Oem's New push for empty Cartridge Collection in Singapore

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Date: Thursday December 1, 2011 08:17:45 am
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    Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson and Lexmark’s New push for empties Collection in Singapore

    Singapore, 1 December 2011 – Five major printer brands based in Singapore: Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson and Lexmark, with the support of the National Environment Agency (NEA) and National Library Board (NLB); have announced the launch of Singapore’s first-ever joint funded and managed printer brand ink and toner cartridge recycling initiative: Project Homecoming.

    As the first international expansion of a successful joint printer brand recycling project (called “Ink Cartridge Satogaeri”) started in Japan three years ago, the project aims to encourage community awareness and environmental responsibility among Singaporeans through convenient cartridge recycling initiatives and education.

    Project Homecoming will provide easily accessible cartridge recycling bins at 13 NLB libraries where the public can deposit used ink and toner cartridges from printers of any brand for recycling – even those of other brands not in the Project Homecoming partnership. The cartridges are then periodically collected for proper recycling.

    “We aim to bring greater convenience to the public who are keen on making a personal contribution to recycling efforts across the island, and are proud to be working together as a team to jointly fund and promote the culture of recycling in Singapore,” said Andrew Koh, lead spokesperson for Project Homecoming and Senior Director and General Manager, Consumer Imaging & Information Products Division, Canon Singapore. “With strong support from the NEA and NLB, we will be able to give back to society through this initiative as socially responsible organisations, while driving home the message of environmental awareness through cartridge recycling as part of joint sustainability efforts from the printing industry.”

    Joseph Hui, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of NEA said, “We are proud to support Project Homecoming, which is an exemplary initiative by thefive brands and the National Library Board to bring greater convenience to the community to recycle used printer cartridges so that they will not go to waste. Together with the support of the community, we hope to see more organisations promote waste reduction, reuse and recycling and to form partnerships wherecommon sustainability objectives can be found.”

    Elaine Ng, Chief Executive Officer of NLB said, “The National Library Board is pleased to participate in Project Homecoming, the first-of-its-kind initiative outside Japan and in Singapore. This partnership allows NLB to contribute and reinforce our commitment to environment sustainability for the greater good of future generations. Through our network of public libraries, we hope to bring the message of the importance of recycling closer to the community and foster a green mindset. We also encourage our library users to play their part in protecting the environment.”

    Recycling vendors of the joint initiative will collect the cartridges from the boxes and break down recyclable parts including plastics and metal. These recycling processes will help minimise waste, landfill and pollution while maximising the recovery of valuable resources.

    Project Homecoming’s partners and supporting government agencies hope that the project will achieve a similar measure of success in Singapore, and that similar schemes will be replicated throughout the world in the future.

    About Project Homecoming

    Project Homecoming is an ink and toner cartridge recycling initiative that is led, managed and jointly funded by five brands – Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson and Lexmark. Together, these brands aim to make it easier for the public to recycle their used ink and toner cartridges. This is the first time globally outside Japan that these five brands have come together to initiate a joint recycling project. Through this initiative, the brands aim to contribute to the community as socially responsible organisations by educating and encouraging the public on recycling while cultivating a green mindset.

    The NLB libraries, located in the North, South, East, West and Central parts of the island as follows:

    1. Ang Mo Kio Public Library

    2. Bedok Public Library

    3. Bishan Public Library

    4. Bukit Merah Public Library

    5. Geylang East Public Library

    6. Jurong Regional Library

    7. Jurong West Public Library

    8. Marine Parade Public Library

    9. National Library Building

    10. Queenstown Public Library

    11. Tampines Regional Library

    12. Toa Payoh Public Library

    13. Woodlands Regional Library

    http://www.canon.com/environment/return/consumables.html
    Canon’s Collection and Recycling of Ink Cartridge and Others
    Initiatives in Japan Canon led the industry to launch a recycling program for ink cartridges in Japan in 1996. We have subsequently placed particular emphasis on advancing our materials recycling, whereby collected ink cartridges are reused as materials for new ink cartridges, pallets for stacking products, boxes for collecting service parts and other applications.In addition, we have focused on recovery for recycling of ink cartridges through collection points at post offices, mass retailers, companies that use Canon products, schools and other locations.
    We recovered 153 tons* in Japan through these activities in 2010, about the same amount as in the previous year.

    • *Figures for recovered ink cartridges include cartridges for large-format printers, compact photo printers and other such products.
    The Ink Cartridge Satogaeri* (Homecoming) Project
    To boost ink cartridge collection rates, it has been necessary for Canon to supplement its own collection points with common collection points in cooperation with other printer manufacturers.

    Canon took the initiative in approaching five other companies to launch the joint "Ink Cartridge Satogaeri* (Homecoming) Project" in 2007. Joint collection commenced in April 2008 through common collection boxes for the six companies installed in more than 3,600 post offices throughout Japan. This project has brought greater convenience to customers, and boosted the collection rate.

    The collected cartridges are sent by Yu-Pack parcel mailing service to a sorting site, where they are divided by printer manufacturer and returned to their original producer, which bears the responsibility for recycling. In recognition of these efforts, Canon received the Chairman’s Award (for excellence) at the 2009 Eco Products Awards.

    In July 2009, Kitakyushu City Office and ward offices in that city became the first government offices to act as collection points. Afterwards, a number of other local governments announced their participation, steadily expanding the collection activities. As of February 2011, 80 local governments were participating, with the number of collection points reaching about 1,000.

    • *"Satogaeri" can be translated as "homecoming" in English

    Ink cartridge collection boxes have been installed at post offices and other facilities.
    Ink cartridge collection boxes have been installed at post offices and other facilities.

    TOPICS

    Contributing to biodiversity preservation through the Ink Cartridge Satogaeri (Homecoming) Project

    The Ink Cartridge Satogaeri (Homecoming) Project sponsored a booth at the Interactive Fair for Biodiversity, held concurrently with the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) in Nagoya in October 2010.
    More than a hundred thousand visitors attended the event, with many of them coming to the Project booth. Some of the visitors even brought along used cartridges, demonstrating what a splendid opportunity this was to improve awareness of the Project’s activities.

    Contributions to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) were initiated in 2010 as a new facet of the Project. A presentation ceremony was held at COP10, at which the UNEP representative received a check for ¥2 million*

    representing the first half year’s donations.UNEP activities include grappling with problems such as global warming/climate change, the biodiversity crisis, and the efficient use of resources. By supporting UNEP activities, including forest protection and biodiversity conservation, through donations, the Project seeks to attain a higher level of social significance and take a more active approach in global environmental protection.

    • *The total for the year was about ¥4.3 million  

    Donation presentation ceremony
    Donation presentation ceremony

                        Exhibiting at the COP10 Interactive Fair for Biodiversity
    Exhibiting at the COP10 Interactive

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