The Recycler Issue 322

Monitoring printers 

is no longer for 

large and medium 

companies 

There are no more technical excuses not to 

monitor the printers of all customers. Antonio 

Sanchez Navarro, Head of Nubeprint, gives an 

insight into the new device monitoring solutions. 

Starts page 4 

SEPTEMBER 2019 

Issue 322 | £10 

A tale of two Clovers 

Clover has been in the news recently 

following the down grading by Moody’s. 

Page 10 

Court finds in favour of Itone 

Following a complaint by Itone Managing 

Director, Sandeep Sanghvi of a breach of 

the Itone trademark, raids were carried out 

at various premises in Mumbai and Kolkata. 

Page 14 

HP leads the firmware wars 

In 2018 nine OEMs issued 989 firmware 

upgrades. HP alone issued 371 

firmware updates. 

Page 16 

CET reports on distributor conference 

CET Group held their “Quality Wins the 

Future” distributor conference on 29 June 

2019 at the Minshan Hotel, Chengdu, 

China 

Page 25

EDITORIAL 

Welcome to our 

new look magazine 

Over the summer we have been working 

hard with the design team on the refreshed 

look. I hope you like it. 

While you were taking your holiday this 

summer we have been busy finalising our 

two years of Brexit planning. I appreciate 

that we are all bored of Brexit, but alas 

the exit of the United Kingdom from the 

European Union will impact on many 

businesses. Ours included. The Recycler 

is published and printed in the UK, so 

mailing, import duties on paper, VAT rule 

changes, customs delays and paperwork 

are all factors we have had to consider. 

The good news is that whatever the 

outcome on the 31 st October, The Recycler, 

like Baldrick of Black Adder fame, has a 

“cunning plan” to keep the 

pressing running. 

Monitoring 

Whatever the size of your business or the 

size of your customers monitoring your 

customers printer and IT is a key part of 

the market as contractual sales account for 

around fifty percent of consumables sales 

in Europe and while the market is 

contracting, contractual sales is growing. 

Nubeprint CEO, Antonio Sanchez writes 

in this issue that “there are no more 

technical excuses not to monitor the 

printers of all customers.” You can read 

his article on page 4. 

Clover 

By the time you read this magazine the 

Clover saga may be a settled issue or it may 

still be prominent in the media. It is clear 

from the feedback that we have received that 

there is cause for concern from customers 

and suppliers across the industry. Clover 

Imaging Group, the toner remanufacturing 

business has been energetic in telling 

everyone that they are sound, its business 

as usual and the problems of their parent, 

4L Technologies / Clover Imaging can’t, 

don’t or won’t affect them. 

Rumours abound about different 

potential scenarios, but we do know that 

a potential buyer for the Clover Imaging 

Group is waiting in the wings. If the deal 

happens it will have just broken as we 

mailed the magazine, or it is about to break. 

Or it didn’t happen! 

Counterfeits 

No “ifs” or “buts”, counterfeiting is a 

crime, don’t do it. If you do and you get 

caught you deserve everything that happens 

to you. Here at The Recycler if we hear you 

are involved in counterfeiting we will report 

what we know to the authorities. No “ifs” 

or “buts”, counterfeiting takes legitimate 

business away from the whole market which 

is made up of people working hard to deliver 

quality products, run their business and 

support their families. So for the avoidance 

of doubt we will report what we know 

to the authorities. 

Firmware 

In 2018 the OEMs issued 989 firmware 

updates. That is 2.7 each and every day. HP 

leads the OEMs issuing 371 updates, or just 

over 1 each and every day. Why so many? 

It could be that they products are just so bad 

Issue 322 September 2019 

▲ Stefanie Unland Editor 

& Publisher, The Recycler 

they need to issue so many, but the reality 

is that many of these firmware updates are 

really not necessary and are used to lock out 

the printer owners, you know the consumer 

that bought the printer in good faith, choice 

to choose the consumables they want to use 

in their printer. 

Why do I think that? They (the OEMs) 

know that every time they lock out non- 

OEM consumables the printer owner is 

forced to buy OEM consumables. Now 

let’s be clear when this happens the 

consumer (the person who bought the 

printer) is forced, as in did not chose, to 

buy OEM consumables. That is just wrong 

on every level. 

For the aftermarket that invest millions in 

providing a genuine choice for consumers, 

they are also impacted commercially. 

For the OEMs reading this, when you 

do this might think it is a form of tennis, 

scoring points off the aftermarket each time 

they provide an alternative solution that the 

owners of your printers want. But the reality 

is you are using your dominant position to 

abuse consumers. 

Firmware Forum 

The Recycler is organising a Firmware 

Forum bringing together the widest 

cross section of the industry and market 

to explore the best ways to protect the 

consumers right to choose the consumables 

they want. 

To find out more see page 25 or email my 

colleague Joe at joe.reader@therecycler.com. 

■ 

3

FEATURE 

Monitoring printers is no longer 

for large and medium companies 

There are no more technical excuses not to monitor the printers of all customers. Just the certainty 

that soon all of them will be monitored by one company: yours or your competitor. Antonio Sanchez 

Navarro, Head of Nubeprint, gives an insight into the new device monitoring solutions. 

Managed print services (MPS) is a young 

industry that in a short period of time 

has shaken the printing industry. Not too 

long ago the copier dealers had to send a 

technician to collect the counters to bill 

their customers. The most “advanced” ones 

had postcards that their customers had to 

fill out every month and then mail them or 

fax them. 

When a customer needed a cartridge, he 

would have to call. But those days ended 

when the first data collection agent was 

launched in year 2000 by a Spanish start-up 

that I founded. Thanks to this, nowadays 

almost 100 percent of the printers of 

large companies are under contracts 

that monitor the printers and provide 

replenishment of the cartridges. 

Over time, our technical capacity has 

evolved to the point that now we can even 

use the smartphone to collect the data. 

Indeed, Nubeprint has published an App 

for both iOS and Android systems that 

automatically identifies the printers and 

shares the data with the PC of the dealer. 

It is free for download from AppStore and 

FEATURED 

A R TIC L E 

PlayStore. This App for mobile phones 

has amazing consequences in the printing 

industry that we will analyse. 

A little bit of history 

Up until now anyone that wanted to 

monitor printers would have to fight and 

deal with the hassle of installing an agent 

in a PC, a Mac or a server. In the best 

scenario, he could acquire a CPMBox 

which is a network connect plug-and-play 

device with a data collector embedded. But 

the cost would prevent one from using it to 

monitor individual printers or copiers with 

low printing volume. As a consequence, the 

market of small customers has remained 

virgin from any printing related contract. 

According to IDC, the MPS market can 

not grow any more among large companies, 

and there is still some room to grow 

among medium sized companies where its 

penetration is around 50 percent. But this 

market segment is the target of most dealers 

and of the OEMs. The competition here 

is extremely tough, and price is almost the 

only argument that the customers consider. 

The only opportunity left is then small 

customers and even domestic customers. 

Yes, domestic. Why not? The small ticket 

segment is the most profitable from a 

margin view point. The customers here do 

not have purchase capacity to negotiate the 

price: they buy little quantity at a decent 

margin for the resellers. 

You may argue that, though the margin is 

good, the cost to sell is high because one 

must dedicate a big effort to make a single 

cartridge sale. I agree. But I propose you 

look at it from the opposite perspective: 

you just have to find the way to reduce your 

selling costs, just as Amazon did. 

In the early 2000s we had to face a similar 

issue when we decided to do cost per 

page massively for printers. There was no 

question to go and grab the counter printer 

by printer at the customer. So we invented 

an automated way to capture the data from 

the printers remotely, through what we 

called DACER, which nowadays we all 

know by DCA or data collection agent. 

Once we solved the problem of collecting 

the data, we had to learn how to process 

it. As a result, the advanced MPS tools 

are now able to identify in advance when 

a printer will need a supply, handle its 

replenishment, avoid double shipment 

and even control the performance of 

each cartridge as a way to ensure that the 

MPS contract is profitable for the service 

provider or for the dealer. Most people 

that did not give attention to measure the 

profitability are now out of the market. 

There is no doubt that MPS has automated 

the copier and office printing industry. 

Though many dealers have disappeared 

to the roadside because they did not 

understand that the basics of a cost per 

page contract are to control the cost, those 

few that learned quickly how to manage 

4 Issue 322 September 2019

You can contact visit www.therecycler.com The Recycler via Twitter for at all @RecyclerMedia 

the breaking news 

the information have now happy owners 

that are millionaires. 

The monitoring technology created new 

opportunities and new ways to do business 

in the printing industry. It brought cost 

control, efficiency and common sense. 

But the barriers to expand monitoring 

to small ticket size customers have kept 

50 percent of the install base of printers 

blocked from those benefits. Still today, 96 

percent of the companies with less than 10 

employees have no contract whatsoever to 

manage their printers. The market has been 

waiting for a way to collect data effortless. 

Now that this is a reality, I bet that the 

MPS service will expand to all resellers 

and retailers that manage the small ticket 

cartridge transactions. 

The printer user experience 

Indeed, the customer demands a new user 

experience which is very often baulked 

at the need to handle the supplies. Some 

OEMs such as HP are being very successful 

in pushing an auto supply replenishment 

service. The customer does not have to 

worry any more about toner low, or about 

finding the right SKU for their printer. The 

OEM ships the cartridge automatically 

to them. The technology that makes this 

possible only sends the monitoring data to 

the OEM and for the printers of this OEM, 

which means that the other manufacturers 

of supplies and the channel in general, the 

retailers and resellers, must find their own 

alternative if they want to participate in 

this business. 

By the way, by not participating means 

one is resigning their customers to the 

competition. A white label solution is 

available in the market. The collection of 

data from the printers is done using an 

App for mobile phones and works for all 

printers, no matter who the manufacturer 

is. The deployment is easy and free from 

any barrier: the end-customer downloads 

the App in their smartphone and, as a 

consequence, monitoring starts. The 

license that he gets from the reseller triggers 

the auto replenishment service. The reseller 

sees from remote the level of toner and can 

define thresholds to get the low-level alerts 

that trigger the shipment of cartridges. 

In other words, once the App is installed 

in the smartphone of the customer, the 

reseller views the printer’s data and can 

provide unlimited MPS services. 

As the capacity to monitor the printers 

becomes universal, there is a great 

opportunity for those still selling printer 

supplies as transactional to build a layer of 

services around the cartridge. Such services 

increase the loyalty of the end-customer 

and even ensures the recurrence of the sale. 

Some OEMs such as HP are being very 

successful in pushing an auto supply 

replenishment service. 

Monitored sales 

Let us take the example of a cartridge 

remanufacturer that decides to promote 

their products in combination with a 

monitoring service. They do this by 

inviting all the purchasers to install the 

Nubeprint App in their mobile phone 

through a label that is placed on all their 

cartridges. The customer registers in a 

very simple way by downloading the App 

in their mobile phone. This then gives 

visibility to the remanufacturer of when 

the printers of that user will need toner or 

ink, and, as a consequence, they will obtain 

a competitive advantage: they know what, 

when and who needs to buy a cartridge 

and can then send their offer at the right 

moment to the right person. 


5

FEATURE 

Monitored sales is like fishing in a small 

pond full of starving fishes. You can not 

lose unless you do not have the right food. 

Automatic Supplies 

Replenishment 

But one can increase the level of service. 

Let us say that the customer is happy to 

receive a new cartridge when needed, 

without having to confirm it each time. 

The end-customer is now demanding an 

auto-supply replenishment service from his 

reseller: when he needs a toner cartridge 

he expects that the reseller will ship it and 

charge his credit card automatically. 

When the printers are being monitored, 

this is easy to handle as long as the MPS 

tool used is highly accurate and does not 

generate false shipment alerts, and that it 

handles ALL the supplies, not only the 

toner but also the drums, waste container 

or even the fuser. But if the data collector 

agent is difficult to install and not reliable, 

then this service is not be possible: every 

time the reseller stops receiving monitoring 

information, there is the risk that the 

printer stops. The unhappy customer will 

then soon cancel the ASR service. 

In small customers the risk for this to 

happening is huge. In average, the data 

collector must be re-installed two to three 

times a year. This number multiplies in 

smaller customers. So ASR requires a data 

collector that is easy to install and reliable. 

The data collector embedded in an App for 

smartphones is the best ever developed for 

this market segment. All small customers 

have smartphone and use it for all kind 

of activities related to their business (see 

their bank account, access the services 

of some of their suppliers such as utility 

services, read and respond their emails…). 

The monitoring App makes the life of the 

printer user easier: not only the reseller can 

ship the cartridge automatically to him, 

but he can also control the actual needs of 

his printers and the performance of what 

he buys (in this world, the performance of 

the cartridge is how many pages it really 

prints). 

The retailer 

But while MPS traditionally has been a 

service for companies, the fact is that the 

domestic market is already demanding it. 

Indeed, the first version of HP’s Instant 

Ink auto replenishment cartridge program 

is for domestic users, and soon we will see 

it expanding to small professional users. 

The retailers must assume that, when a 

device (whatever) is connected to internet, 

this device will sooner or later be under the 

control of a company, and that company 

will be the only one that delivers the 

supplies. 

From the moment in which an HP printer 

is installed and the end-user activates the 

Instant Ink service, the only one that ships 

the ink to that printer is HP. Since 2017, 

all the printers manufactured are network 

The data collector embedded in an App 

for smartphones is the best ever developed 

for this market segment. 

connectable. When you see the word 

“WiFi” in a printer, you must know that 

this is a network connected printer. This 

means that the one that is able to monitor 

the millions of printers sold yearly to 

domestic users will be worthy of supplying 

the cartridges. This is a big cake! 

The printing industry is shrinking. But it 

is not because the number of pages printed 

diminishing. The main reason is the 

customer is captive by someone who offers 

a service (MPS). And when this happens, 

the other resellers can either wait until the 

contract signed by the customer expires, 

or must make a triple commercial effort 

trying to convince the customer to come 

back and buy from them. 

While the cartridge and the printer is 

a democratic product (meaning, there 

are no major difference between them 

perceived by the customer), the service 

such as “monitored sale”, “ASR” or “Cost 

per Page” creates loyalty and keeps the 

customer buying from a certain company 

just because their user experience is 

satisfactory. Monitoring the printers gives 

the reseller actual information about the 

needs of its customers that, if used in the 

appropriate way, ties the customer more 

strongly than any signed contract or lowest 

price. 

If you are a reseller selling to small 

customers or a retailer, you may want to 

be the first to offer monitoring solutions 

to your customers. There are no more 

technical excuses not to do so. Just the 

certainty that soon all your customers will 

be monitored by one company: yours or 

your competitor. ■ 


You can contact The Recycler via Twitter at @RecyclerMedia 


7

IN THIS ISSUE 

On the cover 

Monitoring printers is no longer for large and medium companies 

Toner: Quality v Price 

34 

W0W shredding comes online 

04 

36 

Editorial 

03 Welcome to our new look magazine 

Feature 

04 Monitoring printers is no longer 

for large and medium companies 

World Focus 

10 A tale of two Clovers 

11 Zhuhai customs take action 

12 HP seizes counterfeit products 

in Germany and Asia • Ugandan 

authorities destroy tonnes of 

counterfeit goods 

14 Court finds in favour of Itone 

• CarboTechRea and Eurecum 

enter new partnership. 

16 HP leads the firmware wars 

17 Australia goes Amazon 

18 Amazon uses blockchain to stop 

counterfeits? 

City News 

20 OEM share prices August 2019 

• Ninestar Interim H1 Results 

21 Happyprinting gains investor 

22 Canon Q2 sales down 

• Laser Image Plus Imaging 

Products sold 

Around the Industry 

24 ECS discourages WEEE 

‘Free Riders’ 

25 CET reports on distributor 

conference 

26 GM Technology receives 

certifications • New European 

distributor for R-JetTek 

27 Zhono wins IP award • HYB 

honours distributors 

28 Ninestar celebrates 19 years, 

product verification and raising 

money for charity and expands 

in Germany 

29 Australian court quashes 

Epson reuse 

30 DMC Canotec supports 

inspirational melanoma patient 

• ISO certification for Convena 

31 CTS celebrates with expansion 

• Johan Nieuwoudt joins RTS 

Imaging 

32 Integral looking to expand 

relationships • New "Paperworld 

Office Village" announced 

33 Static Control honoured by NC 

Department of Labor 

Feature 

34 Toner: The Quality v Price 

Conundrum 

36 W0W shredding comes online 

Products & Technology 

38 Apex showcases latest releases 

• ECS product spotlight 

39 IR Italiana Riprografia’s latest 

products • Ninestar launches toner 

reload kit 

40 CET launches new products 

• Ecoservice reveals latest products 

41 Utec announces latest products 

• Armor reveals latest products 

42 Katun Europe introduces new 

products • UniNet unveils latest 

products 

43 LMI showcases latest products 

• Lexmark extends SMB offering 


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WORLD FOCUS 

GLOBAL Clover, Business, Financials 

A tale of two 

Clovers 

Clover has been in the news recently 

following the down grading by Moody’s 

the credit ratings company. 

Two whammies come along and sends 

Clover reeling. Whammy number one was 

the HP-Xerox tie-up which is expected 

to impact Clover as they are currently 

a significant supplier to Xerox of HP 

products used in Xerox MPS programmes. 

Whammy number two, on the smartphone 

side of the business, and as the Wall Street 

Journal (subscription) reported a substantial 

customer, AT&T, had “decided to fulfil 

[their] requirements for refurbished older 

units by purchasing them directly from 

the OEM.” The loss of these two business 

streams is estimated to be in the order 

of $100 million 

4L Technologies 

Clover number one is in fact 4L 

Technologies, the parent company that 

owns the Clover Group and the “boy done 

good” that has grown by acquisition over 

the last eighteen years or so. We all know 

someone who made their fortune selling 

out to Clover and secretly we all wish we 

had walked in those shoes. 

As Clover grew, it borrowed $700 million 

(€624 million) to fund a $278 million 

(€248 million) special dividend [according 

to Bloomberg $100 million (€89 million) 

in 2013 and $178 million (€159 million) 

in 2014] to their shareholders. Golden Gate 

Capital is the largest. The balance of the 

loan was used to pay off the prior loan and 

fund an acquisition. This loan falls due in 

June 2020. The Recycler understands that 

Clover tried to refinance their loan last May 

and offered a good premium, rumoured 

to be 9 percent – 10 percent, but there were 

no takers. 

According to the Wolf Street Blog “Slices 

of that leveraged loan are traded like 

securities. But because leveraged loans are 

loans, not securities, the SEC does not 

regulate them. No one regulates them. 

As far back as 2016 Golden Gate and 

Clover have been considering their exit 

options. The loss of the two big customers 

means that Clovers expects that they will 

not meet their revenues forecast. Hence the 

credit downgrading and the appointment 

of legal advisors Kirkland & Ellis LLP and 

investment bank Jefferies LLC to assess 

the balance sheet alternatives and strategic 

options for the company. 

Clover Imaging Group 

The second Clover is Clover Imaging 

Group (CIG), the subsidiary that collects, 

remanufactures and sells the imaging 

products we all know so well. Add in 

Clover Wireless who do something similar 

for mobile devices and you have the main 

revenue earners of Clover. 

As the news broke about 4L 

Technologies, CIG moved to puts distance 

between the parent companies’ woes and 

CIG’s CEO and President jointly issue 

a letter to customers telling them “it is 

business as usual for us” and they want 

to “remain fully focused on partnering 

with you, our valued customers.” 

The letter goes on to talk about their 

“significantly enhanced the efficiency 

of our inventory, transportation, and 

distribution operations” and their 

“sales forecasting system developed 

in partnership with Microsoft” and 

closes with “we are charging full speed 

ahead, as we have a healthy sales pipeline 

and continue to make key strategic 

investments to capture long-term growth 

opportunities…” 

CIG has been active on social media 

talking up their environmental credentials 

and promoting their “Silver Bullet” 

campaign to incentivise dealers to sell 

Clover products. GIG has also created 

a product content platform within the 

Amazon marketplace to make it easier 

for its partners to sell Clover’s entire line 

of superior quality remanufactured 

printer cartridges. 

What now? 

Where does Clover go from here? While 

Clover management says business as usual, 

the options for the creditors are less clear. 

Scenario one is for CIG and Wireless to 

be spun out as standalone businesses and 

the bones of 4L Technologies left to be 

picked over. 

Scenario two is for an OEM, like HP 

and or Xerox, to buy it for the products 

it makes to boost the OEMs’ green 

credentials and give them an “in” to 

Clover’s remaining customers. 

Scenario three is for one of the big 

Chinese companies to buy Clover. They 

have looked and said no so far. However, 

maybe in a fire sale, it could go. 

Scenario four – A new VC offers a low 

low-ball price, probably 60 percent less 

than its real value and breaks up the 

company, strips out the assets, drives 

down the costs and sells it on, bit by bit 

and the current loan investors take a more 

significant haircut. ■ 


visit www.therecycler.com for all the breaking news 

ASIA Ninestar, IP, Zhuhai, Inkjet 

Zhuhai customs take action 

In the latest edition of Pioneer Insight, Ninestar’s company magazine, Ninestar reports that Zhuhai customs seized 

360 ink cartridges that allegedly infringe Ninestar’s intellectual property. 

The company reports that in late April 

this year, Zhuhai Gongbei customs seized 

360 inkjet cartridges that are suspected 

of infringing Ninestar’s IP. 

Destined to be exported to Tunisia by 

a Zhuhai based company, Ninestar said 

it “found the above mentioned cartridges 

was suspected of infringing its own 

IP and submitted an application for 

intellectual property protection measures 

on the goods involved on the spot.” 

In the article Mandy Wei, Head 

of Ninestar’s Legal Department said: 

“Custom’s protection provides a strong 

guarantee for the enterprises who invests 

a lot to R&D.” 

In February this year, Ninestar 

reported on other legal actions it has 

taken to defend its IP with success. 

Ninestar originally began proceedings 

against Zhuhai Zhengyin in 2018, 

accusing it of infringing its Chinese 

patent No. ZL201220712945.2, which 

the remanufacturer acquired for its 

independently developed ‘Negative 

Pressure Generating Mechanism’ 

– a technology the company designed 

to offer “good control of negative 

pressure” in its cartridges. 

The Court issued a written Judgment 

in January this year, in favour of Ninestar, 

and ordering Zhengyin 

to pay an undisclosed amount in damages 

to Ninestar. Furthermore, Zhengyin 

is prohibited from making, selling and 

offering for sale the infringing cartridges 

in question. 

Reacting to the Court’s decision at the 

time, Ninestar reaffirmed that it “always 

respects the intellectual property 

of any others and expects others to respect 

Ninestar ‘s intellectual property as well.” 

Ninestar at the time said: “In the future, 

Ninestar will step up efforts to protect 

its own intellectual property rights.” ■ 


11

WORLD FOCUS 

ASIA Counterfeits, Crime, HP, IP 

HP seizes counterfeit products 

in Germany and Asia 

In a series of raids, HP’s Anti-Counterfeiting and Fraud (ACF) team and German 

Customs have been successful in seizing thousands of counterfeit computer 

components and printer cartridges. 

As reported by CRN German Customs, 

tipped off by HP’s Anti-Counterfeiting 

and Fraud team planned raids of several 

locations in Germany including two that 

were conducted at Frankfurt Airport. 

The report goes on to say: “The officials 

secured large quantities of counterfeit 

computer components and toner cartridges 

illegally labelled with the HP logo. Further 

investigation led them to backers in 

Dresden.” 

During these raids HP seized 4,000 

components destined to manufacture more 

counterfeit toner cartridges. 

"HP is proud of our ongoing partnership 

with the local German authorities - it helps 

bring forgeries to justice in EMEA, and 

our continued success is due not least to the 

swift action taken by German officials," said 

Susanne Kummetz, Channel Director from 

HP Germany, about the successful action. 

"Our Anti-Counterfeiting and Fraud 

programme in Germany and throughout 

Europe ensures that our customers and 

distribution partners do not fall prey 

to illegal activity in the region." 

HP Anti-Counterfeiting and Fraud 

Programme also succeeded in seizing 

over $7 million (€6.22 million) worth 

of counterfeit products in Indonesia, 

Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. 

Channel Asia reported that in a 15-month 

operation across Indonesia, Thailand, 

Malaysia and Vietnam, HP has seized $7.18 

million (€6.38 million) worth of counterfeit 

products from “fraudulent suppliers”. 

According to Channel Asia the operation 

was led by the HP Anti-Counterfeiting 

and Fraud team and local law enforcement 

agencies performed “more than 17 raids and 

five arrests in impacted markets.” 

A statement from HP said: “Seizures from 

these raids consisted of items like finished 

and unfinished cartridges, packaging 

materials and various sets of labels. 

Counterfeit printing supplies pose a serious 

threat to consumers and businesses alike. 

The use of counterfeit supplies can often 

result in printer damage, malfunctions, 

and is not covered by printer hardware 

warranties. More importantly, it can result 

in lost revenue and unnecessary downtime 

for business.” 

A study by Harris Interactive 

commissioned by HP showed that the 

global economy is losing around $3 billion 

(€2.6 billion) every year to counterfeit 

products sold. 

HP’s ACF Programme seeks to educate 

its customers and partners in the value 

of vigilance against counterfeit supplies, 

while cooperating globally with law 

enforcement agencies to bring an end to 

the illegal operations producing counterfeit 

components. 

In recent months, as well as its continued 

efforts across the African continent, 

such as in Uganda and Nigeria, HP has 

also been successful in the fight against 

fakes right across the globe, including 

recent breakthroughs in the United Arab 

Emirates. ■ 

EMEA Counterfeits, HP, Cartridges, Toner, Uganda 

Ugandan authorities destroy tonnes 

of counterfeit goods 

The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) reportedly destroyed five 

tonnes of counterfeit toner and cartridges. 

The Daily Monitor reported that URSB 

destroyed five tonnes of counterfeit toner 

and cartridges which were seized between 

January 2019 and June 2019 by the 

URSB’s Intellectual Property Enforcement 

Team from several locations that were 

computer accessory stores. The destroyed 

goods had a value of Shs 7.2 billion ($1.95 

million/ €1.75 million). 

In total the Ugandan authorities say that 

60 tonnes of counterfeit toner and HP 

cartridges were seized. 

Talking to the Daily Monitor, the Head 

of Operations and Enforcement at the 

URBS, Alex Tumuhairwe said: “Majority 

of the counterfeit items were seized from 

particular locations at Bugolobi and Nasser 

road and some of the dealers have already 

been prosecuted and convicted under the 

intellectual property law. The products are 

a look alike and can only be identified by 

experts, therefore dealers take advantage 

of the unsuspecting customers to sell the 

counterfeit products.” 

Tumuhairwe added that the court 

agreed to the destruction after successful 

prosecution of the suspects. 

Peter Masinde, a consultant working 

with URBS, helping to track and identify 

the counterfeit goods, explained that the 

counterfeit products get repackaged inside 

the stores, before the dealers take them to 

the markets for sale. 

Masinde added: “The business is 

lucrative and very sophisticated as many 

of the dealers are willing to part with 

large amounts of money to compromise 

the products. We call for commitment 

from all the concerned parties including 

the customers to help identify the 

unscrupulous dealers. The re-packaged 

products look genuine on the outside look 

and can only be detected by people with 

expert knowledge regarding the computer 

accessories.” ■ 




13

WORLD FOCUS 

EMEA Itone, India, IP 

Court finds in favour of Itone 

The Bombay High Court of Justice finds in favour of Itone (India) Pvt. Ltd. 

in a trademark dispute against four parties. 

Following a complaint by Itone 

Managing Director, Sandeep Sanghvi of a 

breach of the Itone trademark, raids were 

carried out at various premises in Mumbai 

and Kolkata and a range of materials 

seized. Itone were alleging that the 

defendants were using a DITONE mark 

that was similar to the registered ITONE 

mark. 

In May the court ruled that the DITONE 

mark did infringe the plaintiffs “ITONE” 

trademark. The court issued a permanent 

order and injunction restraining the 

Defendants and others from infringing 

the Plaintiff ’s mark ‘ITONE’ by the use 

of the mark ‘DITONE’ or any other mark 

identical and/or deceptively similar to the 

Plaintiff ’s registered trademarks. 

The court further granted a permanent 

order and injunction restraining the 

Defendants from passing off the goods of 

the Plaintiff ’s manufactured and sold by 

it under the mark ‘ITONE’ or any other 

identical/deceptively similar mark. 

Costs and damages in the sum of Rs. 

5 Lacs ($7,260/ €6,450) were awarded 

against the first defendant, Dhanraj Surana 

M/s Disha Copier, which by mutual 

consent will be donated to the Bombay 

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 

to Animals. Costs and damages were 

not sought or awarded against the other 

defendants, Patel Traders, Mayurkumar 

Nandlal Punj and Lalaji Naran Hanat all 

of Mumbai. 

Itone Managing Director, Sandeep 

Sanghvi told The Recycler “that various 

Honorable High Courts in India are 

taking a very strict view for copying 

trademarks and labels of others and such 

parties are being penalized by being made 

to pay lacs of rupees as a penalty.” 

