HP Expands Printer Cartridge Recycling Options for Customers

EMEA expansion of returns programme helps customers improve the sustainability of their printing solutions. 

GENEVA, April 18, 2013 — HP today announced expanded recycling solutions that will help EMEA customers reduce the environmental impact of their printing and benefit from the quality of Original HP printing supplies.

As an industry leader in the movement towards more sustainable printing, HP is continuously working with manufacturers, retailers and non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners to create solutions with reduced environmental impact — from the design and manufacture of products through to their use and end-of-life recycling.

“Our customers want printing solutions that offer quality and reliability, with proven environmental performance,” said Marcus Wollard, Category Manager for Printing Systems at HP Sweden. “HP’s approach begins with innovative and environmentally sustainable product design and goes all the way through to providing free and easy recycling options that people can completely trust.”

Expanded recycling options for customers

The company’s industry-leading recycling programme called HP Planet Partners lets customers recycle used Original HP cartridges as part of a “closed loop” plastics recycling process. To date, customers worldwide have recycled more than half a billion HP ink and LaserJet toner cartridges with HP Planet Partners.⁽¹⁾

HP Planet Partners is free and available to customers across 34 countries in EMEA. It is simple to use, beginning either with a visit to www.hp.com/recycle or an HP Authorised Retail Collection location.

Collaborating with several retailers across EMEA such as Staples, Makro, Dixons and El Corte Ingles, HP has recently expanded its collection network, which is anticipated to include more than 9,000 retail outlets worldwide. 

In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France, HP is now actively working with specialist IT recycling company AfB Group, which has a workforce that comprises 50 percent of its employees that are physically challenged. AfB is collecting, sorting and returning used Original HP ink and toner cartridges to HP for recycling.  The partnership has recently been expanded following a successful pilot in Austria last year, where AfB collected more than 10,000 toner cartridges from nearly 200 businesses.

Through this and other efforts, HP aims to recycle 3.5 billion pounds (1,600,000 metric tons) of electronic products and supplies by the end of 2015.

Measuring recycling results by the billions

HP’s groundbreaking “closed loop” plastics recycling process uses plastic from recycled cartridges and other post-consumer sources to create new Original HP cartridges. To date, HP has recycled 1.71 billion pounds (776,000 metric tons) of electronics and Original HP print cartridges around the world. HP has also kept 280 million cartridges⁽¹⁾ and more than 2 billion post-consumer plastic bottles out of landfill.

When compared to new (or virgin) plastic, the recycled plastic used in HP ink cartridges since 2010 has up to an estimated 33 percent smaller carbon footprint — even when the impacts associated with collecting, transporting and processing are taken into account. Using recycled plastics is also estimated to reduce total water used in cartridge production by up to 89 per cent.⁽²⁾

As the world’s largest provider of information technology (IT) infrastructure, software, services and solutions, HP is in a unique position to respond to the challenge of reducing energy use and waste. The company sees unprecedented opportunities to transform the way the world lives and works through increasingly sustainable products and solutions that help its customers thrive.

För ytterligare information, vänligen kontakta:
Marcus Wollard, Produktchef för laserskrivare, HP, Sverige
076-859 46 45, marcus.wollard@hp.com

Presskontakter
Gunilla Lundqvist, Informationschef, HP, Sverige
076-859 46 65, Gunilla.lundqvist@hp.com

För produkttester och bilder:
Daniel Larsson, Prat PR Porter Novelli för HP
070-475 52 20, Daniel.larsson@prat.se

www.hp.com/go/newsroom

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1)  Based on internal HP data.

(2)  For cartridges produced in 2010 and beyond. Based on a 2010 life-cycle assessment (LCA) performed by Four Elements Consulting and commissioned by HP. The study compared the environmental impact of using polyethylene terephthalate plastic (PET) with the environmental impact of using recycled PET to manufacture new Original HP cartridges. Details are available at www.hp.com/go/RecycledPlasticsLCA. Amount collected since beginning of respective programs.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning