GREED: Why Single-Use Chinese Toner Cartridges Need to be a Thing of the Past.

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Date: Tuesday September 21, 2021 10:32:36 am
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  • jim
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    GREED: Why Single-Use Chinese Toner Cartridges
    Need to be a Thing of the Past.

    By Volker Kappius, CEO Delacamp AG.
    No Single Use Plastic
    Single-Use cartridges, or better single-use by design cartridges, need to be a thing of the past. Delacamp has been actively supporting the genuine office imaging equipment cartridge preparation for re-use, what we call remanufacturing, industry for many years starting at a time when most other players have not been around or have been active in other industries before embarking on the imaging reman industry.

    OEM single-use plastic cartridges have been the main target for the genuine reman industry as they come with the OEM printers, replacement cartridges are heavily overpriced and reman companies can fast learn how to remanufacture them as the components used are pretty much standardized around the globe. With a used OEM cartridge (core) you know what you get and with what you need to use and do to remanufacture it as quality aftermarket components distributors like Delacamp will quickly offer full solution of components, spare parts, OPC and toners needed for the remanufacturing.

    With the rise of the newly built cartridges (NBC) this picture has changed. NBCs are also single-use be design plastic cartridges. They do not come with the printer and they are very cheap in price and often in quality. But depending on their market share in a given market, they need to become a target for remanufacturing because they are the only easy to get cores. The issue with the newly builds is that unlike with the OEM core each Newly build is a moving target because the inner cartridge design as well as the components used are not only different among the different manufactures of newly builds for a given OEM cartridge type but can also vary within one cartridge type of one manufacturer because of constant pressure to keep low prices.

    These moving targets, even if those cartridges seem to be reman friendly because they have a fill hole for example, are in fact a remanufactures nightmare because his standard “tool box” for the cartridge is not fixed but needs to be adopted depending on the innards found in each core.

    In order for the newly built cartridges to be a true myth buster, they need to have a stable quality not only in terms of print quality but also in terms of the combination of parts used in any OEM compatible cartridge. To make remanufacturing of these cartridges easier and efficient, each change of components needs to be alerted to by a mark on the plastic (e.g. mark I, mark II, etc.). Even better of course, would be the use of components in a newly build that can survive more than one cycle and a special web site of each manufacturer of newly built cartridges available to cartridge remanufactures with tips on how to best remanufacture each cartridge and their costs driven evolutions (e.g. mark I, mark II, etc.).  Furthermore, newly built cartridge manufactures should start to proactively use non contaminated toners, components and plastic parts and not reluctantly react if industry organizations find out that they are in breach of regulations, laws and accepted health standards.

    Without the above, the me-too green mask of newly builds is just a lip service and re-fill shops will keep on refilling the NBCs only because of a lack of OEM cores and to make the cheapest possible cartridge for producing an output for which print quality is not important.

    The newly built cartridge players in China have become big corporations and are in most cases even listed companies on Chinese stock exchanges. They have the size, the money and probably also the know how to design and manufacture a much more sustainable product. But their reluctance to do so only stresses that they are in for the quick money and not for the environment and the health of their cartridge users.
    Xi Jinping, China's new revolutionary hero | Financial Times

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