including compatible toner cartridges, 

“OEM modified” imaging units, and 

remanufactured fuser, drum and 

developer units. 

NORTH AMERICA CIG, Cartridges, Remanufacturing 

CIG’s new remanufactured 

cartridges and postage supplies 

Clover Imaging Group has unveiled a set of remanufactured high-yield toner 

cartridges, and remanufactured cartridges for postage machines. 

The black remanufactured high-yield toner 

cartridges are designed for use in the 

Samsung M2625/M2825DW/M2825ND/ 

M2835DW/M2875/M2875DW/M2875FD/M 

2875FW/M2875ND MFP/M2885FW MFP 

devices. They offer a page yield of 3,000 

pages at 5 percent coverage. CIG has also 

released Nu-Post branded remanufactured 

postage metre red ink cartridges, to replace 

the Pitney Bowes SL-798-0. 

This remanufactured postage metre red 

ink cartridge is compatible with the Pitney 

Bowes SendPro C200/C300/C400 printers, 

and offers a yield of 1,500 at 5 percent 

coverage. 

For more information go to 

www.cloverimaging.com. 




EUROPE Kyocera, New MFPs 

KYOCERA releases new MFPs 

With the launch of 7 new TASKalfa SRA3 MFPs - five colour and two mono - KYOCERA Document Solutions says it aims to 

build on its leadership in the A3 print market. 

The new MFPs “succeed a range of market 

leading, multi-award-winning models, and 

will build on their proven strengths of 

reliability, productivity and sustainability by 

targeting information security, user 

experience and high-resolution graphics 

reproduction”, states the company. 

KYOCERA machines dominate the 

fastest growing, 31-44 ppm A3 colour 

market segment, states the OEM, with a 23 

percent share and two machines in the top 

three sales positions. Sales in the broader 

A3 colour MFP market have grown by 63 

percent over the last 5 years, boosting it to 

5th place overall with a market share of 10 

percent, in sometimes challenging market 

conditions. 

“We’re anticipating market needs and 

responding to our customers’ desires with 

this new generation of machines,” explains 

Trevor Maloney, Product Marketing 

Manager at KYOCERA Document 

Solutions UK Ltd. “We’re the biggest player 

in the fastest growing A3 market segment 

for three good reasons - productivity, 

reliability and sustainability. This new 

generation of machines gives customers a 

few more good reasons to choose Kyocera.” 

The new MFPs improve on the old in 

three key areas. In the post GDPR era, 

information security is more important 

than ever and so the new machines come 

ASIA Wide-Format, InkTec, JETRIX 

with IEEE 2600.2 compliance built in, and 

KYOCERA’s innovative Data Security Kit - 

which encrypts data as it is written to the 

hard disk and permanently deletes all data 

after a job is completed - as standard. 

User experience and productivity are also 

significantly improved. There is a new 10.1- 

inch full colour touchscreen hosting a 

tablet-like common user interface. Mobile 

printing and BYOD are fully supported 

through features such as IB35 direct 

wireless interface, with Apple Airprint, 

Google Print and NFC as standard. The new 

MFPs also display ‘instant readiness’. 

Motion sensing and a custom designed 

Kyocera print engine combine to wake the 

machine from sleep mode (zero watts 

consumption) in anticipation of an 

approaching user. And a new 270-page 

document scanner uses ultrasound to 

deliver faultless scanning at up to 220 

pages per minute. 

to their range of roll-to-roll LED-UV flatbed printers. 

The beginning of 2019 sees InkTec 

releasing the eight-channel LXi6 and LXi7 

LED-UV flatbed printers. 

These new high-performance printers 

have been designed and developed to deliver 

high efficiency and will come equipped with 

even more advanced systems than their 

previous counterparts including a smarter 

GUI. The stronger vacuum combined with 

functional and vibrant ink make them 

extremely easy and convenient to use, 

according to the company. 