At a recent IP conference in New Delhi 

Mondaq reported “the focus was on the 

collaborative enforcement between various 

state authorities and enforcement agencies 

and discussed growth and development 

of IPR regime in India along with the 

steps taken by the government to promote 

IP together with the role of judiciary and 

agencies in enforcement of IPR laws in the 

country. It stressed the need for stringent 

implementation of existing laws in the 

country to safeguard intellectual property 

rights. 

Delivering the special address, Honorable 

Mr Justice Dipak Misra stressed on the 

need for “Intellectual Vigilance” with a 

view to protect those who were creating, 

inventing or were busy in the field of 

innovations. Further, he highlighted 

how collaborative enforcement in today’s 

competitive environment had placed itself 

on a pedestal in the context of economic 

growth and was becoming increasingly 

important.” ■ 

EUROPE CarboTech, Eurecum, Waste Toner 

CarboTechRea and Eurecum enter new partnership 

The two companies are collaborating on a joint venture for processing waste toner powder, toner bottles, and plastic 

related contaminants. 

Netherlands-based CarboTech 

Re-Energy Applications (CarboTechRea) 

is specialised in auditing companies 

and providing bespoke, tailor-made 

solutions for companies to deal with 

their environmental waste in the most 

ecological and cost-effective way and 

supply it to the Re-Energy market to 

produce renewable energy. 

Eurecum GmbH, based in Germany, 

is a high-tech processing company and is 

one of the leading Re-Energy providers 

in Germany. Eurecum invested heavily 

in 2018 to safely process over 100,000 

tonnes per year of waste toner powder, 

toner bottles and all related types of 

contaminated plastics for the Toner-, 

Printing- and Plastic industry. 

Commenting on the new partnership, 

the companies said: “We are very proud 

to announce that as of this year a joint 

venture has been established between 

CarboTechRea and Eurecum GmbH 

Eisleben. The main focus of this joint 

venture is to remain the largest single 

organisation in Europe for processing 

waste toner powder, toner bottles, and 

plastic related contaminants in the 

most environmentally friendly and 

cost-effective way across Europe for the 

printing industry.” 

OEM and remanufacturers alike face the 

environmental and sustainability issues 

that tonnes of waste toner powder need to 

be processed and recycled and at the same 

time a sustainable solution is needed for 

the millions of cartridges and plastics that 

are at the end of their useful life. 

The cooperation between 

CarboTechRea and Eurecum creates 

the ability to dispose of this nonenvironmentally 

friendly waste and 

produces complete countability for the 

responsible authorities regionally. ■ 




15

WORLD FOCUS 

GLOBAL HP, Firmware Updates, Third Party Products 

HP leads the firmware wars 

In 2018 nine OEMs issued 989 firmware upgrades. That is an average of 2.7 every 

single day of the year. HP alone issued 371 firmware updates. 

Problems with firmware updates have 

been in the press on an almost weekly basis. 

Every firmware update can cause huge 

problems for consumers that prefer reused, 

or non-OEM cartridges. 

In 2018 HP issued 120 firmware updates 

on its range of laser printers and a further 

251 firmware upgrades to their range of 

inkjet printers. Meanwhile, Epson issued 

274 firmware upgrades on their range 

of inkjet printers. 

undertaking to compensate customers who 

were unable to use non-HP ink cartridges 

due to an undisclosed technology in its 

printers.” 

This technology is a dynamic security 

feature (DSF), which either already came 

with one of the printers or would have been 

installed in a later firmware update. The 

purpose of the DSF is to “prevent non-HP 

ink cartridges from being used in HP 

printers.” 

them from counterfeit and third-party 

ink cartridges,” although HP Inc did 

apologise by saying: “We should have done 

a better job of communicating about the 

authentication procedure to customers, and 

we apologise.” 

But it is not just HP in the legal wars over 

firmware. Epson too have had their share 

of legal actions. 

ETIRA President Javier Martinez said: 

“Firmware updates are necessary to keep 

2018 firmware updates by OEMs 

LaserJet 

Brother Canon Dell HP Kyocera Lexmark Samsung Xerox 

No of updates 30 10 16 120 6 30 61 31 

Inkjet 

Brother Canon Epson HP 

No of updates 136 24 274 251 

Between January and May this year the 

OEMs have collectively issued a further 366 

firmware upgrades. That is 2.4 per day. 

In April this year in response to another 

HP firmware upgrade Australia based 

Ink Hub advised consumers they needn’t 

bother with the upgrades even if they 

use genuine HP cartridges as the updates 

“won’t make any difference as to how your 

printer performs.” Commenting that the 

sole purpose of the update “is to stop the 

end user from being able to use generic 

cartridges” and then offered technical 

advice, using diagrams, demonstrating how 

to disable the updates. 

In May Ink Hub took to Social 

Media to inform its customers that the 

company is “currently in talks with the 

ACCC over HP’s latest printer firmware 

updates. They are going to see if this latest 

firmware download breaches laws as did 

their last big update a couple of years ago.” 

In May 2018 HP’s Australian subsidiary 

has got itself into hot water over the sale of 

220,000 printers designed to prevent the use 

of third-party cartridges. As ARN reports, 

as a result of this lack of transparency, the 

Australian Competition and Consumer 

Commission (ACCC) has stated that 

“HP has agreed to a court-enforceable 

“Consumers were not made aware of the 

restriction on using non-HP ink cartridges 

when buying the printer or downloading 

the firmware update, and were denied the 

choice to accept or reject it.” ACCC deputy 

chair Michael Schaper said. 

“The ACCC was also very concerned 

that HP used technology to change these 

printers’ functionality after purchase, 

without alerting consumers to the 

restriction on the use of non-HP ink 

cartridges which was being installed.” 

HP has admitted to the likely breach of 

Australian Consumer Law “by engaging 

in false, misleading or deceptive conduct.” 

In December 2016 Readitquick.com 

added HP Inc to its annual technical 

disasters list. The article said that “without 

the knowledge of its customers, in 

September 2016, HP introduced a security 

update in its Officejet Pro printers which 

stopped the printing if a third-party ink 

cartridge was detected”. 

The company was inundated with 

complaints, and it was noted that they 

were “taken to task for not being more 

transparent” about their updates and for 

their statement defending their actions, 

which said they wanted to “ensure the 

best consumer experience and protect 

devices working. However, way too often 

surprise overnight firmware updates also 

have the nasty side-effect of blocking the 

remanufactured cartridge, that happens to 

be in the printer at the time of the firmware 

update, from continuing to function 

normally. This should not be allowed. 

OEMs should have an instant “roll back”- 

facility, that is: if a firmware update blocks 

a legally remanufactured cartridge, or 

adversely impacts on the printer or cartridge 

performance, the user should be able to 

revert back to the previous firmware setting 

instantly. If they cannot offer that facility, 

firmware updates should not be permitted.” 

Why so many updates and the open 

challenge of locking out competitors? The 

printer market is a competitive space and 

we all know print volumes are declining 

year on year. More so in the domestic 

consumer inkjet market where delegates at 

the recent The Recycler live conference were 

briefed that year on year sales are declining 

by 7.7 percent. It is a fight for market share 

and Canon and Epson are fighting for a slice 

of the HP market and at 

the same time using all the 

tools in their arsenals 

to dominate the 

consumables sector. 



Every time a firmware upgrade is issued 

individual companies producing reused 

or new cartridges respond by having to 

check that their version of the aftermarket 

chip work with the upgrade, or the chip 

manufacturer has to reverse engineer to 

firmware upgrade to determine the changes. 

One expert we spoke with said, 

“sometimes it is a simple change that can 

be corrected, but sometimes it is a big 

change that takes time.” Is there a more 

sinister reason? On the laser printer side 

there is a plethora of aftermarket MPS 

programmes all collecting data on the 

efficiency of consumables. Not something 

the OEMs would like to see in the public 

domain? 

While the pace of firmware updates 

continues HP and the other OEMs are 

raking in the cash and the microchip 

producers are busy working out how to 

create a new microchip which overcomes 

each and every firmware update. Since just 

about every cartridge is a single use cartridge 

the environmental degradation continues, 

and the consumer loses a fair choice. 

Is it time for collective action? The US 

based I-ITC has recently launched 

a firmware warning label campaign on their 

website “Firmware Warning Label, Hewlett 

Packard has been aggressively locking out 

the competition with its new firmware 

that stops the printer at various times if it 

detects a cartridge with an aftermarket chip. 

The firmware upgrade that causes this is 

vexing both consumers and chip makers 

alike. What can we do about this problem? 

One way is to stop the customer from 

downloading the firmware in the first place 

with firmware warning labels.” 

You can download the label on the ITC 

website direct. ■ 

AUSTRALASIA AWS, Amazon, Government Procurement 

Australia goes Amazon 

The Australian Government signed an agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to use the platform for 

government procurement said to be worth $39 million (€34.52 million). 

CRN in Australia reports on this 

newly signed deal which is a “whole-ofgovernment 

deal” which “extends to public 

universities and any other governmentowned 

agency”. The deal has been signed 

for an initial period of three years and 

means all government agencies are using 

the AWS platform for any procurement. 

According to AWS, it is the “world’s 

most comprehensive and broadly adopted 

cloud platform, offering over 165 fully 

featured services from data centres 

globally. Millions of customers, including 

the fastest-growing startups, largest 

enterprises, and leading government 

agencies.” 

AWS released 1,957 new services and 

features in 2018 and its AWS Marketplace 

is a digital catalogue with thousands 

of software listings from independent 

software vendors that make it easy to find, 

test, buy, and deploy software that runs on 

AWS in the cloud. 

According to CRN “AWS said the 

government will now have a consistent 

approach to accessing its services without 

having to negotiate separate contract terms 

each time by using a self-service, 

low-administration process. The 

public cloud giant said it’s also removed 

administrative overheads to smooth out 

the procurement process.” 

In the CRN report, concerns are 

highlighted that the channel now need 

to go through AWS to offer their services 

to the government and that the exact way 

of how this is possible is not yet clear. 

Both AWS and its Asia Pacific partner 

2pi Software are adamant though that 

streamlining procurement is just about 

saving time and money for the government 

and making the process easier as well as 

eliminating barriers for service providers. ■ 


17

WORLD FOCUS 

GLOBAL Amazon, Counterfeits, Third-Party Sellers 

Amazon uses blockchain to stop counterfeits? 

Amazon announced the expansion of Transparency in Europe, India and Canada, a product serialisation service that 

promises to prevent the sale of counterfeit products at scale on its site. 

Amazon announced the expansion of 

Transparency, its product serialisation 

service, to France, Germany, Italy, Spain, 

U.K., India, and Canada. 

When brands use Transparency to apply 

unique codes to their products, customers, 

brands, Amazon, and other participants 

in the supply chain are able to authenticate 

every unit of a product, better protecting 

brands and customers from counterfeits at 

scale, Amazon explained. 

Amazon added that unique serialisation 

for every product unit is the most effective 

way to tackle and prevent counterfeits 

throughout the supply chain, and 

Transparency’s geographic expansion is the 

latest in Amazon’s continued investment 

in scalable, technology-driven solutions 

to prevent counterfeit. 

“Counterfeiting is an industry-wide 

concern – both online and offline. We 

find the most effective solutions to prevent 

counterfeit are based on partnerships that 

combine Amazon’s technology innovation 

with the sophisticated knowledge and 

capabilities of brands,” said Dharmesh 

Mehta, vice president, Amazon Customer 

Trust and Partner Support. “We created 

Transparency to provide brands with a 

simple, scalable solution that empowers 

brands and Amazon to authenticate 

products within the supply chain, stopping 

counterfeit before it reaches a customer.” 

Transparency is a product serialisation 

service that provides a unique code for 

every unit that is manufactured. Brands 

put these codes on its products and every 

time one of these products is ordered 

in Amazon’s stores, Amazon scans and 

verifies the code to ensure only authentic 

units reach customers. 

Additionally, customers can use a 

mobile app to scan the code and verify 

authenticity regardless of where they 

purchased their units. Brands can also 

use Transparency to communicate 

unique unit-level information, including 

manufacturing date, manufacturing place, 

or other enhanced product information 

(e.g., ingredients). More than 4,000 brands 

are enrolled in Transparency in the U.S., 

ranging from startups to Fortune 500 

companies. Hundreds of brands continue 

to enrol into the service every month, 

Amazon said. 

According to Amazon, these brands have 

generated over 300 million unique codes, 

allowing Amazon to proactively stop over 

250,000 counterfeits of Transparencyenabled 

products from reaching customers 

and in 2019, for products fully on-boarded 

into the Transparency service, there have 

been zero reports of counterfeit from 

brands or customers who purchased these 

products on Amazon. 

"Amazon’s proactive approach and 

investment in tools like Transparency have 

allowed us to grow consumer confidence 

in our products and prevent inauthentic 

product from ending up in the hands of 

our customers,” said Matt Petersen, Chief 

Executive Officer at Neato Robotics, a 

maker of smart robotic vacuum cleaners. 

“Blocking counterfeits from the source 

has always been a tough task for us – it’s 

something all brand owners face through 

nearly all channels around the world,” 

said Bill Mei, Chief Executive Officer 

at Cowin, a manufacturer of noise 

cancelling audio devices. “After we joined 

Transparency, our counterfeit problem 

just disappeared for products protected 

by the program.” 

Also in the news this week was that a 

court has ruled that Amazon lost its case 

in a federal appeals court which ruled that 

Amazon was liable for third-party seller 

products. Reuters reported earlier this week 

that’s this case might potentially mean that 

customers who received defective products 

from third-party sellers on Amazon might 

be eligible to sue the online marketplace. 

This judgement came after several other 

courts felt Amazon could not be held liable 

for third-party seller products. 

Reuters reported that Circuit Judge 

Jane Richards Roth said Amazon may 

be liable in part because its business model 

“enables third-party vendors to conceal 

themselves from the customer, leaving 

customers injured by defective products 

with no direct recourse to the third-party 

vendor.” 

Reuters added: “The panel sent the case 

back to the lower court, which will have 

to decide whether the leash was actually 

defective.” ■ 



CONNECTING THE INDUSTRY SINCE 1991 

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new and relevant for the office print and imaging professional. 

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– timely and relevant 

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Do you have news to share? Just email news@therecycler.com 


19

CITY NEWS 

OEM share prices 

August 2019 

Share Prices 

Prices correct as of 1 st August 2019 

ASIA Ninestar, Financials, Business 

Company JUNE JULY 

Brother Industries (Yen) ¥ 2112 1924 

Canon (Yen) ¥ 3172 2997 

Dainippon Ink & Chemicals (Yen) 

Sun Chemicals parent company 

¥ 2845 2928 

HP Inc. (US$) $ 20.74 21.04 

Hubei Dinglong (RMB) ¥ 8.04 8.67 

Jadi (MYR) M 0.05 0.055 

LG Chem (S Korean Won) W 337.5K 332.5k 

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. 

