Brother Begins Remanufacturing Ink Cartridges at Its UK Manufacturing Facility

Brother Industries, Ltd. (President: Kazufumi Ikeda) today announced that its manufacturing facility, Brother Industries (U.K.) Ltd. (BIUK), has begun remanufacturing used ink cartridges for printers/All-in-Ones this month^*. This initiative follows 20 years of the Brother Group's efforts to remanufacture toner cartridges, and the company is now handling the entire process in-house, from the collection of used ink cartridges to their redistribution, contributing to further waste reduction in pursuit of a sustainable society.

The Brother Group has been carrying out initiatives to reuse and recycle products and consumables that customers have finished using. As part of these efforts, the company has been collecting used toner cartridges from laser printers and All-in-Ones, remanufacturing them to the same quality as new cartridges, and delivering them back to customers. This toner cartridge remanufacturing initiative began in the UK (BIUK) in 2004 and has since expanded to factories in Slovakia, the United States, and Japan. As of the end of March 2024, the group has remanufactured over 40 million toner cartridges globally.

Building on the technologies and expertise accumulated through toner cartridge remanufacturing, BIUK has now begun to remanufacture ink cartridges used in inkjet printers and All-in-Ones. Used ink cartridges collected from customers across Europe will be remanufactured into cartridges of the same quality as new ones and shipped out once again.

Details about the background and objectives of the ink cartridge remanufacturing initiative are available on Brother's SDGs special site, Brother SDGs STORY. Interviews with stakeholders and videos showcasing the remanufacturing process are also available for viewing.

• https://sdgsstory.global.brother/j/customer/690/index.html (Japanese)
• https://sdgsstory.global.brother/e/customer/691/index.html (English)

Brother Group's environmental goals, as outlined in its Brother Group Environmental Vision 2050, aim to maximize resource circulation by FY2050, ensuring the sustainable use of resources and minimizing environmental impact from waste. Furthermore, under its medium-term strategy "CS B2024," Brother has designated resource circulation as one of its materiality (key social issues) and aims to reduce the ratio of virgin materials used in its products to 81% or lower by FY2024, promoting the reuse and remanufacturing of products. By expanding its remanufacturing efforts to include ink cartridges, in addition to toner cartridges, Brother is further advancing its efforts to reduce waste.

The Brother Group will continue to strengthen its initiatives that take into account the global environment in order to contribute to society and help protect the earth, in line with Our Purpose outlined in the Brother Group Vision "At your side 2030."

• Remanufacturing of some ink cartridges began in July.