The smaller LXi6 takes media up to 2.5 x 

1.28m and the LXi7 extends the media size 

up to 2.5 x 3.06m with both offering an 

looking to enter the wide-format or upgrade 

current equipment.Their launch will be 

closely followed this month by the 1.9m 

wide LXiR190. This machine builds on the 

success of the larger LXiR320, but as its 

name suggests is a narrower version. InkTec 

say they have consciously taken the decision 

to adopt this more unusual width so that the 

printer can easily use two 914mm rolls at 

once, which will result in a doubling in the 

production speed of jobs. It prints at a 

maximum resolution of 720 x 1,440 dpi and 

up to speeds of 45sqm/hr, which means the 

printer will be perfect for many roll based 

applications including banners, graphics, 

optional enhanced roll-to-roll option. wall coverings and textiles. The JETRIX 

Capable of top speeds of 78sqm/hr with a 

maximum resolution of 1,080 dpi, both are 

being pitched as the perfect mid-range LED- 

UV flatbed printer for print providers 

LXiR190 is also deliberately economically 

priced, says InkTec, to again encourage 

demand from solvent printers wanting to 

move to UV. 

Finally, this new generation of MFPs 

targets the creative community including 

design, reprographics and prepress studios. 

They deliver a wider colour gamut than 

predecessors, powered by new toner 

technology that generates smaller, more 

uniform toner particles for improved 

definition and vividness. High resolution - 

1200 x 1200 x 2 bit - printing is standard 

output. Full bleed A3 printing is supported, 

as is printing with crop marks, on stock up 

to 300 gsm. 

All of the machines can be easily 

integrated into existing workflows and 

tailored to meet the specific needs of 

an organisation by using KYOCERA’s 

open software platform, HyPAS. Reliability 

is “legendary”, says KYOCERA, as 

evidenced by the BLI ‘Most Reliable Copier 

Brand’ awarded 2018-2021. Sustainability 

and environmental performance is 

“outstanding” adds the OEM. 30 percent of 

plastic parts come from recycled materials 

and 99 percent of plastic parts are 

recyclable. The print drum last up to 

600,000 impressions, reducing landfill. 

And low toner melting points, zero power 

standby and other innovations mean 

these devices continue to set benchmarks 

for sustainability and reduced waste, 

oncludes KYOCERA. 

InkTec unveils new JETRIX printers 

The South Korean company is starting 2019 as they mean to go on, with the release of three new JETRIX printers, adding 

Ben Woodruff, Head of JETRIX Sales says: 

“These newest machines encompass 

everything that is great about the introduction 

of LED technology. They are more 

environmentally friendly, more efficient to 

run, eliminate the need for frequent lamp 

replacement and more importantly create 

cost savings. They will be officially launched 

at Sign & Digital UK, however while these 

printers do see InkTec venturing into new 

areas, initial conversations have been 

extremely positive. We are therefore 

predicting that with the introduction of these 

new machines, that 2019 will see a lot more 

JETRIX printers in the UK.” 

The printers will be officially launched at 

Sign and Digital UK, NEC Birmingham on 

stand G20 from 2nd– 4th April 2019. 

For more information, go to www.inkteceurope.com. 


49



NORTH AMERICA Metrofuser, Packaging 

Metrofuser reveals new upgraded packaging 

Metrofuser, a U.S.-based technology solutions company, has announced it is introducing ProPack, a new packaging 

system, across its line of printer parts. 

Featuring its first ever retail box, the 

upgraded packaging is part of an extensive 

rebranding exercise which will see the 

company transition from its brown box to a 

single, common identity for its aftermarket 

businesses. 

Since 2003, Metrofuser says the 

company has been committed to improving 

quality and value at every level. Metrofuser 

worked with packing engineers to develop 

high-quality packaging designed to convey 

and extend brand quality while maintaining 

anonymity for its customers. 

The ProPack protects printer parts post 

sale and fulfils the company’s desire to 

provide a container aesthetically able to set 

its product apart from the brown box 

competitors in the industry, explains 

Metrofuser. 

The retail branded box design follows 

extensive research with the company’s 

global customer base. During this time a 

number of different boxes and label options 

were researched with customers across 

North and South America. The result was 

improved brand equity and an incremental 

reduction to damage in transit. 

“While inspiring confidence in 

technicians,” declares Metrofuser, “ProPack 

also offers a vital competitive advantage to 

resellers that are selling in a market filled 

with traditional brown boxed packaging. 

