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  4. Market Leading Remanufacturing
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We remanufacture and recycle 100% of all returned ink and toner cartridges

At Brother, we ask our customers to return any used ink and toner cartridges to us, and through our Renew By Brother remanufacturing programme, we remanufacture and recycle them to make new ones - with nothing going to landfill.

Returned cartridges go through a fully circular process at our carbon-neutral recycling facilities, and as the plastics we source don't contain any hazardous additives, we can remanufacture them over and over again - a process that has earned us the world's 1st Blue Angel certification for remanufactured toner cartridges.

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We take over 100 steps to remanufacture and recycle one ink or toner cartridge

The first one starts with you.

Recycling with Brother is simple to do and completely free. All you have to do is send your used cartridges back to us via one of our return methods, and we'll do the rest. Currently we remanufacture around 3 million cartridges per year, but we want to do more. 

Together, with your ongoing support, we can continue to produce sustainable products and supplies, whilst also protecting and minimising our environmental impact.

 

Recycle your Brother supplies

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Carbon-neutral remanufacturing facilities

We have our own dedicated Brother operated factories in the UK and Slovakia, built so we can take complete control of the remanufacturing and recycling of ink and toner cartridges sent back to us by customers from across Europe.

Both factories are zero waste accredited, certified carbon-neutral and run on green energy produced by solar panels and ground source heating systems.

Our teams across Europe work tirelessly to continually improve our approach to remanufacturing, ensuring it is as energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly as possible.

Our market-leading ink cartridge remanufacturing process

Learn more about our remanufacturing

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Remanufacturing vs Recycling

When you return an ink or toner cartridge to us, it goes through an extensive remanufacturing process to ensure that each remanufactured cartridge is the same quality as new.

Take a toner cartridge, for example. First we disassemble it, replace any worn parts, clean it, then reassemble it and send it back to our customers.

It is this highly innovative process that means we can remanufacture 86% of toner cartridges Brother customers return to us.

The 14% we're unable to remanufacture – due to damage or wear and tear – is recycled and used to make other products.

And this process can happen again and again, giving you products of the highest quality, with minimum environmental impact.

Remanufacturing in numbers:

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Cartridges remanufactured or recycled

On average we remanufacture or recycle 3 million toner cartridges every year - enough to fill 4 Olympic sized swimming pools.

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Carbon-neutral processes

We remanufacture 86% of all returned toner cartridges (and recycle all other parts and packaging), which saves around 5,300 tonnes of CO2 every year - equivalent to taking 1,150 cars off the road. 

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Zero waste to landfill

Our European recycling facilities in the UK and Slovakia are zero waste accredited (since 2013 and 2024 respectively) - stopping 1,500 tonnes of material from ending up in landfill every year.

Recycle your toners for free

Recycle today
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65% less emissions
by 2030

We believe sustainability is about operating responsibly; but more than that, it's an opportunity to support the communities we're a part of and to have a positive impact on the world.

Sustainability at Brother

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The Brother Product
Life Cycle

From design and inception through to collection and recycling, every stage of our products' life cycle is considered to minimise any impact on the environment.

Discover our Product Life Cycle

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Product environmental information

Brother products comply with all legal requirements and, along with our sustainable business practices, have received a number of industry-recognised certifications.

View certifications