PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2021

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 03/21 www.petpla.net 17 Interview with Ricoh Company Ltd. July 21, 2020 We met: Mr Tsuyoshi Imamura, General Manager, Chemical Technology and Products Division PET toner cartridges by Kay Barton When people think of Shibuya in Tokyo it is its intersection, rumoured to be the busiest of its kind in the world with its five zebra crossings and surrounded by high-rise futuristic buildings, which immediately springs to mind. Ricoh’s headquarters are located around 10 km south of the intersection in the Ota district. The association with the company is rather similar to the one with the crossroads as the name will certainly be synonymous with printers and copiers. In fact, the company has a presence in around 200 countries and manufactures far more than office products and printers such as audio-visual projection systems and camera equipment under its Pentax brand. However, we decided to restrict ourselves to printing issues and travelled to Tokyo to meet Mr Tsuyoshi Imamura, General Manager in Ricoh’s Chemical Technology and Products Division, to talk about the use of PET for it is here that their toner cartridges are produced. “Ricoh was probably the first com- pany to use PET in its toner cartridges back in 2000”, began Mr Imamura. “We were looking for ways to keep the use of material to a minimum and used standard stretch blow mould- ing for our toner cartridges, a practice which was already well-known to us from the drinks’ packaging sector”. This type of production is now used in rapid supply chains in the four regions USA, Europe, China and Japan from where the manufactured cartridges are ulti- mately filled with toner, then delivered via the quickest route to the customer. There are two major types of toner cartridge, namely bottle-type and one-piece, depending on the local equipment available and customer preference. The cartridges are used in Ricoh’s entire printer range, from mono- chrome and colour machines to A3 copiers and printers for both domestic and industrial use. According to Mr Ima- mura, cartridges are sourced locally or from abroad, depending on demand. “Although we use PE and PS, it is PET which is mostly used in our products. The main point to stress here is that we use 100% recycled PET. We made sure our cartridge production system was cost-effective and environmentally-friendly right from the outset and have continued to enhance our manufacturing processes as we have gone along. In 2000, we switched from PE to PET. With the introduction of PET, we were able to reduce the unit price per cartridge by 25% and the amount of required material by 40%”. Ricoh developed the first post con- sumer resin (PCR) cartridge in 2004, obtained UL (Underwriter Laborato- ries) certification for the material and then began processing. “As a result, we were able to save a further 32% per unit cost and we have achieved the use of recycled materials, which was not considered mainstream in the toner cartridge field at the time. In 2017, we also achieved 100% use of recycled materials. Precise figures of actual PET conversion are not currently avail- able but is likely to be substantial given the size of the company (90,000 employees worldwide) and net sales of US$ 19.5 billion. In conclusion, Mr Imamura said “We are currently working towards the establishment of a global recycling system for toner cartridges to implement the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with special emphasis on two areas: a general expansion in the use of recycled material and an increase in the number of cartridge applications, including an equivalent recycling process”. www.ricoh.com Tour Sponsors: Tsuyoshi Imamura, GM Chemical Tech- nology and Products Division Typical PET toner cartridge Ricoh’s plant in Numazu city PETcast In our new Road Show podcast, PETplanet meets industry experts from Down Under to Japan and talks with them about their successes, decisions and current developments. Listen to the full conversation at www.bit.ly/2HVwbAd