Laura Heywood presented with Lifetime Achievement award

Laura Heywood (centre) with ETIRA's Secretary of the European Association, Vincent van Dijk, and Gabriella Wernhart (right), a remanufacturer based in Germany.

Local businesswoman Laura Heywood received a Lifetime Achievement award for her work over the last 25 years in promoting the reusage of printer cartridges.

The Kleen Strike Director was surprised with the award, the fourth to ever be presented, on Thursday 29 June at the Recycler magazine ‘Live’ Conference in Warsaw, by Editor and Publisher, Stefanie Unland.

Now a leading remanufacturer, Kleen Strike was started by Ms Heywood and her husband Don over 34 years ago. Initially refulling dot-matrix printer ribbon cassettes, they soon began to remanufacture toner cartridges and provide a full range of related services.

Ms Heywood, who has also been Secretary of UKCRA for the last 23 years, said: “This particular one is personal to me. It is the culmination of many years of working with like-minded people that are hoping to have made a difference. Margaret Mead once said, ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has’.”

UKCRA is the UK national trade association which represents the UK cartridge remanufacturers.

The Recycler’s 'Live' conference is the second largest event held annually in Europe: this year, over 150 delegates from the printer cartridge remanufacturing industry attended.