Return & Recycle
To foster a recycling-oriented society, Canon is building collection and recycling systems in Japan, Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania for used products.
Product Collection and Recycling
Canon has promoted the remanufacturing*1 of copying machines in Japan, the Americas and Europe since 1992. Canon markets the "Refreshed" series of remanufactured products for the Japan market.
In the case of the iR 5065N-R digital MFD, launched in 2012, we achieve an average parts reuse ratio of 81.6% in terms of weight. The total environmental impact for all stages through manufacturing has been reduced by an average of 83% by CO2 equivalent. Furthermore, according to the Japanese Ministry of the Environment guidelines on carbon offsetting and credits, there are zero CO2 emissions associated with this product through the manufacturing stage.*2
*1 Remanufacturing
Reproducing products with a level of quality similar to new ones by cleaning and replacing parts after disassembling collected products and sorting reusable parts from worn and deteriorated ones.
*2 This means that in theory the CO2 emissions are zero, due to the purchase of a CO2 credit allowance equal to the CO2 emissions volume produced through the manufacturing stage.
Collection and Recycling of Cartridges
Toner Cartridge Recycling
Canon has been collecting and recycling toner cartridges for laser printers and other devices worldwide for over 20 years.
Parts that can be reused are washed, inspected and put back into production. Plastic parts are pulverized and recycled for use in new cartridges. And other parts that can be recycled are separated so that they do not go to waste(Closed-Loop Recycling).
Initially the recycling of collected toner cartridges took place at just one location, Canon Dalian Business Machines, Inc. We have since moved to recycling in each area of consumption, wherein this responsibility is borne in each of our four main markets: North America, Europe, Asia, and Japan. Active use is made of recycled parts and materials in local toner cartridge production to see that they are recirculated in that particular market.
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Toner Cartridge Recycling: A Continuous Journey (Movie)
Ink Cartridge Recycling
Canon led the industry in launching a recycling program for ink cartridges in Japan in 1996.
Canon took the initiative in approaching six printer manufacturers including Canon and Japan Post to cooperatively launch the "Ink Cartridge "Satogaeri "(Homecoming) Project" in 2007. Joint collection commenced in April 2008 through common collection boxes throughout Japan. This project has brought greater convenience to customers, and boosted collection volume.
In July 2009, Kitakyushu City Office and its municipal ward offices became the first government offices to act as collection points.
Afterwards, a number of other local governments announced their participation, steadily expanding the collection activities. As of the end of June 2012, the collection boxes are installed at more than 3,600 post offices and 151 local governments were participating with the number of collection points reaching about 1,900.
 Ink cartridge collection boxes installed at post offices and other facilities |
Support for environmental social activities through the Ink Cartridge Homecoming Project |
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Since April 2010, ¥3 has been committed to UNEP for every ink cartridge collected through the Ink Cartridge "Satogaeri" (Homecoming) Project.
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 From October 2011, Canon is also make a donation to the SATOYAMA Initiative advocated by Japan's Ministry of the Environment and the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies working with partner companies under the Ink Cartridge "Satogaeri" (Homecoming) project. 
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We broadly expanded the number of used ink cartridge collection points outside Japan in 2011.
In the United States, we joined with Fedex Office, a large office services chain, in an agreement to have Canon inkjet cartridges collected at their approximately 1,600 locations.
In Europe, we began cartridge collection in England and Germany in addition to France. We will continue to increase our collection points in Europe in 2012.
Our efforts in Asia included the launch, through the cooperation of five printer manufacturers, of the Singapore version of the Ink Cartridge "Satogaeri" (Homecoming) Project, which is already underway in Japan.
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After the recovered ink cartridges are disassembled into constituent parts according to material composition, they are reused effectively as recycled materials or fuel, rather than being treated as landfill waste. Some of the recycled materials are reused in ink cartridges through the "closed-loop recycling system." The remainder is reused as pallets for stacking products, boxes for collecting service parts, and for other applications.
