Clover Imaging Group has announced the completion of a new comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) that assessed Clover Imaging remanufactured toner cartridges versus their original equipment manufacturer (OEM) counterparts from a cradle-to-grave perspective. This third-party peer reviewed LCA was performed by Aspire Sustainability.

Based on the environmental indicators evaluated, the Clover Imaging remanufactured black and color toner cartridges were found to exhibit lower environmental life-cycle impacts compared to their OEM counterparts in all the statistically significant impact categories studied. Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses indicate that the results were robust with respect to key assumptions and are statistically differentiated.

When analyzing the entire life cycle of a Clover Imaging remanufactured black printer cartridge (200891P) compared to the OEM equivalent cartridge (HP CF226A), key findings included:

• 53% lower carbon footprint
• 59% lower energy footprint
• 52% less impact on natural resources
• 66% lower impact on human health

Color cartridge results were comparable and are included on the study.

"As we talk to sustainability and procurement executives across every industry, the number-one question we are asked is 'How will Clover Imaging remanufactured printer cartridges reduce our carbon and energy footprint?'" said Eric Martin, president, Clover Imaging Group. "This updated LCA allows us to confidently quantify the carbon footprint and energy expenditure reductions an organization will achieve by switching to our cartridges from OEM cartridges. This is a game changer for businesses and organizations that have mandated sustainability initiatives."

"In the last 18 months, we have seen the circular economy model rapidly gaining momentum," said Keli Posch, director of marketing and sustainability, Clover Imaging. "The growing consensus across the environmental community is that recycling plastic is simply not going to solve the environmental challenges we are facing and we need to focus more of our efforts on reuse. This LCA confirms that Clover's circular business model of reusing an OEM plastic shell multiple times through remanufacturing is environmentally superior to molding and manufacturing new cartridges even when those new cartridges use a high percentage of recycled plastic content."

Over the next few months, Clover Imaging will be providing its reseller partners with educational trainings and a suite of end-user marketing assets to communicate the impactful findings of this study.