Why Remanufacturing Is A Good Choice

Those into remanufac­-turing of cartridges are telling all who are willing to
listen that this practice saves money as well the environment. Finally, it looks
like customers and channel partners too are waking up to these facts.

Simply put, remanufacturing means reusing and refilling ink and toner printer
cartridges, so they can be used again. The modus operandi followed is that used
cartridges are collected from consumers and businesses, and sorted by
remanufacturers.

These cartridges are disassembled and cleaned, and any necessary replacement
parts are added. High-quality toner or ink is added, and the cartridges are
tested and packaged for distribution.

Remanufactured cartridges contain high-quality compo­nents, and give
excellent printing results. More than three million companies around the world
already rely on these quality products for their printing needs. They trust the
quality and reliability of remanufactured cartridges for their day-to-day
printing needs as well as for their most important projects.

Now let us take a different take on this concept. Every year, more than 300
million plastic printer cartridges end up dumped in landfills in the US and
around the world-almost eight cartridges are thrown away in the US every second,
industry sources say. While we can never completely stop the cycle of cartridges
entering the waste stream, we can at least stem the flow. According to Lyra
Research, in 2002, almost one billion toner and inkjet cartridges were shipped
worldwide, and only 13 percent of those were third-party cartridges, many of
which are remanufactured.

Remanufacturing matters. Every cartridge that is remanu­factured is one fewer
going directly to the landfill. For every remanufactured cartridge purchased,
it's one less new cartridge that needs to be produced, saving it from entering
the waste stream and from draining the planet's natural resources.

In fact, many printer cartridges end up dumped in places you'd never
expect-in rural areas of Asia, where they often end up dumped in rivers or
stacked along roads, according to a recent report by environmental groups.

Why consider

remanufactured cartridges?

Many companies want to be environmentally sensitive, but the main reason
they use remanufactured cartridges is to save money. Most remanufac­tured
cartridges are 40 to 60 percent cheaper than the original equipment
manufac­turers' (OEM) cartridges, with comparable quality and reliability.

In fact, many remanu­factured cartridges last longer, as they often have up
to 20 percent more toner than OEM cartridges. In short, printer cartridges don't
need to be so expensive.

In order to protect their profit margins, the OEMs often claim that non-OEM
cartridges might damage your printer.

No manu­facturer (or remanu­facturer) can guarantee that a cartridge will
never fail, but there is little chance that a toner or ink cartridge could ever
affect the functionality of a printer or fax machine.

Plus, many remanu­­­­facturers offer guarantees, promising to repair any
possible related damage; due to the excellent quality of remanufactured
products, this is an offer they almost never have to make good on. The way many
OEMs design their cartridges discourages reuse and remanufacturing. It would
benefit both the environment and consumers for the cartridges to be designed so
that they can be reused more easily.

Plus, many remanu­facturers are into small businesses, employing workers from
the local communities. There are more than 5,00,000 people employed by
remanufacturers in the US.

Charity begins at home

Many remanufacturers claim that they got into the business to help the
environment. While this might sound too altruistic, it is true that reducing the
number of cartridges that take up the limited landfill spaces is good, and
remanufacturing saves natural resources, as well.

The plastic in each toner cartridge takes three and a half quarts of oil to
produce, and each new inkjet cartridge requires two and a half ounces of oil.

Last year, approximately two million cartridges were remanufactured, saving
more than three million gallons of oil. Half a gallon of oil is conserved for
each laser cartridge that is returned for remanufacturing, industry sources say.

Also, reusing cartridges saves energy. It uses significantly less energy to
remanufacture a cartridge than to produce a new one, saving energy and the
natural resources used to produce power. Remanufac­turing industries (of all
types of products) save as much energy each year as is produced by five nuclear
plants. Plus, remanu­facturing reduces greenhouse gases, which contribute to
climate change, the US Department of Energy informed.

It even takes less energy to remanufacture products than it would to recycle
them. Why? Recycling converts the material back into raw material, which is used
to manufacture an original product, while remanufacturing captures a large
percentage of the resources from the original product, including the added value
of the labor, energy and capital.

The average toner cartridge weighs 3.5 to 4 pounds, which means that the
total weight of cartridges thrown away each year is equivalent to 67,612 Ford
Explorers or 112,463 Volkswagon Beetles.

Many consumers are familiar with the number system used to indicate
recyclability of plastics. These numbers range from one, the most recyclable, to
seven, the most difficult to recycle.

On many products, including shampoo and water bottles, the number is stamped
into the plastic on the bottom of the bottle. PET plastic bottles, such as
two-liter soda bottles, are fairly easy to recycle, and are given a rating of
one.

Most laser cartridges are rated a 7 because they contain mixed resin
plastics; estimates indicate that only five to 10 percent of the plastics in
this category are recycled. In addition, the toner residue can seldom be
completely separated from the cartridge's plastic, contaminating the plastic and
making the cartridges even less likely to be recycled.

Many remanufacturere offer guarantess, promising to repair any possible related damage

A better choice?

Here's where remanufacturing comes in. Remanufacturing is the best way to
save products from the landfill. “Although recycling of toner cartridges does
have a number of benefits, remanufacturing is a superior choice, both
environmentally and economically. In most cases, recycling of plastics has not
proven to be economically viable,” said a report facilitated by the US
Department of Energy Office of Industrial Technologies.

Toner cartridges are particularly difficult to recycle because they are
composed of several different types of plastics and must be completely
dismantled and sorted. In addition, the cartridges are dirty, dusted with toner
and contain non-plastic parts, which require disposal, the report noted.

“Remanufacturing, on the other hand, calls for cartridges to be cleaned,
inspected and refilled, reusing the majority of the original plastic parts. For
every cartridge that is remanufactured, over a pound of plastics is withheld
from the waste stream.”

The Sierra Club, a well-known environ­mental group, advocates, 'sus­tainable
consumption', maintaining a level of natural resource use and consumerism that
can be maintained by the resources available. In the October 2000 report, the
Sierra Club's Consumption task force encourages people to 'think about the
environmental impacts of their consumption choices' and to 'make thoughtful
choices as consumers'.

Choosing remanufac­tured products is one way to reduce the environmental
impact of printer cartridges, while getting a high-quality product, and saving
you and your business money.

“Although recycling of toner cartridges does have a number of benefits,
remanufacturing is a superior choice, both environmentally and econo­mically. In
most cases, recycling of plastics has not proven to be economically viable.”

Reprinted with permission from Recharger Magazine