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.”