Even when choosing fast-moving consumer goods such as hair care products, or a brand of washing-up liquid, it’s normally acknowledged that choosing the quality option will benefit the customer .The product often works harder, makes the job easier, and normally lasts longer.
HP works hard to maintain a quality brand reputation and invests both in extensive product research and development and runs one of the largest global recycling schemes in operation. Recently, there has been much debate over the reasons why HP doesn’t sell remanufactured ink cartridges.
There are two simple reasons.
Firstly, waste. Many remanufactured or refilled cartridges lay down excessive toner or ink, shortening the useable life of the cartridge or adversely affecting the print quality. Every page that has to be reprinted consumes more toner or ink, paper and electricity. Multiplied over every user and every printer, the waste adds up quickly. Printers can also be damaged. Remanufactured or refilled cartridges are often over-filled to compensate for their inefficiency, which in turn can cause damaging spillages.
Secondly, quality. To create a quality finish, you need a high degree of precision at speed. HP has researched the possibilities extensively and concluded that a remanufactured or refilled cartridge does not meet the same quality and reliability standards.
First Environment
As part of the research into remanufactured cartridges, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was carried out by First Environment, a respected independent provider of environmental management services.
The study looked at the impact of an original HP LaserJet print cartridge, and similar remanufactured toner cartridges. It examined environmental impact during the entire product lifecycle across a variety of LCA categories, including total waste and global warming potential.
The study found that, over the entire product lifecycle, an original HP LaserJet print cartridge recycled through HP’s recycling programme has no greater total environmental impact than a remanufactured cartridge.
Conserving resources
Although HP has determined that remanufactured and refillable cartridges are not currently a possibility for the business, we are 100 per cent committed to the environment. Various improvements have been made over the years to improve the life of LaserJet cartridges, so that between 1990 and 2004, the average number of pages printed per cartridge weight increased by 139 per cent, extending cartridge life, conserving resources and reducing packaging and transportation-related impact.
HP Planet Partners™ offers a free recycling service for all customers. It is guaranteed that no parts will end up in a landfill site, and since the scheme started in 1991, more than 92 million kilograms of HP LaserJet and inkjet print cartridges have been returned and recycled worldwide.
For more information on HP’s recycling programme click here
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