(Yen) Panasonic parent company 

¥ 937 911 

Mitsubishi Chemicals (Yen) ¥ 753 788 

Ninestar Corporation (RMB) 

Formerly Apex Microelectronics 

¥ 21.1 24.22 

Oki (Yen) ¥ 1322 1449 

Seiko Epson (Yen) ¥ 1733 1588 

Turbon AG (Euro) € 2.82 3.04 

Xerox (US$) $ 35.66 32.1 

UK Waste Prices 

price per tonne 

Aluminium € 190.67 326.89 

Plastic € 219.07 321.69 

Paper € 22.45 15.81 

Currency 

€/US$ 1.12 1.1 

€/£ 0.9 0.91 

£/US$ 1.25 1.21 

£/€ 1.11 1.1 

Oil Price 

Crude oil - (US$) Brent Crude 

futures, IPE per barrel * 

Shipping Prices 

Europe 

(Hamburg/Antwerp/Felixstowe 

/Le Havre) 

Mediterranean 

(Barcelona/ Valencia/Genoa/Naples) 

USWC 

(Los Angeles/Long Beach/Oakland) 

USEC 

(New York/ Savannah /Norfolk 

/Charleston) 

$ 64.51 64.32 

$ 688 754 

$ 705 718 

$ 1649 1433 

$ 2746 2800 

Sources: HMRC, FT.com, krx.co.kr tse.or.jp, szse.cn, Environment Exchange, 

packagingnews.co.uk *Brent Crude price is for July 2019 

Ninestar Interim H1 Results 

The advantages of the entire industry chain, as well as in 

patent technology and service programs benefit Ninestar 

as the unfavourable background of global economic 

uncertainty and Sino-US trade friction, and the enormous 

challenges that currently face the printer and consumables 

industry. 

On July 15th Ninestar 

Corporation – reported the 

unaudited interim halfyear 

results for its printerconsumables 

and Lexmark 

International. 

Ninestar reported that for 

its half-year which ended on 

June 30th, 2019 that there 

was an overall increase over 

the same period last year of 12 

percent - 31 percent and profit 

was 312,541,300 yuan ($45.5 

million / €40.3 million) and 

earnings $350 million – $410 

million (€310.5 million – 

€363.6 million) 

The company attributes 

changes in the first half of 

2019, to the unfavourable 

background of global 

economic uncertainty and 

Sino-US trade friction, the 

printer and consumables 

industry also faced enormous 

challenges. The company was 

able to rely on the advantages 

of the entire industry chain, 

as well as in patent technology 

and service programs and 

business performance, has 

risen steadily. 

Consumables business 

- In the first half of 2019, 

compared with the same 

period of the previous year, 

the operating income and net 

profit of the consumables 

business asset package 

increased by about 20 percent. 

Apex Microelectronics 

Business- In the first half of 

2019, the operating income 

of Apex Microelectronics 

business increased by 3 percent 


period of last year. 

Lexmark printer business 

- In the first half of 2019, 

Lexmark's international 

printer shipments and 

operating income were the 

same as in the same period 

of the previous year. The 

net profit attributable to the 

parent company decreased 


period of the past year. 

The audited half-year results 

are expected in mid-August 

2019. ■ 


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

EUROPE Happyprinting, Investment, Business 

Happyprinting gains investor 

The Dutch online printing company Happyprinting has received a €450,000 ($505,772) investment from the Dutch 

venture capital firm Peak Capital. 

Happyprinting announced the investment 

will be used to accelerate Happyprinting’s 

international roll out and further develop its 

online printing platform. 

“We are excited to partner with Peak 

Capital. Peak has proven to be the right 

smart capital investor for fast growing 

companies such as Catawiki and Studocu, 

and therefore also for us,” said Sven 

Rusticus, CEO Happyprinting. 

“Globally, the shift from traditional to 

online order placing in print has only just 

started. With our platform we make it 

easier, more efficient, more sustainable, and 

more fun for both the printers and their 

customers. It’s our mission to create happy 

customers and happy printers, worldwide 

with our platform. That’s why we are 

Happyprinting,” Rusticus commented. 

Johan van Mil, Co-founder & Managing 

Partner at Peak Capital said: “We are 

impressed with the Happyprinting platform 

and the international business model that 

the founders of Happyprinting created. The 

team has vast entrepreneurial experience 

and knows the market very well. They 

were capable to rapidly develop and enter 

eight European and Asian countries, fully 

self-funded and in a short amount of time. 

We are thrilled to assist Happyprinting 

in growing even faster and fulfilling their 

global ambitions.” 

Happyprinting was first launched in 

2017 and offers its brand, the marketing 

and the webshop in a franchise agreement 

to printing companies worldwide. This 

enables Happyprinting to grow quickly, 

without investing in printing equipment, 

and allows printers to grab their share 

of the online market by leveraging the 

brand, the marketing and webshop from 

Happyprinting. 

“We created an innovative franchise 

concept in the e-commerce sector. Where 

Starbucks franchises bricks and mortar 

shops, we franchise our country online 

print shops.”, Rusticus explained. It’s the 

company's vision to create a global network 

of in-country printers that all share the 

Happyprinting brand, the marketing and 

the Printing as a Service platform. 

This vision will also enable multinationals 

to distribute printed products overnight 

to any country in the world. In contrary 

to centralized printing, local printing 

minimizes transportation and hence 

lowers the carbon footprint of print. “We 

stop putting print in planes.”, according 

to Rusticus. “And through our global 

partnership with HP Indigo, we are able to 

ensure consistent print quality, anywhere in 

the world.” 

The global print market is calculated at 

$980 billion (€872 billion) and is close to 

the size of the global car industry. Despite 

what many people think, “Print is big, 

here to stay and still growing”. The global 

Online Print market is growing even faster 

and is expected to explode in the coming 

five years. 

For example, in Western Europe, for 2018, 

19 percent of all printed matter was ordered 

via online printers. The market share of 

online printers is expected to rise to 42 

percent in 2025, according to Bernd Zipper, 

Europe's recognized expert in the field of 

online print. In emerging markets like Asia 

and Eastern Europe, the growth is expected 

to be even higher. ■ 


21

CITY NEWS 

GLOBAL Canon, Financials, Business 

Canon Q2 

sales down 

Reporting its second quarter of the 

fiscal year 2019, Canon reports office 

business unit sales which includes its 

printer sales, are down 7.5 percent 

year-on-year. 

In its review of the second quarter, 

Canon said that for the quarter, the US 

market remained strong, the European 

market was “sluggish” and the Chinese 

economy was slow. 

According to Canon, during the second 

quarter, overall unit sales of office MFDs 

remained at around the same level as 

the previous year. Although unit sales 

of monochrome-model office MFDs 

decreased, unit sales of colour-model 

office MFDs increased steadily. Unit 

sales of laser printers decreased compared 

with the same period of the previous 

year mainly due to the slowdown of the 

market, although sales were strong for 

new models. 

The second quarter net sales decreased 

by 10.0 percent year-on-year to ¥905.9 

billion ($839 million/ €753 million). Net 

sales for the first half of the year decreased 

by 10.0 percent year-on-year to ¥1,770.3 

billion ($1.64 billion/ €1.47 billion). The 

gross profit decreased by 14.4 percent 

year-on-year to ¥406.4 billion ($376 

million/ €337 million) mainly due to 

the negative effects of currency exchange 

rates and the product mix, according 

to Canon. 

Looking at Canon’s second quarter 

performance by business segment, unit 

sales of hardware decreased compared 

with the same period of the previous 

year due to decreasing sales of low speed 

models and sales of consumables also 

decreased. Total sales for the office 

business unit in the second quarter were 

¥427.9 billion ($396 million/ €355 

million), a year-on-year decrease of 7.5 

percent. Sales for the combined first six 

months of the year totalled ¥853.5 billion 

($789 million/ €701 million), a year-onyear 

decrease of 5.7 percent. 

Looking forward, Canon expects 

from the third quarter onwards, the US 

economy to grow. Canon continued: 

“While uncertainty surrounding the 

UK’s exit of the EU is expected to endure, 

the modest recovery of the European 

economy is expected to continue 

amid a bottoming out in exports. The 

Chinese economy is expected to stave 

off a downturn in the face of fierce trade 

friction with the United States through 

consumer spending stimulus measures, 

while such emerging economies as India 

and Southeast Asia, where domestic 

demand remains steady, are expected 

to recover moderately. With regard to 

the Japanese economy, while consumer 

spending is expected to decline following 

an increase in the consumption tax rate, 

the outlook indicates a trend of steady 

growth supported by relief measures 

to reduce the impact of the tax increase 

and the improvement of employment 

conditions. Looking at the global 

economy, although the overall economy 

is expected to recover, there are concerns 

of further economic slowdown occurring 

due to such phenomena as long-drawnout 

trade friction between China and 

the United States and other geopolitical 

risks.” 

Canon projects full-year consolidated 

net sales in 2019 of ¥3,745.0 billion 

($34.6 billion/ €31.1 billion), a year-onyear 

decrease of 5.2 percent. ■ 

NORTH AMERICA Zygoquest Group, Mergers and Acquisition, Business 

Laser Image Plus Imaging Products sold 

Mike Dudek and Rich Wisniewski of Zygoquest Group advised Laser Image Plus Imaging Products, a toner cartridge 

remanufacturer and wholesaler, on the sale to Magnum Print Solution. 

Zygoquest Group served as the advisor to 

Laser Image Plus Imaging Products, Inc. 

and its owners Rob and Teri Pool on the 

sale of assets to Technology Systems, Inc. 

Laser Image Plus Imaging Products, 

Inc., founded in 1987 and located in Costa 

Mesa, California, was owned and operated 

by Rob Pool and Teri Pool. Laser Image 

Plus remanufactured and distributed toner 

cartridges and toner kits on a wholesale 

and retail basis. Laser Image Plus lists 

some 12,000 different products for sale, 

including a coveted MICR line. 

Magnum Print Solutions, founded 

in 1993 and headquartered in Seattle 

Washington, is a toner cartridge 

remanufacturer and printer and copier 

repair centre. Magnum has received awards 

such as INC 500/5000, Washington 

Green, Washington State Governors 

Award, Puget Sound Business Journal 100 

Fastest Growing Businesses. Magnum is 

owned and operated by Stephen Seavecki 

and Ryan Van Quill. 

Terms of the transaction are 

confidential. ■ 



REACH 

READY 

20 

05/20 


23

AROUND THE INDUSTRY 

EUROPE ECS, WEEE, ISO 

ECS discourages WEEE ‘Free Riders’ 

Effective Consumable Solutions (ECS) has explained that non-compliance with the WEEE Directive remains at an 

unacceptable level although the law has been in place since 2003. 

The remanufacturer explained that the 

environment continues to be harmed by 

‘Free Riders’ who are currently escaping 

WEEE compliance and in turn costing the 

rest of the industry millions. 

The Waste Electrical and Electronic 

Equipment Directive, which was made an 

EU law in February 2003, was instituted 

to set collection, recycling and recovery 

targets for electrical goods, with the overall 

aim of recycling “at least 2% of electrical 

and electronics waste equipment by 2016”. 

ECS explained that the law states 

anybody who produces electrical 

equipment that falls into a WEEE category 

or places it onto a marketplace must 

finance the collection and recycling of 

said products, however, many companies 

are avoiding WEEE payments altogether, 

which creates disadvantages for those 

companies who are compliant. 

CEO Felicity Rabbitte explained further 

by saying: “When companies avoid 

compliance they avoid paying anything 

at all, which means these companies 

already have an advantage over those who 

are incurring recycling costs. The cost of 

recycling is therefore higher than it should 

be due to the fact that there are fewer 

companies funding UK recycling.” 

ECS explained the environment is also 

suffering on a monumental scale as a 

result of the number of non-compliant 

companies, reflected by the second 

consecutive year of WEEE collection 

targets being missed. Consequently, a huge 

amount of plastic ends up in our oceans 

and landfills after being used only a single 

time, when in fact, the majority of plastic 

can be reused in one way or another – 

toner cartridges in particular. 

The remanufacturers recycling scheme, 

The Greener Side, offers a fully compliant 

recycling service to their UK Partners 

enabling them to deliver a complete 

solution to the growing problem within 

the United Kingdom. The company 

explained that their solution is both 

extremely simple and fully compliant, 

taking care of the entire process including 

documentation and waste transfer notes, 

leaving the end user very little to do other 

than place their empty cartridges into a 

collection box. 

ECS also brought to the attention 

concerns over products being produced 

by UK ‘remanufacturers’ who lack 

appropriate ISO certification. 

The Remanufacturer of the Year has 

highlighted the importance of ISO 

certification, explaining that companies 

with ISO 9001 certification have 

essentially ‘raised the bar’ by producing 

products and providing services that 

meet certain industry standards and 

requirements. 

ECS advises that companies who value 

quality as a major factor when purchasing 

a product should avoid doing so from a 

remanufacturer without ISO certification. 

The company also explained that 

those who remanufacture and produce 

sub-standard products without suitable 

certification can also negatively affect 

the integrity and reputation of other 

genuine remanufacturers. Director Chris 

Fink explains this further, stating: “We 

often find that one of the major barriers 

when it comes to finding new business is 

companies past experiences with below 

standard, uncertified remanufactured 

products, which in turn gives other 

remanufacturers who are certified a bad 

name.” 

ECS has declared that they hold both 

14001 and 9001 ISO certifications, which 

cover quality management standards 

and environmental management systems 

respectively. The remanufacturer of the 

year is also working towards ISO 27001 

certification, which is a specification for an 

information security management system, 

relating to all legal, physical and technical 

controls involved in an organisations 

information risk management processes. 

The company hopes to have achieved 

ISO 27001 in early 2020. ■ 



ASIA CET, Conference, Distributors 

CET reports on 

distributor conference 

CET Group held their "Quality Wins the Future" 

distributor conference on 29 June 2019 at the Minshan 

Hotel, Chengdu, China where CET Group leaders and 

attendees of the conference shared their insights into the 

latest industry trends. 

Welcoming the delegation, President 

Steven Ma presented CET's development 

plan and shared his international 

management strategy. He also discussed 

the current CET Group structure and 

activities worldwide and outlined the 

advantages of working with CET. 

Ma said his goal is to capture a large 

share of the global compatible printer 

and copier consumables market as well 

as developing the capacity to withstand 

threats. 

Ma emphasised that CET stays true to 

their original spirit of focusing on product 

quality to bring a better experience for 

end users. Integrity and reliability are 

the business principles of the CET Group. 

