The Recycler Issue 336

Time to repurpose 

the office MFP? 

Konica Minolta announced a new addition 

to its Workplace Hub Portfolio, an A3 bizhub 

i-Series. Nothing special about that, except 

this bizhub comes fully loaded with a Server! 

Is this the new reality of printing and IT Services 

coming together? 

November 2020 

Issue 336 | £10 

23% of imported products not 

REACH and CLP compliant 

A pilot project by ECHA’s 

Enforcement Forum examining 

imports of products into the EU has 

found that 23% of inspected products were 

non-compliant with REACH and CLP. 

Page 13 

Starts page 4 

HP issues the most firmware 

updates so far 

Between January and August this year five 

OEM brands issued 707 firmware updates, 

or which 38 blocked aftermarket products. 

Page 14 

Ricoh takes over Data Vision 

The company becomes one of the largest AV 

and workplace integrators in Europe through 

the acquisition of Data Vision. 

Page 22 

ETIRA welcomes EU’s new GPP criteria 

for imaging equipment tenders 

ETIRA, the European Toner and Inkjet 

Remanufacturers Association, has welcomed 

new criteria introduced by the EU to reduce 

the environmental footprint of printers and 

cartridges purchased through public tenders. 

Page 26

IN THIS ISSUE 

2 Issue 336 November 2020

EDITORIAL 

Beyond the MFP 

Over the last few months we have been 

brainstorming the direction the OEMs 

are moving in as the market is clearly 

changing. We are not so much looking 

at the consumables business for the next 

year or so, but five to ten years out. This 

is a challenge because some OEMs haven’t 

got that picture, but one fact has emerged 

rather strongly this year. 

As businesses adapt to home, mobile 

and office working, the emerging trend is 

that the IT team, which could be inhouse 

or a contractor, are making it happen. 

It is the IT team, not the MPS provider 

that is connecting workers with servers, 

printers, the cloud, mobile devices safely 

and securely. Big deal you say. Well it is, 

because it means control and management 

is moving away from the MPS provider 

and that has an impact on revenues. 

A second trend is the growing awareness 

of how little printers are being used. 

A recent report on 300 printers that had 

been removed from an MPS programme 

showed that in some cases their use had 

been as little as 8%. That is not a one-off, 

but more common than you think. 

The third trend is that the demand 

for second had printers and copiers has 

more than doubled this year, which we 

will cover in a future issue. The OEM 

of the future is one that can leverage 

technology to deliver the whole platform, 

IT, servers, cloud, hardware, connectivity, 

security and supplies. A sort of “Office 

on Demand”. Peter Mayhew has an 

interesting perspective on this starting 

on page 4. 

Are the cheap cartridges days 

numbered? 

It is not hard to buy cartridges on online 

platforms; they are cheap, and you are 

spoilt for choice and they originate outside 

of the EU/EEA. It’s a simple process, you 

open a store on the marketplace, ship 

your goods to the marketplace warehouse. 

The consumer buys, the marketplace 

warehouse delivers, but the responsibility 

that the product complies with all EU 

It is the IT team, not the MPS provider that is 

connecting workers with servers, printers, the 

cloud, mobile devices safely and securely. 

regulations (CE, WEEE, REACH, 

RoHS etc) is currently with the private 

citizen. This changes next year when new 

regulations will require manufacturers 

in 3rd countries (based outside of the 

▲ Stefanie Unland Editor 

& Publisher, The Recycler 

EU/EEA) to appoint an Authorised 

Representative and the EU establishes 

Market Surveillance Authorities 

with powers to impose penalties on 

transgressors. You can read the feature 

in the next edition. 

HP are rarely out of the press at the 

moment. A $6 million (€5.11 million) 

penalty for misleading investors by failing 

to disclose the impact sales practices 

during 2015 and 2016. For the record 

HP neither admitted nor denied the SCC 

findings, but agreed to pay the $6 million 

(€5.11 million). 

Big shout out to Tricia Judge 

Who spotted that while Canon were 

busy telling the world they had filed a 

patent complaint against Ninestar, they 

had quietly not appealed the earlier ruling 

against them and in favour of a whole host 

of non-OEM producers. 

All change 

The Paperworld show is moving dates 

for 2021 only to 17 – 20 April and will 

be restyled, for one year only, as the 

International Consumer Goods Show – 

Special Edition. This brings Paperworld, 

the Remanexpo product group, 

Christmasworld and Ambiente together 

from 17 - 20 April 2021. 

As a result of this change, The Recycler 

Live conference that was scheduled for 

20 – 21 May 2021 will now be held on 

16-17 September 2021 at the Holiday Inn 

Prague Congress Centre. ■ 

Issue 336 

November 2020 

3

FEATURE 

Time to repurpose 

the office MFP? 

On 15 July 2020 Konica Minolta quietly issued a press release 

announcing a new addition to its Workplace Hub Portfolio, an A3 

bizhub i-Series. Nothing special about that, except this bizhub comes 

fully loaded with a Server! Is this the new reality of printing and IT 

Services coming together? 

▲ Peter Mayhew Director & Senior 

Analyst, Lightwords Imaging 

Over the past ten years Printing and 

IT Services have been moving closer 

together but it has not been clear which 

industry will yield to the other to become 

the dominant “go to” provider of office 

equipment and services. Konica Minolta’s 

announcement that it is fusing together 

an IT Services package with its popular 

Bizhub line of A3 MFP’s sets and 

interesting new precedent. It is certainly 

FEATURED 

A R TIC L E 

a differentiator and arguably the game 

changer. They are the first to marry to the 

two diverse industries into one solution. Is 

this evolution or revolution? Let’s look at 

the facts. 

The bizhub i-Series range of office MFP’s 

have been available since April 2019. Their 

arrival brought 10” touchscreens, fast print 

speeds, large paper trays and advanced 

They are the first to marry to the 

two diverse industries into one solution. 

Is this evolution or revolution? 

document workflows, delivered through a 

wide range of apps from Konica Minolta’s 

Marketplace. There was also remote service 

monitoring and, system back-up supported 

by industry leading security systems and 

virus protection. 

Beyond the features, the i-Series also 

claimed an EPEAT Gold rating and 

compliance with Blue Angel standards. 

Redesigned fuser units were added to keep 

energy consumption low and, much work 

was evident to keep noise levels down. 

Seven models were introduced on day one 

to ensure they had an offering for most 

business situations. 

What was not said was that this was a 

platform which, like many competitive 

MFP’s, was designed to integrate into 

the document workflow of small and 

medium sized businesses. Consequently, 

that meant a lot of configuration work 

for over-stretched IT managers and 

service providers to ensure that the full 

functionality of the MFP was achieved. 

July 2019 saw the introduction of Konica 

Minolta’s Workplace Hub. A suite of 

IT solutions also targeted at SMEs and 

delivered by their channel Partners. These 

partners came with a print background 

but were retrained to provide IT Services. 

This meant that with the full support and 

leverage of the Konica Minolta brand, they 

could now offer their clients IT service, 

sales, installation and consultancy. They 

could not provide the Business Process 

Optimisations (BPO) and managed 

services such as Virtual Private Networks 

(VPN’s) and the security support their 

clients needed. 


You can contact The Recycler via Twitter at @RecyclerMedia 

OPEN FOR BUSINESS 

ALL STOCK AVAILABLE 

12 months on, enter the Workplace Hub 

Pro. What looks like, and is, a bizhub 

i-Series MFP (see figure 1) but, where the 

lower paper drawer is now home to an HPE 

Gen 10 Server. 

services are a key part of Ricoh’s Business 

Services portfolio but, they are targeted at 

larger enterprises needing an internationally 

linked, support provider with the scale and 

reach of Ricoh. 

Toner Cartridges 

Chips 

Waste Toner Bottles 

Fuser Units 

Drum Units 

Developers 

OEM STOCK 

PPE 

This additional capability means print and 

document management, cloud backup, 

remote VPN connection and Wi-Fi 

management all in one place and supported 

by one provider. All these IT features are 

in addition to the standard office printing 

functionality of printing, copying, faxing 

and scanning. 

Other manufacturers have suites of IT 

Services, software, and apps available but, 

a copier or MFP with a server built in, no. 

HP under their JetAdvantage Solutions 

portfolio can provide a wide range of 

solutions from third party vendors. 

Whether managing a private cloud, 

developing workflows, controlling mobile 

or remote access, or maintaining security, 

HP has access to a solution. 

Similarly, Ricoh offer a range of workplace 

solutions from implementing Office 365, 

providing data analytics for printing 

insights, through to collaboration for global 

IT infrastructure development. Managed 

Xerox has been supporting Enterprise 

infrastructures within healthcare, 

education, and government for many years. 

They bring content management tools, 

business process workflow automation 

support, collaboration, translation, and 

file sharing management tools for team 

working. But again, the target is Enterprise 

level and no sign of a merge of print and 

IT hardware. 

Lexmark is an interesting OEM with 

a product range that spans all sizes of 

business and a focus on paper intensive 

industries such as banking, insurance, 

Other manufacturers have suites of IT Services, 

software, and apps available but, 

a copier or MFP with a server built in, no. 

manufacturing, and retail. They have 

a history of integrating and providing 

supportive IT services to their clients, 

especially those with SAP ecosystems where 

paper output is needed. Lexmark, like its 

competitors offer the full suite of IT service 

support from security to fleet management. 

And it is a similar story at Kyocera, Oki 

and Sharp, each with varying levels of IT 

support and services available. 

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November 2020 

5

FEATURE 

FEATURED 

A R TIC L E 

Consider the possibility of an MFP equipped 

with Azure Active Directory to control 

access to the company’s IT infrastructure 

(not just the printer access) for all users. 

So, for the larger business and enterprise, the 

choices are many. All the brands can provide 

an MFP, as fast as you like, with a familiar 

personalized, interface on which you can 

load apps and control as much or as little of 

your print output as you want, streamlining 

your business processes if you choose to do 

so. And you can do all that with the help 

and support of the brand of your choice or, 

their dealer or partner, if you prefer. 

It is a very different proposition for the 

micro, small and even some medium sized 

businesses. Their server and IT systems 

usually remain separate and distinct. Print 

being regarded as an afterthought pain 

point. Some will argue that is an advantage; 

printers, copiers and MFP’s should be an 

end point on the network, not an integral 

and integrated hub. 

That still leaves the issue of telephony, 

maybe now using VoIP or Wi-Fi, and video 

conferencing, sitting outside of the scope of 

print management. They may be resident in 

the cloud or in-house on a server. Then there 

is the problem of how to provide secure wi-fi 

through the office. 

Konica Minolta spotted these problems as 

many of its customers fall into this small 

and medium size category. This where the 

MFP with a server onboard offers a solution. 

Let’s look again at the Workplace Hub Pro. 

Remember the bottom drawer of many 

MFP’s, the one that is supposed to hold 

1,000+ sheets of A4 paper or A3 media that 

was specified on the purchase order but the 

need just never materialized? That is where 

Konica Minolta have neatly installed an 

HPE ProLiant Gen10 Server. 

Consider the possibility of an MFP 

equipped with Azure Active Directory 

to control access to the company’s IT 

infrastructure (not just the printer access) 

for all users. And it has high speed, wide 

bandwidth access to the internet and 

consequently, the cloud. Collaboration is 

also available through Konica Minolta’s 

Workplace Go which leverages both 

Office 365, Microsoft Teams and for larger 

organizations SharePoint, Delve, Power BI 

and multiple other tools, all centered at the 

Workplace Hub Pro. 

Its Admin Dashboard offers asset, user, and 

application management from one interface. 

It is also a Wi-Fi hub with management tools 

to configure and manage both private and 

public networks using Sophos access points 

which can include protection through the 

firewall. 

Now, it is easy to generalise about servers 

and, like PC’s and laptops there are 

numerous combinations and choices. 

Form factor is the first question. You 

can be forgiven for the image of rows of 

cabinets with racks and multiple server bays 

connected by miles of cables. If you are an 

enterprise with a large web presence, then 

the image is probably correct. 

But what about the micro business or 

SME who needs help with the pain of 

surviving the current pandemic. Especially 

as staff may not be able to return to the 

office, for at least some of the time. A tower 

server is simple, efficient and value for 

money. They can be cheap too, starting 

at less than €500 ($585). 




November 2020 

7

FEATURE 

The Konica Minolta solution is to “bundle” 

the server in with the MFP although this 

description over-simplifies the proposition. 

They will carefully align both the MFP and 

the Server specifications, and their support 

levels to match your precise requirements, 

making this almost a customised solution. 

You could argue that there is a risk in 

combining a Server and an MFP in one 

box. What if one breaks down, is the other 

affected? No, they remain independent 

devices, even down to the power cords and 

they are packaged into a one square meter 

footprint. 

Payment is also packaged into a combined 

fee which includes your print contract, click 

charges, the suite of IT services and support 

included. A compelling package and one 

that will be hard for any competitor or 

aftermarket supplier to break. 

With office printing hit hard by the 

pandemic and MFP’s transforming into 

servers, there are even more difficult 

questions to consider. Could we be at the 

end of the road for printing requiring its 

own server support to manage queues, as 

well? Google were here first, some ten years 

ago, when they beta tested a cloud print 

service but, that will end as 2020 becomes 

2021. Now, enter Microsoft with their 

Cloud Print Platform solution. 

Just a few months ago, Microsoft announced 

it is moving Windows Print Server 

functionality to the Microsoft 365 Cloud 

and specifically onto Azure, its open source, 

The Konica Minolta solution is to “bundle” 

the server in with the MFP although this 

description over-simplifies the proposition. 

They will carefully align both the MFP 

and the Server specifications, and their 

support levels to match your precise 

requirements, making this almost 

a customised solution. 

flexible cloud platform which allows users 

to build, deploy and manage applications 

across the Microsoft worldwide network. 

Interestingly, Azure does have competitors 

such as Google, Amazon and VMware 

but, it is quickly becoming the standard for 

a wide range of industries which require 

proprietary solutions such as Healthcare, 

Financial Services, Government, Retail and 

Manufacturing. 

Currently known as Universal Print it is 

initially targeted at educational users, the 

benefits are compelling. Organisations will 

no longer need an on-site print servers with 

their costly overheads or, to install printer 

drivers on devices across the enterprise. 