Non descriptive artwork promises to 

maintain anonymity for the installer and 

resellers while communicating greater 

equity.” 

ProPack Will Be Implemented on 

Metrofuser’s 

• Laser Printer Fuser 

• Transfer Belts 

• Paper Trays 

• Optional Paper Feeders 

• Maintenance Kits 

• Printers 

“We’re excited with the outcome,” said 

Will DeMuth, Co-President, Metrofuser. 

“The new packaging is clean, fresh and 

modern. It reflects the new brand identity 

and product quality. ProPack will protect 

blind drop shipping resellers as well as 

protecting our parts.” 

Creating a design that will display 

prominently on its customer’s shelves was 

just one of many factors the company 

considered, in order to arrive at a 

significantly enhanced packaging solution. 

“We know that quality is important, so we 

have invested in a new design for protection 

during transport and storage,” adds 

DeMuth. “We also know that every square 

inch on our customer’s shelves counts, so 

we are improving the size and orientation 

of our boxes too. Optimising shelf space 

and reducing waste makes for a more 

customer friendly solution. 

“Metrofuser and Hughes Enterprises 

have been partnering for over 10 years in 

producing the highest quality packaging.” 

said Neal Magaziner, President, Hughes 

Enterprises. “Our joint focus has been on 

sustainability, protection, cube reduction 

and graphic design. The team at Metrofuser 

came to us with a bold new concept for their 

Fuser corrugated boxes to help provide their 

customers’ products with a fresh, new retail 

look. Working with our design and art 

departments we were able to help take their 

vision and display it on their new 

packaging. It is a pleasure to continue to 

partner with this forward thinking 

company.” 


www.metrofuser.com. 

NORTH AMERICA Epson, Voice Activation, Printing 

Epson broadens voice-activated printing support 

Epson America, Inc. has added voice-activated printing compatibility with Google Assistant and Siri. 

Epson EcoTank, WorkForce and 

Expression printers are now compatible 

with three popular voice assistant 

platforms, including Amazon Alexa. 

Epson printer users can now ask Google 

to print a variety of items, including 

useful paper for school such as graph 

paper and ruled paper, colourful designed 

paper for stationary or creative projects, 

scrapbooking embellishments, calendars, 

and seasonal designs. Instead of running 

to the store, says the OEM, now you can 

just print what you need when you need it. 

With the Epson iPrint app, users can 

now install convenient shortcuts on their 

iOS device to save steps when printing 

and scanning. Need a quick print? Take a 

picture and ask Siri to print it. Your photo 

will be ready in seconds; you don’t even 

have to be anywhere near your printer. 

Need to scan a document? Ask Siri to scan 

it with your phone, tablet or Epson printer. 

Not sure how much ink you have left? Ask 

Siri to show you. 

“Our customers have overloaded daily 

routines and are always looking for ways 

to save time and quickly get errands 

done,” said Jack Rieger, Senior Product 

Manager of Software and User 

Experience, Epson America. “By 

expanding compatibility with some of the 

top smart home voice assistants, Epson is 

committed to making printing and 

scanning easier and more efficient for all 

of our busy customers.” 

With simple voice commands, Epson 

says this technology helps increase busy 

families’ productivity by allowing them to 

print and scan on-demand, without 

having to navigate software and menus. 

The new Epson printer actions for Google 

Assistant and Epson iPrint Siri Shortcuts 

enable users to take advantage of voice 

assistant technology for their common 

printing and scanning needs. 


www.epson.com. 




EUROPE Uninet, Nordic Swan, New Products 

UniNet announces Nordic Swan certification 

The company has revealed it has been officially certified by Nordic Swan, and launched a range of new products, 

including newly approved toner formulations. 

UniNet says the company has “stepped up 

its commitment to environmental and 

sustainability issues” with the achievement 

of the European LGA Certification [tested 

for toxins and contaminants] and has 

and replacement cartridges for use in 

various OEM devices. 

Among these is newly-released Absolute 

Color toner, components and replacement 

cartridges for use the Ricoh Aficio MPC 

accordingly launched Nordic Swan 406/306/305 colour printer series, and the 

approved products. 

