ETIRA welcomes the forthcoming EU Circular Economy Action plan
February 10, 2020
Draft paper on EU Circular Economy Action Plan announces regulatory measures on printers and consumables in Eco-design Directive promoting circularity in energy-related products.
Brussels, 10 February 2020 – A draft Communication from the EU Commission on the EU Circular Economy Action Plan says that as a priority, regulatory measures for printers and consumables such as cartridges, will be included in the EU eco-design Directive promoting circularity in energy-related products (2020-2024 Working Plan).
ETIRA acknowledges the strong determination and congratulates the EU Commission and the member states to speed up and advance the circular economy, for a cleaner and more competitive Europe, something that has been in ETIRA’s DNA since it was created.
Javier Martinez, President of ETIRA, commented on the draft proposals. “Waste prevention, green jobs creation and climate change defence actions, are all well addressed in the draft plan. We are pleased that following ETIRA’s long term campaign, we now see printers and cartridges as one of the priority eco-design actions for the EU. This is something ETIRA has been asking for quite some time, and ETIRA is fully committed to it!
The plan represents a huge opportunity to rebalance the market, which up to now has been challenged because of imported non-compliant products.
As Europe transitions from a linear to a circular economy model, it is crucial that all parties move forward together, and that the doors to Europe are closed to infringing products.
ETIRA continues to support and makes every possible effort to transition to a Circular Economy, which empowers consumers, enables real reduction of waste, delivers a cleaner Europe, and generates new green jobs” .
ETIRA responds to Actionable Intelligence White Paper
November 20, 2019
ETIRA responds to the recently published white paper that charts how a premium new build Single Use Cartridge is poised to change the printer supplies market.
Recently US research firm Actionable Intelligence published a free white paper “Premium Compatibles Poised to Fundamentally Change Third-Party Printer Supplies Market” this white paper charts the evolution of the premium compatible cartridge and its potential impact on the market.
ETIRA was disappointed by the biased content of the Actionable Intelligence white paper, assuming that the viewpoint taken may have been influenced by the party or parties commissioning this work.
The focus of the report, praising the advantages of non-infringing SUC (single-use-cartridges), is based on price and IP or regulatory compliance, for which there is a legal requirement and so this is not considered to be a unique selling point. Other aspects such as quality, emissions, health, safety and economic sustainability are seemingly not considered relevant enough to be highlighted in this validation.
In cartridge tests which ETIRA has conducted in the past, we have found violations of chemical legislation and European law apparently across the board of SUC manufacturers, also including leading brands.
We assume that for advanced players it will be possible to manufacture chemically safe, legislation and IP compliant products as stated in the White paper.
But this will come at a cost. Not only at a monetary cost for the buyer but also at a cost for society and the environment.
That SUC manufacturers pay these costs for compliance has not always been the case in the past and has yet to be proven.
That our society would be paying the price for an increased share of SUC and a further reduction of locally remanufactured product is a fact. It is not just that plastic waste ends up in landfill, but also the loss of local jobs and the unsustainability of the supply chain that are clear and negative factors of SUCs.
According to the European Parliament remanufacturing represents the “Actual mandate of society and the most important innovation need towards the future.”
We are convinced that the authorities and end-users in the EU and elsewhere will continue to increasingly demand environmentally sustainable, society friendly, high-quality and low-priced printing consumables which are remanufactured locally.
For further facts and assessment, we recommend reading a compelling and highly informative document produced under the EU commission mandate which supports our standpoint:
The cartridge remanufacturing study by Oakdene Hollins which you can download here.”
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premium compatiblesremanufacturing
single use cartridge
Reusable chips on cartridges
October 17, 2019
ETIRA welcomes Brother Industries’ efforts on eco-design and environment, by allowing easier cartridge reuse
ETIRA, the European Toner and Inkjet Remanufacturers Association welcomes, recognizes and congratulates Brother Industries on its latest strategy and action in favour of a cleaner Europe, and endorsing cartridge remanufacturing as a top priority.
Brother has fitted chips on recent cartridge models, and although the independent cartridge remanufacturing industry initially feared these chips would hinder and obstruct remanufacturing of the cartridge (like chips from most OEMs do!), this is not the case with these particular Brother chips. When these cartridges run empty, their chips can be easily reused time and time again. And while this chip protects Brother’s IP -rights, it does not obstruct remanufacturing of the cartridge by independent cartridge remanufacturers.
