Taking inspiration from the practices in the food industry and anticipating legislators to improve its customer experience of the circular economy, Armor introduces OWA Score.
Taking inspiration from the practices of the food industry and anticipating the upcoming European Union Green Deal legislation. Armor introduces OWA Score to improve its customer experience of the circular economy.
The OWA Score allows customers to select cartridges in relation to their circular credentials and heralds a green revolution in the printing consumables sector.
OWA Score is an intuitive visual scale for customers Inspired by practices in the food industry and is being implemented on the full laser (end of June), inkjet and copier ranges to evaluate the environmental impact of OWA printing consumables in relation to the circular economy, using questions such as:
- Can the cartridge be reused?
- When the cartridge is reconditioned, how many parts are replaced?
- Is the cartridge collected by the manufacturer after use?
- Does the manufacturer offer a cartridge recycling programme?
- Is the packaging plastic-free?
- Does the printer cartridge have an eco-label?
Gerwald van der Gijp, VP & Managing Director of Armor Office Printing explains OWA Score: “At Armor we produce remanufactured printing consumables with an ecological footprint that is, by definition, much lower than that of standard cartridges.
“Since the beginning of the year, we have been making lots of progress in our efforts to further reduce their environmental impact by redesigning all our packaging. Using the OWA SCORE means giving customers all of this information clearly so that they can make informed purchasing decisions.”
As part of the ‘Green Deal’ Europe will focus on the printing equipment and consumables sector, and work continues on an impressive plan for manufacturers, that is due for release within the next six months.
Armor commented: “This [OWA Score] process is in line with EU ambitions, particularly the ‘Green Deal” and are “actively involved in this initiative.”
In announcing OWA Score the company said it was “sharing its experience with various stakeholders committed to the circular economy in an effort to anticipate the requirements of the Commission, which hopes to secure a reusability rate of 65% for certain products – including ink cartridges – by 2023. Over the coming months, a certain proportion of green consumables or consumables from the circular economy will be imposed on these same institutions.”