CET reported that keynote speaker 

Cloudy Liu of MCC, presented new 

technologies and the direction of toner 

manufacture research and development, 

comparing pulverised toner and chemical 

toner technologies and evaluated their 

advantages and disadvantages. 

Many invited guests shared insight 

into the office imaging industry and 

current trends. 

Also presenting at the event was Dr. 

Xiong who introduced CET Group 

Japan's new pulverised toner project. 

She discussed the project's research team 

expertise, testing standards, production 

management and quality control. 

During the event was also the CET 

distributor award ceremony during which 

Steven Ma and Jun Zhou authorised 

the new CET distributors and awarded 

the outstanding distributors of 2019, 

CET reported. 

CET also said it provided entertaining 

programmes and exciting prizes during 

the dinner. 

CET concluded: “The conference 

improved cooperation and interaction 

between CET and their distributors from 

western China by providing them with 

the information they need to take 

advantage of new business opportunities. 

A solid foundation was established for 

pursuing the win-win strategy.” ■ 

LIVE FRANKFURT 

25-28 JANUARY 2020 

Firmware Forum 

In 2018 the OEMs issued 989 firmware updates. That is 2.7 each 

and every day. 

HP leads the OEMs issuing 371 updates, or just over 1 each and 

every day. When this happens the consumers (the person who 

bought the printer) non-OEM consumables are often locked out 

and the printer owner is forced to buy OEM consumables. 

You have to ask: 

Why so many? 

Are they necessary? 

Is it an abuse of the OEMs' dominant market position? 

What options can be used to protect the consumers choice 

and the aftermarket? 

During the upcoming Remanexpo show, as part of The Recycler 

Live programme, we are organising a Firmware Forum to bring 

together the widest cross section of the industry and market to 

explore the best ways to protect the consumers right to choose 

the consumables they want. 

To join the Firmware Forum visit www.therecycler.com/firmware-forum 


25


EUROPE GM Technology, Circular Economy, ISO, DIN 

GM Technology receives certifications 

The company announced that its original remanufactured toner cartridges have been accredited with ISO 19752, 

ISO 19798, and DIN 33870 quality certifications. 

GM Technology's original 

remanufactured toner products have 

been accredited with the ISO / IEC 

19752, ISO / IEC 19798, and DIN 33870 

certifications by the Bureau Veritas to 

guarantee the performance, durability 

and product preparation process. 

“The certificates issued by the Bureau 

Veritas confirm the high standard that 

governs our work by developing the 

original remanufactured products and 

measuring the print quality of them”, 

GM Technology explained. 

The rigor and consistency of these 

standards, ISO / IEC 19752, ISO / 

IEC 19798, and DIN 33870, approved 

by the International Organisation for 

Standardisation (ISO) and endorsed 

by Europe, represent an advance in the 

provision of information on product 

performance and provides important 

benefits to consumers and manufacturers 

in the printing sector. 

“At GM Technology we work with 

rigorous criteria that ensure the quality 

of our original remanufactured product, 

thus complying with all the requirements 

imposed by Europe to sell remanufactured 

products”, the company added. 

The ISO / IEC 19752 standard 

defines the method to determine the 

performance of toner cartridges for 

monochrome printers. This means that 

the GM Technology brand meets the 

highest standards of the international 

manufacturing community. 

The ISO / IEC 19798 standard which 

determines the performance of cartridges 

for colour printers, also guarantees the 

highest quality of each cartridge. 

And the DIN 33870 standard 

which contains requirements for the 

preparation of filled toner modules 

for four-colour printers, specifies the 

minimum characteristics for optimal 

operation during the use of the cartridge. 

All testing and testing methods of the 

GM original remanufactured product 

are developed under this standard, 

discarding all bottles that do not meet 

the quality standard. 

In addition, GM Technology's 

entire remanufactured product line is 

manufactured in facilities certified to 

ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. 

The company said that since 2007, 

it opted for the implementation of a 

quality system that has the certification 

of these regulations that support our 

commitment to the environment. 

The company concluded: “At GM 

Technology we reuse 120,000 bottles 

of consumables per year, using 

remanufactured original toner that 

helps reduce polluting waste. One more 

step in our commitment to the Circular 

Economy that promotes the optimization 

of resources in a more sustainable way.” ■ 

EUROPE R-JetTek, Business, Partnership 

New European distributor for R-JetTek 

Colorado-based R-JetTek Inc., a supplier of ink, packaging supplies and processing equipment to the desktop inkjet 

cartridge industry announced German-based CompaTech, as its new European distributor. 

R-JetTek, USA, provides both 

remanufacturers and end users with 

desktop printer remanufacturing and 

refilling supplies including inks, chips, 

labels, cartridge transportation clips 

and caps. 

“CompaTech GmbH, a well-established 

corporation located in Wuppertal, 

Germany offering solutions ranging 

from IT accessories to bulk inks, 

remanufactured cartridges, OEM inks 

and toners, special colour ribbons to 

hardware from Epson and Brother, was 

an excellent opportunity to partner with 

that we could not miss,” said Peter U 

Mueller, R-JetTek general manager. “This 

new partnership will allow us to reach 

and deliver our products much faster to 

customers within the European Market.” 

Having played a pivotal role in the 

distribution of office and printer 

cartridges supplies, the partnership with 

CompaTech will increase sales and market 

penetration, R-JetTek explained. ■ 



ASIA Zhono, Awards, Competition, IP 

Zhono wins IP award 

The company announced that its IP team has won the 2019 Edition of the 2019 Guangdong-Hong 

Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area “Distribution of High Value Patent Cultivation” (GBA High Value Competition). 

The first GBA High Value Competition 

concluded in Zhuhai on 29 June 2019. 

Launched January 2019 the competition 

received 586 entries, more than 2,000 

participants and received extensive 

attention and support from innovative 

entities across the country, Zhono 

explained. 

Hard work pays off the company said. 

Over half a year and three rounds of 

strong competition, Zhono’s IP team 

has won the 2019 GBA High Value 

Competition excellence award with its 

“high-value” patent project "Development 

and Application of Secure Encryption 

Chip". 

Well-known companies such as GREE, 

Midea and Meizu also received this award. 

The 2019 edition of the GBA High 

Value Competition was jointly sponsored 

by Guangdong market supervision and 

Administration Bureau (Intellectual 

Property Office), Intellectual Property 

Department of the Government of Hong 

Kong Special Administrative Region, 

Macao DSE, and Zhuhai Municipal 

People's Government, Zhuhai Municipal 

Market Supervision Administration 

(IP Office), Hengqin International 

Intellectual Property Exchange Center 

(Huafa Yaqin National Intellectual 

Property Operation Platform), and 

Hengqin New District Management 

Committee. ■ 

ASIA HYB, Awards, Distributors 

HYB honours distributors 

HYB announced that it has awarded its distributors from all over the world with awards for “10-Year Loyalty”. 

Recently, some of the overseas HYB 

customers have been presented with the 

prize of “10-Year Loyalty”. 

The nominated customers are those who 

worked with HYB since (or before) 2009 

and the prize is to honour and memorise 

the successful cooperation and mutual 

support in the development of new 

products, HYB explained. 

“HYB is the only Chinese company I am 

working with after all these years I have 

gone through the experience with most of 

the famous suppliers in China. We are in 

the field of copier dealership and majority 

of my customers only prefer products like 

HYB’s then why should I keep working 

Canotec_0619_DMC-ECO_RecyclerAd-PRINT.pdf 1 13/08/2019 16:12 

with others?” Tony Maia from South 

Africa said. 

HYB has been supplying spare parts 

and copier consumables to more than 

600 importers in 77 countries who are 

professional distributors, wholesalers, and 

manufacturers of copier imaging supplies 

and machines. 

HYB said: “We are looking forward to 

witnessing the success of our customers 

for another decades of years or more.” ■ 

C 

M 

Y 

CM 

MY 

CY 

CMY 

Welcoming back the ECO range of 

compatible laser toners, now in stock 

and exclusively available from DMC. 

K 


27


ASIA G&G, REACH, RoHS, Charity 

Ninestar celebrates 19 years, product verification 

and raising money for charity and expands in 

Germany 

The company created an info graphic highlighting its company history of the last 19 years in the aftermarket industry 

and reported that it has had various G&G products tested by SGS who verified that the tested G&G products comply 

with RoHS and REACH. 

Founded in 2000 Ninestar started 

out with its inkjet business, which soon 

expanded in 2002 to include chips and 

inkjet technology for the aftermarket. 

The company also talks about highlights 

like the 2007 event when Ninestar 

“became a strategic partner of Legend 

Capital”. 

Ninestar highlights the launch of 

“China’s first self-developed laser printer” 

with its Pantum brand in 2010, which was 

quickly followed in 2013 by the move to 

the 450,000m2 industrial park. 

Only in 2014 the company went public 

just before it acquired Static Control in 

2015 and Lexmark in 2016. 

Its latest highlight is the 2018 announced 

“construction of high-tech intelligent 

manufacturing base for laser printers” 

which involves a 900,000m2 plant which 

also represents a substantial investment for 

the company. 

Recently, SGS verified that all tested 

G&G products comply with Restriction 

of Hazardous Substances Directive 

(RoHS), REACH Regulation, and 

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), 

which the company said is showing G&G 

delivers safe, environmentally-conscious 

products that customers feel safe to buy 

and use. 

SGS is a multinational company 

headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland 

which provides inspection, verification, 

testing and certification services, and is 

one of the top five institutions for testing 

and certification. 

G&G submitted products, including 

replacement toner cartridges for HP 17A, 

HP 26X, HP 412X, Brother TN-247, 

Samsung 404 and etc.; and replacement 

inkjet cartridges for Canon 580/581, HP 

950/951 and etc.; covering 10 mainstream 

OEM brands. 

Mr. Ni Ming, Director of Ninestar 

Quality Management Department, said: 

“Ninestar aims to provide customers with 

safe, high-quality products. So does G&G, 

Ninestar’s own brand. SGS is the world’s 

leading inspection company, we are happy 

to know all submitted G&G products 

successfully passed the tests. Our future 

objective is to comply with, or exceed all 

applicable and anticipated environment 

regulations.” 

Ninestar is one of the few manufacturers 

in aftermarket that has passed the IECQ 

HSPM QC 080000 certification. This 

certification means that Ninestar's control 

of hazardous substances is in line with 

international standards. 

Also announced was that the German 

arm of G&G Image expanded the team 

with the appointment of Michael Büttner. 

Talking about its newest recruit, 

Daniel Orth, CEO of Tonerdumping, 

the exclusive retailer of Ninestar’s brand, 

G&G, in Germany said Michael Büttner 

brings more than 20 years of industry and 

product experience. 

As part of this new role, Büttner will be 

responsible for the Sales and Marketing 

and E-Commerce team. 

Before starting his new appointment at 

G&G Image Germany Büttner was with 

Pelikan, Unilever, Mars and Red Bull. 

G&G said: “With this knowledge, we 

want to further promote the G&G Image 

brand in Germany.” 

In May G&G sponsored David Connett 

walking the West Highland Way raising 

money for charity. The company 

continued raising money with the first 

G&G International Padel Tournament 

which ended on 14 July 2019 and raised 

over €10,400 ($11,687) for the Children's 

Oncology Unit. 

The 7-day games attracted 372 padel 

players and over thousands of audiences to 

the courts, raising over €10,400 ($11,687) 

for the Children's Oncology Unit of the 

Hospital of Alicante. The winner received 

price money of €1,400 ($1,572). 

“G&G not only provides good products 

and good service, but also takes social 

responsibility and initiative to benefit 

the society and community. G&G 

International Padel Tournament in Spain 

was a good try. G&G will continue to 

bring healthy, eco-friendly life to our 

customers. ” Mr. Jon Chan, Global 

Branding Manager of G&G commented. 

Chan added: “By this chance we G&G 

sincerely thank for the support from our 

distributor, local government, media 

friends and our customers. This event 

would not be such a success without their 

help and assistance! ” ■ 



AUSTRALASIA Epson, Calidad, IP 

Australian court quashes Epson reuse 

In an unexpected decision the Australian Federal Court has overturned a lower court decision in favour of Epson. 

In an unexpected decision the Australian 

Federal Court, on appeal, unanimously 

overturned a 2017 lower court decision 

in favour of Epson effectively blocking 

the importation and sale of reused Epson 

cartridges. 

The principal findings were that 

there are material differences between 

‘exhaustion’ and ‘implied licence’ 

doctrines and the Court proceeded on 

the footing that the ‘exhaustion of rights’ 

doctrine does not apply in Australia. 

However, Calidad has reserved the right 

to appeal this point to the High Court. 

Even a relatively minor modification 

may take a product outside the scope 

of the implied licence. For instance, in the 

reuse process, Ninestar made a hole in the 

cartridge to fill them with ink and then 

resealing the cartridge. 

No right of repair – Calidad contended 

that the modified Epson cartridges a 

legitimate right to repair or refurbish the 

cartridge. The Court found this argument 

unconvincing, principally because the 

cartridges acquired by Ninestar were 

not worn or broken – rather, they had 

reached the end of their useful life as a 

consequence of their intended use. 

In Australia, the implied licence doctrine 

is the ability of the patentee to impose 

restrictions on the use of a patented article. 

Epson argued that their cartridge gave 

rise to an ‘inherent restrictive condition’ 

preventing buyers from reusing their 

cartridges in the manner undertaken 

by Ninestar. At the earlier trial, the Judge 

rejected this argument on the basis that 

the features cited by Seiko amounted 

to digital attributes of its goods, rather 

than a notice of its relevant intention 

to Calidad. Justice Greenwood, on appeal, 

affirmed this decision. 

The green consumer agenda 

The case highlights some specific 

issues for remanufacturers and resellers 

in Australia. Firstly, the right of repair 

does not extend to an empty cartridge. 

Secondly, there is no patent exhaustion in 

the first sale. Thirdly it highlights that the 

current IP laws do not take into account 

an environmental perspective. Fourthly 

such judgements could give rise to a de 

facto dominant position by and IP holder 

and could negatively impact on consumers 

right to choose. 

In June 2018 a Senate inquiry into 

Australia’s waste and recycling problem 

said there should be a national ban on 

single-use plastics within five years, 

in a report delivered to the federal 

government and described as a “national 

blueprint” for solving the crisis. 

If governments are going to promote 

reuse and end single-use plastics 

successfully, then providing an 

environmental impact in the granting 

of patents and patent disputes would be 

essential. 

Editor’s Opinion: 

Epson sustainability conflict? 

In the Epson 2018 sustainability 

report Epson’s life cycle thinking is 

“an environmentally-conscious product 

as one for which environmental impacts 

are considered from product conception 

to mission completion; that is, at every 

phase of the life cycle, from design and 

manufacturing to transport, usage and 

recycling. Through the creation of ecoconsiderate 

products, we are cooperating 

with customers and business partners 

to expand our environmental impact 

mitigation efforts beyond Epson’s doors.” 