According to UniNet, this certification 

greatly benefits the company’s European 

market by providing pre-qualified toner for 

use in cartridges tested to Nordic Swan 

requirements. Nordic Swan approval allows 

distributors to provide Eco Labeled toner 

cartridges, which UniNet says will boost 

customers’ confidence in the safety and 

quality of these toner products. 

Kyocera ECOSYS M 5521/5526 and P 

5021/5026 colour printer series. 

The Ricoh Aficio MPC 406 is a 

multifunction colour laser printer rated at 

42ppm, with printing, copying and 

scanning capabilities, and featuring a 

600x600 dpi resolution, whilst the Kyocera 

ECOSYS M 5521 is a compact and 

multifunction colour laser printer rated at 

22 ppm for both colour and monochrome, 

The newly-launched products consist of incorporating printing, copying and 

Absolute Black and X Generation toner 

formulations for use in a wide variety of 

engines brands and models such as HP P 

1005, HP 700 M 725/712, Kyocera TaskAlfa 

820/620, Kyocera Ecosys P3066, Epson 

Aculaser M2400/2300, and Ricoh Aficio 

MP 601/501, among over 120+ toner 

formulations approved. 

They are not the only new products 

recently unveiled by UniNet, with the 

company also releasing toner, components, 

scanning capabilities, and featuring a 

1200x1200 dpi resolution. According to 

UniNet, both printers were designed to 

“satisfy the printing needs of small and 

home office printing environments.” 

The Absolute Color toner for use in 

the above machines is described as a 

“high-quality formula, offering superior 

consistency and vibrant quality colours,” 

with UniNet explaining that it offers “a 

complete product solution to serve the 

NORTH AMERICA Canon, imageCLASS, MFPs 

New imageCLASS MFPs from Canon 

The OEM has expanded its imageCLASS portfolio with two new models aimed at small businesses. 

Canon USA has announced the launch 

of the new imageCLASS D1650 and 

D1620 compact, black-and-white, 

multifunction printers. Designed for 

small-to-medium sized workgroups in 

environments ranging from law firms to 

purchasing departments to accounting 

firms, the new imageCLASS models claim 

to balance “speedy performance, minimal 

maintenance, and the ability to expand 

paper capacity to help give power users 

an edge.” 

“Businesses aim to boost productivity 

by streamlining workflow operations so 

they can focus their time and energy on 

their core business and spark strategic 

innovation,” says Shinichi Yoshida, 

executive vice president and general 

manager, Canon USA. “The new 

imageCLASS models contribute to 

Canon’s continued dedication to providing 

trusted, workflow-essential solutions with 

features designed to fit workgroup needs.” 

The imageCLASS D1650 and D1620 

models offer out-of-thebox, 

standard, two-sided 

printing and scanning. 

Both models feature a 

five-inch touchscreen, 

designed to deliver “an 

intuitive and customisable 

user experience that will 

ultimately help to simplify 

daily tasks.” A legal-sized 

platen glass accommodates diverse size 

scanning and copying needs. The models 

also support certain mobile solutions for 

those employees printing and scanning on 

the fly, as well as the ability to scan and 

convert documents to searchable digital 

files through a single-pass, duplex 

document feeder. 

With security becoming a growing 

concern among employers, the new 

imageCLASS models also help to protect 

confidential data. With the D1600 

models, designated administrators can 

set security settings, control device 

needs of MPS providers and remanufacturers” 

of the Kyocera cartridges. 

The black toner cartridge boasts a 2,600 

page yield, while the CMY cartridges offer 

2,200 pages at an average of 5 percent page 

coverage. 

UniNet says, “These cartridges offer MPS 

providers and remanufacturers a greater 

value product to improve their profits, 

because they are considered easy to 

remanufacture cartridges; just needs to 

refill toner and add the smart chip.” 

Finally, UniNet has introduced Absolute 

MICR Toner for use in the Okidata B 

730/720 monochrome printer series. 

UniNet says it offers premium quality 

Absolute MICR toner (Magnetic Ink 

Character Recognition) for use in the 

Okidata B 730/720, “exclusively formulated 

for printing checks, and featuring superior 

image quality and unmatched adhesion.” 

