Brother Begins Remanufacturing Drum Units at Its European Manufacturing Facility

Brother Industries, Ltd. (Head Office: Nagoya; President: Kazufumi Ikeda) today announced that its manufacturing facility, Brother Industries (Slovakia) s.r.o. (BISK), began remanufacturing used drum units for printers and All-in-Ones in July 2026.

The Brother Group has been carrying out initiatives to reuse and remanufacture products and consumables that customers have finished using. As part of these efforts, since 2004 the Group has been collecting used toner cartridges from laser printers and All-in-Ones, remanufacturing them^*1 to the same quality as new cartridges, and delivering them back to customers. As of March 31, 2026, the Group has remanufactured more than 45 million toner cartridges. The Group's efforts have also earned strong external recognition, including certification under Germany's Blue Angel ecolabel. In 2024, the Group expanded these efforts to include remanufacturing of ink cartridges^*2 used in inkjet printers and All-in-Ones.

Building on the technologies and expertise the Brother Group has developed through toner cartridge remanufacturing, BISK has now begun remanufacturing drum units used in laser printers and All-in-Ones. A drum unit is a critical component that transfers text and images onto paper and affects print quality. Used drum units collected from customers are cleaned, fitted with replacement parts, and subjected to rigorous quality inspections to ensure that the remanufactured units are of the same quality as new units. By handling the collection, remanufacturing, and redistribution of drum units entirely in-house, as it already does for toner cartridges, the Brother Group will further contribute to waste reduction in pursuit of a sustainable society.

Under the Brother Group Environmental Vision 2050, the Brother Group aims to maximize resource circulation toward 2050 to ensure the sustainable use of resources and minimize the environmental impact of wastes. The Group also aims to reduce the amount of virgin materials used in products^*3 by 25% by FY2030 compared to the FY2022 level. Going forward, the Brother Group will continue to actively advance initiatives that take the global environment into account.

Reference: Click here for details on how to return consumables for printers and All-in-Ones

1. Conducted at manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom, Slovakia, the United States, and Japan
2. Conducted at a manufacturing facility in the United Kingdom
3. Includes packaging materials