Recycling breakthrough at Brother

Brother’s new innovative recycling solution reduces new plastic use across Europe.

Leading printer manufacturer Brother has been innovating the collection and remanufacturing of “end of life” toner cartridges since 2004. Initially the Brother Group started to recover and reuse the durable parts found in toner cartridges.

Using the principles of the Circular Economy, Brother has developed sustainable recycling techniques that allows them to recover and recycle the materials from “end-of-life” toner cartridges, to be used as a source of materials to produce “new” cartridges.

This innovative solution recycles the cartridge frames Brother cannot remanufacture to their full potential. Key parts are salvaged and re-used, whilst the plastic from the outer frames is granulated and used to mould “new” products to the same exacting standards as new material.

This new step means that every part of a toner cartridge that is returned to the factories in Wales and Slovakia will now be either remanufactured, re-used or recycled reducing the need to use new plastic. This is a much more sustainable and ethical solution.

Julian Cooper – Environmental and Quality Manager at Brother (UK) commented on the development and said; “This is a huge milestone for Brother and will be a huge step forward in our mission to help make printing more sustainable and contribute towards a Circular Economy across Europe.

“Due to the extremely high quality of our sourced materials, we have been able to achieve 100% recycled HIPS, meeting the stringent specifications and achieving all the mechanical criteria. To be able to create a toner cartridge from 100% recycled plastic to the same quality as brand new is a substantial accomplishment and we are extremely proud to offer this cartridge to eco-friendly homes and business users looking to meet their company environmental quotas”.

Julian added; “The Brother Group has very ambitious CO₂ targets, and this substantial achievement will help us meet these ahead of time. Having an in-house moulding department helps us to implement this circular economy approach, reducing waste and providing many future opportunities to enhance Brother’s environmental commitment.

“In addition to the obvious benefits, recycling toner cartridges through us also supports our charity partner Cool Earth. For every ink and toner cartridge returned to Brother for recycling, we make a donation to Cool Earth to support their work with rainforest communities to halt deforestation and its impact on climate change.”

Using 100% recycled material enhances Brother’s Zero Waste to Landfill message, as well as contributing to a sustainable circular economy and supporting the United Nation’s (UN’s) Sustainable Development Goals.

These cartridges are now being sold alongside brand-new supplies across Europe.