According to UniNet, this MICR Toner 

formulation guarantees “unparalleled” 

performance, meets banking industry 

check clearing systems/standards, and 

follows ANSI/ABA specifications. 

For further information, please visit 

www.uninetimaging.com. 

access, restrict function 

use to certain employees, 

and oversee usage 

behaviour to mitigate 

misuse. The security 

settings stay protected 

behind an administrator 

log-in to help avoid 

tampering or altering by 

unauthorised employees. 

Further, documents are only stored in 

short-term memory to help mitigate risk 

of confidential information loss by 

limiting the accessibility of certain 

documents to a specific short time 

window. 

Recognising that businesses critically 

require a reliable equipment experience 

and maintain an essential need to 

minimise workflow-disrupting downtime, 

Canon backs both products with a 

three-year limited warranty, which is 

supported by Canon’s own 100 percent 

US-based service and support network. 


51

marketplace or 

To advertise here 

Call: 01993 899800 

email: info@therecycler.com 

The 

TONER MANUFACTURER 

COLLECTOR 

COLLECTOR 

CBC (Europe) GmbH 

toner@cbc-europe.com 

Tel: +49 211 530670 

www.cbc-europe.com 

FBO Organisation, S.L. 

fbo@fbo-org.com 

Tel: +34 936724863 

www.fbo-org.com 

LVL 

bp.sales@lvlcartridge.com 

Tel: +33 251709249 

www.lvl.fr 

REMANUFACTURER 

RESELLER 


wta Carsten Weser GmbH 

info@wta-suhl.de 

Tel: +49 3681 4529710 

www.wta-suhl.de 

Copyclic 

info@copyclic.com 

Tel: +33 01 60 78 78 78 

www.copyclic.com 

Integral GmbH 

info@integral-international.de 

TEL: + 49 (0) 28 33 60 60 

www.integral-international.de 

MARKET INTELLIGENCE 

COLLECTOR/SUPPLIER – EMPTIES 

SUPPLIER 

LightWords Imaging 

admin@lightwords.co.uk 

Tel: +44 1270 878850 

www.lightwordsimaging.com 

Eco Wave Trade Pvt. Ltd. 

info@ecowavetrade.com 

Tel: +919971533209, 

+919810899501 

www.ecowavetrade.com 

TOKO Srl 

toko@toko.ro 

Tel: +40212327270 

www.toko.ro 

SUPPLIER 

BROKER AND RECYCLER 


Freckles Ltd 

info@freckles.bg 

Tel: +359 2 955 5560 

www.freckles.bg 

The Greener Side 

info@greener-side.co.uk 

Tel: +44 1427 700 700 

www.greener-side.co.uk 

Primedia Products 

tmiller@primediamicr.com 

Tel: +1 304-277-2050 

www.primediamicr.com 


To advertise here 

Call: 01993 899800 

or email: info@therecycler.com 

marketplace 

Airbags for Toner 

Cartridges 

Ideal for 

packing 

and repacking 

toner cartridges 

•Universal and reusable 

•Fast, free delivery throughout the EU 

•European stocks at affordable prices 

•Terms available 

Visit our new webstore now! 

www.tonerpak.com 

ETIRA: WORKING FOR ALL REMANUFACTURERS AND PARTNERS 

ETIRA membership 

benefits include: 

Email d.connett@candugbr.com 

to find out about an EU based 

solution to handle 10,000 tons 

per year. 


Meeting new clients and partners at our 

network meetings! 

A strong fight against clever chips, unfair 

patents,waste transport rules etc.! 

PR-work to tell the world about 

remanufactured cartridges and why they are 

good for both consumers and the environment! 

Promotion of top-quality remanufacturing 

(standardisation)! 

Join our business Code of 

Conduct, and sell more 

cartridges thanks to our logo! 

Meeting 60 top 

remanufacturers already 

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

ETIRA brings the remanufacturing 

Industry together. Be part of the family! 

Grieglaan 7 • 4837 CB Breda • The Netherlands 

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

info@etira.org 

www.etira.org 

53

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THE RECYCLER - ISSN 2045-2047 

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20 March 2019 

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