New York, NY -- Five major OEMs with a presence in Singapore have agreed to join forces with government agencies in that country to develop Project Homecoming. This effort marks Singapore’s first “‘joint-funded and managed printer cartridge recycling initiative’”.
The vendors which will be collecting all the cartridges have agreed to provide recycling bins at 13 separate NLB libraries in the hopes of making cartridge recycling convenient as possible for those who wish to do so. Both laser toner and ink will be collected and users can choose to bring in any brand of cartridge. Once the cartridges are received by the vendor, each will be broken down into its separate parts. This effort is designed to “‘help minimise waste, landfill and pollution while maximizing the recovery of valuable resources’”
Andrew Koh, Lead Spokesperson for Project Homecoming and General Manager, Consumer Imaging & Informational Products Division, Canon stated:
"'With strong support from the NEA and NLB, we will be able to give back to society through this initiative as socially responsible organizations, while driving home the message of environmental awareness through cartridge recycling as part of joint sustainability efforts from the printing industry.’”
Project Homecoming is an extension of a successful program called Ink Cartridge Satogaeri which began three years ago in Japan. Singapore and Japan are only a few of the countries engaging in such programs. In Dubai, 25 schools joined up with HP as part of their Planet Partners program to increase the amount of responsible and safe cartridge recycling in the Middle East.