In addition, by leveraging Azure Active 

Directory, additional security for printer 

access and location-based printer discovery 

FEATURED 

A R TIC L E 

and administrator controls are available. 

Plus, there is the convenience of printing 

anywhere for mobile workers. 

The major OEMs seem to be advocates 

of the Microsoft initiative. Canon Inc. 

have already said that they are committed 

to a partnership with Microsoft for their 

imageRUNNER Advance products. 

Similarly, HP have announced participation 

in the initial roll-out along with Konica 

Minolta, Lexmark and Brother. 

Software companies who have already been 

offering cloud print solutions are recognising 

the benefits of this Microsoft initiative 

and, are supporting the integration. These 

include Ysoft, Omnibridge and SafeQ, 

Pharos, Ringdale, Papercut, Kofax and 

Uniflow Online. 

For the channel and its distributors and 

dealers, installations will get easier as 

Microsoft Universal Print rolls out to other 

industries and, the major cloud-based 

software integrators roll out solutions. 

With a greater flow of information and 

even better print management and security, 

the challenges raised by the Corona virus 

pandemic, especially those of “working from 

home” may be a little easier to manage once 

Universal Print is fully deployed. 

So, where does that leave the Workplace 

Hub Pro and the printer/server concept? 

In a strong position as there remain many 

industries and markets where the law does 

not permit storage in the Cloud on servers in 

other countries. Also, local edge-type servers 

are often the only viable solution for small 

businesses to achieve compliance. They also 

provide for an efficient working environment 

with reduced latency (the time from click to 

screen response) for its users. A key issue as 

small businesses pivot to a work from home 

business model. 


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This is the new conversation which Konica Minolta are training 

their partners to hold with small businesses. Although the 

discussion may be triggered by renewing and extending the 

managed print services contract, it is also now different. It starts 

with the return to work and the new normal, quickly moves into 

work from home, security, then into IT requirements, finishing 

with new business processes, document workflows and ending with 

how much printing is being cut. All these new services partners will 

need to offer if they are to move forward from yesterday’s A3 MFP 

upgrade world. 

For small businesses, the business owner may be the contact 

point. IT support may have been sourced from a variety of local 

providers with varying skill sets and solutions. Bringing print and 

IT requirements together at a device level with an integrated support 

package and upgrade paths is a compelling proposition. It is also 

an easier sell to the client as the solution is managed through one 

point of contact and one contract. Although Konica Minoltas’ Kai 

Ohnesorge, their Senior Portfolio Development Manager, explained 

that it will be a collaborative approach with HPE for break/fix issues 

with the Workplace Hub Pro. 

For the aftermarket, the risks are clear. It is becoming harder to 

break into MPS contracts with a third-party supplies proposition, 

no matter how compelling the price. Although the industry can 

expect hardware to remain in the market longer, the link between 

print and IT services in the office has been strengthened by the 

pandemic and that further complicates the sale. Konica Minolta 

clearly have hit on an emerging niche and the Workplace Hub is an 

important milestone product. 

This means the aftermarket reuse conversation needs to be held 

now, ready for when the MPS contract ends. A closer relationship 

with IT service providers, is going to be essential in the future, 

finding partners who are open to offering environmentally 

beneficial solutions and IT competence has just become an urgent 

must have. ■ 

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November 2020 

9

IN THIS ISSUE 

On the cover 

Time to repurpose the office MFP? 

Inside GM Technology 

34 

SEC imposes $6M penalty 

on HP for undisclosed 

sales practices 

4 

36 

Editorial 

3 Beyond the MFP 

Feature 

4 Time to repurpose the office MFP? 

World Focus 

12 Canon continues with legal actions 

and Amazon removals 

13 23% of imported products not 

REACH and CLP compliant 

14 HP issues the most firmware 

updates so far 

16 Is the oil and plastics bubble 

about to burst? 

17 Call to transform tax to 

encourage repair 

18 HP's ACF bags more 

counterfeiters in Asia 

City News 

20 OEM share prices October 2020 

• Datamax acquires Advantage 

Copy Systems 

21 Kelley Connect doubles footprint 

in Montana • Applied Imaging 

buys Toshiba dealer 

22 WiZiX acquires Intelligent 

Copier Solutions • Ricoh takes 

over Data Vision 

Around the Industry 

24 Ninestar sheds light on its 

smart production 

25 ECS talks the 4 R’s • Aster UK 

increases warehouse capacity 

26 ETIRA welcomes EU’s new GPP 

criteria for imaging equipment 

tenders • Marco named Top 

Workplace 2020 

28 UKCRA wins in complaint against 

HP • Apex wins innovation award 

• Olivier Wernain joins Recoll 

Europe B.V. 

29 Bureau Vallée new store openings 

• Tradesupply expands UK team 

30 HYB warns of counterfeit products 

in Europe, starts video series and 

sets up e-commerce store for 

Latin America 

32 OWA brand celebrates 5 th 

anniversary • Static Control 

announces new VP of HR • CIG 

adds distributor in Jordan 

33 Eakes celebrates 75 th anniversary 

Feature 

34 Inside GM Technology 

36 SEC imposes $6M penalty 

on HP for undisclosed sales 

practices 

38 Inside the Hubei Dinglong Group 

Products & Technology 

40 G&G adds to Eco-Saver range, 

announces move into hardware 

41 IR Italiana Riprografia adds new 

models to Graphic-Jet range 

• Katun introduces new colour 

toner cartridges 

42 Biuromax adds inkjet range 

• CET releases plethora of new 

products • New replacement chips 

from Apex 

43 Cartridge Web’s new patent free 

100% made in Taiwan cartridge 

• Effective Consumable Solutions 

showcases latest product additions 

However you consume your 

news make sure you engage: 

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November 2020 

11

WORLD FOCUS 

GLOBAL Canon, Ninestar, Legal, IP, Amazon 

Canon continues with legal actions 

and Amazon removals 

Canon lawyers are back again as the company has filed another complaint against 

Ninestar alleging a breach of five cartridge patents, more Amazon removals were 

requested and disputes settled in Düsseldorf. 

Canon has announced the filing of a 

complaint in the U.S. District Court for 

the Central District of California against 

Ninestar Corporation, Ninestar Image 

Tech Limited, and Ninestar Technology 

Company, Ltd. (collectively, "Ninestar"), 

for infringement of Canon's U.S. Patent 

Nos. 9,851,688; 9,857,766; 10,620,582; 

10,712,709; and 10,712,710. 

Canon alleges that Ninestar sells toner 

cartridges that infringe Canon's patents for 

use in various models of Canon and HP 

laser beam printers. These include printers 

which accept Canon toner cartridge models 

729 and HP toner cartridge models 126A 

and 130A. 

The HP 126 family of cartridges are used 

in the following printers: 

• HP LaserJet Pro 100 Color MFP M175a 

(CE865A) 

• HP LaserJet Pro 100 Color MFP 

M175nw (CE866A) 

• HP LaserJet Pro CP1025 Colour Printer 

(CE913A) 

• HP LaserJet Pro CP1025 Colour Printer 

(CF346A) 

• HP LaserJet Pro CP1025nw Colour 

Printer (CE914A) 

• HP LaserJet Pro CP1025nw Colour 

Printer (CE918A) 

• HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 MFP 

(CF040A) 

The HP 126 family of cartridges are used 

in the following printers: 

• HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M176n 

(CF547A) 

• HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M177fw 

(CZ165A) 

In March 2018, The Recycler reported 

that the OEM had filed legal proceedings 

against nearly fifty companies claiming 

infringement of several patents. The 

accused companies include such wellknown 

aftermarket names as Aster, 

Ninestar Corporation, Static Control, and 

Print-Rite. 

In March 2019, The Recycler reported 

that The United States International Trade 

Commission has ruled against the OEM, 

throwing out its dispute with a series of 

aftermarket companies, following the 

Markman ruling of non-infringement 

earlier this month. 

In legal documents seen by The 

Recycler, Administrative Law Judge Dee 

Lord granted the motions for summary 

determination of non-infringement by 

Aster, Ninestar, and Print-Rite. 

As a result of this decision, Canon’s own 

motion, for summary determination of 

infringement, and Ninestar’s motion for 

summary determination of invalidity, were 

both denied as moot. 

Canon went on to appeal this decision, 

but the Administrative Law Judge Dee Lord 

decision was upheld. 

Following the filing, Ninestar (Ninestar 

Corporation, Ninestar Image Tech Limited, 

and Ninestar Technology Company, Ltd) 

issued the following statement: “We are 

aware of a new lawsuit that Canon Inc. filed 

on September 17 with the U.S. District 

Court for the Central District of California 

while the complaint has not yet served. 

“We respect the intellectual property 

rights of any third party and protect our 

own innovations through patents. As 

always, we are confident with and stand 

proudly behind our proprietary technology. 

“Should you have any question, feel free to 

contact our sales representatives.” 

In its complaint, Canon alleges that 

Ninestar sells toner cartridges that infringe 

Canon’s U.S. Patent Nos. 9,851,688; 

9,857,766; 10,620,582; 10,712,709; and 

10,712,710 that are used in various models 

of Canon and HP laser beam printers. 

These include printers which accept Canon 

toner cartridge models 729 and HP toner 

cartridge models 126A and 130A. 

In Düsseldorf, Canon Inc. and 

Doree Supplies B. V., doing business as 

"AppleToner", as well as its Managing 

Director agreed to resolve their pending 

patent dispute by signing a settlement 

agreement. 

Doree Supplies B. V. and its Managing 

Director inter alia accepted a preliminary 

injunction (docket no. 4a O 95/18) of the 

District Court Düsseldorf based on the 

infringement of the German portion of 

Canon's European Patent EP 2 087 407 B1 

as final and binding between the parties. 

Furthermore, Doree Supplies B. V. and 

its Managing Director have agreed to 

refrain from making, offering, putting 

into circulation and/or importing and/or 

possessing laser toner cartridges comprising 

a drum unit with a certain coupling 

member for use in various models of HP 

and/or Canon laser beam printers in all 

countries where EP 2 087 407 B1 is valid 

and in force and to pay damages for past 

infringement to Canon. 

Further details of the settlement 

agreement are confidential. 

Most recent Amazon removal requests 

include toner cartridges offered 

by Handelsagentur Silhan GmbH 

from Amazon in Germany and by 

DianShangWu and Building GYF and 

DTHXT from Amazon in Canada, 

URZAIZ BASSO SA DE CV from 

Amazon in Mexico and its biggest removal 

request yet, GREENSKY and 34 others 

from Amazon in the US. ■ 

Patent US-9851688-B2 US-9857766-B2 US-10620582-B2 US-10712709-B2 US-10712710-B2 

Priority Date 2007-03-23 2007-03-23 2007-03-23 

Application Date 2017-03-10 2016-12-13 2019-09-18 2019-09-18 2019-09-18 

Grant Date 2017-12-26 2018-01-02 2020-04-14 2020-07-14 2020-07-14 

Expiration Date 2028-03-24 2028-03-24 2028-03-24 


visit www.therecycler.com for all the breaking news 

EUROPE DecaBDE, REACH, CLP, Compliance 

23% of imported products not REACH and CLP compliant 

A pilot project by ECHA’s Enforcement Forum examining imports of products into the EU has found that 23% 

of inspected products were non-compliant with REACH and CLP. 

National enforcement authorities 

and customs inspectors in 16 Member 

States checked almost 1,400 products, 

with more than 300 (23%) found to be 

non-compliant with certain obligations 

under REACH and the Classification, 

Labelling and Packaging (CLP) 

regulations. The products were checked at 

strategic entry points in these countries, 

such as airports and harbours but also at 

inland customs offices. 

ECHA reported some imports 

contained illegal amounts of hazardous 

substances that are restricted in the 

EU, while others had incorrect hazard 

labelling, which could compromise their 

safe use and put citizens’ health at risk if 

they enter the market. 

The majority of checks addressed 

compliance with REACH restriction 

obligations, focusing on the presence of 

the restricted substances cadmium, lead 

and nickel in articles. Of the 1,225 checks 

for restricted substances, 17% of the 

products had amounts of the restricted 

substances above the required limit. This 

rate is similar to those reported in the 

Forum’s previous project on restrictions 

(REF-4) conducted in 2016. The highest 

rate of non-compliance was for cadmium 

detected in jewellery. 

The majority of the products were 

checked for restriction obligations 

(79 %) and those found to be noncompliant 

(74 %) mostly came from 

China, as well as from the United Arab 

Emirates, India, Thailand, North 

Macedonia and Madagascar. Importers 

of articles containing chemical substances 

must ensure that products placed on the 

EU market are compliant with REACH 

obligations. 

These findings indicate that a 

significant number of imported products 

are in breach of REACH restrictions and 

would put the health of those buying the 

products at risk if the products entered 

the market. 

For CLP, 167 products were checked 

and 64% were found to be non-compliant. 

The majority of the non-compliances were 

related to labelling requirements, most 

commonly a lack of national language, 

and lack of or use of incorrect pictograms 

and signal words on the hazard label. 

The results show that importers need 

to intensify their efforts to supply safe 

products which are compliant with 

REACH and CLP. They also show there 

is a continued need for targeted 

enforcement on these specific restrictions 

and more stringent enforcement of 

REACH and CLP at European points 

of entrance. 

ECHA said that one of the objectives 

of this project was to assess how 

cooperation between REACH/CLP 

enforcement and customs authorities 

worked in practice. The results indicate 

that there is well functioning cooperation 

between participating authorities and 

that the most frequent method of 

working during the project were joint 

checks performed by both customs and 

REACH/CLP inspectors. 

Within the imaging aftermarket, 

environmental issues have become a 

huge issue since it was 

discovered in 2018 that 

some aftermarket cartridges 

contained elevated levels of 

DecaBDE. ■ 

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November 2020 

13

WORLD FOCUS 

GLOBAL Firmware, HP, Lexmark, Ricoh, Sharp 

HP issues the most 

firmware updates so far 

Between January and August this year five OEM brands 

issued 707 firmware updates, or which 38 blocked 

aftermarket products. 

Source: Apex Microelectronics Co. Ltd. 

HP leads the pack when it comes to 

firmware updates with 282 firmware updates 

issued between January and August this 

year. The number rises to 310 id you include 

Samsung firmware updates. Epson comes a 

close second with 245 firmware upgrades in 

the same period. 

