In the wake of ETIRA’s protest about misleading wording in an HP flyer, the OEM has issued an amended version.
Earlier this month The Recycler reported on the release of an HP flyer which included misleading and potentially damaging wording about remanufactured cartridges, claiming they do not “adhere to quality, safety or environmental standards.”
ETIRA soon issued a lengthy statement in protest, saying that HP was speaking “nonsense” and making a “baseless generalisation” about remanufactured cartridges, which do have their own set of industry standards to follow.
HP has since reissued the flyer with a slight amendment, so that it now reads that remanufactured cartridges “don’t always adhere to quality, safety or environmental standards.” (Our Italics)
Now ETIRA has responded to the altered flyer with this statement:
This week, HP toned down the wording in some marketing materials on cartridges. The modification followed an ETIRA protest against the content of a September HP flyer for customers. The 2-page flyer listed the problems customers could face when they buy a clone. But it also mentioned remanufactured HP cartridges, claiming they, like clones and counterfeits, don’t adhere to environmental, quality or safety standards.
ETIRA protested against this blunt mixing of clones/counterfeits with remanufactured HP cartridges. We evidenced that most remanufacturers do comply with such standards, including ISO, DIN, Nordic Ecolabel, etc. Our longtime 20-30% market share shows that customers fully appreciate the quality. And ETIRA also stressed that it is thanks to the remanufacturing industry, that many HP cartridges get a 2nd and subsequent life as a cartridge, thereby reducing their overall environmental footprint by a staggering 45-60%.
Although ETIRA welcomes the change in the flyer wording, it calls on HP to in future, refrain from making statements that are not supported by the facts. Since many years, the benefits of buying remanufactured OEM cartridges are clear: a top-quality, environmental-friendly, and less expensive alternative product.