In ETIRA’s view, this Brother strategy represents a key milestone in the fight against single-use cartridges (“SUCK”s as they are known in the market), and addresses the needs of our society which calls for product reuse and meets the European Directive on Eco-Design.
It also represents a major step forward into applying the “4R”- hierarchy, which places preparation for reuse and remanufacturing above other options like mere recycling of the materials, incineration or landfill.
ETIRA calls on all other printer manufacturers and the European authorities to follow the example set by Brother. Chips can enhance cartridge functionality but must never hinder cartridge reuse.
We also ask for EU-wide mandatory and increasing minimum reuse thresholds for cartridges. This is what some EU member states, that are truly aware of the damage that single-use plastic cartridges represent to the European environment, are already calling for.
Cartridges are WEEE, electronic waste, and as such their preparation for reuse is the top priority, as WEEE account for 70% of toxicity on waste.
For this, there should be an obligation on printer manufacturers to share data with 3rd parties under a license agreement, similar to the arrangements existing in the car industry where manufacturers are obliged to supply independent 3rd party repairers all information they require to do maintenance and repair of all vehicles, including software, parts catalogues, manuals, etc.
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BrotherChips
Reuse
ETIRA/ THE RECYCLER LIVE report
June 28, 2019
ETIRA/ THE RECYCLER LIVE MEET IN BRUSSELS: RECORD ATTENDANCE – JAVIER MARTINEZ ELECTED PRESIDENT
Interesting speakers and networking in a 2-day session
On 27-28 June 2019, ETIRA held its annual meeting in Brussels, in the context of the “The Recycler Live Europe” conference. With over 90 delegates it was again the #1 event to meet fellow industry members and hear the latest industry data. ETIRA thanks organisers The Recycler and David Connett for a great event!
On Thursday, expert Zoltan Matyas spoke on Digital Marketing, and Keypoint Intelligence’s Andrew Carroll showed latest industry market data: they expect the toner B&W aftermarket share to grow somewhat, but clones remain a concern. Nubeprint addressed security in the internet, and Italian industry experts tackled blockchain options to trace the flow of cartridges. Drinks and dinner allowed for great networking. On Friday, UK remanufacturer ECS highlighted the concerns of single-use plastics. Chip supplier APEX elaborated on firmware updates issues. And Lauren Rabbitte drew the crowds with her take on waste and how to avoid it. The rest of the morning was dedicated to EU issues: David Fitzsimons of the EU Remanufacturing Council showed how they can help lobby EU bodies to promote product reuse. Javier Martinez and Vincent van Dijk updated the floor on our EU lobby successes in Green Public Procurement, the Voluntary Agreement, and a possible EU Ecolabel for reman cartridges (PowerPoint available). After lunch, David Connett wrapped up the event with many interesting views on the overall market.
At the ETIRA “Member’s Only” general meeting on Thursday, members elected Javier Martinez (Turbon) as their new President. Also re-elected were Gerwald van der Gijp (Vice-President), Jan-Michael Sieg, and David Connett. Newly appointed Board members include Volker Kappius (Delacamp), Peter Knak (IMEX), and Milan Banjac (TIN Group). Christian Wernhart and Jörgen Wonisch stepped down from the Board, ETIRA thanks them for their service. At the meeting, ETIRA members discussed the new strategy of the association. We will enhance our communications and outreach in traditional and social media, and set up working groups to address selected topics. The newly appointed Board of Directors will further elaborate its 2019-2020 work programme in the coming months.
ETIRA also welcomed several new members: REEQ (NL), Delacamp (Hamburg, D), WTA (Suhl, D) and Recoll (Etten-Leur, NL) and approved the 2018 finances and 2019 budget.
ETIRA kindly thanks the sponsors for making this event possible: ECS, APEX, SPEED, Nubeprint, Armor, Biuromax and Lightwords
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AGMETIRA
Reuse
ETIRA CALLS FOR INCREASED RoHS CHECKS ON IMPORTED TONER & INKJET CARTRIDGES
March 26, 2019
Independent tests were undertaken by the German test lab LGA show that imported new non-OEM toner cartridges containing high levels of decaBDE breach RoHS safety limits
Brussels, 27 September 2018: – An article published in German industry magazine Digital Imaging this week reveals high levels of Decabromidiphenylether (decaBDE) in imported newbuilt non-OEM toner cartridges from two well-known brands. The story is based on tests done by the independent German test lab LGA. DecaBDE is a flame retardant found in IT and telecommunications equipment, such as printers and copying equipment. Flame retardants have been widely used in plastics of electrical appliances to mitigate fire and explosion risks. In February 2017 the European Commission added decaBDE to the REACH Annex XVII list of restricted substances, because emissions and widespread distribution of decaBDE in the environment creates a high potential for long-term (health) exposure for humans.