OEM brands issued 707 firmware updates, 

or which 38 blocked aftermarket products. 

Thirty-eight of the firmware updates 

blocked the use of aftermarket products, 

with a slew of upgrades coming as the 

COVID-19 lockdown began rolling out. 

In March HP issued a firmware update 

affecting HP 903xl and 953xl cartridges 

in the United Kingdom market. Richard 

Pateman of UK based World of Inks Ltd 

reported at the time that customers are 

experiencing problems when installing 

remanufactured cartridges and the cartridges 

will not work again until new chips are 

available. 

Around the same time, Lexmark was 

reported to have issued a firmware update 

preventing third-party supplies from 

working in its MS/MX310 and MS317 series 

printers. Previously working chips are no 

longer being recognised and are reporting the 

error code 32.16 or 32.50. 

Hot on the heels of Lexmark, Ricoh issued 

a firmware update 2.27.1 that affected all 

Ricoh IM C series machines (C2000, 2500, 

3000, 3500, 4500 AND 6000) and MP 

C models like the MP C2503 and C2504. 

The Ricoh firmware update is in line with 

the ‘Always Current Technology’ strategy 

launched by the brand in 2019. Where Ricoh 

has programmed its new firmware to run the 

update fully automatically without requiring 

prior authorisation from the user. 

Sharp also issued their own firmware 

update 04.02.72 for printers used with 

MX60 series cartridges in April 2020, 

causing some errors with replacement chips 

which are no longer recognised by printers 

such as MX-2651, MX-3071, etc. The printer 

prompts an “Install the toner cartridge” error 

message. 

HP issued another firmware update in July 

2020 that affected third party replacement 

cartridges for HP 63/302 series cartridges. 

This latest firmware update, version 

2025A/2021B was released in July 2020. The 

affected printers are HP OfficeJet 5220, 5255, 

5230, 5232, HP ENVY 5020, 5032 and HP 

DeskJet 2621 devices. 

No internet connection, not a problem as 

HP now updates firmware direct from the 

chip resident on the cartridge. 

In May 2020 HP released the newly 

W2080A/118A series cartridges, which are 

capable of upgrading the corresponding 

printers without being connected to a 

network. This upgrade is contained in 

the encrypted chip resident on the toner 

cartridge. Once the cartridge is installed 

in the printer, the “handshake” between 

the printer and the cartridge is made and 

determines the firmware status of the printer 

and that activates the upgrade if it is needed 

and no internet connection required. 

It is expected that the newly manufactured 

HP MFP 179fnw printers have installed the 

upgraded OEM cartridge, which also enables 

a firmware upgrade to the printer as soon as 

you start to use it. 

Unhappy Consumers 

Apart from the cost, expense and 

inconvenience to the aftermarket, consumers 

are out of pocket and upset. 

“DAMN HP FIRMWARE” Tina from 

the USA said in an email to The Recycler 

over the Easter holiday. Just one of several 

consumers reaching out about HP’s latest 

firmware update. Tina does not pull any 

punches and goes on “I was just victimised 

by the latest HP attempt to stop use of 

remanufactured ink cartridges in my HP 

Officejet Pro 6968!!!!! I am steaming mad 

and will NEVER buy anything HP again! 

“How could a company think they can 

tell me – who brought and own my printer, 

what kind of ink I must use? Ford doesn’t tell 

owners of their cars what brand of tires or gas 

they must use!!!!!!!!!!!! 

“With the problems we are facing in the 

world right now and SO MANY people 

having to work from home this latest strike 

at their customers could not have come at 

a worse time. Blood suckers…..they should 

be heavily fined for doing what they already 

know is illegal AND for price gouging at a 

time when many companies are going out of 

business due to the virus and yet most that 

can are volunteering to do things to help…. 

but not HP.” 

Meanwhile, instant ink comes in for 

criticism from UK based Alli, who contacted 

us saying: “This scam and that is all it is. 

Cost me over £70 ($87 / €80) I didn’t realise 

that I was charged monthly. I didn’t use my 

printer for around 8 months as I was out 

of the country. I have only just been able to 

cancel the log in site is as clear as mud on 

how to cancel. I googled and found out that 

way, I also found a way to talk to one of the 

rogues that harped on about two missed 

payment when I stopped the card. I have 

received 3 black and two colour of which 1 

colour and 1 black [cartridges] are unused, 

and now cannot be used because of their chip 

protection. 

“I bought a set of two cartridges from 

Amazon for £17.90 ($22.50 / €20.50). you 

really were doing me a favour HP. I have had 

such a bad time over this, I have used HP for 

35 years, my current pc screen K/Board and 

mouse plus printer all HP. I’m upgrading this 

month and its all going I cannot bare to look 

at another HP product that’s the damage, 

this must be doing, I am not alone in this. 

The charity shop will get some current new 

kit, I will make sure to tell them a post note 

on the printer saying whatever you do, do not 

sign up for the scam that is INSTANT INK. 

Good riddance.” 

Editor's Opinion: The pace of firmware 

updates continues, and the OEMs are raking 

in the cash, but the consumers are waking up 

to the tactics and it is a gamble for the OEMs 

in how far they push consumers. You don’t 

need a lot of tina’s to voice their opinions and 

devalue their brand value and the consumer 

loses a fair choice. ■ 



Remanufacture 

Reduce 

Recover 

Redesign 

Recycle 


November 2020 

15

WORLD FOCUS 

EUROPE European Commission, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Oil, Plastics, SYSTEMIQ, Politico, Carbon Tracker 

Is the oil and plastics 

bubble about to burst? 

The week could see the decline of the oil and petrochemical sector begin and the 

EU is set to announce a much stricter emissions target by 2030. Meanwhile a Carbon 

Tracker report suggests that worldwide public concern could slash virgin plastic 

demand growth from 4% a year to under 1%, with demand peaking in 2027. 

European Commission President Ursula 

von der Leyen is expected to announce a 

much stricter target for cutting emissions by 

2030 during her State of the Union speech 

on Wednesday. And upping the current goal 

of 40 percent to at least 55 percent means 

making some very radical choices … such 

as considering imposing a phase-out date 

for petrol and diesel cars Politico Brussels 

Playbook reports. 

As the demise of the internal combustion 

engine appears on the horizon, “the oil 

industry is pinning its hopes on strong 

plastics demand growth that will not 

materialise, as the world starts to tackle 

plastic waste and governments act to hit 

climate targets. This risks $400 billion worth 

of stranded petrochemical investments, 

increasing the likelihood of peak oil demand, 

finds a new report from Carbon Tracker, 

basing some of its findings on a recent report 

“Breaking the Plastic Wave”. Carbon Tracker 

reports. 

The report suggests worldwide public 

concern is increasing pressure to curtail the 

use of plastics and could lead to the slashing 

of virgin plastic demand growth from 4% a 

year to under 1%, with demand peaking in 

2027. The implications are that the demand 

for oil peaked as early as 2019. 

“Remove the plastic pillar holding up the 

future of the oil industry, and the whole 

narrative of rising oil demand collapses,” said 

Kingsmill Bond, Carbon Tracker Energy 

Strategist and report lead author. 

The petrochemical industry is already 

facing record-low plastic feedstock prices as 

a result of massive overcapacity. And yet, it 

plans to expand supply for virgin plastics use 

by a quarter at a cost of at least $400 billion 

in the next 5 years, risking huge losses for 

investors. 

According to the report: “Plastics imposes 

an externality cost on society of at least 

$1,000 per tonne, or $350 billion a year, from 

emitting carbon dioxide, associated health 

costs from noxious gases, collection costs and 

the alarming growth in ocean pollution. 

And yet it receives more in subsidy than 

it pays in taxation, and until recently there 

have been very few constraints on how you 

can use plastics. Meanwhile, 36% 

of plastic is used only once, 40% ends up 

polluting the environment and less than 10% 

is actually recycled.” 

SYSTEMIQ notes that technology 

solutions are already available to enable a 

massive reduction in plastic usage at lower 

cost than business as usual. Solutions include 

reuse, with better design and regulation of 

product, substitutions such 

as paper, and a large increase in recycling. 

“There are huge benefits in the change 

from the current linear system to a 

more circular one. You can have all the 

functionality of plastics but at half the 

capital cost, half the amount of feedstock, 

700,000 additional jobs and 80% less plastic 

pollution,” said Yoni Shiran, lead author 

of Breaking the Plastic Wave and analyst 

at SYSTEMIQ. 

Policymakers in Europe and China are 

already taking steps to clamp down on 

plastics waste and have a wide range of tools 

they can use, from regulation and bans to 

taxes, targets and recycling infrastructure. 

As part of its coronavirus recovery package 

the EU agreed in July 2020 to introduce 

an €800/t tax on unrecycled waste plastic. 

The tax, to be introduced as of 1 January 

2021, will be calculated on the weight of 

nonrecycled plastic packaging waste. 

China has similar regulatory aspirations 

and has started to ban certain types of 

plastic. In 2018 China imposed more 

stringent conditions for the importing and 

processing plastic waste, forcing exporters to 

solve the waste issue at home. 

The report notes a stagnation in demand 

in developed markets and a leapfrog in 

emerging markets. As has been seen in other 

areas of the energy system, OECD plastic 

demand is stagnating at the same time as 

emerging market leaders are looking for 

alternative solutions to plastic. 

A further critical element that will dim the 

rosy petrochemical demand picture painted 

by incumbents is the effects of global policy 

action to tackle climate change. Carbon 

dioxide is produced at every stage of the 

plastic value chain – including being burnt, 

buried or recycled, not just extraction of oil 

and manufacturing. The analysis therefore 

finds that plastic releases roughly twice as 

much CO2 as producing a tonne of oil. 

If one assumes 350Mt of plastic demand 

with a total carbon footprint of around 

5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of plastic, that 

implies 1.75Gt of CO2. Continuation 

of current growth rates would see the carbon 

footprint of plastics double by the middle of 

the century to around 3.5Gt. And yet, the 

Paris Agreement implies that global CO2 

emissions (33Gt from the energy sector in 

2018) will have to halve by 2030 and get to 

zero by the middle of the century. 

“It is simply delusional for the plastics 

industry to imagine that it can double its 

carbon emissions at the same time as the rest 

of the world is trying to cut them to zero,” 

said Kingsmill Bond. 

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation 

commented “A few plastic producers are 

committed to be part of the solution. 

Borealis, Indorama Ventures PCL, Novapet, 

Kingfa Sci.&Tech. Co., Ltd., Plasticos 

Compuestos SA and Eastman Chemical 

Company have signed the Foundation's 

Global Commitment along with 450 other 

organisations to start to transition their 

business model from one based on the 

extraction of finite resources 

to one that is based on the circulation 

of materials. They all set a quantitative 2025 

target to significantly increase the share 

of recycled plastics in the total volume of 

plastics they sell. For them, the transition to 

a circular economy is an opportunity that 

contributes to the growth of their business. 

We need many more plastic producers to 

follow their lead.” 

Editor's Opinion: If, as anticipated, the 

EU does up the 2030 quota, you can expect 

oil and plastics prices will free fall, but the 

tax €800 per tonne tax will drive circularity 

of reuse and recycling and end the linear 

market. ■ 


EUROPE UK VAT, Repair, Reuse, Remanufacturing, Environment 

Call to transform tax to encourage repair 

Green Alliance, an independent think tank and charity focused on leadership 

for the environment in the UK is calling for the tax system to change to 

encourage reuse and repair. 

Reducing VAT on repairs would keep 

products in use for longer 

People are frustrated by product lifespans 

and lack of repairability 

"Currently products 

are difficult 

to get repaired" 

With is latest publication “Improving the 

environmental and social impact of UK 

VAT”, Green Alliance is investigating how 

taxes can be applied in a way “to enable people 

to make more sustainable choices,” leaning on 

the Swedish system example. 

The publication suggests that using 

BREXIT to overhaul the UK VAT system is a 

good start stating: “It is in the spotlight at the 

moment, as Brexit will allow more flexibility 

around how it is applied. Ministers have 

repeatedly said that leaving the EU will give 

the UK more freedom to map its own path. 

Reforming VAT is an opportunity to show 

what that means in practice.” 

The project looks at housing, energy and 

specifically repair/reuse of electronics. It 

says that “the problem” as “VAT is normally 

charged at the standard rate for repairs 

which, combined with high labour costs, 

discourages people from mending broken 

items.” The research shows that “nearly two 

thirds of people in the UK think products are 

currently too difficult to repair.” 

The publication points out: “The 

problem of electronic waste, for instance, is 

particularly acute in the UK, which generates 

more e-waste per capita than any other 

You can contact 

visit www.therecycler.com 

The Recycler via Twitter 

for 

at 

all 

@RecyclerMedia 

the breaking news 

"I often feel frustrated 

about how long 

products last" 

country in the world, apart from Norway. 

In 2019, the UK generated 23.9 tonnes of 

e-waste per person, against an EU average of 

16.2 tonnes and a global average of just 7.3 

tonnes per year.” 

Green Alliance is calling for change: “As 

the UK will no longer be subject to EU 

VAT rules, it should zero-rate VAT on all 

repairs, potentially starting with high impact, 

frequently wasted products like electronics.” 

“With a boost like this, many new jobs in 

the repair and remanufacturing industry 

would be created in all areas of the country. 

Combined with other policies to accelerate 

the circular economy, repair could create 

34,000 new jobs as it would be needed in 

every locality. And a robust remanufacturing 

sector could support 312,000 new jobs.34 

With unemployment rising because of the 

economic impact of coronavirus, an increasing 

proportion of these jobs will also be net jobs 

to the economy,” Green Alliance added. ■ 

Issue 336 335 

November October 2020 2020 

17

WORLD FOCUS 

GLOBAL HP Inc., Counterfeits, Partners, Events 

HP's ACF bags more counterfeiters in Asia 

The OEM’s Anti Counterfeiting and Fraud (ACF) programme for the EMEA announced it has seized counterfeit 

supplies worth $2.5 million (€2.14 million) within seven months. 

HP Inc. has given an update on its 

anti-counterfeiting efforts in Indonesia, 

Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, 

Vietnam and Singapore, reporting that 

through its Anti-Counterfeiting and 

Fraud (ACF) Programme the company 

seized $2.5 million (€2.14 million) 

counterfeit products and delisted 

over 12,800 online sites in the last 

seven months. 

HP said that Trade in counterfeit and 

pirated goods has risen steadily in the 

last few years, accounting for at least 

3.3% of global trade. In South East 

Asia, the range of counterfeit goods 

being traded in the black market by 

organized crime syndicates has grown to 

include everything from ink and toner 

print supplies and automobile parts 

to handbags and alcohol, generating 

an estimated value up to $ 35.9 billion 

(€30.6 billion) annually. 

The HP ACF program combats 

the production and distribution of 

counterfeit ink and toner print supplies. 

It delivers added value to consumers, 

business customers and partners to ensure 

security, reputation protection, seamless 

operations and savings on costs as they 

keep going with tighter resources. 

To identify counterfeit sellers, HP 

scours millions of online product listing 

pages across South East Asia and Korea 

– examining uses of the company's 

copyrighted imagery, trademarks and 

other unique identifiers. This helps 

to identify sellers who are deceiving 

customers as well as sellers pretending 

to be authorised resellers. When a seller 

is confirmed to be retailing counterfeit 

ink and toner supplies, they are reported 

to the online marketplaces who act on 

the information and remove the listings. 

Authorised online partners also work 

closely with HP to enhance brand 

protection and identify the origins of 

such products to ensure that consumer 

exposure to counterfeit ink and toner 

supplies is reduced. 

From November 2019 to May 2020, 

over 12,800 listings were removed across 

South East Asia and Korea, of which 122 

were from Singapore, HP said. 

HP conducts regular checks and raids to 

reduce counterfeits in the supply chain. 

For over 20 years, HP has partnered 

with local law enforcement across South 

East Asia and Korea to arrest counterfeit 

resellers who prey on unsuspecting 

customers and partners both offline 

and online. In the last eight months, 72 

counterfeit resellers have been arrested 

in raids where local seized items included 

finished and unfinished cartridges, 

packaging materials and various sets of 

labels. 

Large and medium-sized HP customers 

can further protect themselves by 

requesting for a complimentary Customer 

Delivery Inspection (CDI) offered at 

www.hp.com/anticounterfeit. 

Earlier this month HP also held its 

annual global partner event where the 

OEM unveiled a range of new offerings 

and sustainability, including the 

expansion of subscription-based plans 

for toner. 

The shift to remote and distributed 

workforces has accelerated many 

companies’ efforts for remote 

management and digitised workflows. 

As customer buying behaviours continue 

to evolve - everyone – from large 

enterprises and governments to SMBs 

and individual employees have had to 

adapt to new workspaces and digital 

business methods. 

In response to these changing 

dynamics, the company launched new 

print products, services and solutions 

optimised to enable new ways of working, 

new ways of managing and new ways of 

buying. New Print innovations include: 

• HP LaserJet Enterprise 400 Series, 

HP’s smallest enterprise-class 

experience 

• HP DesignJet portfolio for architect, 

engineer, construction and home 

offices 

• Document Workflow Cloud 

solution for simplifying the flow of 

information from paper to digital 

• Fleet Onboarding tool enabling 

partners to quickly onboard HP 

Workpath across printer fleet 

• Expansion of subscription-based 

plans for toner ■ 



17.04 - 20.04.21, Frankfurt am Main 

paperworld.messefrankfurt.com 

Trade Fairs work 

As we KickStart 2021 make sure 

Paperworld / Remanexpo is on 

your agenda. Here’s why: 

Fostering personal relations is a key aspect of 

business and any trade event. To see, touch and 

order or sell new products and where to get lots 

of inspiration. A day at the show is as busy as a 

week in the office, but the buzz, the ideas, the 

opportunities make it worthwhile. 

Messe Frankfurt events - all under safe conditions: 

• Covid-19 conformed hygiene and safety programme 

• Space - 600,000 square metres – equivalent 

to 84 football pitches 

• Fresh air refreshed up to five times per hour 

• Wider aisles and a one-way system 

• High-ceilinged exhibition halls 

• Contactless access controls 

• Electronic admission tickets and payment 

NEW 

DATES 

See you in Frankfurt 

17 - 20 April 2021 

Powered by 

Visit www.therecycler.com/live 

for more information 


November 2020 

19

CITY NEWS 

OEM share prices 

October 2020 

Share Prices 

Prices correct as of 1 st October 2020 

NORTH AMERICA Datamax, Acquisition, 

Advantage Copy Systems 

Company SEPTEMBER OCTOBER 

Brother Industries (Yen) ¥ 1693 1658 

Canon (Yen) ¥ 1745 1698.5 

Dainippon Ink & Chemicals (Yen) 

Sun Chemicals parent company 

¥ 2497 2572 

HP Inc. (US$) $ 19.3 19 

Hubei Dinglong (RMB) ¥ 18.2 15.7 

Jadi (MYR) M 0.12 0.095 

LG Chem (S Korean Won) W 743k 654k 

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. 

(Yen) Panasonic parent company 

¥ 953.4 869.5 

Mitsubishi Chemicals (Yen) ¥ 641.8 592 

Ninestar Corporation (RMB) 

Formerly Apex Microelectronics 

¥ 34.55 28.5 

Oki (Yen) ¥ 1012 1091 

Seiko Epson (Yen) ¥ 1231 1192 

Turbon AG (Euro) € 2.5 2.48 

Xerox (US$) $ 18.37 18.24 

UK Waste Prices 

price per tonne 

Aluminium € 27.97 16.57 

Plastic € 41.96 28.24 

Paper € 8.44 7.18 

Currency 

€/US$ 1.19 1.17 

€/£ 0.89 0.91 

£/US$ 1.33 1.29 

£/€ 1.12 1.1 

Oil Price 

Crude oil - (US$) 'Brent Crude 

futures, 1-Pos IPE close' 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) 

$ 44.32 39.4 

$ 1042 1168 

$ 1082 1211 

$ 3758 3863 

$ 4538 4622 

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

packagingnews.co.uk *Brent Crude price is for September 2020 

Datamax acquires 

Advantage Copy Systems 

Datamax announced the acquisition of Advantage Copy 

Systems, a privately‐owned business technology provider 

in Sulphur Springs, TX. 

Established as a Canon 

dealership in 1992, Advantage 

Copy Systems is provider of 

office machines and copierrelated 

consumer products in 

the Northeast Texas area. The 

company was purchased in 2006 

by long-time Sulphur Springs/ 

Hopkins County area residents, 

Dan and Paula Brown. 

Datamax said that this 

agreement represents an integral 

part of the Datamax Growth 

Plus (+) strategy to further 

expand and strengthen its 

marketplace presence within 

Texas and Arkansas. 

The newly-expanded 

organisation will offer a 

complimentary array of 

multifunction copiers and 

printers, desktop printers, 

wide‐format printers and 

digital production equipment. 

Coupled with Document 

Management/Workflow 

solutions, Managed Print 

Services, Managed Network 

Services, IT consulting 

services, and Unified 

Communications, the ability 

to address “holistically” a 

broader spectrum of business 

technology challenges can now 

be realised. 

"We are very excited about 

this new association and all 

the advantages that it will 

provide for the company, the 

employees, and most of all you, 

our customers," said Advantage 

Copy Systems President Paula 

Brown. "We will continue to 

offer you the personalized 

customer service, which we 

feel is the most important 

factor in maintaining a good 

business relationship, as well 

as the ongoing growth of the 

relationship." 

“The Advantage Copy 

Systems customer and employee 

commitment level is clearly 

the same, which makes this a 

wonderful match,” said Barry 

Simon, President, Datamax 

Inc. "This acquisition will offer 

additional synergy and thought 

leadership to ultimately benefit 

customers in all of the markets 

we serve. Although business 

alignment is a major factor 

in such an acquisition, what 

we’re equally excited about is 

our cultural alignment. We 

believe culture trumps all. At 

Datamax, we aren’t satisfied 

with customers or employees 

just being satisfied. Our mission 

is much bigger. We set the 

bar very high regarding the 

experiences of our customers, 

as well as the aspirations of our 

employees and the needs of 

our communities. Unless we’re 

Creating Raving Fans of each 

of them, our job is simply not 

done." ■ 



NORTH AMERICA Kelley Connect, Acquisition, J&H 

Kelley Connect doubles 

footprint in Montana 

The company has announced the acquisition of Montana-based J&H, Inc. 

Kelley Connect continued its expansion, 

announcing it has purchased the Montanabased 

business with offices in Bozeman, 

Billings, Missoula, and Kalispell. 

"We've been looking to find opportunities 

to meet the demand of our promise to 

become the best independent resource for 

companies looking for full-service business 

technology support," said Kelley Connect 

Owner and CEO Aric Manion. "Montana 

is quickly becoming a technology hotbed. 

We are committed to providing technical 

expertise, depth of product and professional 

services to help our clients take advantage of 

this growth." 

With the addition of J&H, Kelley Connect 

is now 29 offices with 279 people across 

five states. 

"Tom and I are exited about the new 

opportunities Kelley Connect has to 

offer our customers and employees," said 

Janet White, President of J&H. "J&H has 

provided excellent customer service for 

the past 47 years and we are confident that 

Kelley Connect will continue this tradition 

into the future." 

All J&H employees are part of the 

transition plan, and Kelley Connect will 

be looking to hire additional staff to 

implement the new offerings in the region. ■ 

NORTH AMERICA Applied Imaging, Upstream Office Solutions, Acquisition 

Applied 

Imaging buys 

Toshiba dealer 

Mike Dudek and Rich Wisniewski of Zygoquest Group "seeking to unite" 

served as the advisor to Upstream Office Solutions and its owners Mark and 

Jillian Wild on the sale of assets to Applied Imaging. 

Upstream Office Solutions, located 

in Tampa Bay, Florida, was owned and 

operated by Mark and Jillian Wild. 

Upstream Office Solutions was a full-line 

authorised Toshiba dealer and authorised 

to sell and service printers for Kyocera 

and Epson. Upstream Office Solutions 

provided office equipment and document 

solutions and services to customers located 

throughout the Tampa Bay, Florida 

metropolitan market. 

Applied Imaging is owned and operated 

by John Lowery and is an office technology 

solutions provider. Applied Imaging offers 

businesses office solutions for every phase 

of their document lifecycle – copiers and 

printers, managed print services, document 

management, managed IT services, 

facilities management, and shredding. 

Applied Imaging is headquartered in 

Grand Rapids, Michigan and operates 14 

locations throughout Michigan, Ohio, 

and Florida. Since 1987, Applied Imaging 

has been recognised for being one of the 

nation’s most innovative and customer 

friendly technology dealers. 

Other awards earned include INC5000 

Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies 

in the Nation, Crain’s Cool Places to 

Work, Best & Brightest Places to Work, 

Elite Dealer Awards from Canon, Ricoh, 

and ENX, and more. John Lowery, 

President of Applied Imaging, had been 

named Michigan’s Small Business Person 

of the Year in 2012 and Ernst & Young’s 

Michigan & Northern Ohio Entrepreneur 

of the Year. 

Terms of the transaction are confidential. ■ 


November 2020 

21

CITY NEWS 

NORTH AMERICA WiZiX 

Technology Group, Acquisition, 

Intelligent Copier Solutions 

GLOBAL Ricoh, Acquisition, AV, Solutions 

WiZiX acquires 

Intelligent 

Copier Solutions 

WiZiX Technology Group, Inc. 

announced the acquisition of 

Intelligent Copier Solutions (ICS), 

based in Rohnert Park, CA. 

WiZiX Technology Group was 

Founded in 2017, and is headquartered 

in Roseville, CA with offices in: Fresno, 

San Jose, Pleasanton, and now Rohnert 

Park. WiZiX remains and independent, 

locally owned, and operated imaging 

technology dealership, with a strong 

regional presence throughout Central 

and Northern California. 

ICS was founded by Robert M. 

Brown in 2010, with the goal to 

provide exceptional service after the 

sale, as the most important criteria 

of the company. ICS will always work 

at offering client’s, leading technology, 

to enhance and make their business 

activities more efficient. 

The purchase of ICS marks the fifth 

such transaction and the fifth office 

location for WiZiX in less than three 

years since its inception. 

Gary Johnson, President of WiZiX 

stated: “Bob and I connected from the 

very beginning. I could tell immediately 

this was a well-run operation. His 

customer-centric business approach 

fits right in-line with our view of how 

business should be done. ICS gives 

WiZiX a strong foundation from which 

to continue our growth in the North 

Bay. Bob has built an incredible team 

at ICS, and everyone at WiZiX looks 

forward to working alongside them 

as we continue on our journey. As the 

ICS motto goes, ‘make the intelligent 

choice,’ and that was certainly the case 

here.” ■ 

Ricoh takes over Data Vision 

The company becomes one of the largest AV and workplace integrators 

in Europe through the acquisition of Data Vision. 

Ricoh strengthens its conference room 

technology offering, workplaces and 

digital collaboration through the takeover 

of Data Vision. Data Vision was founded 

in 1995 and is a leading integrator for 

audio visual (AV) and conference room 

and workstation technologies. Data Vision 

has 100 employees and is represented 

through its eight service- and sales 

locations across Germany. 

The head office is in Düsseldorf. Data 

Vision specialises in the conception and 

integration of modern conference room 

and workplace solutions, including 

Unified Communications & Collaboration 

(UCC), Audio visual Technologies (AV) 

and solutions for workplace and meeting 

room management. The company has over 

1,300 customers and looks after 15 of the 

30 DAX companies in Germany as well as 

numerous large ministries. 

Data Vision customers will benefit from 

the global reach, the financial strength and 

the integrated service infrastructure from 

Ricoh, Data Vision said. They will also get 

access to the products and solutions from 

the Communication Services portfolio and 

other business areas from Ricoh, such as 

Managed Document Services, IT Services, 

Business Process Services or Production 

Printing Services. 

Edward Hamilton, Vice President 

Communication Services, Ricoh Europe, 

said: “The were a number of factors 

that were decisive in the decision to take 

over Data Vision. These include their 

leading market position, their extensive 

expertise and experience as well as our 

common synergies with regard to our 

customer base, our corporate culture 

and our strategy. This acquisition creates 

a strong foundation for our further 

growth in Europe and forms a supporting 

pillar within our change to one Digital 

Services company. Most importantly, it 

will still help our customers to support 

them more effectively in their own digital 

transformation." 

