Toner Bottle Recycling
At Ricoh UK Products Ltd (RPL), the Toner Bottle Recycling area was launched in 2014 to recycle Multi-Function Printer (MFP) and Production Printer (PP) toner bottles. Today, this area is dedicated to championing sustainability by taking a circular economy approach to prevent materials from ending up in landfill, whilst addressing additional business challenges.
We help satisfy formal European Union programmes, such as the Green Public Procurement (GPP) Framework. In this framework, public authorities seek to procure goods and services which have a reduced environmental impact throughout their lifecycle.
-
Product & Service Offering
-
Commitment to Sustainability
-
Commitment to Fulfilment through Work
Product & Service Offering
In Toner Bottle Recycling, we manufacture close to the market and have designed an efficient collection route from third-party collectors through the central Ricoh Europe Supply Chain Management (RESCM) system.
These bottles are then stored in RPL’s warehouse and are securely transported to the Toner Bottle Recycling area where they are organised by printer model and toner colour.
The bottles are scanned into our award-winning, internally developed digital solution, which indicates whether the bottle can be processed or not. Toner bottles can be recycled up to 5 times and those that cannot be processed will go into our energy recovery waste stream.
The bottles undergo a thorough inspection and cleaning process to ensure they are to the same ISO quality standard as a new moulded bottle.
Once these bottles are successfully processed, they are dispatched to our dedicated Toner Filling area. Subsequently, they are made available to RICOH customers in Europe, to help align with the growing demand for reused products in tender submissions.
Commitment to Sustainability
Toner Bottle Recycling contributes to RICOH’s global environmental goals to achieve net-zero and an 88% reduction of virgin material use by 2050.
Toner Bottle Recycling is already saving around 37 tonnes of virgin plastic materials annually with rapid growth plans in place. This process also minimises energy usage and reduces CO2 emissions by over 20% in comparison to producing new parts.
Commitment to Fulfilment through Work
In Toner Bottle Recycling, employees and customers alike take immense pride in understanding that by producing recycled products, we are actively contributing to a sustainable future.
This process has received global recognition within the RICOH Family Group (RFG) for its innovative and sustainable approach. With teamwork and collaboration at the heart of the solution, the team positively contributes to company environmental goals and removes ‘pirate’ toner bottles from the marketplace.
We also have a strong Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) culture and employees are empowered to suggest process and productivity improvements, with contributions being recognised and rewarded.