AFRICA:RECYCLING CARTRIDGES TO PAY BILLS

[Anonymous]

Recycling Cartridges to Pay Bills
batswana africa :October 2006
Georginah
Mothusi’s job entails remanufacturing cartridges and ensuring they are
ready for operation. Remanufacturing is a challenging profession when
you are a beginner but it is one of the most fulfilling careers, says
Mothusi, a cartridge recycler at Eridene Professionally Recycled
Cartridges in Francistown.”It is an enjoyable job especially when you
are doing it right, you just feel like doing another,” she says. She
explains that she can inspect and remanufacture up to 30 cartridges in
a day. An abstract from a journal by a Professor at Toronto University,
Shun Lee, cites that an environmental concern of laser-printer toner
cartridges are being addressed partly by remanufacturers of toner
cartridges. Lee goes on to explain that remanufacturing involves three
steps. “Remanufacturing or recycling cartridges at a part level
involves the disassembly, restoration to like new condition and
reassembly of a used product,” it reads.The journal, which focuses on
remanufacturing waste stream goes on to say that remanufacturing offers
significant environmental benefits by reusing the energy and resources
expended during original manufacture and by diverting solid waste from
landfills and incineration. “Since the primary purpose of remanufacture
is to re-use parts, the parts, which are not reused enter the
manufacturer’s waste stream and may be studied to identify difficulties
in remanufacturing”.Thirty-one year-old Mothusi, who has been working
for Eridene for four years says that it would be an ideal profession
for anyone who is interested in printers and how they perform. To her,
a cartridge is like the brain of any printer, so without a cartridge, a
printer is simply non-functional. Mothusi attended training for the job
in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Taking Monitor through the process of recycling
a cartridge, she says that when the cartridge arrives from the client,
she firstly inspects it.”We then clean it with compressed air and then
we inspect it again to see if there are any defective parts that
require replacing,” she discloses. She also checks to see if it is good
enough for another use. “Most of the time it will be in good condition
because a cartridge has a lifetime warranty,” she reveals.Mothusi
explains that after this is done, she adds the correct toner depending
on what kind of printer the cartridge belongs to. “We then test it to
find out if it is functioning well. It has got to be 100 percent okay
before returning it to the client. She says that it takes about 10 to
20 minutes to remanufacture a cartridge. Most people would think it is
impossible to recycle cartridges unless you have studied the technology
for several years, especially in our society where Information
Technology is still not popular but Mothusi says that besides the
training which is not all that extensive, one has to have passion for
the job. The most critical thing is that one has to know different
printers and the kind of cartridge that goes hand in hand with it. “You
also have to know the different types of cartridges. There are black
ink and colour ink cartridges.”Mothusi says that sometimes clients
bring in cartridges that have not been remanufactured by Eridene and
she has to inspect it more thoroughly for defects and faulty parts. She
advises that it is advisable for cartridges to be recycled because the
plastic cartridges can take up to 400 years to disintegrate in rubbish
tips. Cartridges should be used carefully and according to instructions
for best results. She says that users should be aware of all the
necessary precautions when dealing with cartridges to avoid the expense
of continuously buying more. Cartridges are the heart of a printer and
that is why following the dos and don’ts by users is critical. Mothusi
says that at her office, they advise people on what they should and
should not do to ensure they get the best out of their cartridges. “To
name just a few, covering print heads is not advisable and only warm
water should be used to clean instead of solvents. Solvents are not
good for the cartridge,” she says.

Also she adds that, the
printer should be used on a regular basis to make sure the cartridges
do not dry up. Mothusi says it is advisable to visit cartridge
recyclers regularly and build a relationship with them so they can
advise users on all matters involving their printers and cartridges.
She advised the youth not to overlook this career when they leave
school because it can be fulfilling. Mothusi said that in the next five
years, she would like to see herself at the top of this profession. “I
enjoy it and I can’t see myself doing anything else,” she states.

[Author]

October 11, 2006 at 11:20 AM