Page 28 - Print21 March-April 2020

Revolution in Print
Closing the
As the number of prints produced by HP Indigo presses in Australia and New Zealand grows each year, and as we all become climate aware, the issue of what to do with the spent consumables – particularly the ink cans, the ink cannisters, and the BIDs – the binary ink developers used in the HP Indigo engine – has been at the front of the mind of Currie Group operations manager Marcus Robinson and the team.
For several years recycling for the spent HP Indigo consumables was offered, but an occasional patchy performance from the provider saw Robinson determined to raise the offering to peak performance. A thorough market analysis resulted in Currie Group and HP signing a deal 12 months ago with Close the Loop, a global printer recycling operation with one of its bases in Melbourne, that had a proven record of consistent performance.
Under the deal there is no cost to HP Indigo users to have their used consumables collected by Close the Loop. Those users can also rest easy in the knowledge that their used consumables are being used for a multitude of new purposes, with none going into landfill, being burned, or being dumped into poor countries.
The Take Back Program has been taken up with gusto by much of the local HP Indigo user base, with around three quarters of all users in Australia and New Zealand now participating. Robinson says, “We are really pleased with the level
of customer engagement in the recycling programme. Our aim is to have 100 per cent of all used HP Indigo consumables collected by Close the Loop and go through the programme.
“It is a real win-win story. HP Indigo users can confidently go to market with a message of sustainability, and one for which there is no cost to them. The environment clearly benefits as all that plastic, metal and ink is not put into landfill or otherwise
disposed of.”
“Working closely with Currie
Group and Close the Loop has been instrumental in making the Take Back Program so successful,” said Craig Walmsley, HP South Pacific Industrial country manager. “Since beginning the Take Back Program a year ago, some 7.7 tonnes of metal HP Indigo Series 2 and 3 ink cans, and one tonne of Series 4 plastic
ink tubes have been collected and recycled. In addition, some 2300 BIDs, or 11.5 tonnes, have been sent back to Israel for remanufacturing.”
Robinson says, “The figures
speak for themselves. Printers participating in the programme are seeing great outcomes. We encourage all HP Indigo users in Australia
and New Zealand to take part.
There is nothing to pay, Close the Loop provides all the means for the recycling, it is a tremendous service.” With no costs to print businesses and a clean environmental conscience resulting, the only thing stopping a 100 per cent uptake among local HP Indigo users is essentially busy print business owners finding the time to embrace the programme, and making the decision to factor in the process, which really only means repackaging the BIDs and ink cannisters.
Transparency is a key part of the Close the Loop strategy, which is most welcome in an industry which has a perception of the three wise monkeys – hear no evil, see no evil,
recycling loop
HP Indigo users in Australia and
New Zealand are seeing their waste consumables recycled into steel, laptop cases, roads, and back into presses, through the Close the Loop initiative.
Everything recycled at Close the Loop: (l-r) Marcus Robinson, Currie Group; Peter Tamblyn, Close the Loop; and Craig Walmsley from HP
28 Print21 MARCH/APRIL 2020