Circular Planet expands into Spain and Portugal and adds new OEM
June 24, 2024
Close the Loop announced that its multi-vendor print consumable take back programme, Circular Planet, will be expanded into Spain and Portugal from July 2024.
The decision to expand the initiative into new European geographies follows the success of Circular Planet in Germany, UK and the Benelux region where, since its inception in November 2023, 40% of the 1,5 million cartridges collected have been returned to their original equipment manufacturers for re-use in their European factories.
Close the Loop has also added HP Inc as a participating OEM, which now means the programme has eleven OEM partners, including the founding participants Brother, Fujifilm, Konica Minolta, Lexmark, Oki, Printronix, Ricoh, Sharp, Toshiba and Xerox.
Close the Loop said it is in ongoing discussions with several OEMs and hopes to announce the addition of other important brands before the end of 2024.
Close the Loop Group CEO, Joe Foster, commented: “Circular Planet is a testament to the power of collaboration in addressing environmental challenges. By working together, we are not only reducing waste, but also setting new standards for sustainability in the print industry. We are thrilled with the success of Circular Planet in its first seven months. The response from both the industry and consumers has been overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating a strong commitment to resource efficiency and the circular economy.”
The programme is designed to be user-friendly and free of charge for the collection of OEM consumables. Customers can register online to request empty collection boxes or arrange for the pickup of full boxes.
Collected cartridges are sorted in the country of collection to reduce environmental impact and carbon footprint. Printer consumables eligible for reuse are sent back to the original manufacturers, while non-reusable items are sent to Close the Loop’s recycling plant in Malle, Belgium.
Brother Industries Managing Director, Craig McCubbin, commented: ”Brother are marketing leading in this area having been remanufacturing printer consumables for over 20 years in its 2 dedicated European Facilities, both of which are carbon neutral and zero wate to landfill accredited. To date Brother have remanufactured over 40 million consumables of which as an average 85% of the product by weight is reused(*excluding toner powder and cartons). Brother designs its products to be remanufactured ensuring a much lower environmental impact than recycling. Brother is committed to further increase its remanufacturing operations through increased product take back and remanufacture, Circular Planet is a key initiative to achieve this.”
Close the Loop explained that end-of-life products are processed to recover and separate raw materials for recycling and reuse. Notably, plastics from Toshiba cartridges recycled at the Malle facility are used to manufacture new printer cartridges.
In terms of geographical expansion, the initiative plans to deploy its Circular Planet programme next in France, Italy, Austria, Scandinavia, and Switzerland.
Categories : World Focus
Tags : Cartridges Circular Planet Close the Loop Collection Programme OEM Recycling Reuse