Yet one of the foundations of 

sustainability are the reduce, reuse and 

recycle. Epson is leapfrogging reuse and 

focusing on produce and recycle and using 

IP litigation to exclude reuse. ■ 

• 

• 

• 

• 


29


EUROPE DMC Canotec, Charity, Walk 

DMC Canotec supports 

inspirational 

melanoma patient 

The company said it is extremely proud to be supporting 

a great friend and client, Martyn Wells of Warwickshire 

Law Firm Wright Hassall, as he embarks once more 

on a significant fundraising challenge: The Cape Wrath 

Trail 2019. 

This undertaking in aid of Macmillan 

Cancer Support is a 10-day, 240-mile trek, 

beginning in Fort William on 31 August 

and continuing along the western fringes 

of the Scottish Coast, ending at Cape 

Wrath in the far North West of Scotland 

on 9 September. 

Known as Britain’s hardest walk, the 

Cape Wrath Trail will see expedition team 

members navigating towering mountain 

ranges and freezing rivers while surviving 

on provisions carried on their backs. 

Camping each night, participants will 

tackle the infamous Scottish weather and 

wilderness head on. 

Since being diagnosed with melanoma 

in 2017, Martyn has endured a long 

and challenging course of treatment 

and surgery, which continues to this 

day. Recently, his preparations were 

hit hard following immunotherapy 

treatment, which saw him contract double 

pneumonia and sepsis, then spend 15 days 

on a life support machine. 

Incredibly, despite his diagnosis and 

recent complications, he continues to be 

extremely positive and inspiring, working 

tirelessly for Macmillan and raising 

awareness of Melanoma. Prior to his 

upcoming trek, in September 2018 

Martyn walked the Severn Way trail, 

raising £46,000. 

“We are very proud to be sponsors again 

this year for Martyn’s great cause, with this 

significant and brave challenge. He has 

raised so much awareness in the media and 

within the IT industry for skin cancer and 

Macmillan Cancer Support with his own 

brave fight, and he has been an inspiration 

to our team,” says David Newman, 

Director at DMC Canotec. “Whilst we 

won’t be able to walk with him this year 

on the mountain tops of the Scottish 

Highlands, like we did last year, many 

of us at DMC Canotec will be taking part 

in our own Jurassic Coast Challenge 

in September, going stride for stride 

on one of Martyn’s days.” 

To donate to this inspirational cause or 

to find out more about the trek, please visit 

www.capewrathtrail2019.com. ■ 

EUROPE Delacamp, Polymers, ISO Certification 

ISO certification for Convena 

Convena Polymers, Delcamap’s plastics business unit has been certified by 

TUV Rheinland. 

Delacamp reported that Convena 

Polymers for its high-performance 

plastics business unit has successfully 

been ISO9001: 2015 certified by TUV 

Rheinland. 

The owner Jörg Ahrens founded the 

company in 1994 and, together with his 

team, developed it into Europe’s largest 

independent fluoropolymer trader. 

Delacamp purchased the company in 

November 2016. 

At the time Kappius told The Recycler: 

“The acquisition is for our business 

outside the laser imaging cartridge repair 

industry. There is some overlapping 

with laser imaging on parts and roller, 

mainly for fuser units, especially with 

the OEM. But this was not our main 

driver – to widen our product range to 

include high performance polymers. The 

main reason was that we are moving into 

the reprocessing of high performance 

polymers as part of our sustainability 

strategy.” 

For more information visit 

www.convena-polymers.de. ■ 



EUROPE CTS Toner Supplies Ltd, Expansion, Anniversary 

CTS celebrates with expansion 

The UK-based aftermarket print consumables distribution company CTS 

Toner Supplies Ltd is celebrating its 25 th anniversary with another extension 

which means after completion the company will have a total of 21,144 sq ft 

of warehousing. 

To accommodate the growth and need 

for warehousing, CTS Supplies Ltd are 

making progress with its latest extension 

of its warehousing facilities. Just over the 

last seven years the company added an 

additional 1080ft² in 2012, additional 

2160ft² in 2015, additional 2772ft² in 2016 

additional 4824ft² in 2017. 

Just in time for its 25th anniversary 

celebration this year, the company started 

its latest addition of an additional 5958ft² 

making it a total size of 21,144 ft². 

The company took to Social Media to 

show its progress in a small video and 

commented: “CTS are celebrating our 25th 

anniversary with another extension! With 

our original warehouse building being just 

4350ft², due to our success and growth 

we've had to go bigger and we're very 

excited to share the progress with you all!” 

CTS is a family owned company, set up 

by Steve Clayton in 1995 and is a UK-based 

aftermarket print consumables distributor 

with a product range of more than 2,800 

of products and employs 35 people. 

Speaking about future plans to Channel 

Info in January 2019, Steve Clayton 

said: “To have expanded our number of 

product categories by 20 percent, to be 

employing 50 members of staff across the 

UK and Ireland by 2021, ultimately to 

achieve annual sales of £15 million ($18.78 

million/ €16.74 million) by 2024.” 

“We aim to be a business for the long 

term. Our ambition is to reach £10 million 

($12.52 million/ €11.16 million) turnover 

by 2020, to be regularly supplying 750 

dealer and distribution level customers,” 

Clayton added. ■ 

AUSTRALASIA RTS Imaging, New Hire, New Zealand 

Johan Nieuwoudt joins 

RTS Imaging 

RTS Imaging are pleased to introduce its newest 

staff member, Johan Nieuwoudt. 

Nieuwoudt will be filling the newly 

created position at RTS Imaging of 

Customer Technical Support Manager. 

Traditionally, in large markets, Katun 

have used this role to bridge the gap 

between the technical side of product 

development and the practical side of 

everyday use of 

Katun products in a dealers’ business. 

Prior to joining RTS, Nieuwoudt spent 

the last five years in a similar role with 

Katun in Africa. His previous experience 

includes time as a technician on Ricoh 

and Canon Machines and then as a service 

manager for a Konica Minolta dealership. 

RTS explained that his background 

allows him to assist Katun customers 

in the Australasian market and the 

broader South East Asian territory 

serviced by RTS Imaging. Having worked 

as both a service manager and technician 

he is uniquely placed to help both 

dealership owners and managers 

to achieve cost savings whilst satisfying 

the service departments need for 

knowledge, measurement and detail, 

the company added. 

Nieuwoudt is based in New Zealand 

and will spend most of his time travelling 

to support RTS Imaging’s customers. ■ 


31


EUROPE Integral, Expansion, Business 

Integral looking to expand relationships 

The German-based toner manufacturer has recently announced it is looking to expand its international sales team. 

Now in its 43 rd year, Integral prides itself 

with its company mission of “Quality 

without compromises” and “full customer 

satisfaction”. The company’s slogan 

"The Toner for Better Images" says what 

it means, positioning the company as a 

manufacturer, who has built a reputation 

on the quality and performance of 

products, customers can trust. 

Integral was founded in 1966, and the 

company added that it has “since managed 

to become one of the leading toner 

manufacturers worldwide”, having entered 

the toner business “as the first independent 

company to manufacture electrostatic 

toners in Europe”. 

For the company’s international sales 

team, the search has started for a dedicated 

Area Sales Manager for Central and 

Eastern Europe, Middle East / Africa and 

Western Europe. 

The successful candidate will be looking 

to expand Integral’s business relationships 

with existing customers as well as the 

generation of business volume from new 

customers. Preparation of strategies in 

order to process and sell the company’s 

products as well as to increase their market 

share is part of the role as well as support 

and development of customers in sales, 

commercial and product-related matters. 

Think you are the right candidate? 

Or want to find out more? Check out 

the details on www.therecycler.com/ 

recruitment. ■ 

EUROPE Paperworld, Remanexpo, Events 

New "Paperworld Office Village" announced 

With "Paperworld Office Village", Paperworld says it offers a new concept for exhibitors from the office world. 

Paperworld 2020, featuring the 

Remanexpo product group in Hall 6.1, 

held 25 to 28 January 2020, will debut 

another new feature, the “Paperworld 

Office Village” for brand manufacturers 

which will be located in Hall 3.0. 

In a purpose-built area, companies have 

the opportunity to present themselves in 

a high-quality environment. The brand 

name companies Edding International 

GmbH, HAN Bürogeräte GmbH & Co. 

KG, Pelikan Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH & 

Co. KG, Schneider Schreibgeräte GmbH 

and Tesa SE are already on board. 

The "Paperworld Office Village" 

is a whole new concept that will be 

implemented for the first time from 25 

to 28 January 2020. In addition to the 

exhibitor booths, the area in Hall 3.0 will 

offer an info point, lounges, and meeting 

rooms for networking as well as a catering 

area. 

"We created this concept to provide 

manufacturers with an attractive 

presentation platform at the heart of 

the Paperworld office area. What makes 

the Paperworld Office Village so special 

are the fully equipped booths. This 

service makes participation even more 

convenient for the exhibitor," says Michael 

Reichhold, Director Paperworld. 

The concept has met with a positive 

response from the industry, as brand 

name companies Edding International 

GmbH, HAN Bürogeräte GmbH & Co. 

KG, Pelikan Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH & 

Co. KG, Schneider Schreibgeräte GmbH 

and Tesa SE have already signed up for 

floor space in the "Paperworld Office 

Village". 

"We look forward to the fair's new 

Office Village concept. A ready-to-go 

area, which we and other manufacturers 

can also use, minimises costs and focuses 

us even more on direct exchanges with 

our customers. A perfect space for 

networking," says Matthias Schumacher, 

Director of International Sales, Tesa SE. 

Jens Magdanz, Marketing and Sales 

Manager of HAN Bürogeräte GmbH & 

Co. KG. is also an enthusiastic supporter 

of the new concept, and says: "We highly 

welcome this new show format, and 

would be delighted if it was well received 

by customers in the Paperworld Office 

Village. From where we stand, the Village 

is very well placed to make an important 

contribution to Paperworld. We look 

forward to a successful 2020 exhibition 

season in Frankfurt". 

Personal contact to customers is also 

important for Torsten Jahn, Managing 

Director of Pelikan Vertriebsgesellschaft 

mbH & Co. KG. As he says, "Paperworld 

remains an important forum for engaging 

in dialogue with business partners from 

all over the world. The Paperworld 

Office Village offers us an invaluable 

opportunity to present our latest 

innovations in a small space, and to offer 

our guests an attractive meeting place 

in the centre of Paperworld at the same 

time". 

2019’s edition of Paperworld and 

Remanexpo saw over 33,000 visitors pass 

through the doors of Germany’s Messe 

Frankfurt, from 143 different countries 

worldwide. Of these, 94 percent reported 

that they were “satisfied or very satisfied” 

with their decision to attend Europe’s 

premier stationery and office imaging 

trade show. ■ 



NORTH AMERICA Static Control, Awards, Health and Safety 

Static Control honoured by 

NC Department of Labor 

Static Control was given two awards by the North Carolina (NC) Department 

of Labor at the recent Lee County Safety Banquet held 11 June at the City of 

Sanford Public Works Service Center. 

The NC Department of Agriculture 

also attended the banquet, along with 

several county and city agencies and 

17 manufacturing companies from the 

surrounding area. 

The company was honoured with an 

award of special recognition for over one 

million hours worked last year with no 

workplace injuries. Static Control was 

also given the Silver Award for the second 

consecutive year in recognition 

of outstanding safety and health efforts. 

The Million Hour Award is for 

companies working at least one million 

consecutive hours without a lost time 

injury. As of the end of May, Static 

Control has worked 1.6 million hours 

without a lost time injury. 

The Silver Award is given to companies 

who have demonstrated they have an 

incident rate of at least 50 percent below 

the average for its particular industry 

group for injuries resulting in lost 

work days. 

Static Control’s Environmental, Health 

and Safety Supervisor Debbie Bigelow 

accepted the awards on behalf of the 

company. Certificates were handed out 

by North Carolina’s Commissioner 

of Labor Cherrie Berry. 

“It is an honour to receive a safety award 

from the North Carolina Department 

of Labor, which recognises companies 

who achieve and maintain outstanding 

safety records,” said Bigelow. “Static 

Control has earned safety awards for the 

past 19 years that I've been here, which 

demonstrates the commitment of ALL 

our associates to prevent accidents and 

work safely every day." ■ 


33

FEATURE 

Toner: The Quality v Price Conundrum 

Achieving the harmony between quality, service and price. ITDL’s Chairman 

and Managing Director, Sushil Jain comments on toner manufacturing and 

the unrealistic expectations of ever lower prices. 

▲ Sushil Jain ITDL’s Chairman and 

Managing Director 

Manufacturing toner powder utilising the 

pulverising process is a very interesting 

and complex process where no chemical 

reactions are involved. The theory of 

physics plays an essential role in the 

manufacturing process, which is often 

thought to be a simple mix of various 

chemicals or simply carbon black. This 

black powder is much more than that. 

When ITDL joined hands to collaborate 

technically with a Swiss company 27 

years back, we were totally dependent on 

our collaborators for the formulations, 

which were very expensive to buy. 

The collaborators had given us five 

formulations in the beginning, and they 

were very costly formulations in terms of 

the ingredient costs. It took us almost five 

to ten years to understand the technology 

and the significance of each material in 

the formulations. Understanding the 

functioning of the printers we were 

designing toner for was very important. 

Speciality chemicals used in the coating of 

the compounded products were not readily 

available, and the suppliers were very few 

and very selective in offering the materials 

to the buyers. In short, we had to climb 

the experience ladder step by step rather 

than jump to the op most step at one go. 

The foundations of our toner expertise are 

built of years of learning and experience. 

Today our expertise, knowledge 

and confidence of our research and 

development skills enable us to develop 

market-ready formulations continually. 

There are no shortcuts, but there are 

many players in the market who think 

there is. They think if they have set up 

the equipment to manufacture toner, it is 

easy to get ready-made formulations from 

the so-called technical experts available in 

the industry. But they do not understand 

that a formulation which may be suitable 

for one set of process equipment may not 

Competition does force the industry players to 

become more efficient in all facets of manufacturing 

FEATURED 

A R TIC L E 

▲ ITDL Sitarganj 

produce the same results in a different set 

of equipment. For example, a twin-screw 

extruder used for compounding may give 

a different quality of compound than a 

single screw compounder. The same is the 

story with the post blending equipment. 

Therefore it is always best to start the 

learning process from scratch rather than 

jump on short cuts, which may not yield 

success. 

A successful toner manufacturer needs 

to understand the science and technology 

▲ ITDL Rampur 

behind the manufacturing of toner as 

well as the role and interactions of each 

ingredient in the formulation. 