David Mills, CEO, Ricoh Europe, 

said: “This step represents a significant 

development for the market and 

an important expansion for our 

Communication Services division, both 

in Germany and at European level. It 

is crucial that we offer our customers 

solutions for an even better cooperation to 

provide intelligent and safe workplaces." 

Data Vision will continue under its 

existing company name – Data Vision 

Deutschland GmbH – as a wholly-owned 

subsidiary of Ricoh. 

Jochen Roggenkämper, Managing 

Director of Data Vision said: “We are 

excited and very happy for the future. 

The global reach and infrastructure, 

as well as the vast experience of Ricoh 

in the end-to-end implementation of 

managed services, combined with our 

experience and expertise in the areas of 

AV, UCC and workplace management 

ensure that we can serve our customers 

in Germany and Europe even better and 

more comprehensively when it comes 

to integrating solutions for modern and 

collaborative working environments. ■ 




November 2020 

23

AROUND THE INDUSTRY 

GLOBAL ASIA Ninestar, Company, Automation, Xxxxx, Xxxxx Cartridges, Smart Production, Chief Printing Officer 

Ninestar sheds light on its smart production 

Ninestar’s Johnson Qiang talks about its smart automated production and how it empowers its partners. 

Ninestar’s Vice General Manager of 

Ninestar Image and Vice General Manager 

of Printing Consumables BU, Ninestar, 

Mr Johnson Qiang, talks about production 

automation and responds to their partners 

questions about the advantages and 

benefits of automation. 

Responding to a question on how much 

of Ninestar’s manufacturing is automated, 

Johnson said: “Today, much of Ninestar’s 

ink cartridge production has been 

fully automated and 4 fully automated 

toner cartridge workshops have come 

online. Our scale allows us to produce 

cartridges that truly rival the quality and 

performance of their OEM counterparts.” 

The four automated toner cartridge 

workshops currently produce “new-built 

replacement toner cartridges for HP 226 

series, HP 252/452 series, HP 435 series and 

Samsung 2160 series,” and added: “The 

average pass rate of our 4 full-automated 

toner cartridge workshops is 98%.” 

Responding to a question on how 

automation drives productivity, Johnson 

said: “No doubt, a well-thought-out 

automation solution can bring increased 

efficiency and productivity. We use Units 

per People per Hour (UPPH) to measure 

the efficiency. 

In addition, the Overall Equipment 

Effectiveness (OEE) of our smart 

production equipment increases to 90%. 

An OEE score of 85% is considered world 

class for manufacturing industry. We are 

far beyond the world-class standard. Our 

improvement on OEE also contributes to 

the increasing productivity. 

What’s more, digital signage is widely 

used in our intelligent production 

workshops. Production metrics, inventory 

management, product quality reports, and 

business performance can be updated in 

real time and displayed automatically on 

screens. Digital signage shortens response 

time and helps drive productivity by 

providing a flexible one-to-many solution 

for effective visual communication.” 

“Automation drives quality” Johnson 

said, “our state-of-the-art automated 

equipment improves quality in a number 

of ways: eliminating human error, 

improving consistency and identifying 

error. The first two are easy to understand. 

How to identify error? Bear in mind that 

although automated systems improve 

processes greatly, they have their own 

imperfections. To prevent this, we invest in 

a machine vision system to rapidly inspect 

each item on the production line, ensuring 

the quality of a component or product. 

The system uses a combination of lights, 

sensors and cameras to guarantee each 

product meets the same specific criteria 

and may notice defects too small for the 

human eye. 

Johnson confirmed Ninestar’s future 

plans to “increase its investment in 

automation. It is expected there will 

be another two fully automated toner 

cartridge workshops available by next 

year” to drive “our relentless pursuit of 

product quality. 

“I’m a great believer that automated 

production has become the best tool 

Ninestar possesses to achieve the balance 

between quality and efficiency. Just like 

what I’ve said before, smart production 

will elevate our customer benefits to the 

next level. Hence, there is no doubt that 

Ninestar will increase its investment in 

automation.” 

To celebrate its 20th anniversary 

Ninestar ran a competition for a one year 

supply of G&G cartridges. 

The first CPO announced was Joewan 

Salihi, the Creative Director of Jox 

Creative Studio from Berlin, Germany and 

was followed by the second winner, Jesaeng 

Hospital, a well-renowned medical centre 

located in Seoul, South Korea. İstanbul 

Faculty of Medicine, a time-honoured 

faculty of İstanbul University in Turkey, 

was named the final winner of the one year 

free cartridges from G&G was named. 

The CPO project in Turkey is kindly 

supported by a local distributor that 

started cooperation with G&G since 2016. 

G&G said it will provide the İstanbul 

Faculty of Medicine with one-year 

high-quality replacement cartridges HP 

CE505XX, HP CE285A and HP Q2612A 

for free. 

“Thanks G&G for being with us in these 

difficult times. These consumables will be 

a great help for us in the next one year, and 

we will give the company our feedbacks of 

printing experience as useful as possible”, 

said Dr. Ahmet, a prestigious Professor of 

İstanbul Faculty of Medicine. 

G&G is working on offering good 

experience for customers in every 

channel, such as education and medicine. 

By collecting feedback from its CPO’s, 

it said it will improve its products and 

provide effective solutions for vertical 

customers. ■ 



EUROPE ECS, Cartridges, Reuse, Circular Economy 

ECS talks the 4 R’s 

Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle are the 4 R’s at the heart of waste prevention 

and a circular economy – something that all modern businesses should strive 

for. As a remanufacturer and recycler ECS sit perfectly to help you deal with 

these demands. 

Effective Consumable Solutions’ 

(ECS) business model shows complete 

commitment to the four major 

cornerstones of waste prevention, with 

all of their customers who take advantage 

of their services gaining a huge boost 

to their green credentials as a result, 

something which the company feels is 

needed now more than ever, given the 

current climate crisis. 

ECS The Greener Side’s Recycling 

Director, Adrian Lovatt said: “Refusing 

to use single-use plastic products is the 

idealistic approach for most forward 

thinking businesses, which is why 

remanufactured toner cartridges are the 

most appropriate option for businesses 

who are looking for an option that 

won’t cost the earth – quite literally. 

Remanufactured toner cartridges offer 

a fair price for a high quality product 

that can be remanufactured a number 

of times, limiting the need for more raw 

materials.” 

As both a remanufacturer and recycler, 

Effective Consumable Solutions and 

ECS The Greener Side explained that 

they really do offer a complete solution 

to accommodate modern customer 

demands where the planet and the 

consequences of buying a product really 

are the focal point of the majority of 

customers in today’s market. 

The companies state-of-the-art 

ISO9001 & ISO14001 remanufacturing 

and recycling facilities set them apart 

from most of the competition, giving 

their partners the competitive advantage 

in terms of high quality products and the 

ideal end of product-life solution. 

ECS’s remanufactured range of 

products covers all major manufacturer 

brands, while their recycling and recovery 

service successfully deals with over 

1,000,000 cartridges every single year. ■ 

EUROPE Aster UK, Warehouse, 

Stock Levels 

Aster UK 

increases 

warehouse 

capacity 

The company announced an 

increase in stock it holds in its 

UK warehouse, increasing stock 

from under 50,000 to 75,000 

toner cartridges ready to be 

shipped. 

Two years ago, when Aster UK was 

launched it announced its 1,000sqm 

warehouse will have an initial stock 

of 50,000 units. To enable the 

company to now stock an increased 

product range, it has now increased 

its stock levels to 75,000 toner 

cartridges. 

Aster said in its announcement: 

“This new stock holding capacity will 

enable us to increase our product range 

and also offer further storage for our 

shipments of branded packaging orders 

for UK customers.” 

Shipment option from its warehouse 

include plain label drop shipment, 

real time technical support, a bespoke 

packing service, a full selection of 

products, and an experienced R&D 

team. ■ 


November 2020 

25


EUROPE ETIRA, Green Procurement Policy, Environment, Imaging Equipment 

ETIRA welcomes EU’s new GPP criteria for imaging 

equipment tenders 

ETIRA, the European Toner and Inkjet Remanufacturers Association, has welcomed new criteria introduced by the 

EU to reduce the environmental footprint of printers and cartridges purchased through public tenders. 

The new Green Procurement Policy (GPP) 

criteria for imaging equipment applies to 

printers, copiers, multifunctional devices 

and scanners, enabling public authorities to 

endorse sustainable printing by lowering the 

environmental impact of devices purchased, 

and favouring the use of remanufactured 

cartridges. 

The new criteria, which also includes 

requirements for printers’ plastics, chemicals 

and emissions, have been in development by 

the EU’s scientific body – the Joint Research 

Centre (JRC) - since 2018, and the list was 

approved by the EU Commission in late July 

2020. 

Public bodies are being invited to use the 

guide, which is currently voluntary, when 

they solicit offers for imaging equipment and 

consumables through tenders. 

Javier Martinez, President of ETIRA, 

said: “The introduction of this new list of 

criteria within the European Union is an 

encouraging step forward towards a more 

sustainable future for the printing and ink 

and toner cartridge industry. 

“We have been lobbying the EU for two 

years on this policy and participating in the 

development process while insisting that 

cartridge reuse is a vital part of the new 

criteria. 

“By including a clear preference for 

remanufactured cartridges in the 2020 GPP 

criteria, the EU confirms that in terms of 

environmental performance, reusing your 

cartridge is better than buying a new one 

each time. 

“Together with our members, we will 

now raise awareness of the criteria in EU 

countries to encourage public authorities to 

use the GPP criteria and in turn, lower the 

environmental footprint of printing and 

cartridge use across EU member states.” 

The GPP is made up of two elements – 

‘core criteria’ designed to allow for easy 

application, focusing on the environmental 

performance of a product, and 

‘comprehensive criteria’ for use by authorities 

that want to lead the way in supporting 

innovative environmental goals. 

Key takeaways from the new policy are 

outlined below. For the full list of criteria, 

please scan the QR code. 

• Printers must comply with EU 

regulations on REACH (Registration, 

Evaluation, Authorisation and 

Restriction of Chemicals) WEEE 

(Waste Electrical and Electronic 

Equipment Directive) and other regular 

EU rules and laws. 

• Printers must meet standards for 

emissions, noise, energy consumption, 

and not contain hazardous substances 

beyond limits. 

• They must offer warranties and allow 

the use of remanufactured cartridges and 

any firmware update must not hinder 

the use of reused or remanufactured 

consumables. 

• Take-back programmes are also 

requested, and there are criteria for 

consumables supplied under a managed 

print contract. Cartridges must comply 

with page yield standards and must not 

be designed to limit the ability to reuse or 

remanufacture them. 

The GPP criteria also encourages an 

initial ‘fleet assessment’ to determine 

which machines need to 

be replaced and crucially, 

which ones can be kept, 

which will offer increased 

opportunities to reuse both 

cartridges and machines. ■ 

NORTH AMERICA Marco, Award, Top Workplace 2020 

Marco named Top Workplace 2020 

The Des Moines Register named Marco a winner of the Iowa 

Top Workplaces 2020 Award. 

For the fifth time, Marco has been 

awarded a Top Workplaces 2020 honour 

by The Des Moines Register. 

Top Workplaces are based solely on the 

results of an employee feedback survey 

administered by Energage, LLC. The 

anonymous survey uniquely measures 

fifteen drivers of engaged cultures that are 

critical to the success of any organisation: 

including alignment, execution, and 

connection, just to name a few. 

Marco currently has 70 employees across 

Iowa in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, 

Mason City, Quad Cities, Sioux City and 

Waterloo. 

“On behalf of all our Iowa-based 

employees, I wanted to share how excited 

we are to be featured by the Des Moines 

Register’s Top Workplaces of 2020,” 

said Doug Wood, Director of Sales. 

“The Top Workplaces award has come 

to mean a lot to our local employees. 

Marco is frequently recognised for 

many of its achievements and this award 

demonstrates the voice of the local 

employees and their pride in quality of 

work we do and the environment that 

has been created for Marco in Iowa. This 

award is an incredible win for Marco and 

a win for our clients.” ■ 




November 2020 

27


EUROPE ASA, UKCRA, HP Inc., Complaint 

UKCRA wins in 

complaint against HP 

HP has given assurances to the United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards 

Authority that they will remove the claims from their future advertising. 

In January this year, the UK Cartridge 

Remanufacturers Association (UKCRA) 

logged a complaint with the UK Advertising 

standards Authority (ASA) in response to an 

email HP circulated warning its customers 

of “imitation toners” and their damaging 

effects on printers. 

In its email, HP claimed that “over 1 in 5 

problems caused by non-HP cartridges can 

cause damage to the printer” and that “49% 

of imitation cartridges failed during use 

or right out of the box”, compared to HP 

original supplies. 

With the complaint UKCRA asked the 

ASA “to request HP to cease and desist from 

any further campaigns of this sort” stating 

that the advertisement includes “many 

statements that are discriminatory” and tries 

to “to discredit third party toner and inkjet 

printer cartridges other than their own in 

their printers.” 

UKCRA added at the time: “Printer 

cartridges that are remanufactured (re-used) 

EUROPE Recoll Europe B.V., New Hire, Business 

Olivier Wernain joins 

Recoll Europe B.V. 

Wernain joins as Sales & Collection Director 

Europe at Recoll Europe B.V. 

Recoll Europe B.V. has been collecting 

empty inkjet and toner cartridges for 25 

years and facilitates an empty cartridge 

return programme for retailers and dealers 

throughout Europe. 

Wernain began his career in the industry 

in 2004. He previously worked for K&U 

Printware before moving on to become the 

are not only more environmentally friendly 

they are more sustainable than recycling.” 

The ASA has now received an answer from 

HP, who have assured the authority that 

they will remove the claims from their future 

advertising. 

A check of the HP site reveals that the 

email in question either does not exist 

anymore on the server, or it may have been 

moved or deleted. 

ASA said in its message to UKCRA: “We 

consider that this will resolve the complaint 

without referring the matter to the ASA 

Council, and will consequently be closing 

our file. 

“In a formal investigation, if the ASA 

Council decides that an ad is in breach of the 

Code, the advertisers are told to withdraw or 

amend it. Because HP has already assured us 

that the advertising you complained about 

will be amended, we consider there is little 

to be gained from continuing with a formal 

investigation, which would achieve that same 

outcome.” 

