Mimaki Engineering ＜6638＞ announced on the 8th that it will begin shipping “paper ink cartridges,” which have changed part of the material of the company's ink cartridges, which use plastic as the main raw material, to paper, from 2024/5.
Paper ink cartridges are used in ink cartridges for eco-solvent printers, which are products for the company's signature graphics market, and have been pre-sold to domestic customers since 2023/5.
The company has established its own in-house standard called the “plastic reduction rate promoted by plastic removal,” and achieved a reduction rate of 68% with the same ink cartridge. As a result, it is expected that plastic usage can be reduced by about 44 tons (tons) per year, and CO2 emissions from plastic manufacturing processes can be reduced by about 57 tons per year. Furthermore, weight reduction has been realized by switching to paper production, and it is expected that CO2 emissions required for overseas transportation can be reduced by about 8 tons per year. The company is implementing free collection of used genuine ink cartridges, ink packs, and ink bottles from the viewpoint of environmental protection, and the transition to paper ink cartridges will step forward free collection efforts aimed at recycling resin materials and promote plastic removal.