Talk of any industry (automobile, steel, 

FMCG, plastics etc.) and there is a limit 

to the capacity of an industry to absorb the 

increase in input cost without increasing 

the selling price of the product and passing 

it on to the customer. Input cost increase 

could be due to an energy price hike, 

higher wages, raw material, freight or 

packaging, to name a few. There will 

not be any industry which may not have 

hiked its output price in the past let us say 

five years. 

However, there is one industry which has 

not increased the price of the finished 

product in the past two decades. On the 

contrary, it has continuously reduced 

its selling price. This is the compatible 

pulverised toner manufacturing industry. 

There can be an argument that 

competition leading to lowering of prices 

is good for the consumer. Yes, of course, 

but there is a limit to everything. 

Competition does force the industry 

players to become more efficient in 

all facets of manufacturing without 

compromising its quality. However, 

when it comes to the point where in order 

for the industry to survive, it starts to 

bring down the quality of the product 

to save costs, that is the downfall of the 

particular industry. 

Problems begin to brew when a 

particular country gives support to the 

manufacturing sector and encourages 

more exports to capture overseas markets. 

These actions directly distort the level 

playing field between manufacturers in 

different parts of the world. 

Also, in some markets of the world, price 

plays an important role in capturing the 

attention of the customers. The customers 

sometimes ignore the quality aspects over 

price. Such a phenomenon is dangerous 

for the industry. ■ 



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 


35

FEATURE 

W0W shredding comes online 

Madrid based Waste Zero World has revealed that its cartridge shredding plant 

is operational and plans to double capacity from September. 

The cartridge shredding plant is based 

in the Parla district of Madrid and came 

online in January 2019 after extensive 

periods of development and trials and 

was granted their license by the authorities 

at the end of 2018. The plant currently 

processes twenty tonnes per week and 

plans are in hand to double the capacity 

from September. 

Speaking to The Recycler, Julio Guerrero, 

the owner of Waste Zero world (W0W) 

said: “We saw that with the revised WEEE 

directive there was a gap in the market for 

an effective end of life solution for surplus 

and non-viable cartridges, especially as 

more cartridges are being collected than 

are needed for current reuse demand. 

The option to sell surplus and non-viable 

cartridges to Chinese companies for 

raw material recovery is no longer viable 

because of the restrictions on the import 

of plastic waste by China. 

“We started our project in July 2017 

to develop a recycling plant specifically 

for toner cartridges and have so far invested 

in excess of €1 million to develop and 

patent our four-stage material recovery 

plant that, with our partners, has been 

optimised to specifically process toner 

cartridges and recover ferrous metals, 

plastics, aluminium and waste toner. 

The waste toner capture is highly efficient 

and incorporates anti-explosion 

technology enabling maximum toner dust 

recovery. Waste toner accounts for over 

twelve percent of the overall weight that 

is recovered from the cartridges. Overall 

we achieve a 99.22 percent recovery 

rate.” 

WASTE RECOVERED 

PER METRIC TONNE 

Ferrous Metals 38.73% 

Aluminium 4.10% 

Plastics 44.24% 

Toner powder 12.15% 

Other waste 0.78% 

Total 100% 

From August 2018 all companies placing 

printer cartridges on the market within the 

European Union that contain electrical 

parts such as a chip have to report and be 

We saw that with the revised WEEE 

directive there was a gap in the market 

Julio Guerrero, Owner of Waste Zero world 

fully compliant with WEEE legislation 

in each EU member state. The regulations 

also include a take back requirement 

for reuse or end of life material recovery 

processing. 

In a recently published Frost & Sullivan 

report they comment “following China’s 

ban on solid waste, including plastic, 

the plastic recycling market is especially 

likely to experience high growth due to 

investments in new technologies, driving 

the $37.60 billion (€42.14 billion) market 

towards $39.89 billion (€44.71 billion) 

in 2019. Overall revenues in the global 

waste recycling market are expected to 

increase from $354.7 billion (€397.5 

billion) in 2018 to $376.9 billion (€422.42 

billion) in 2019, and the volumes generated 

are set to grow from 29,493.7 million 

tonnes to 30,190.0 million tonnes during 

the same period.” 

In 2018 more than 120 million toner 

cartridges were sold in Europe and these 

cartridges are subject to WEEE legislation. 

Research undertaken on behalf of The 

Recycler indicates that around fifty percent 

of cartridges still find their way to landfill. 

The research also indicated that the reuse 

channel was holding in excess of 100 

million used cartridges and that over 25 

million new build cartridges we sold in 

Europe in 2018. 

In the Iberian (Spain & Portugal) market 

18.3 million toner cartridges were sold in 

2018, of which 66% were OEM, 26% were 

new-build and imported (from outside 

the EU) remanufactured cartridges and 

6% were remanufactured within Spain 

& Portugal. 

FEATURED 

A R TIC L E 



According to David Connett, Partner 

at Connett & Unland GbR, “The recent 

waste legislation changes in China means 

that more material recovery capacity for 

toner cartridges is needed in Europe. 

The current cartridge shredding facilities 

in Europe are already running at near 

maximum capacity. Without new facilities 

coming on line it could lead to used 

cartridges being stockpiled or still finding 

their way to Landfill.” 

The biggest challenge is 

an effective solution for the 

waste toner. 

In Australia The Guardian reports that 

waste toner is “a new, more environmentally 

friendly asphalt mix containing recycled 

printer toner [and] is being used on Sydney’s 

roads. 

The technology is the world’s first 

commercial use for toner waste, and 

was first used in Melbourne in 2013.” 

In the USA the American Chemical Society, 

reported there is a possibility that in the 

future “left-over toner in discarded printer 

cartridges could have a second life as bridge 

or building components instead of as trash”. 

The group of researchers reveals that they 

have devised a method of turning toner 

residue into iron, “using temperatures that 

are compatible with existing industrial 

processes.” 

In response to demand from across Europe 

W0W is expanding their workforce over 

the summer and will double the capacity 

of cartridges that are processed through 

the facility. 

Apart from increasing the workforce, 

further expansion is planned, Guerrero 

commented “we want to increase the 

amount of automation used in the plant 

and we are looking the most effective way 

to process inkjet cartridge for our next 

expansion project.” ■ 


37

PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY 

ASIA Apex, Chips, Remanufacturing 

Apex showcases latest releases 

The company has announced new replacement chips for use with Canon CRG-053H/059H/T04 series cartridges, HP 

658A/X series cartridges, Canon NPG-76 series cartridges, HP W1103A series toner refill tanks and Ricoh P C600 

machines. 

The first announcement was for 

replacement chips for use in Canon 

LBP853Ci, Canon LBP852Ci/LBP851C, 

Canon LBP853Ci/LBP852Ci/LBP851C, 

Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE 

C475i/iZ III and Canon imageRUNNER 

ADVANCE C475iF/iFZ III machines. 

In Apex’s SoC design, the company 

announced new replacement chips are 

for use in HP Colour LaserJet Enterprise 

M751dn/751n printers and come with a 

7,000 page yield. 

One of the latest replacement chips 

announced are in the company’s 

ASIC design and are for use in Canon 

imageRUNNER ADVANCE C356i 

II/ C356P II/C256i II and Canon 

imageRUNNER ADVANCE C356iF III/ 

C256i III/C356P III machines and boast a 

page yield of 23,000. 

Apex prides itself that its chips have 

“consistent performance” and are “easy to 

install in recycled cartridges”. 

Apex then released replacement chips for 

use in HP Neverstop Laser 1000a/1000w, 

HP Neverstop Laser MFP 1200a/1200w 

for other regions after it launched the 

Chinese regionalised chips in June this 

year. 

First released in China in June 2019, HP 

has subsequently released the Neverstop 

series of A4 monochrome laser printers 

and MFPs worldwide with its singlefunction 

Neverstop 1000a and 1000w and 

the multifunction Neverstop 1200a and 

1200w devices. These devices use a reload 

kit that refills an internal tank with toner 

which takes about 15 seconds to refill the 

device with toner and offer a "clean refill 

experience". 

And finally, the company announced 

new replacement chips for use with Ricoh 

P C600 series machines. 

Ricoh recently launched an A4 format 

colour laser printer in the United States. 

Ricoh's P C600 features print speeds of up 

to 42ppm and print resolution of 1200 x 

1200 dpi. Equipped with NFC function, 

making you more convenient and efficient 

to print documents. 

Apex’s chips are in ASIC design and 

come with page yields of 18,000 for the 

black cartridge chips and 12,000 for the 

CMY cartridge chips. They are for the 

USA region. 

For more information, please visit 

www.apexmic.com. ■ 

EUROPE ECS, Cartridges, Remanufacturing 

ECS product spotlight 

Effective Consumable Solutions (ECS) discusses the latest developments in their 

range of remanufactured Ricoh toner cartridges. 

The latest product release by the 

remanufacturer of the year includes a 

full colour set of Ricoh IMC2500 toner 

cartridges, for use in Ricoh IMC2000 and 

IMC2500 devices, Ricoh IMC3000 and 

IMC3500 devices and Ricoh IMC4500, 

IMC5500 and IMC6000 devices. 

The company explained that all ECS 

products are tested and remanufactured 

to guarantee quality, performance and 

reliability equivalent to the OEM. Each 

and every ECS remanufactured product 

adheres to ISO9001 standards, ensuring 

peace of mind for every Partner. 

Director Chris Fink said: “Our highly 

trained team of technicians use their 

years of experience to ensure that every 

cartridge meets the standards that our 

partners expect. Customers can therefore 

expect to receive levels of performance 

that are equivalent to that of the OEM.” 

Fink added: “We procure only the 

finest components including toner from 

the leading manufacturers in the world; 

producing our vast, high quality product 

range with leading edge development 

inside our own remanufacturing plant.” 

The company stated that all 

remanufactured products come with 

a 100 percent no quibble guarantee, 

whereby If the product does not 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 Felicity Rabbitte finished 

by saying: “We have three dedicated 

ISO 9001 remanufacturing plants 

in the UK including one in Scotland, 

where we employ some of the highest 

technically skilled engineers in the field, 

trained to produce and provide the 

highest quality products and solutions 

that we promise to our 

partners.” 

For more information, go to 

www.ecs-uk-ltd.co.uk. ■ 



EUROPE IR Italiana Riprografia, Cartridges, Italy 

IR Italiana Riprografia’s latest 

products 

The Italian company has released new compatible toner cartridges for use in 

Olivetti, UTAX and Toshiba machines. 

IR Italiana Riprografia expanded its 

compatible toner cartridge range for use 

in Olivetti machines with the addition of 

cartridges for use in Olivetti DCOPIA MF 

4000MF with a page yield of 35,000 pages. 

Also announced were compatible toner 

cartridges for use in UTAX 4056I with a 

page yield of 35,000 pages. 

IR Italiana Riprografia expanded its 

compatible toner cartridge range for use 

in Toshiba machines with the addition of 

cartridges for use in Toshiba e-STUDIO 

2050C which boast a page yield of 38,400 

pages for the black cartridges and a page 

yield of 33,600 pages for the colour 

cartridges. 

According to the company, the 

compatible toner cartridges provide not 

only “OEM equivalent print quality,” 

but also “100 percent compatibility” with 

OEM products, as well as “significant 

savings” over the OEM. The compatible 

toner cartridges also offer MSDS in 

compliance with REACH. 

Additionally, the cartridges were 

produced “in a certificated environment” 

including the ISO 9001:2015 quality 

management system certificate; the ISO 

14001:2015 environmental management 

system certificate; and the BS OHSAS 

18001:2007 occupational health and 

safety management system certificate. The 

“product performances of several items 

distributed” by IR follow the standards set 

by STMC and ISO 19752 and ISO 19798. 

For more information, please visit 

www.itrip.it. ■ 

ASIA Ninestar, Toner Refill Kit, Toner Tank 

Ninestar launches 

toner reload kit 

Ninestar announced the launch of its 

replacement toner reload kit for use 

in HP Neverstop 1000/1200 series 

printers. 

Targeted at small and medium-sized 

enterprises, HP launched the HP Neverstop 

1000/1200 series printers in July, 2019. 

HP claims, it is “the world’s first laser tank 

printer” with a “self-reloadable toner”. 

Ninestar announced that its replacement 

toner reload kit for use in HP Neverstop 

1000a/1000w and 1200a/1200w printers is 

available now and comes with page yields of 

2,500 and 5,000. 

Ninestar said that the replacement toner 

refill kit comes with a “self-developed 

chip” that is “100 percent compatible with 

OEM machines” and gives “accurate page 

counting”. 

For more information, visit 

www.ggimage.com. ■ 


39


ASIA CET, Chips, MPS 

CET launches new products 

Over the last few weeks the Chinese company has launched a vast array of new products for use in various OEM 

machines as well as a new range of replacement chips for use in various HP LaserJet Pro machines boasting three 

times the page yield. 

One of the latest products launched 

by CET is a fuser assembly for use in 

HP LaserJet Pro M501, HP LaserJet 

Enterprise M506/MFP M527. 

Also launched were feed roller 

maintenance kit for use in 

HP LaserJet Enterprise MFP 

M725dn/725f/725z/725z+, HP 

LaserJet Pro 500 Colour MFP 

M570dn, HP Colour LaserJet 

Enterprise M651n/651dn/651xh, MFP 

M680dn/680f/680z, Flow MFP M680z 

and LaserJet Enterprise 700 Colour MFP 

M775dn/775f/775z/775z+. 

The company’s Konica Minolta range 

was expanded with the addition of 

replacement drum units for use in Konica 

Minolta Bizhub C258/308/368 machines. 

Also now available are waste toner 

container for use in HP Colour 

LaserJet CM3530/3530fs, HP Colour 

LaserJet CP3525dn/3525n/3525x, HP 

LaserJet Enterprise 500 Colour MFP 

M575dn/575f/570dn machines. 

CET’s chip range had the addition of 

replacement chips for use in Kyocera 

Ecosys M8124cidn/830cidn, which are 

available for all four colours and come 

with a page yield of 12,000 for the black 

and 6,000 for the chip for use with the 

CMY cartridges. 

Launched in the USA was an oil 

application pad for use in Kyocera Ecosys 

P2040dn/2040dw/2235dn/2235dw, 

Kyocera Ecosys M2040dn/2135dn/ 

2540dn/2540dw and the Kyocera Ecosys 

M2635dn/2635dw/2640idw/2735dw 

machines. 

Highlight of the launches in recent weeks 

was the announcement of its “3x long life 

compatible chips” for use in HP LaserJet 

Pro M102w/102a, HP LaserJet Pro MFP 

M130a/130nw/130fn/130fw, HP LaserJet 

pro M104a/104w and HP LaserJet Pro 

MFP M132a/132fw/132nw/132fn 

machines. These replacement chips are 

available now not only with a page yield 

of 1,600 but also with a page yield three 

times as much, 4,800. 

