Canon Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Toner Cartridge Recycling Program
Canon Printers
In 2010, Canon Inc. marks the 20th anniversary of the Canon Toner Cartridge Recycling program, a zero-landfill program in which every component of the used all-in-one toner cartridges that Canon collects is reused, recycled or recovered.
In 1982, Canon created the first personal copying machines incorporating replaceable all-in-one toner cartridges. These cartridges were then adapted for use in laser beam printers. With their increase in popularity came an increase in the number of used cartridges. Canon’s corporate philosophy of Kyosei—living and working for the common good—has constantly provided the company with a keen awareness of environmental issues, such as a commitment to waste reduction and resource conservation.
In accordance with this, Canon introduced the Toner Cartridge Recycling program in 1990. Since then, the program has collected approximately 220,000 metric tons of used toner cartridges. The initiative, launched on a global scale by a single business group at no cost to customers, now operates in 23 countries worldwide.
Canon utilizes closed-loop recycling, which includes the reuse of parts as well as the recycling of the toner cartridge plastic container shell to create new cartridges. As a result, since 2003 all four of Canon’s recycling bases, located in Japan, America, Europe and Asia, have achieved a 100% recycling and recovery rate (i.e., generated zero landfill waste). By the end of June 2009, the company had reduced the use of new resources by approximately 140,000 metric tons and prevented 370,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions.