40 million toner cartridges recycled
Equipment manufacturer Brother has reached a milestone in recycling: the Brother Recycling Program was launched in Europe in 2004, and since then 40 million toner cartridges have been remanufactured or recycled worldwide. Enough to stretch from the global Brother Recycling Technology Centre in Wales to the headquarters in Nagoya, Japan.
Brother customers around the world can send their empty toner cartridges to one of four remanufacturing facilities in Wales, Slovakia, the USA or Asia. Each cartridge goes through a rigorous inspection process where components are either reused or replaced. This ensures that each remanufactured cartridge is of the same quality as a new one. Thanks to this process, Brother says most cartridges can be remanufactured and returned to the cycle. Parts that cannot be reused are recycled, so there is no waste.
86 percent remanufactured toner cartridges
Craig McCubbin, Managing Director of Brother Industries UK and Brother Industries Slovakia explains, "To say we are proud of this achievement is an understatement. Of the 40 million cartridges returned by our customers, 86% have been remanufactured using our market-leading process. This is an impressive number that is unparalleled in the printing industry. Our waste hierarchy is simple. We want to reuse as much as possible. In 2021, our remanufactured toner cartridges had an environmental footprint 33 % lower than new cartridges. With our way of remanufacturing, Brother saves 5,300 tons of CO2. That's as much as taking 1,150 cars off the road."
Brother's European remanufacturing facilities were recently certified as carbon neutral, and the take-back system has been certified as Zero Waste to Landfill since 2013. Brother believes that by reducing waste at all stages of the lifecycle, the company can help its customers achieve their own sustainability goals.
"Ambitious plans"
Craig adds, "Our promise is simple: when a customer returns an empty cartridge to us, we will arrange for all parts to be remanufactured or recycled so none of it ends up in landfills. By returning used genuine Brother toner cartridges, the average business can save up to 40 kg of CO2 saving, thus reducing its ecological footprint and impact on the environment."
The Brother recycling program was launched in 2004 with the remanufacturing of a handful of cartridges. Since then, the number of remanufactured toner cartridges has grown to around 3 million per year. But the manufacturer is not yet satisfied with this figure: Over the next three years, it wants to remanufacture even more cartridges. "We are also looking at our ink cartridge and hardware returns and have ambitious plans to ensure that our customers can return all Brother products," Craig says.
More information on www.brother.ch/recycling