Although ASA is not publishing full 

details of the UKCRA complaint on its 

website, www.asa.org.uk, basic information 

including the advertisers' name and where 

the ad appeared will appear though on 

9 September 2020. ■ 

▲ Olivier Wernain Sales & Collection 

Director Europe, Recoll Europe B.V. 

UKs Environmental Business Products 

European Sales Director. He then worked 

for Prolaser in France where he worked for 

two years before he joined Mito in 2017. 

After briefly exiting the industry, he 

has now returned as Sales & Collection 

Director Europe at Recoll Europe B.V. who 

are based in the Netherlands. ■ 

ASIA Apex, Chips, Innovation 

Apex wins 

innovation 

award 

Apex announced it has won 

the 2019 China Semiconductor 

Innovation Product and 

Technology award. 

At the summit of the World 

Semiconductor Conference 2020 held 

on 26 August Apex's project "Security 

Chip based on Domestic Multicore 

CUPs" won the 2019 China 

Semiconductor Innovation Product 

and Technology award. 

Apex explained that the Security 

Chip Dachuan launched by Geehy 

Semiconductor (a wholly-owned 

subsidiary of Apex) is based on domestic 

T-head XuanTie CPU multi-core (dualcore, 

four-core and even seven-core) 

heterogeneous architecture. The entire 

system makes a breakthrough in the use 

of trusted CPU and secure CPU, 

which has built the trusted execution 

environment and embedded iSE security 

unit, as well as the security mechanism 

customised with 19 items. Apex added 

that it is able to prevent it from multiple 

attacks like time attack, power analysis 

attack, wrong injection, buffer overflow, 

etc., as well as avoid attacks to the 

sensitive data, thus guaranteeing the key 

information transmission and device 

connection is secure, stable, and reliable. 

As a leading global supplier of printer 

cartridge chip solutions, Apex has 16 

years of experience in the printer industry 

with capabilities in 8/16/32-bit CPUs and 

DSP independent design and powerful 

encryption and decryption and antiattack 

technologies. The self-developed 

integrated circuit chips have won the Best 

Market Performance Award seven times. 

Apex said it has sold over 500 million 

security chips based on domestic CPUs. 

Apex and Geehy said they will continue 

to deepen the innovative applications 

for security chips in industrial 

control, automobile electronics, smart 

transportation, smart home, smart 

resources, providing more high-quality 

chip products and application solutions 

to accelerate the development of domestic 

chip industrialisation. ■ 



EUROPE Bureau Vallée, Brussels, Englos, Montauroux, Vauvert, New Stores 

Bureau Vallée new store openings 

While you were catching some sun this summer, Bureau Vallée were busy opening 

new stores. 

The French-based Bureau Vallée office 

and stationery supplies company continues 

to expand internationally and has opened 

several stores this summer. 

Following the acquisition of the 10 

store, Belgian Buro Market network, 

an eleventh store was opened in August 

2020 in Brussels. The Bureau Vallée 

store is located at Avenue Louise 406, 

1050 Brussels, Belgium. The store has an 

area of 292 square meters, this new store 

provides customers with nearly 4,000 

products "with particular attention paid to 

sustainable and environmentally friendly 

products," insists the brand. 

A second store was opened in Englos, 

near Lille in the north of France, close to 

the Belgian border. The store is located at 

70B Rue des Fusillés 59160 Capinghem, 

France. The store has an area of 550m² 

and provides customers with a range of 

7,000 products. The store franchisee is 

Frédéric Bontemps. 

Opening this week 

Franchisee 42 year old Cyril Benet will be 

opening the doors of his new Bureau Vallée 

store this Wednesday (9th September) at 9 

am. The store is located 

at 76 avenue du Mas Saint Laurent, 30600 

Vauvert, in the south of France. The 

store has an area of 550m² and provides 

customers with a range of 7,000 products. 

And last week 

On the 2nd September 2020, Franchisee 

Amélie Imbertche and her team opened 

their Bureau Vallée store in Montauroux. 

The store is located at 76 avenue du, 

Avenue Mas Saint-Laurent, 30600 

Vauvert, in the south of France. 

Bureau Vallée is a B2C stationery 

and office retail channel supplying the 

biggest brands at discount prices on ink 

cartridges and toners, office furniture and 

school supplies. 

Bureau Vallée operate 330+ stores 

in Belgium, Cameroon, France, 

Guadeloupe, Guyana, Italy, Malta, 

Mayotte, Mauritius, New Caledonia, 

Réunion, Spain, St. Martin and Tunisia 

and has a turnover in excess of €450 

million ($532 million). ■ 

EUROPE Tradesupply, Business, UK, Growth 

Tradesupply expands UK team 

The company took to LinkedIn to announce the expansion of the UK sales team with two new recruits. 

Melissa Lacey and Sam McKernan will be 

joining the Tradesupply team to help grow 

its UK sales, Tradesupply said. 

Tradesupply is based in UK & Ireland 

business providing a range of Print 

Consumables & Office Seating & 

Furniture. The company deals strictly with 

trade only and are focused on working with 

its customers to support them to achieve 

better margins. 

Together Lacey and McKernan have 

a combined 28 years’ experience in the 

Aftermarket Print Consumables Industry. 

Tradesupply added that they “can’t wait to 

join the “Tradesupply ship” and we look 

forward to welcoming them too.” 

The company said: “They are both very 

much team players and the perfect fit 

for Tradesupply, offering a professional 

approach, excellent industry and product 

knowledge and a great sense of fun!” ■ 


November 2020 

29


ASIA HYB Toner, Cartridges, E-Commerce, Latin America 

HYB warns of counterfeit products in Europe, starts video 

series and sets up e-commerce store for Latin America 

HK HaoYinBao Group (HYB) was made aware of the counterfeit products through a complaint by a buyer of toner 

cartridges, parts and consumables in Warsaw, Poland. 

The dealer claimed it bought the toner 

cartridges from a Chinese trading company, 

who allegedly said their products are made 

by HYB. After the communication with 

the customer, HYB’s sales professionals 

immediately realised this trading company 

was using HYB’s brand name to sell their 

own toner cartridges. 

HYB said that the trading company 

wrongly claimed “made by HYB” 

compatible toner 006R01701, 006R01702, 

006R01703, 006R01704 for use in Xerox 

Altalink C8030 damaged the developer unit 

of the customers and caused a bill with high 

expenses for the Polish customer. 

HYB technical professionals immediately 

helped the customer to solve their quality 

issue and minimised any cost and now the 

customer started to order directly from 

HYB since May 2020. 

HYB legal representatives are investigating 

the issue and articles published from this 

trading company who announced incorrect 

product sources related to HYB. The 

company is now considering what actions to 

take against the Chinese trading company. 

HYB added: “Customers are 

recommended to order only from 

authorised distributors in the EU for HYB 

products or ordering directly from HYB 

Sales Professionals to avoid misleading 

information and faulty products. 

“The products distributed by E.U. 

distributors should come with HYB logo, 

holograms, batch numbers linked with 

HYB Quality System. Zeus Toner and HYB 

Toner are both the trademarks owned by 

HK HaoYinBao Group and any Parties 

who quote and use our brand names for 

marketing purposes should be authorized 

otherwise we reserve the right to accuse 

for legal responsibility with disclosures of 

companies that wrongly using our names.” 

HYB products are available through 150 

importers in the European Union and the 

United Kingdom. 

Responding to travel bans and social 

distancing rules due to COVID-19, HYB 

Toner has decided to launch a new series 

of videos. 

The series of videos are aimed at its 

distributor customers, with its sales 

representatives introducing HYB’s technical 

and quality assurance teams’ work processes 

for each product. 

LATAM Sales Manager Omar Moreno, 

International Development Manager 

Andres Rubio together with the other 

HYB sales representatives have been busy 

preparing these videos, from which the 

customers will definitely tell the difference 

HYB products offer and understand the 

mission of HYB. 

“The timely resume to production and 

NPD (New Product Development) enable 

HYB to release a series of new products 

which were approved by their Laboratory 

as well as our customers. The Ozone filter, 

new version of Service Vacuum, Ricoh 

Drum Units, Toner cartridges for Konica 

Minolta, Xerox, Canon etc. The video 

introduces more details rather than data 

and technical specification disclosed to 

the customers. It will be a way to make a 

better approach to customers who get used 

to receive lots of mail shots from different 

suppliers while few of them ever detailed 

them details and difference of products” 

said Kim Lee, Sales Director of HYB. 

In Latin America, through the popular 

e-commerce store ‘Falabella’ HYB Toner 

products are now available online for the 

region. 

Falabella is one of the largest and most 

consolidated companies in Latin America. 

For more than 100 years, Falabella has 

offered products helping to meet the needs 

of its customers. HYB was recently invited 

to showcase their products on the platform. 

HYB said: “Products with HYB 

trademarks have gained a great popularity 

in more than 38 countries through the 

sales network of their distributors. The 

e-shopping mode gets more and more 

popular in the past few years and a high 

demand from end-users for premium 

products with good brand names has driven 

the products of HYB a higher exposure.” 

According to its distributor in Brazil, the 

products of HYB are already available in 

ACF Stores, Mercado Libre and Creative, 

already showing a growth rate of 25-33% 

every year in sales in the region. ■ 




November 2020 

31


EUROPE ARMOR Office Printing, OWA, Anniversary 

OWA brand celebrates 5 th anniversary 

OWA, ARMOR Office Printing's eco-responsible brand for remanufactured cartridges, is celebrating its 5 th anniversary. 

Launched in 2015, the OWA brand 

name represents “Our Way to Act” and 

has become and has become the company’s 

flagship brand. 

Gerwald van der Gijp, VP & Managing 

Director of ARMOR Office Printing 

explains: “The circular economy is at the 

heart of OWA’s business values and the 

company intends it to remain so. “Our 

OWA brand was a pioneer when it launched 

5 years ago. At the time, the circular 

economy was not yet on trend, as it is today. 

But we stayed on course, and remained 

committed. 

These 5 years of progress in a dynamic 

and ultra-competitive market are 

illustrated by several success stories, of 

which we are proud. First of all, the OWA 

brand has succeeded in internationalising 

the company, extending its reach outside 

of France. 

The range has expanded considerably 

and now includes copier, inkjet and 3D 

filaments, in addition to the laser present 

at the launch of the brand.” 

The company expounded that in 

2020 Armor Office Printing is continuing 

its programme of selective international 

distribution by taking the degree of 

commitment to the circular economy 

of its partners as a key criterion. "This 

is consistent with the guiding principle 

we set from the beginning of the brand," 

confirmed Gerwald van der Gijp. ■ 

NORTH AMERICA Static Control, New Hire, Human Resources, Business 

NORTH AMERICA CIG, IPrint, MSE 

Static Control announces 

new VP of HR 

Zhuodan “Sunny” Jin has been appointed the company’s 

Vice President (VP) of Human Resources (HR). 

▲ Zhuodan “Sunny” Jin Vice President 

of Human Resources, Static Control 

As VP of Human Resporces, Jin will be 

responsible for creating innovative ways 

to integrate global HR services, engage 

employees and establish talent plans, 

systems and training programs that will 

develop Static Control’s organisational 

competency and culture. 

Her professional experience has focused 

on establishing and upgrading fullspectrum 

HR modules at multinational 

companies while navigating through 

cultural differences, mindsets and business 

challenges. She will lead the global HR 

team to solve problems, create efficient 

processes, improve HR services and ensure 

effective technologies are implemented 

across the entire Static Control 

organisation. 

Jin earned an MBA from the University 

of Houston and holds a Professional 

Human Resources and Global Professional 

Human Resources certification. Before 

Static Control, she has worked in positions 

at Simcere Innovation and Inventec. 

“Static Control is a great organisation 

with a unique culture and history,” said 

Jin. “The people I have met are hardworking 

and passionate about what they 

do. The industry outlook and future 

challenges will create opportunities 

leading to technical breakthroughs 

and innovations. I am thrilled to be 

part of the team to help create great 

employee experiences while also embracing 

changes made through my knowledge 

as an HR leader.” 

CEO Ken Lalley is excited for Jin 

to join the team. “Sunny is an experienced 

leader who understands the HR needs 

of a global company. I know our employees 

will greatly benefit from having someone 

with her background and education 

in this position. We are delighted she’s 

joined our team.” ■ 

CIG adds 

distributor 

in Jordan 

IPrint has partnered with Clover 

Imaging Group (CIG) to distribute 

MSE-branded remanufactured 

cartridges in Jordan. 

As an authorised Clover distributor 

for Jordan, IPrint is introducing MSE 

branded remanufactured cartridges to 

the Jordanian market. 

Since 2014, IPrint provides technical 

solutions to help customers manage 

their printing environment in 

professional and cost-effective ways 

and to implement high-impact print 

marketing strategies in Jordan. 

CIG welcomes IPrint and said: 

“Working together with IPrint we look 

forward to building our partnership 

and to growing the MSE brand in 

Jordan.” ■ 



NORTH AMERICA Eakes Office Solutions, Business, Anniversary 

Eakes celebrates 75 th anniversary 

Eakes Office Solutions, a provider of business products and solutions, is celebrating their 75 th anniversary this year. 

Founded in 1945 by Howard Eakes, the 

company has grown from two employees 

in Grand Island, NE to over 250 

employees spanning 13 locations across 

Nebraska. 

Originally named Office Equipment 

Company, Eakes started as a Remington 

Rand adding machine and typewriter 

servicing business. As Eakes continued to 

grow, so did their business offerings. 

The company added filing systems 

and office supplies in 1952, copiers and 

printers in the late 1970’s, furniture 

and design services in 1998, commercial 

janitorial products and equipment in 

2017, and a software and technology 

services division in 2019. Eakes Office 

Solutions continues to grow their services 

to better support their customers in every 

aspect of their business. 

“Howard Eakes started our company 

75 years ago on the premise of hard work, 

dedication, and great customer service. 

To this day, Eakes employees embrace 

these values to provide the highest level 

of care that our customers desire.” said 

Mark Miller, Eakes President & CEO. 

