Brother has recycled 40 million toner cartridges globally since the launch of its programme in Europe in 2004 – enough to reach from the business’s global recycling technology centre in Ruabon, Wales, to its headquarters in Nagoya, Japan.
Each cartridge the business receives goes through a stringent checking process, with components either reused or replaced, meaning the majority of cartridges can be remanufactured to restore them to their original condition. Any parts that can’t be reused are recycled by Brother, ensuring that nothing goes to landfill.
Brother’s recycling and environment technology centre in North Wales uses 100% green-certified electricity to power the plant and a fleet of electric vehicles and was recently certified as carbon neutral by The Carbon Trust. The business also donates to the rainforest charity, CoolEarth, for every used cartridge it receives.
Craig McCubbin, Managing Director of Brother Industries UK and Brother Industries Slovakia said: “To say we’re proud of this achievement is an understatement. Of the 40 million cartridges our customers have returned, 86% have been remanufactured using our market leading process, which is unique across the printing landscape.
“Our waste hierarchy is simple. We want to reuse as much as we can. In 2021 our remanufactured toner cartridges had a 33% lower carbon footprint than new ones. And by remanufacturing in the way we do, we save approximately 5,300 tonnes of CO2 globally every year – which is equivalent to taking 1,150 cars off the road.
“We’ve had great feedback from customers on our recycling and remanufacturing scheme, but we’re not content on stopping there. In the next three years we plan to grow the number of cartridges we remanufacture. We are also looking at our ink and hardware returns and have ambitious plans to ensure customers can return all Brother products,” he concluded.