ETIRA, the European Toner and Inkjet Remanufacturing association is calling for the EU and member states to actively ensure that all cartridges imported into the European Union comply in every manner with European WEEE, REACH and RoHS directives and intellectual property regulations to protect the health and well-being of EU citizens and the environment.
ETIRA is also calling for the EU to mandate that all toner and inkjet cartridges placed on the market are designed and manufactured so that they are suitable for reuse as a cartridge. ETIRA again stresses that for consumers and businesses, the best option is a remanufactured OEM cartridge, as supplied by the 3,000 companies across Europe. Remanufactured OEM cartridges are less expensive than new OEM cartridges but are 100% environment-friendly.
Europe consumes over 130 million toner cartridges a year, while the total toner and inkjet market is worth €17 billion. More than 5 million toner cartridges are new non-OEM cartridges, and they may not be suitable for reuse and may require specialised handling and material recovery. Eliminating toxic products from the market and ensuring cartridges are reused more often could generate more than 16,000 new SME jobs across the European Union.
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CartridgesDecaBDE
Imports
Printers
RoHS
June 2018: ETIRA AGM / THE RECYCLER LIVE event in Budapest !!!
Learning the latest industry news and networking over drinks and dinner!
90+ delegates attend – ETIRA elects new Board of Directors – David Connett becomes President – ETIRA thanks outgoing President Christian Wernhart
On the 21-22 June 2018, ETIRA met in Budapest, Hungary for its annual member meeting, and for The Recycler Live Conference. The event was a top opportunity for networking and learning, held this year at the beautiful Corinthia hotel. With 90+ delegates, and organised by The Recycler magazine, The Recycler Live Conference is the 2nd largest industry event in Europe after remanexpo@paperworld.
On Thursday, ETIRA held its internal Board meeting and annual statutory meeting. The association approved its 2017 financial statements and reset its 2018 budget. Members evaluated the 2017/2018 activities and the work done by ETIRA in the past 12 months, They also assessed the priorities for 2018.
David Connett (r.) also thanked outgoing Treasurer Philippe Guenin (LVL) for his years of service to oversee the association’s finances. Board Member Gerwald van der Gijp (Armor) will succeed Philippe in this role.
Incoming President David Connett (l.) says thank you and farewell to Christian Wernhart (Embatex) after 12 successful years at the helm of the European cartridge remanufacturing trade association.
Friday saw an impressive group of speakers addressing the floor on many topics facing remanufacturers today. Industry magazine The Recycler will report extensively on the many presentations. And the Thursday Cocktail and Dinner were great for informal networking and new business opportunities!
ETIRA elects new Board of Directors
On Thursday, ETIRA elected a new Board of Directors for the mandate 2018-2020. President Christian Wernhart (Embatex) stepped down after 12 years at the head of the association but will continue as a regular Board member. David Connett, founding Member of ETIRA and long-time Vice-President, succeeded Wernhart as President. Also stepping down were Stephanie Unland (The Recycler) and Treasurer Philippe GUENIN (LVL). ETIRA thanked all three for their support throughout the many years! Reappointed members of the Board include ARMOR’s Gerwald van der Gijp (elected as new Treasurer), Jörgen Wonisch (Greenman), Jan-Michael Sieg (KMP) and Javier Martinez (Consuprint).
Former editor of The Recycler David Connett will take up the role of President at a crucial juncture. Due to the tough market environment and changes among the membership, the association is facing new challenges. Connett is keen to address those head-on: for ETIRA, member interests come first. Also, a larger focus on conveying the reman message to the outside world will bring new boosts for the industry as a whole.
ETIRA thanks organisers The Recycler magazine and the sponsors for a very successful 2-day event in Budapest!