“I am fortunate to have worked alongside 

Howard’s sons Ron and Dan for nearly 

three decades to help carry forward 

these values, ensuring our future is full 

of promise for satisfied customers and 

fulfilled employees.” ■ 


November 2020 

33

FEATURE 

Inside GM Technology 

The demand for reused printers, copiers and consumables is on the increase, and we take a look 

at Spain’s GM Technology, one of the leading players in this growing market segment. 

From their base in Seville, Spain, GM 

Technology serves clients in all 27 EU 

member states as well as Africa, Middle 

East, Asia and Latin America. The 

company has a robust global quality on the 

premium refurbished photocopier market. 

It was the first to produce on an industrial 

scale and market the unique R-OEM copier 

toner cartridge range. 

With origins going back more than 30 

years, GM Technology, through constant 

growth and investment, has become the 

market leader in both the import and 

export of used and refurbished office 

machine and the first to re-market original 

photocopier toner cartridges. 

According to Zoltan Matyas, GM 

Technologies Director of International 

Business Development: “Our focus on costsaving, 

profitability and circular economy 

made us a clear market leader in this sector. 

Combine this with our highly skilled 

multilingual sales team, who have extensive 

experience dedicated exclusively to the 

international market. This approach allows 

us to develop unique and outstanding trade 

relationships. 

Reuse is the heart of our business. On the 

hardware side, is the GreenLine range of 

premium refurbished photocopiers. On 

the consumables side, we have the R-OEM 

All our secondhand equipment is sourced 

exclusively in Europe. We only import the best 

equipment and the most advanced technologies. 

FEATURED 

A R TIC L E 

range of toner cartridges; and our range of 

remanufactured toner cartridges.” 

Matyas added: “We hold 16,000 printers/ 

copiers in stock and ship 60,000+ units a 

year. That’s around 24 containers a month 

leaving our Seville facility to destinations 

around the world. 

“All our secondhand equipment is 

sourced exclusively in Europe. We only 

import the best equipment and the most 

advanced technologies. Thanks to exclusive 

agreements with the main OEM´s (Original 

Equipment Manufacturers) and trade 

partners in Germany, Switzerland 

Holland, France and the United Kingdom, 

which guarantees the controlled loading 

of our printing equipment with the best 

transport services.” 

GreenLine – Premium 

Refurbished Printing 

Machines 

GreenLine machines are the “true circular 

economy solution” that lowers the initial 

hardware investments and print costs while 

maintaining exceptional quality and full 

manufacturers guarantee. “These machines 

offer our partners the opportunity to 

promote sustainable printing services 

(MPS) with higher profits,” Matyas said. 

With two categories, Eco-Smart and 

Eco-Select, the difference is based on 

the lifecycle stage, page counters, and 

machine appearance. 

GreenLine machines come with a 6-month 

warranty and at least 70% of working life 

remaining and refurbished to an “as new” 

machine standard inside and outside. 

Devices that don’t make the GreenLine 

standard are sold as secondhand machines. 

They have no fixed or minimum % of 

working life left, and their appearance vary 

from one device to another. Secondhand 

machines are sold without warranty. 

Remanufacturing in action 

The remanufacturing is process-driven 

and starts with the selection of the printing 

equipment. According to Matyas “We 

select the best equipment and work on 

remanufacturing the devices to put them 

back into circulation with the same quality 

as new conventional equipment. 

Successful remanufacturing of printers and 

copiers starts with the evaluation of the 

quality of the equipment. Next comes the 

extensive testing and finally, the start of the 

remanufacturing process. 



In phase one, the equipment is completely 

disassembled and thoroughly cleaned. 

Critical parts that show signs of wear are 

discarded and recycled. 

In phase two, the chassis is visually 

inspected for any damage to the surfaces 

where axles, motors, rollers, gears and 

threaded holes are assembled and repaired 

where needed. 

Utilising sustainable technologies 

and customised solutions the team of 

technicians assembles the equipment 

utilising new parts were needed to ensure a 

long life cycle for the product. 

At the end of the assembly phase, the 

firmware is updated on all remanufactured 

equipment. Then the equipment is tested 

for image quality and performance, 

ensuring the correct functioning of 

all its utilities and accessories. 

Finally, the equipment is ready for 

specialised packing and fast delivery 

anywhere in the world. 

R-OEM toner cartridges 

R-OEM toner cartridges – are products 

where we reuse the original toner bottle 

and refill it with 100 % genuine recycled 

OEM toner powder. A sustainable, IP 

safe and OEM equivalent product at a 

very competitive price. All products are 

manufactured under the strictest ISO 

and DIN quality standards and shipped 

in brand neutral packaging. 

Remanufactured copier toners 

and consumables 

Recycled OEM toner powder is a limited 

resource. To meet the market demand 

for reuse products, we have a range of 

remanufactured toners utilising premium 

aftermarket toner powder. 

The rest of the remanufacturing 

process and quality control is the same 

for maximum print quality yield and 

reliability. ■ 

GM Technology, 

facts and figures 

• 160+ employees 

• €16+ turnover in 2020 

• 11,000m2 warehouse 

• 16,000 printers / copiers in stock 

• 280+ container shipments a year 

• 60,000 units shipped worldwide 

Accreditations 

• ISO 9001 – Quality Management 

• ISO 14001 – Environmental 

Management 

• ISO 45001 – Occupational Health 

• ISO /IEC 27001 – Information 

Security Management 

• ISO /IEC 19752 - Evaluation of 

monochrome toner cartridge page yield 

• ISO /IEC 19798 - Evaluation of 

Colour toner cartridge page yield 

• DIN 33870 - Requirements and 

tests for the preparation of refilled 

toner modules 

• ETIRA Member 

Specialists in the Purchase 

of Unused OEM Toner for 

over 10 years 

Purchasing 

WE BUY SURPLUS UNUSED PRINTER TONERS & INKS 

Find us on: 

software 

• One of the UK's largest independent 

buyers of surplus OEM toners 

• Any OEM manufacturer, any quantity 

• Any grade, including ‘Open Box’ and 

‘No Box’ 

• Friendly, expert staff 

• Fast, genuine & reliable quotes 

• Pan European service 

• Environmentally responsible 

Call us on 01462 605050 or 

visit www.thejollysavage.co.uk 

Find us on: 

software 

The Jolly Savage Ltd www.thejollysavage.co.uk +44(0) 1462 605050 admin@thejollysavage.co.uk 


November 2020 

35

FEATURE 

SEC imposes $6M penalty on 

HP for undisclosed sales practices 

HP Inc. has agreed to pay US$6 million (€5.11 million) to settle charges levied by the U.S 

Securities and Exchange Commission that the company misled investors by failing to disclose 

the impact of sales practices. 

FEATURED 

A R TIC L E 

The U.S Securities and Exchange 

Commission (SEC) imposes a $6 million 

(€5.11 million) penalty as well instigating 

cease and desist proceedings against HP Inc. 

without admitting or denying the 

SEC‘s findings. 

Between early 2015 and June 2016, HP 

regional managers used a variety of incentives 

to accelerate, or “pull-in,” to the current 

quarter sales of printer consumables that 

they would otherwise expect to materialise 

in later quarters. 

HP operates three geographic regions: the 

Americas (“AMS”), Asia Pacific and Japan 

(“APJ”) and Europe Middle East Africa 

(“EMEA”). These regions were consolidated 

into HP’s corporate results at its worldwide 

level. HP policy and contracts with 

distributors specifically prohibit the sale of 

HP products, including supplies, outside the 

distributor’s authorised territory. 

Prior to the split of HP into HP Inc and HP 

Enterprise in November 2015, consistent 

with the overall secular decline of printing, 

Hewlett- Packard’s Printing segment had 

seen declining revenue for several years, with 

overall Printing revenues, as well as Supplies 

revenues, declining for multiple quarters in 

a row. However, because of the high profit 

margins, the Printing segment, and the 

Supplies business unit in particular, still 

delivered consistent cash flow and operating 

profit that Hewlett-Packard used to invest in 

its other business lines. 

The SEC found that managers in the HP Asia 

Pacific and Japan (APJ) region sold printing 

supplies to distributors who HP known to 

be involved in selling HP printing supplies 

into grey market channels causing significant 

margin erosion and cannibalisation of HP 

sales in HP’s European and African markets. 

Despite the risk that these sales practices 

could negatively impact HP’s operating profit 

in future quarters, HP did not disclose to the 

market during the relevant time period that 

its use of the pull-ins and A-Business were 

causing decreased margins and increased 

channel inventory. HP further failed to 

disclose facts necessary to make its channel 

inventory disclosures not misleading, 

including that the channel inventory metric 

employed by the company in quarterly 

earnings calls only included channel 

inventory held by channel partners to which 

HP sold directly and not by channel partners 

further down the distribution chain, thereby 

disclosing only an incomplete picture of HP’s 

channel health. 

The SEC said: “The practice had occurred 

on a small scale in APJ for years and came 

to be included in APJ’s budgeting process. 

To engage in the A Business [grey market], 

sales managers in APJ provided HP product 

to resellers and brokers within their region 

at higher than normal discounts, knowing 

they would sell the goods through a network 

of firms into the Middle East.” In some 

instances, the discounts were in excess of 40%. 

Despite the risk that these sales practices 

could negatively impact HP’s operating 

profit in future quarters, HP did not disclose 

to the market during the relevant time 

period that its use of the pull-ins and grey 

sales were causing decreased margins and 

increased channel inventory. 

During this period, one regional general 

manager in the Printing segment described 

“unhealthy levels of stock” in Tier 1 and 

Tier 2, saying that “we needed the Supplies 

Revenue & we used significant amounts of 

contra to push in Supplies at T1 to > 2 weeks 

above their optimal levels.” 

In June 2016, HP changed its go-to-market 

model, in part to address the undisclosed 

sales practices and undertook a channel 

inventory reduction that would reduce 

HP’s net revenue by approximately $450 

million (€383 million) during the third 

and fourth quarters of 2016 the SEC said. 

The $450 million (€383 million) reduction 

represented 5% of HP’s reported printing 

segment net revenue for the second half 

of 2016. 

Following the announcement, HP’s stock 

price dropped nearly 6%, eliminating more 

than $1 billion (€0.85 billion) of market 

capitalisation. 

"Investors are entitled to accurate disclosures 

of business trends that are likely to have 

a material impact on a company's future 

revenues or operating profits," said Melissa 

Hodgman, an Associate Director in the 

SEC's Division of Enforcement. "HP’s 

failure to disclose the foreseeable negative 

impact of its use of pull-ins and other 

sales practices created a misleading and 

incomplete picture of the company’s 

financial condition." ■ 


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November 2020 

37

FEATURE 

Inside the Hubei Dinglong Group 

As Hubei Dinglong celebrates 20 years, we take a look at the companies that make up the group. 

FEATURED 

A R TIC L E 

PRINTWELL 

Printwell, more formally the Zhuhai 

Dinglong Print-well Technology Company, is 

the newest company in the Hubei Dinglong 

Group and was established in 2019 to 

manufacture new compatible inkjet products 

from their base in Zhuhai, China. 

Printwell leverages in the strength of 

Dinglong Group's whole industrial supply 

chain, delivering continuous compatible 

inkjet product solutions integrated R&D, 

manufacturing, and marketing. 

The primary focus of the company is to 

deliver premium products and 24/7 service 

support to the global market for compatible 

inkjet products. Hand in hand with the 

compatible inkjet products are a range of 

new options for marketing, customers, and 

the whole industry. The Printwell goal is a 

The primary focus of the company is 

to deliver premium products and 24/7 

service support to the global market 

for compatible inkjet products. 

healthy industry and environment for all 

global customers. 

Intellectual Property (IP) is an ongoing 

and crucial requirement for the market, 

and Printwell has developed global patent 

protection registrations. 

Printwell told The Recycler "We have now 

released our first superstar cartridge, a new 

compatible inkjet cartridge for the HP 

950/951XL series, which is a replacement for 

HP 950XL 951XL Combo 950 951. These 

cartridges work with the HP Office Jet Pro 

8100 8600 8610 8615 8616 8620 8625 8630 

251DW 276DW 271DW printer range. 

All compatible inkjet cartridges produced by 

Printwell are extensively tested for reliability 

and quality and comply with ISO9001 and 

ISO14001 standards. 



RETECH 

Big Brother Retech 

Retech International Technology Limited 

(Retech) was established in 1999 and is located 

in Shenzhen and has recently established a 

new 45,000m2 branch factory also in Zhuhai, 

China. In 2007 Retech was ranked No. 19 

in the world in The Recyclers "First Fifty" 

cartridge manufacturers report. 

Today, Retech manufactures more than 1,000 

different models of compatible inkjet and laser 

consumables from their Shenzhen and Zhuhai 

factories. The Zhuhai factory features new 

intelligent automatic machines producing 

toner and inkjet cartridges with a defect rate 

of less than 1% and a much lower labour cost. 

quality toners, and chips that are all produced 

within the group are made to ISO9001 and 

ISO 14001 standards. Retech has STMC 

certification produces to CE specifications 

and is REACH and RoHS compliant. 

A constant focus on quality and costeffectiveness 

is are the drivers underpinning 

Retech's growth strategy. 

The latest products released by Retech 

include the patented 950XL-953XL series 

ink cartridge that was sourced and produced 

within the Dinglong Group. The newest 

laser cartridge is the in-house designed the 

patented W1107A toner cartridge with their 

own proprietary chips. ■ 

Today, Retech manufactures more 

than 1,000 different models of compatible 

inkjet and laser consumables from their 

Shenzhen and Zhuhai factories. 

Operating in the Americas, Eastern Europe, 

Southeast Asia and Africa, has seen sales of 

Retech consumables increase 40% sales during 

2020, despite the weaker global economic 

outlook and supported with their new, Zhuhai 

based, enlarged manufacturing capacity. 

As part of the Hubei Dinglong Group, 

Retech accesses PCR, Doctor blades, high 


November 2020 

39

PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY 

ASIA Ninestar, G&G, Cartridges, Eco-Saver, Printers 

G&G adds to Eco-Saver range, 

announces move into hardware 

Ninestar introduced its new Eco-Saver series of remanufactured inkjet cartridges for use in various Canon devices 

and announced the launch of two G&G-branded A4 monochrome laser printers for the MPS market. 

What is Eco-Saver? Eco-Saver is a series 

of remanufactured inkjet cartridges 

featuring one reusable print head and 

multi-pack replacement ink cartridges. 

