US remanufacturer announces release of fifth annual Sustainability Report, covering its activities in 2013.
The 2013 Sustainability Report released by Clover Holdings outlines the remanufacturer’s environmental efforts and achievements between 1 January and 31 December 2013, examining the economic, environmental and social performance of the company’s operations and communicating its objectives for 2014.
The report states that Clover collected over 66 million cartridges and diverted them from landfills, including 37,430,258 ink cartridges and 23,703,489 toner cartridges; remanufacturing a total of 19,559,123 cartridges. The company also reused 1,880,095 lbs of material, repaired 47,250 lbs and recycled 22,705,167 lbs. In all, the company stated that it saved an equivalent of 7,993 barrels of oil through its remanufacturing and recycling activities.
In terms of R&D, Clover stated that “worldwide, our skilled engineers are looking at all of the components of printing consumables and discovering new ways to refurbish them”, adding that “eco-design is a core element in our development, in addition to striving for excellence and carefully analysing our current and future products”.
The report states that $9 million (€7.3 million) was invested in 2013 to “provide high quality products using less material”, with more than 100 remanufactured cartridges added to the company’s product offering. These products have a recycling content of 95 percent for inkjet cartridges and 84 percent for toner cartridges, while fusers are made up of 83 percent recycled material.
To determine the environmental impact of a product “from cradle-to-grave”, Clover uses a life cycle assessment (LCA) tool, which takes into account a product’s full carbon footprint, “such as extraction of virgin materials, transportation, product use and final disposal”. The report adds that “Clover is continuously advancing into the circular economy”.
Another way in which Clover improved its sustainability is by moving freight “from long-haul trucks to the rails” through “engaging national partners to service our freight needs in a timely manner and working with internal parties to manage schedules”. It also decreased the “number of total trips and miles driven” by “maximising inbound shipments”, converting smaller volume truckloads into “full cubed truckloads”.
In recognition of its sustainability efforts in 2013, Clover received the Green Business Recognition Award for the second consecutive year, as well as receiving an “honourable mention” for the Governor’s Sustainability Award for organisations in Illinois.
Looking at its objectives for 2014, the report stated that Clover would “increase its efforts to maintain good practices and find new solutions for environmental sustainability”, with the company switching its monthly printing payroll to a free online tool for all US employees, working to improve resource management by implementing “better sorting and recycling”, and working on energy efficiency to reduce its dependency on non-renewable energy and avoid green-house gas emissions.
Commenting on the report and the company’s achievements in 2013, Jim Cerkleski, CEO of Clover Holdings, said: “We are proud of our progress and our ability to deliver solutions that improve both the environmental profile and the bottom line of our customers. In 2013, we continued to live up to this commitment in the way we manufacture our products, maximised reuse and minimised our environmental impact.”
The Recycler has reported on Clover’s 2011 and 2012 Sustainability reports, and you can view Clover’s 2013 Sustainability Report at http://www.clovertech.com/sustainable.