Photos: Inside Ricoh's 'Green Centre'

Originally the facility was filled with units which had been stockpiled over previous years and which had been taking up space in third party warehouses – effectively throwing away money renting space - as well as being spread across multiple Ricoh sites. That backlog has been cleared now and the facility is constantly taking delivery of newly returned units - currently at an increasing rate of around 200 per month and counting.

The keen-eyed may spot one of the units is a Canon copier. Ricoh says it will process kit from rival companies, though Tom Wagland, environmental manager at Ricoh UK, believes some rivals are less accommodating of Ricoh kit when it turns up at their own facilities.

He says of one rival: "They just crush any Ricoh stuff that they get."

Photo: Will Sturgeon