Eco-Saver cartridge print heads print up 

to 1,440 pages in total and have a reusable 

print head. 

Ninestar teamed up with Apex for the 

cartridge chips, which means Eco-Saver 

series products featuring the reusable 

print heads also show ink level from start 

to finish. 

G&G now announced its latest addition 

to the range, replacement cartridges for 

use in Canon Pixma devices. Available 

now are replacement Canon PG545 and 

CL546 cartridges for Europe, PG245 and 

CL246 cartridges for North America, 

PG445 and CL446 cartridges for Africa 

and Eastern Europe and PG845 and 

CL846 cartridges for China. 

The first printers under the G&G brand 

are the A4 monochrome single-function 

desktop laser printers P4100DN/DW and 

multi-function M4100DN/DW 

laser printers. 

According to G&G, the new printers 

are focused on “on enabling its customers 

to provide better-value Managed Print 

Services (MPS).” 

The printers are designed to benefit 

SOHO and SMB with large printing 

volumes, G&G P4100 and M4100 series 

offer efficient, convenient, and moneysaving 

printing experience. This latest 

launch comes along with new Managed 

Print Service solutions for end users. 

G&G added that a series of refurbished 

copiers will be available as Ninestar/G&G 

MPS hardware alternatives to fit different 

demands. G&G is the world’s first 

aftermarket brand that can provide both 

printers and copiers. 

“While everyone says MPS and business 

printing demand are shrinking because 

the COVID-19 outbreak compels many 

companies to embrace remote working, 

we think it differently. 

“The companies still have to pay for 

their staff ’s printing cost, no matter 

where staff locate. Thus, managing 

their staff ’s printing tasks/a managed 

print application to be put in place for 

their staff definitely helps companies’ 

sustainability, especially given situation in 

the current coronavirus.” said Gang Chen, 

MPS Director of Ninestar Image. 

“What G&G does is to keep our partners 

to stay ahead of the game. We extend 

our product portfolio and remind our 

partners not to miss the incremental 

potential lying in MPS sector. That’s why 

bundled with the roll-out of the hardware 

combo, we’re releasing this tempting and 

value-added MPS solution to have our 

global partners better empowered.” 

G&G hardware will also be available 

separately without its MPS 

programme. ■ 

For more information on 

its Eco-Saver range, please 

scan the QR code here: 



EUROPE IR Italiana Riprografia, Cartridges, Remanufacturing 

IR Italiana Riprografia 

adds new models to 

Graphic-Jet range 

The Italian company has announced new remanufactured 

Graphic-Jet cartridges for use in various HP devices as 

well as new compatible toner cartridges for use in various 

Ricoh devices. 

IR Italiana Riprografia announced the 

expansion of its remanufactured Graphic- 

Jet cartridge range with the addition of 

remanufactured cartridges for use in HP 

Color Laser 150A/150NW/178NW and 

179FNW devices. These cartridges come 

with page yields of 1,000 pages for the 

black cartridges and 700 pages for the 

colour cartridges. 

IR Italiana Riprografia also announced 

the addition of compatible toner cartridges 

for use in Ricoh IM 350 and Ricoh IM 

550F devices. The replacement cartridges 

for use in Ricoh IM 350 machines come 

with page yields of 14,000 pages and the 

replacement cartridges for use in Ricoh 

IM 550F devices come with page yields of 

25,500 pages. 

According to the company, the toner 

cartridges provide not only “OEM 

equivalent print quality,” but also “100% 

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. 

IR Italiana Riprografia products are in 

compliance with the RoHS II directive 

(when required). ■ 

For more information 

on the above-mentioned 

products or other ranges 

available from IR Italiana 

Riprografia, please scan 

the QR code. 

NORTH AMERICA Katun, North America, Cartridges 

Katun introduces new colour toner cartridges 

Katun Corporation announced the introduction of high-quality Katun Performance colour toner cartridges in North America. 

Forty-four Katun Performance colour 

toner part numbers have been introduced 

for use in Canon applications, primarily a 

range of Canon imageCLASS machines. 

These Katun toner cartridges provide 

dealers with OEM-equivalent colour 

reproduction and image quality, at 

significant cost savings, Katun said. 

Also now available are two replacement 

colour toner sets from Katun for use 

in Toshiba devices. Cyan, magenta and 

yellow toners are available for use in 

Toshiba e-STUDIO 2515AC /3015AC 

/ 3515AC / 4515AC / 5015AC-series 

machines. Also available are cyan, 

magenta and yellow toners for use in 

Toshiba e-STUDIO 2505AC / 3005AC 

/ 3505AC / 4505AC / 5005AC-series 

applications. Katun added: “Each colour 

toner set provides excellent colour 

reproduction, OEM-equivalent yields and 

OEM-equivalent performance. They 

are available at substantial cost savings 

when compared to the OEM toner for 

these machines.” 

Katun products may be ordered by 

email, phone or via the Katun Online 

Catalogue – the one-stop Internet 

resource that allows registered 

customers to locate and order thousands 

of Katun products while viewing 

real-time information about their 

orders and accounts. ■ 

To find out which products are now 

available in your market, 

customers can access the 

Katun Online Catalogue 

by scanning the QR code. 


November 2020 

41

PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY 

EUROPE Biuromax, Ink, 

New Products 

ASIA CET, New Products, 

Remanufacturing, Parts 

CET releases 

plethora of 

new products 

The company has released a new compatible drum unit for use in various 

OEM devices. 

Biuromax adds 

inkjet range 

The company is widening its 

product range further with a new 

business class inkjet range. 

Biuromax took to social media to 

announce its latest product addition, a 

range of business class inks. According 

to the company, the ink “provides 

accurate and intense print image 

reproduction for many types of media” 

and “shows exceptional resistance to 

fading (photo-stability)”, allowing the 

colours of the printed image remain 

bright and stable for a long time. 

Biuromax said: “We provide only 

proven products for you. The Business 

Class inks have passed more than 20 

different quality tests and passed them 

perfectly.” 

The newly added range of inks have 

a wide operating colour gamut offering 

smoother gradients which faithfully 

reproduces real colours for high 

quality photos and documents. The 

ink dries quickly leaving paper dry to 

touch immediately leaving no smudges 

or smears. 

Biuromax added that its inks are fully 

compatible with OEM inks. ■ 


on the abovementioned 

products 

and more, scan 

the QR code. 

CET Group Co., Ltd. has announced 

parts for use un HP LaserJet Pro and HP 

Color Laserjet Pro devices. The new range 

include separation roller assembly, manual 

pickup roller, manual separation pad, 

paper separation roller, pickup/feed roller 

assembly, lower roller gear 27T and paper 

pickup roller. 

New products also include copier parts 

for use in various Konica Minolta Bizhub, 

Ricoh, Sharp, Xerox and Kyocera Ecosys 

devices. 

The company also expanded its 

cartridge range with replacement 

cartridges for use in Canon iR 

ADVANCE C5535/5540/5550/5560, iR 

ADVANCE C5535i/5540i/5550i/5560i, 

iR ADVANCE C5535i II//5540i 

II/5550i II/5560i II and iR ADVANCE 

C5535i III/5540i III/5550i III/5560i III 

ASIA Apex, Chips, Remanufacturing 

machines. The cartridges come with page 

yields of 69,000 for the black and 60,000 

for the colour cartridges. 

CET’s newest chemical toner is for use in 

Ricoh MPC501SP devices. The company’s 

Ricoh range also saw the addition of 

replacement cartridges for use in Ricoh 

IM350/350F deviecs. These cartridges 

come with page yields of 14,000. 

Furthermore, the company added new 

replacement drum units for use in Ricoh 

MP2554SP/3054SP/3554SP and Ricoh 

MP4054SP/5054SP/6054SP devices. 

The drum units come with page yields 

of 160,000 pages at 5% coverage. ■ 


on the above and more 

products from CET, 

scan the QR code here: 

New replacement chips from Apex 

Apex has announced new replacement chips for use in Ricoh IM C530 

series devices. 

In August 2020, Ricoh released two 

colour laser multifunction printers IM 

C530F and IM C530FB in Europe and the 

United States. Delivering brilliant colour 

output at up to 55 pages per minute, the 

new series can digitise and share documents 

quickly with advanced scanning or 

paperless faxing, making the office more 

efficient. 

This “first-to-market” solution offers 

“consistent performance” and are “easy to 

install in recycled cartridges”, Apex said. 

The replacement chips are for use in Ricoh 

IM C530F/C530FB devices and come with 

page yields of 20,500 for the chips for the 

black cartridges and 18,000 for the chips for 

the colour cartridges. 

The company added: “Apex helps you 

seize the market opportunities by providing 

you with the first-to-market replacement 

chips solution for Ricoh IM C530 series. 

You're welcome to contact us and ask for 

product samples!” ■ 


Apex’s chip range scan the 

QR code. 



ASIA Cartridge Web, GPI, New Products, Cartridges 

Cartridge Web’s new patent free 

100% made in Taiwan cartridge 

The company’s latest addition to their product range is a patent free, 100% “made 

in Taiwan” replacement cartridge for use in various Kyocera Ecosys devices. 

The company’s latest addition to their 

product range is a patent free, 100% “made 

in Taiwan” replacement cartridge for use 

in Kyocera Ecosys P3260 and M3860 series 

devices which comes with a page yield of 

40,000 pages at 5% coverage. 

Cartridge Web highlighted that the 

cartridges are “100% self-made/owned 

moulding/tooling for Cartridge Web 

product only” and they are “100% made 

EUROPE ECS, New Products, Remanufacturing 

in Taiwan”. Customised packaging is 

available for the product and the company 

said proudly that the toner used in the 

replacement cartridges is “Japanese toner 

from an industrial leading company”. 

As part of its product testing, Cartridge 

Web said the cartridges go through 

“rigorous examination during the 

development stage, like drum life test, 

noise test (comparing to OEM), drop 


showcases latest product additions 

The Remanufacturer and Collector of the Year has highlighted its latest new 

releases for use in various Canon Advance IR devices. 

State-of-the-art filling 

machines in the UK 

test etc.” 

ISO 

The 

9001 

replacement 

& 14001 

cartridges 

certified 

are 

products, services & facilities 

produced in an ISO 9001, ISO14001, 

STMC, Dedicated WEEE and research CE environment, and 

meaning development during production teamstrict criteria 

are applied. Cartridge Web guarantees 

compatibility The largest with range OEM of 

consumables. products ■ and parts in the UK 


on its products range, 

scan the QR code. 

Contact ECS NOW 

www.ecs-uk-ltd.com 

+44 (0)1427 337 355 


The first of many upcoming releases by 

Effective Consumable Solutions (ECS) 

has been announced this week as their 

new Canon C-EXV28/29 Developer 

Packs. These developer packs are suitable 

for use with Canon Advance IR-C5030, 

5035, 5045, 5245 and Canon IR-C5051, 

5235, 5240, 5250, 5255 devices. 

Alongside their new Canon 

C-EXV28/29 Developer Packs, the 

remanufacturer also provides the 

following relating products that are 

suitable for use with the equivalent 

devices: 

• Canon CEXV28 & 29 toner cartridges 

• Canon CEXV28/29 remanufactured 

waste toner bottle 

• Canon CEXV-28/29 remanufactured 

drum units 

• Canon IRC5030 OPC drum 

• Canon IRC5030-5045 fuser 

fixing film sleeve 

ECS said it is currently entering an 

extremely busy and exciting period 

during the development of a number of 

new products that its partners are eagerly 

awaiting. 

The remanufacturer of the year produces 

all of their remanufactured products at 

their own state-of-the-art ISO9001 & 

ISO14001 testing and remanufacturing 

facilities in the UK. ■ 


the above and more, please 

scan the QR code. 


November 2020 

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 

hb.sales@lvlcartridge.com 

Tel: +33 251 70 14 58 

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 

CARTRIDGE CLEANING SYSTEMS 

SUPPLIER 

LightWords Imaging 

admin@lightwords.co.uk 

Tel: +44 1270 878850 

www.lightwordsimaging.com 

Futor Cleaning System AG 

info@futorag.ch 

+41 716800549 

www.futorag.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 

» Looking to sell your business? 

» Looking to buy a business? 

» Looking to expand your business? 

» Looking for retirement options? 

Call us today to find out how we can help! 

We are small enough to care and 

experienced enough to deliver. 

Connett & Unland GbR 

Boschweg 43 

D-48351 Everswinkel 

Germany 

Phone: +49 (0) 2582 991 0702 

Email: candu@candugbr.com 

United Kingdom 

kontakt@itp-group.com 

kontakt@itp-group.com 

ETIRA membership benefits include: 

Meeting new clients and partners at our 

network meetings! 

A strong fight against clever chips, unfair 

patents, waste transport rules etc.! 

PR-work to tell the world about remanufactured 

cartridges and why they are good for both 

consumers and the environment! 

Promotion of top-quality remanufacturing 

(standardisation)! 

Join our business Code of Conduct, and sell 

more cartridges thanks to our logo! 

Meeting 60 top remanufacturers already 

members of ETIRA... 

ETIRA brings the remanufacturing Industry 

together. Be part of the family! 

Haydnlaan 13, 4837 CS Breda, 

The Netherlands Tel: + 31 6 414 614 63 

info@etira.org 

www.etira.org 

ETIRA: WORKING FOR ALL REMANUFACTURERS AND PARTNERS 


November 2020 

45

NEXT ISSUE 

December 2020 

Issue 337 

Remote working 

– approved 

printers and 

collection 

challenges 

ISSN 2045 - 2047 (PRINT) NOVEMBER 2020 EDITION 336 PUBLISHED 29 OCTOBER 2020 

The Recycler 

Wittas House, Two Rivers Estate, Station Lane, 

Witney, OX28 4BH, United Kingdom 

t. +44 (0) 1993 899 800 

t. +49 (0) 2582 991 0701 

e. info@therecycler.com 

w. www.therecycler.com 

The Recycler Team 

Managing Editor 

Stefanie Unland 

e. s.unland@therecycler.com 

t. +44 1993 899 800 

News Team 

news@therecycler.com 

t. +44 1993 899 800 

Production & Distribution Team 

e. production@therecycler.com 

Design 

Danielle Lamb Design 

e. danielle.lamb.design@icloud.com 

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November 2020 

47

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The Recycler Issue 336

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