Printing Equipment and Toner Cartridges – Our position on developing new Ecodesign regulations

Ever since the previous voluntary agreement was officially rejected on 4th May 2022 (2022/C182/01) the JRC in Seville has been facilitating technical workshops and gathering evidence for new ecodesign regulations for imaging equipment and consumables.

Ever since the previous voluntary agreement was officially rejected on 4th May 2022 (2022/C182/01) the JRC in Seville has been facilitating technical workshops and gathering evidence for new ecodesign regulations for imaging equipment and consumables. This is a mature, highly competitive and slowly declining market but it generates approximately 800,000 tonnes of wastes every year.  It is clear that the voluntary agreement was rejected because it failed to address why far more printers and toner cartridges are not remanufactured for reuse.  Our member companies are remanufacturing cartridges and printers so why are others not doing so?  In this position paper we take an original approach arguing that the most contentious issues such as firmware design are in fact only second-order issues.  If targets for reuse are set and OEMs are tasked with achieving them, the market will reorganise and deliver better outcomes for society and the remanufacturing sector.

Read our Position Paper HERE