HP Innovation Journal Issue 14: Spring 2020 | Page 55

Shaun Burton, a
machine operator
and graphic
designer, works at
HP’s ink cartridge
recycling plant.
“It’s interesting that
they’re recycled
into something
new,” he says.
“It’s a symbol of our commitment of a new HP vision to have
forest-positive, carbon-neutral printing,” Jackowski says. “You
really can do it. This product is the incarnation of that vision.”
Recycling advances have had real environmental impact,
Zimmer adds. HP’s integration of recycled cartridges
has reduced the carbon footprint of its plastics by 30%.
Compared with virgin plastics, producing its recycled
plastics uses 60% fewer fossil fuels and 39% less water.
In the last 28 years, HP has recycled more than 830
million cartridges and a total of 3.3 billion pounds of
material—the equivalent in weight to 8,000 blue whales,
Zimmer says. HP cartridges have also incorporated 4.4
billion plastic bottles and 101 million hangers. Teeth
molds are another unexpected source of material. In a
new pilot project, HP is collaborating with Smile Direct
Club, a Nashville-based teledentistry company that
provides teeth-straightening solutions. Smile Direct Club
uses HP Jet Fusion 3D printers to manufacture tens of
thousands of customized teeth molds each day from
which clear aligners are made. Once aligners are made for
customers, Smile Direct Club provides HP with the used
plastic molds and excess 3D materials to recycle into
pellets for traditional injection molding.
This article originally appeared on the Garage by HP.
The spirit of recycling permeates all levels of action
in the La Vergne facilities. Cartridges are stored and
transported in reused packaging from the food industry,
including cardboard boxes and enormous white bags
labeled “peanuts only.” Metal extracted from print
cartridges is resold on the metals market. And a machine
originally designed to squeeze orange juice has been
repurposed to squeeze residual ink out of cartridge
foam recovered by the disassembly process. HP is
exploring potential partners who might be able to use
this recovered ink. From the shred and separate process,
the sink-float water is sent to evaporators where residual
ink is reduced to sludge for disposal, with the recovered
water to be reused in the sink-float tanks.
Looking to the future, HP is pushing for new recycling
innovations while also investigating the possibilities
of turning more frequently to 3D printing as a way
to increase efficiency by using only the materials
needed, without any extra waste. The company will do
what it takes, Jackowski says, to reduce the industry’s
environmental impact. “The world is shifting. The
kids are on climate strike, telling all of us that they are
demanding action,” Jackowski says. “We are listening.”
53