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ETIRA MembersEurope
Events
Members
The Recycler Live
February 2018: EU-commissioned study on cartridge market clearly concludes: more regulatory action is needed to promote cartridge reuse
The EU’s “Study on the implementation of product design requirements set out in Article 4 of the WEEE Directive – The case of re-usability of printer cartridges” came out in late February 2018. It found that the cartridge market is very competitive, but the regulatory environment is not well suited to promoting reuse of products or encouraging dematerialisation and greater material efficiency. Significant alterations are proposed. The study writers promote using the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as key to enhancing overall cartridge re-use.
Re. market data, they say that clones represent 5% of toner and inkjet markets respectively (which seems a serious underestimate). On the OEM’s Voluntary Agreement Imaging Equipment, the study says that its data shows the VA does not promote cartridge reuse. The study suggests to revise the VA, and include parameters on lower emissions of printing. The car industry has examples of such mandatory CO2 reduction targets. Reducing cartridge complexity (clever chips !) can be one of the ways to do that. On the Ecolabel, the study supports developing an EU Ecolabel criteria for remanufactured cartridges (as requested by ETIRA).
The study identified concerns and corresponding actions as follows:
- Creating a level playing field for the new and re-use/second-hand markets.
- Consolidating patent holder and OEM protection and second user rights
- Improving design for reuse, recycling and recovery
- Ensuring reused cartridge performance.
- Improving re-use performance disclosure.
To improve the market situation for both legitimate new and reused cartridges, a range of measures is proposed for consideration:
- Addressing the issue of ‘rogue clone’ imports
- Ensuring reuse agents do not misrepresent reused units as OEM products.
- Improving access to cartridge design and consumables specifications
- Revising the EU GPP criteria to address ‘remanufactured and refilled cartridges.
- Improving user information on all cartridge packaging to reveal true performance.
- Creating a rating system for cartridge quality (‘failure rate’) matched to user expectations.
- Rationalising acceptable phrases to be used to describe new and reused cartridges.
- Reviewing the Voluntary Agreement so that data on rates of take-back, re-use, recycling and other recovery operations is routinely collected and published.
- Expanding the scope of actions by producers of cartridges to promote and support the reuse option as an alternative to take-back.
In 2016/2017, ETIRA had provided substantial input to the writers of the study. We are glad to see that it now identifies current OEM market behaviour as not contributing to the promotion of cartridge reuse, and takes on board several of our recommendations to address this problem. We will now reach out to regulators to put this into action!
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CartridgesEU
EU Comission
Legislation
REgulation
ETIRA flyer supporting remanufactured cartridges
ETIRA has a flyer that tells the reader to buy their remans only from ETIRA members. As an easy- hand out, the flyer lists the benefits of remanufactured cartridges compared to OEM and compatibles. The flyer can be downloaded by clicking here !
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FlyerGuide
Members
remanufacturing
ETIRA responds to recent HP flyer on cartridges
March 25, 2019
General marketing speak is OK, but you cannot say things that are not true. ETIRA regrets that HP’s new product marketing material is again lowering the bar. Their September 2017 flyer on printer cartridges may be generally correct on clones and counterfeits, but speaks nonsense on remanufactured cartridges: it is a baseless generalization, which gets it wrong on all three counts: quality, safety and environment.
On quality, because since the 1990’s, 3rd party cartridge remanufacturers have held a 20-30% market share in toners and 15-20% in inkjets and is now a 2bn euro industry in Europe. So remanufacturers must be doing something right in terms of quality. And like the OEM’s, remanufacturers comply with the ISO cartridge yield standards.
On safety and quality, because most remanufacturers produce according to DIN, Nordic Ecolabel, STMC, ISO 9003, and other international safety and quality standards.
On environment, because we adhere to ISO 14001, Blue Angel, Nordic Ecolabel and similar standards. Most environment standard are only available to reuse cartridges, because by definition, they are more environment-friendly than new cartridges ! And it is only thanks to 3rd party remanufacturers that 20-30% of cartridges are not being landfilled after 1st use, but get a 2nd and subsequent life, reducing their environmental footprint while offering customer choice. No printer manufacturer matches that environmental performance.
ETIRA thinks the flyer contradicts earlier HP viewpoints. In 2015, HP sued a company in the Netherlands because it sold new non-HP cartridges but labeled them as “totally rebuilt”. But as HP does not offer remanufactured HP cartridges, ETIRA saw this court case as support to the remanufactured cartridge industry. Why else would they spend the time and cost of a court case ?
ETIRA reached out to HP management to stress that the flyer is misleading and constitutes false advertising, and must be reworded.