News

ecoATM announces official printer

February 28, 2011

The company known for recycling electronics, ecoATM, has announced it will use Seiko Instruments USA Inc.'s APU-9000-C kiosk printer in its Automated eCycling Station.

The ecoATM eCycling Station offers retailers a cost-free way to reward customers for recycling consumer electronics equipment. Customers place used portable electronics devices, such as mobile phones and MP3 players, in the eCycling kiosk.

The kiosk then inspects the devices, provides an instant, real-time secondary market valuation, and prints coupons, gift cards, bar-coded adhesive labels and promotions for customers to redeem in the store.

In December 2010, ecoATM also began testing take-back of other devices such as laptop computers, video games, and eReaders.

According to a company press release, ecoATM designers went through a rigorous testing process to identify a printing model that would best suit its kiosks. Top factors included reliability, negligible maintenance requirements and printing flexibility to support receipts, coupons and promotions, and bar code labels, with varying media thicknesses. The Seiko Instruments APU-9000-C thermal kiosk printer met all the requirement, said John Beane, ecoATMS's vice president of Engineering and Founding Team.

"We evaluated a number of printers before deciding on the Seiko Instruments APU-9000," he said. "The printer's ability to print receipts and bar-coded adhesive labels addressed our technical needs. Perhaps even more important is the simple design for paper loading and ease of maintenance. Seiko Instruments' reputation for reliability was also a critical factor in the decision."