The first principle of environmental care is to reduce the use of limited resources, and our copiers do not use the complex user-replaceable process units which are sometimes confused with the simple containers (cartridges or bottles) which we use.

We do not collect waste powder toner from customers in the UK for several reasons:

•	Our higher volume models use our patented "Copy Press" system which has both a high transfer efficiency and also stores the toner in a solid form to prevent internal pollution within the machine.
•	Most lower volume models have a waste toner container, which requires disposal when it eventually becomes full. The toner in the waste bottle is not the same as new toner, which is why very few copiers have internal systems to re-use the toner removed from the photoconductor by the cleaning system. Experience shows that it is likely to contain fibres and filler materials from the paper surface, and since the toner particles are those which were not transferred to the copy, their size and characteristics are not ideal for the process. To re-use the waste toner would therefore be contrary to the primary objective which is to provide a reliable machine making high quality copies. Note that to prevent nuisance from the fine particles, the toner container should be sealed before disposal.
•	Having minimised the use of material, our toner containers (bottles or cartridges) do not contain sufficient material or value for collection to be viable in either conventional economic or environmental accounting terms. Our parent Company does recover empty bottles from customers within a reasonable distance of its toner manufacturing factory in the Netherlands, but beyond that distance the large bulk of the bottles makes the fuel used in transport greater than the saving in raw material. The toner is not a hazardous substance and therefore there is no overriding legal or environmental necessity to deal with it differently from other office waste.

Recycling of simple plastic from packaging requires local processing for it to be viable. Our bottles are marked with the recognised symbol to identify the type of material used, and the way forward would be for the customer to review their total waste and discuss with a local reprocessor whether any recovery system is viable. It may be possible to include the empty bottles or cartridges in any general scheme, but the full waste toner bottles would have to be disposed of with other waste by the normal local authority methods (landfill or incineration).

Please note that liquid toners are an entirely different situation. They are based on a petroleum distillate (similar to White Spirit) and are classed as Special Waste. They must be collected and disposed of by a licensed waste contractor.