Remanufacturing
Through the production of remanufactured toner cartridges, we will fulfill our responsibilities as a leader in the development of sustainable industry.
Remanufacturing is a manufacturing method in which used products or parts that have reached the end of their service life and would otherwise be discarded are collected, completely disassembled, cleaned, inspected, repaired and adjusted, and reassembled through a process comparable to new-product assembly, restoring their original functions and performance. It differs from ordinary manufacturing by using used products and parts as its main raw materials rather than new raw materials. To promote remanufacturing in Korea, the government amended the Act on the Promotion of the Conversion into Environment-Friendly Industrial Structure on July 11, 2006, providing a minimum legal basis for support, quality certification and related systems. An annual economic benefit of KRW 630 billion in energy and resource savings is expected if domestic remanufacturing is expanded. The government also states that more than approximately 4,700 additional jobs are expected, noting that ink and toner cartridge remanufacturing is labor-intensive because many disassembly, inspection and assembly tasks are difficult to automate.
Growing concern that environmental pollution and resource depletion may threaten humanity's continued existence has made the sustainability of industrial activity, one of the main causes of environmental problems, a key issue of the 21st century. Remanufacturing is attracting attention as a new industry for sustainable development because it is reported to use only 9–14% of the energy and raw materials required to manufacture new products, offering substantial energy and resource savings. Currently, approximately 80,000 companies worldwide operate in more than 50 core product areas, with annual transactions of US$60 billion and more than 500,000 employees. The industry exceeds the steel industry in scale and contributes more to energy savings than solar and wind energy.
Founded in 1985 with the aim of protecting the environment from damage caused by waste and conserving resources through the use of discarded materials, Seo Kwang systematically collects used cartridges discarded in Korea. Through disassembly, cleaning, replacement and adjustment of parts, inspection and reassembly, it remanufactures toner cartridges for all models to a quality level equivalent to new products. Building a sustainable society within the mass-consumption structure of the 21st century requires efficient use of limited resources, prevention of resource waste and effective solutions to environmental damage caused by waste. Developed countries identify remanufacturing as one solution to these problems.
In this context, Seo Kwang is actively participating in remanufacturing based on the technical expertise accumulated over more than 20 years since its establishment. First, we aim to increase the use of remanufactured toner cartridges in Korea and raise domestic recycling rates by producing cartridges of original-equipment quality that consumers will choose to use. Second, we aim to further increase the recycling of discarded drums, PCRs and other parts by actively developing new technologies that improve the use of waste resources. Third, we seek remanufacturable products in imaging-related businesses and work on technology development. Through these efforts, we aim to contribute to environmental conservation as a small but substantial, technologically capable and sound eco-friendly company.
