Collection Framework Agreement

ARMOR, Participant and Signatory to a New Agreement

Industrial Commitment Agreement for Collecting and Processing Waste Office Print Cartridges in France

Nantes, November 23rd, 2011 – To mark the European Week for Waste Reduction (from November 19th to 27th, 2011), Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transportation, and Housing, signed a framework agreement with professionals in the office print cartridge industry.

The goal? Enhancing the growth of separate collection, reuse, and recycling for used cartridges. Involved in the draft Agreement since its beginnings, to date, ARMOR is the only remanufacturer in the sector to be a signatory, alongside OEMs and other signatories.

At the Root: a Study

This Commitment Agreement follows a study by Bio Intelligence Service, financed by the Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) in late 2010 on the status of the waste print cartridge collection and processing sectors in France and on user behavior.

The study showed that while the estimated rate of separate collection in tonnage compared to the overall pool is already efficient (at least 60%), the rate expressed in units (20% to 30%) needs to be improved.

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Speech by Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transportation, and Housing. At the forefront for ARMOR Office Printing, Regis Thébaud, Director of Operations and Sophie Lansac, Marketing Manager.

An Agreement Desired by all Industry Actorse

With regards to implementing the Grenelle Environment Forum’s commitment 250 providing for implementing a suitable program for managing specific diffuse household waste based on the principle of “Extended Producer Responsibility” (EPR), the Risk Prevention Directorate General at the Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transportation, and Housing Ministry* agreed not to include waste office cartridges in the scope of this new EPR program.

In this context, those who bring these products to market have decided to propose and implement a voluntary framework agreement, including a Commitment Agreement by actors in the office print cartridge collection and processing sector.

The Nature of the Agreement

By mutual agreement, the parties responsible for and representative of the sector have expressed their commitment to making progress in the sector. Developed within the framework of meetings involving the major actors in the sector throughout 2011, this agreement sets the framework for common best practices waste office print cartridge management.

“This agreement must provide for promoting awareness among consumers and mobilizing the entire sector, from producers to waste professionals regarding the economic and environmental issues of used cartridges,” Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said.

Voluntary Signatories to the Sector’s Commitment Agreement

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From left to right, Philippe Guenin, representing the re-use sector and CEO of LVL; Bernard Decugis, Chairman of the SNESS, representing OEMs; the Minister; Jacques Creyssel, General Delegate of the FCD, representing distributors.

Agreement signatories: the Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transportation, and Housing Ministry; Printing Solution Producers; some Distributors; a Remanufacturer (ARMOR); some collection, sorting, and processing companies including ARMOR’s partner Revial; a social economy and solidarity structure; local authorities; and public establishments for intercommunal cooperation (EPCIs).

Ambitious Goals

For ARMOR, and for all signatories, the Agreement’s main objectives by 2015 are ambitious:

- increasing, by 5%/year the separate collection rate for used cartridges;

- achieving, by the end of 2015, a reuse and recycling rate of 70% for cartridges collected separately;

de 70 % ;

- developing a network of voluntary collection points open to the public;

- providing, by printing system manufacturers, information allowing ink cartridge users to know the collection locations and systems;

- prioritizing waste treatment methods in order to stop sending waste cartridges to landfills;

- establishing a traceability system for the collected waste cartridges’ processing operations ensuring compliance with environmental standards;

- transmitting an annual review of activities by each player.

And concretely, for ARMOR? One more step for its Alternative Print Program and its commitment to sustainable development.

1) Prioritizing waste treatment methods is a major issue for ARMOR. Through this agreement, ARMOR shall make a priority of promoting the reuse of cartridges, before considering other options for recycling materials. With regards to materials recycling, if an end-of-life cartridge is not reusable, ARMOR already offers a 100% recycling solution for materials, through its partner Revial.

2) Moreover, market actors, including ARMOR, will market office print cartridges which result in non-hazardous waste under national and European regulations and make the corresponding substantiating documents available to the authorities. In response, ARMOR has provided the Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transportation, and Housing Ministry’s Risk Prevention General Directorate all the elements providing proof of its commitment regarding non-hazardous cartridges. For ARMOR Office Printing, this is a major prerogative; it allows ARMOR to assert its differentiating position with respect to competitors that might be less scrupulous in this regard.

Also, other actors who have not yet signed the Agreement are encouraged to produce the necessary documents to prove the non-hazardous nature of the waste from their products.

For ARMOR, here is an opportunity to educate its partners about a 100% responsible approach fulfilling the amendments to the Agreement.

3) Very active alongside OEMs, ARMOR was a vector in crafting the Agreement. Regis Thébaud, COO and Head of Sustainable Development at ARMOR Office Printing was a key player in the approach. In particular, the Agreement includes the signatories’ obligation to comply with intellectual property and trademark law. A subject vigorously defended by ETIRA* of which ARMOR is a member.

An important clause supporting ARMOR in its determined fight against importing new so-called “clone” cartridges (not respectful of intellectual property).

*ETIRA: European Remanufacturing Industry Association

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