"While suppliers carry a lot of responsibility, we shouldn't just point the finger at industry alone. After all it wasn't until 2004 that the government's Extended Producer Responsibility statement identified computer waste as a priority focus. The awareness just wasn't there."

Cooper thinks this situation is set to improve with green procurement initiatives now high on the agendas for government and many corporations, and an increased general awareness by industry, and consumers alike.

Ricoh spends more than A$500,000 (US$369,000) annually in environmental programs, with around 5 percent invested in R&D.

In 2002, Ricoh was one of the first companies to offer its customers closed loop recycling of its toner cartridges and bottles. Many other companies now offer a similar service.

"To date we have diverted 82.3 tons of Ricoh toner container and other Ricoh consumable materials from landfill with a 100 percent resource recovery rate," Cooper said.