Millions of ink and toner cartridges are imported into Nigeria every year for use in education, healthcare, finance and other sectors. Since no cartridges are manufactured in Nigeria, the quality of those available for purchase is determined by the foreign exchange conditions. The value of naira (NGN) against the US dollar (USD) has fallen fourfold since 2008, pushing the importers to purchase the cheapest options – often these are low quality cartridges from China that contain inks and toners hazardous to human health.

Two options are available on the market – products from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and compatible products. OEM products are of high quality and produce high yields, but they are expensive. Compatible products, usually from China, are more affordable, but their quality is inconsistent, their yields are lower and they sometimes include toxic components. In both cases, once the cartridges are empty, they are disposed of together with the rest of unsorted waste, causing a detrimental impact on the environment. Due to high calorific value of cartridges they are often open burnt (thus substituting expensive kerosene) to make fire for cooking and to encourage burning of other waste, thus contributing to air pollution and exposing humans to inhalation of toxic substances.

Our solution

Our solution is to create a circular economy for ink and toner cartridges in Nigeria. Our key activities are:

1. Retrieving used cartridges through buy back schemes and other incentives.
2. Remanufacturing used cartridges using imported machinery and components. Used cartridges are cleaned, refilled with ink/toner, refitted with a new ink/toner sensor, and repackaged to be sold under our brand name.