The Recycler - Three Rs

The document
printing market
If you review the websites of the
major industry OEMs you will find
manufacturers are trying to produce in a
sustainable manner. Most have invested in
“green” factories with measurable energy
efficiency and emissions control gains.
Some take important steps to ensure that
the products they produce are collected and
disposed of in a responsible manner.
For example, Canon has collected and
recycled 408,000 tonnes of cartridges in a
28-year period to 2018. To acknowledge
reuse, Canon has also reduced its reliance
on new materials by 285,000 tonnes.
Ricoh in Japan apparently collects 115,000
machines from across the region. And
Epson claims the 50 million units sold of
its eco-tank printers has saved a “potential”
1.1 million tonnes of plastic based
consumables.
It is in reuse and remanufacturing where
the aftermarket excels. There may be
high expectations that a recent European
Voluntary Agreement initiative may help
to reinforce the “remanufacturing”
element of the printing supplies
aftermarket but, “voluntary” may not be
A substantial proportion of WEEE is plastic and
the burning process releases both useful energy
and harmful gasses to the atmosphere.
sufficient or timely enough to comply
with the mood in Brussels.
Late in November 2020, European MEP’s
voted positively for a resolution which calls
on the European Commission to make it
easier for consumers to repair, resell and
reuse products, specifically to improve
sustainability. They want to tackle activities
which shorten the life of products, an area
where the document printing market has a
questionable reputation.
This positive decision may also be good
news for ETIRA President, Javier Martinez
who, in a pre-vote interview, commented
that he would like to see “Proper
Regulation” of the document printing
industry. He went further to say that he
would like to see “WEEE, ROHS and
product compliance regulations enforced.”
The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020
has caused the world to unite and fight
a common viral problem. The global
reaction has had both positive and negative
outcomes. One positive effect has been
that of reducing human activity and
consequently emissions of greenhouse
gasses have fallen. However, the rate at
which humans are using technology has
accelerated, advancing its penetration into
all aspects of life by several years, causing
demand for devices to increase.
The most positive consequence has
been that environmental awareness has
been heightened and environmental
sustainability strategies and policies are
now seen as a viable method of creating
economic growth and employment.
The opportunity now exists for reuse,
remanufacturing and recycling to become
mainstream activities and permanently
embed themselves in the document
printing industry. ■
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