THAILAND:EPSON LAUNCHES EMPTY CARTRIDGE RECYCLING PROG

[Anonymous]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/computer/217278/eco-initiative-coming-soon

THAILAND : EPSON LAUNCHES EMPTY CARTRIDGE RECYCLING PROGRAM
That
printer hooked up to your computer at home or in the office probably
gets through quite a few ink cartridges in the course of a year. In the
past we had little option but to toss these capsules of
non-biodegradable plastic into the bin. From there they are either
transported to a landfill where they will remain intact for heaven knows
how many aeons or, worse, are incinerated, causing air pollution and
contributing further to global warming.But we may soon be able to avoid
adding to this world’s woes. A leading manufacturer of printers seems
set to follow the example of its Japanese parent company and start a
recycling programme in Thailand some time this year. And it’ll be all
the better for us if that firm’s two main rivals in the Kingdom were
motivated to follow suit.

In Japan, still the acknowledged leader
of the global electronics industry, printer manufacturers Epson,
Brother, Canon, Dell, Hewlett-Packard (Japan) and Lexmark joined hands
in April, 2008 to launch the Ink Cartridge Homecoming Project. Agreed
after a year and a half of negotiations among the firms, this is a
collaborative effort which oversees the collection and recycling of ink
cartridges from home-based printers.To make it as convenient as possible
for consumers, spent cartridges can be deposited in more than 4,500
collection boxes at post offices, local government offices, schools and
other public facilities across Japan.

According to Akihiko Sakai,
a member of the board of directors of Seiko Epson Corporation, the
spent cartridges are sent to a sorting facility at Epson Mizube, an
affiliate of Seiko Epson, where they are separated according to the
brand before being returned to the respective manufacturer for
recycling.And there’s an incentive for doing so. Participating customers
earn points which they can then either use on Epson’s online shopping
site or donate to the Nature Conservation Society of Japan or the
Organisation for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement
International.In April last year Epson started donating 3 yen (1 baht)
for every one of its cartridges recycled to the United Nations
Environment Programme. The money will be used to promote biodiversity
and sell the idea of “the three Rs” (reduce, reuse, recycle).

Some
17,000 schools throughout Japan are now participating in the programme,
using the points they earn to purchase essential equipment such as
sports gear. According to Epson, between 500,000 and 700,000 used
cartridges are sent in by schools each month.

Each year, the
company collects around 11.5 million used inkjet cartridges and send
them to its recycling affiliate. Located in Nagano prefecture, northwest
of Tokyo, this plant has a stated policy of favouring the employment of
physically challenged people. There, spent Epson cartridges are given a
new life by being transformed into items such as pens, bottles, wheel
chocks and packaging containers.

Sakai said Epson plans to expand
its “homecoming project” to major cities in the Asia-Pacific region
including Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Taipei,
Seoul and Sydney.Epson (Thailand), one of the three top printer
manufacturers in the Kingdom, apparently has plans to launch a
cartridge-recycling project here later this year, but the firm won’t be
setting up a sorting facility itself. This task will be delegated to an
outside contractor. It is understood that we are still a long way from
the day when companies operating here will be in a position to build
their own recycling facility.

We need to radically change our
attitudes to rubbish disposal if we are ever to become a society that
efficiently reuses much of what we now regard as worthless. Achieving
this goal will require members of the general public to cooperate much
more closely with the business and government sectors. The recycling of
ink cartridges will hopefully be the first step on the road to reducing
CO2 emissions and the size of our nation’s environmental footprint.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/computer/217278/eco-initiative-coming-soon

[Author]

January 26, 2011 at 8:01 AM