Global Leaders Met in Frankfurt to Strengthen Remanufacturing

Leaders of the four largest imaging supplies’ industry trade associations met in Frankfurt during PaperWorld 2020 to address the sale of single-use cartridges (SUCs) and to promote remanufactured cartridges and their many environmental benefits.

The European Toner and Ink Remanufacturers Association’s (ETIRA) Vincent Van Dijk has been spending hours with members lobbying the European Union (EU) to support the reuse of cartridges. Masato Emori of the Association of Japanese Cartridge Remanufacturers (AJCR) is powerfully promoting its authorized standards and logo, E&Q (for Ecology and Quality) for the cartridge remanufacturing industry in Japan. Laura Heywood of the United Kingdom Cartridge Remanufacturing Association (UKCRA) shared it, along with the Int’l Imaging Technology Council (Int’l ITC), have recently formally complained to the U.S. Green Electronics Council that upholds the IEEE standard regarding certain required criteria on the reusability and functioning of non-original cartridges in printers. Tricia Judge from the Int’l ITC concurred with Heywood. Together, they have filed a complaint against HP, Inc. with the Green Electronics Council over HP’s new “killer chip” firmware. The Int’l ITC is challenging their claims to meet environmental criteria set out by the federal EPEAT Registry, which requires allowing non-OEM cartridges. Their firmware and chips do exactly the opposite and are causing remanufacturers to lose business.

Int’l ITC also administers the STMC quality testing program that sets apart legitimate remanufacturers from drill-and-fill internet exploiters or poor-quality, foreign-made products. In the U.S., China, India, Russia, Western Europe and around the globe, this is seen as a definitive stamp of a quality cartridge. This year, Int’l ITC investigated more companies abusing the STMC logo by a factor of ten. Dozens of cease-and-desist notices were sent and several penalties were assessed by the Int’l ITC.