CET said these replacement chips come 

with “300 percent increase in performance 

with minimum investment,” and are 

“ideal products for your MPS and CPC 

accounts”. 

For more information on the above and 

more products from CET, go to 

www.cetgroupco.com. ■ 

EUROPE Ecoservice, Remanufacturing, Cartridges 

Ecoservice reveals latest 

products 

The Italian company has revealed its latest release, 

remanufactured drum units and toner cartridges for 

use with various Epson WorkForce machines. 

The latest releases from Ecoservice 

include remanufactured cartridges and 

drum units for use in Epson WorkForce 

AL-M / AL-MX 300 series printers. 

The drum unit comes with a page yield 

of 100,000 pages at five percent coverage. 

The remanufactured cartridges come 

in a standard and a high yield version 

with page yields of 2,700 for the standard 

and 10,000 for the high yield cartridges, 

also at five percent coverage. 

For more information on Ecoservices' 

products and new opportunities, visit 

www.es-ecoservice.it. ■ 



ASIA Print-Rite, Cartridges, Firmware 

Utec announces latest 

products 

The company has announced its latest compatible toner 

cartridges, for use in various Canon imageRUNNER 

Advance machines and released a compatible universal toner 

tank version for use with HP’s toner tank printers. 

Utec announced compatible CMYK 

cartridge sets for use in Canon 

imageRUNNER Advance C256 iF II/ 

C256 iF III/C356 iF II/C356 iF III 

machines. One set is replacing Canon 

GPR-58 series cartridges and the other 

replaces Canon C-EXV55 series cartridges. 

The company also launched 

compatible CMYK sets for use in Canon 

imageRUNNER Advance C250i/C255/ 

C350i/C355/C250iF/C255iF/C350iF/ 

C355iF machines. 

The company said its new compatible 

universal toner tank is the first version 

of its kind available. The universal toner 

tanks are for use in the HP Neverstop 

Laser printer. Utec says its design comes 

“with technology of prevention firmware 

upgrade” and is a “universal version for 

different regions”. 

Recent releases from Utec include a 

wide array of replacement drum units to 

use in various Kyocera and Canon copier 

devices, which followed May’s release of 

new “breakthrough” compatible solutions 

for various Canon imageRUNNER 

ADVANCE devices. 

Print-Rite in the meantime announced 

that the company’s replacement Brother 

TN-2420 cartridges not affected by 

Brother’s latest firmware update. The 

company added that its customers have 

been reassured that a firmware update 

for the Brother TN-2420 cartridge has 

had no adverse impact on the Print-Rite 

compatible cartridge. 

Print-Rite said: “The announcement 

comes after extensive testing and 

evaluation, proved that the Print-Rite TN- 

2420 cartridge is unaffected by the update 

and still works perfectly in the following 

printers.” 

Printer models that were affected by the 

latest firmware updates are the Brother 

DCP-L 2510 D, DCP-L 2512 D, DCP-L 

2530 DW, DCP-L 2537 DW, DCP-L 2550 

DN, HL-L 2310 D, HL-L 2350 DW, HL-L 

2357 DW, HL-L 2370 DN, HL-L 2372 

DN, HL-L 2375 DW, MFC-L 2712 DW, 

MFC-L 2710 DN, MFC-L 2710 DW, 

MFC-L 2712 DN, MFC-L 2730 DW, 

MFC-L 2732 DW, MFC-L 2735 DW and 

MFC-L 2750 DW models. 

For more information on the above 

products from Utec and Print-Rite and 

more new opportunities, please visit 

www.union-tec.com. ■ 

EUROPE OWA, Armor, Remanufacturing 

Armor reveals latest products 

Armor Office Printing has unveiled its latest products released in June for use in various OEM machines. 

The first launch was a remanufactured 

inkjet cartridge for use in HP ENVY 

Photo 6200 All-in-One printer series, HP 

ENVY Photo 7100 All-in-One printer 

series , HP ENVY Photo 7800 All-in-One 

printer series. This cartridge replaces HP 

303 XL cartridges. 

Also launched were remanufactured 

toner cartridges for use in various Epson 

WorkForce series printers, Canon i-Sensys 

series printers, Canon imageCLASS series 

printers and Samsung ProXpress series 

printers. 

Remanufactured drum units were 

launched for use in Samsung ProXpress 

M3825DW, ProXpress M3875FD, 

ProXpress M4025ND, ProXpress 

M4075FR, ProXpress M3325ND, 

ProXpress M3375, ProXpress M3825ND, 

ProXpress M4025NX, ProXpress 

M3875FW, ProXpress M4075FX and OKI 

B411D, OKI B411DN, OKI B412DN, 

OKI B431D, OKI B431DN, OKI B431+, 

OKI B432DN, OKI B512DN,OKI MB 

461, OKI MB 471, OKI MB 471W, OKI 

MB 472, OKI MB 472DNW, OKI MB 

491 and OKI MB562DNW printers. 

The colour range was expanded with 

remanufactured laser cartridges for use in 

Kyocera ECOSYS P7240cdn machines 

and Oki C532dn, C542dn and MC573dn 

machines. 

The company’s photocopier cartridge 

range was expanded with the addition of 

remanufactured CMYK cartridges for use 

in Konica Minolta Bizhub C458/558/658, 

Konica Minolta bizhub C3350 / C3850, 

Konica Minolta bizhub C3351/ C3851, 

Konica Minolta bizhub C452/ C552/ 

C652, Canon iR ADVANCE C5535, 

C5535i, C5540i, C5550i, C5560i, Canon 

iR ADVANCE C256, iR ADVANCE 

C356, Canon iR ADVANCE 

400i, iR ADVANCE 500i, Canon 

ImageRUNNER 1700 Series, 1730, 1740, 

1750 and Canon iR ADVANCE 4025(i), 

4035(i), 4225(i), 4235(i) printers. 

For more information, visit 

www.armor-owa.com. ■ 


41


EUROPE Katun Europe, Products, Waste Toner Container 

Katun Europe introduces 

new products 

The company has announced new products for use in 

Canon and Konica Minolta and Lemark printers. 

Katun Corporation announced the 

addition of Katun Performance waste 

toner containers for use in Canon and 

Konica Minolta applications, as well as 

a colour drum unit for use in Lexmark 

printers. 

The launch included Katun Performance 

waste toner containers (WTCs) for use 

in Canon imagePRESS C600-series 

machines, and waste toner containers for 

use in Konica Minolta Bizhub 368E-series 

machines. 

These two products complement the 

100+ containers already available in the 

product range for use in Canon, Konica 

Minolta, Sharp, Ricoh, and Xerox, as well 

as other OEMs, Katun explained. 

“Katun led the aftermarket by 

introducing alternative WTCs, beginning 

with WTCs for use in the first Konica 

Minolta colour devices, enabling Office 

Equipment Dealers savings opportunities 

long before anyone else offered them,” said 

Heidi Boller, General Manager for Katun 

EMEA. 

“Together with our expanding parts 

portfolio, these WTCs offer our dealer and 

distributor customers high quality, reliable 

replacement parts for all their office 

equipment service needs,” Boller added. 

According to Katun, the Katun 

Performance colour drum unit for use in 

Lexmark CS 921 DE / CX 921 DE-series 

machines, also just launched, is a reliable, 

high-quality product that enables you to 

increase the profitability of these colour 

printers. 

Previous releases included colour toner 

cartridges for use in HP printers, as well as 

a monochrome toner cartridge for Ricoh 

machines and most recently replacement 

toner cartridges for use in Canon C5535- 

series MFPs. 

For more information, go to 

www.katun.com/eu/. ■ 

EUROPE Uninet, MPS, Cartridges 

UniNet unveils latest products 

The company has released a range of new products for use in various Kyocera, Toshiba and Ricoh machines. 

The first launch was Absolute Black 

toner and replacement cartridge for 

use in Kyocera TaskAlfa 820, 620 

monochrome printer series. 

The Kyocera TaskAlfa 820 is a blazingspeed 

multifunction monochrome laser 

printer with capabilities to print, copy, 

and scan rated at 82 p/m featuring an 

1800 x 600 dpi resolution. This device 

was designed to satisfy the printing needs 

of high-volume office environments. 

Uninet said its Absolute Black toner 

formula is for use in Kyocera TaskAlfa 

820, 620 monochrome printer series and 

“features superior printing quality and 

high-density output to reproduce sharp 

and crisp black text for professionallooking 

documents.” 

Also now available are Kyocera 

TaskAlfa 820, 620 black replacement 

toner cartridge which come with a page 

yield of 55,000 at an average 6 percent 

page coverage. 

UniNet also introduced Absolute 

Colour toner, replacement cartridges, 

and components for use in Toshiba 

e-Studio C 4540, 3540, 3040, 2540, 2040 

colour printer series. 

The Toshiba e-Studio C 4540 is a 

fast-speed colour multifunction laser 

printer with capabilities to print, copy, 

fax and scan rated at 45 p/m for both 

monochrome and colour prints with a 

2400 x 600 dpi resolution. This printer 

was designed to satisfy the printing needs 

of mid-size to high-volume workgroups. 

The Toshiba e-Studio C 4540, 3540, 

3040, 2540, 2040 black replacement 

toner cartridge is rated at 34,200 pages, 

the CMY replacement cartridges are rated 

at 28,600 pages each with an average of 6 

percent page coverage. 

Also announced were UniNet Absolute 

Black toner and components for use in 

Ricoh Aficio SP 5310, 5300, MP 601, 501 

SPF monochrome printer series. 

The Ricoh Aficio SP 5310 is a reliable 

monochrome laser printer rated at 62 

p/m with a 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution. 

This printer was designed to satisfy the 

printing needs of mid-size workgroup 

environments. 

The replacement black toner cartridges 

for use in Ricoh Aficio SP 330 is rated at 

25,000 pages with an average of 6 percent 

page coverage. 

UniNet offers a complete product 

solution to serve the needs of MPS 

providers and remanufacturers of the 

above cartridges. 

For further information, please 

visit www.uninetimaging.com ■ 



NORTH AMERICA LMI Solutions, Remanufacturing, Cartridges 

LMI showcases latest products 

The company announced remanufactured toner cartridges for use in various 

HP, Xerox, Lexmark and Samsung machines. 

The first announcement was for 

extended high yield remanufactured 

cartridges for use in HP Colour LaserJet 

Enterprise M552dn, M553n, M553dn, 

MFP M553dnm, M553dh, M553x, MFP 

M577dn, MFP M577dnm, MFP M577f, 

MFP M577z machines. These cartridges 

boast page yields of 18,000 for all CMYK 

cartridges. 


toner cartridges for use in HP Colour 

LaserJet Pro M154, MFP M180n, MFP 

M180nw, MFP M181fw printers. The 

cartridges come with a page yield of 

1,100 for the black and 900 for the CMY 

cartridges. 

LMI Solutions’ remanufactured HP 

product line was also expanded with the 

addition of remanufactured cartridges 

for use in HP Colour LaserJet Pro M154, 

MFP M180n, MFP M180nw, MFP 

M181fw printers. The black cartridge 

comes with a page yield of 1,100 and the 

CMY come with a page yield of 900. 

Next launched were remanufactured 

monochrome cartridges for use in Xerox 

Phaser WorkCentre 3260/DI, 3260/DNI, 

3215/NI, 3225/DNI which come with a 

page yield of 3,000. 

LMI expanded its remanufactured 

Lexmark cartridge range with 

remanufactured cartridges for use in 

Lexmark MS817n, MS817dn, MS818dn, 

MX717de, MX718de machines which 

boast a page yield of 25,000. 


cartridges for use in Samsung Xpress 

monochrome laser printers M2625, 

M2625D, M2626, M2675, M2675f, 

M2675fn, M2676, M2825dw, M2825nd, 

M2826, M2835dw, M2875, M2875dw, 

M2875fd, M2875fw, M2875nd, M2876 

and M2885fw with a page yield of 3,000. 

One of the latest products released were 

remanufactured extended high yield 

remanufactured cartridges for use in HP 

LaserJet Enterprise M806dn, M806x+, 

M830z and HP LaserJet Enterprise Flow 

M830z, Flow M830zNFC, Flow MFP 

M830zm printers. 

These cartridges come with page yields 

of 45,000 compared to the OEM page 

yield of 34,500. 

For more information go to 

www.lmisolutions.com. ■ 

GLOBAL Lexmark, MFP, Single-Function 

Lexmark extends SMB offering 

The OEM has introduced six new single- and multi-function printers from its new GO Line series. 

Lexmark announced the expansion 

of its Lexmark GO Line series with the 

availability of six new devices designed for 

small and medium business (SMB). 

The Lexmark GO Line devices launched, 

include two new colour single-function 

printers, the C3224dw and C3326dw; 

three new colour multi-function devices 

(MFPs), the MC3224dwe, MC3224adwe 

and MC3326adwe; and a new monochrome 

MFP, the MB2236adwe. 

The colour devices launched are up to 30 

percent smaller and lighter than Lexmark's 

predecessor products, to accommodate 

small spaces. Wi-Fi is standard, along with 

enhanced connectivity and support for 

mobile users. These devices also come with 

multicore processing and Lexmark's fullspectrum 

security, which ensures the same 

level of security and protection found in 

Lexmark enterprise-class devices. 

A one-piece toner cartridge combines 

imaging components with Unison toner, 

making them easily removable and 

recyclable through Lexmark's Cartridge 

Collection program. 

The colour devices print up to 24 or 26 

colour pages per minute, while the mono 

device feature print speeds of up to 36 pages 

per minute. The multi-function products 

feature a 2.8" touchscreen. 

"The Lexmark GO Line series delivers 

SMB customers a simplified product line 

with easy to use, reliable products that fit 

their budgets and environments," said Brock 

Saladin, Lexmark senior vice president and 

chief revenue officer. "Lexmark GO Line 

series products are designed to be quick and 

easy to select, place and configure, with a 

full range of features that enable customers 

to maximise their productivity and simplify 

device management, with the peace of mind 

that comes with Lexmark's full spectrum 

security." 

Products in the Lexmark GO Line series 

are available through the Lexmark Global 


Partner Network and directly from global 

distributors. 

Lexmark has also announced two new 

enterprise colour products. The CS331dw 

single function printer and the CX331adwe 

MFP, which according to Lexmark help 

to enhance small-workgroup productivity 

with colour output up to 26 pages per 

minute, high-yield replacement toner 

cartridges, and connectivity via Wi-Fi, USB 

and gigabit ethernet. ■ 

43

MARKETPLACE 

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 


Contact us to advertise here: t.01993 899800 e. info@therecycler.com 


45

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