Canon Environmental Technologies, Inc. received one of the Top Environmental Project of the Year Award awarded by Environment + Energy Leader, an award that recognizes companies’ environmental impact projects as well as projects that advance ESG and EHS goals through environmental stewardship, resource conservation, and responsible business practices. In 1990, Canon Inc. launched its “Global Toner Cartridge Recycling Program,” the first such program in the toner cartridge industry. In 1996, Canon Environmental Technologies, Inc. (CETI), an entity jointly owned by Canon Virginia, Inc., located in Newport News and Canon U.S.A., Inc., located in Melville, N.Y., was established in Gloucester, VA in effort to support Canon Inc.’s recycling program in North and South America.
Empty, returned or otherwise discarded toner cartridges from end user printers in North and South America may be sent to CETI for recycling. During the recycling process, cartridges are sorted by model and those parts deemed suitable for reuse are selected for washing and maintenance and reuse in new products. Parts that cannot be reused for new toner cartridges are crushed into small particles and the resultant waste is separated by material type using physical characteristics such as electrostatic properties and specific gravity. Such unusable waste material is sent for further recycling or processing through an outside partner.
The primary material used in toner cartridges is high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), which is used primarily for the plastic casing of the cartridge. As Canon Inc. became able to refine this material to a 99% or higher sorting yield*, their recycled plastic material is purified in-house and able to be used directly to manufacture new cartridges, a unique feature of Canon’s closed-loop recycling process. The high-level purification is the core of their plastic recycling system.
In 2008, the Cartridge Recycling System (CRS) was employed for toner recycling purposes, whereby an automated hybrid recycling process is utilized. The used toner cartridges are ground as described above, and the leftover toner is removed. Prior to 2022, CETI would send waste toner to a third-party waste-to-energy facility, however, announced in 2022, CETI developed an innovative process to pelletize the toner waste and sell the material to a Virginia Asphalt Company, who uses it as a binder and coloring agent in asphalt throughout Virginia roadways. CETI recycles more than 400 tons of toner annually.
With the materials being recycled instead of being sent to waste-to-energy facilities, potential waste streams were transformed into recycling streams, helping to decrease air emissions associated with burning these materials, and transportation emissions associated with transporting these materials to waste treatment facilities.
While Canon Inc. works to consider various environmental issues, resource recycling is one area in which it focuses particular attention. From their founding in 1937, Canon Inc.'s corporate philosophy has been Kyosei - which is defined as "all people, regardless of race, religion, or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future." As a part of Canon’s commitment to the environment, responsible recycling efforts of various Canon products is in their DNA, which is designed to help minimize the environmental impact on the communities in which we live and work. CETI has maintained its ISO 14001 Environmental Certification since its inception. Since 1996, CETI has recycled more than 700 million pounds of toner cartridges.
*Based on a calculation formula specified by Canon Inc.
