Toner and Ink Recycling

I started saving ink cartridges a while back after a local school group started collecting them to make some money (by recycling them). I put a bag on my office door and whenever I changedcartridges, I would just slip the old inkjet cartridge into the bag.

When the announcement came that it was time to hand in the inkjet cartridges we had collected, I removed the bag of cartridges from the door . I was surprised by how many cartridges I had collected . I checked ou the contents and found I had four HP 78 color ink cartridges and 9 HP black ink cartridges. This was in a 2 month period! Since I have a home office, I do business out of my home, so I probably use up ink cartridges faster than most homes , but it got me thinking about how much inkjet ink must be used just inthe United States alone. It made me regret to think that I had previously just thrown those old ink and toner cartridges into the trash, since I thought it would take too much time to do anything else. Now always buy reconditioned Epson refurbished print cartridges on the web.

At the present time, ink based computer printers and toner based copiers are a the devices we inherit . Nearly every home in America has a printer, and most of those printers use some kind of replaceable inkjet cartridge or toner . If you trhow those away, they go into our dumps and will stay there for a very long time , and will soon leak cancer-causing substances into the ground water .

So is there a reliable way to recycle inkjet cartridges responsibly? The most effective way is to find a local group that collects them. Suchgroups receive a little bit of money for each cartridge , so you support their cause , while they return them to large clearinghouses that refill them and then retail them as remanufactured inkjet cartridges. This saves everyone a lot of money and keeps the ink cartridges in circulation and out of our environment .

If you normally buy original brand ink jet cartridges like HP , Samsung  , IBM or Lexmark , make certain you do a little research prior to taking part in in their alleged recycling programs. Some investigators have determined that many of the big ink cartridge makers simplify sending your old cartridges back to them, but they do not recycle them. Instead they destroy the cartridges (usually by burning them!) so that they won’t dilute the market . This helps them sell more OEM cartridges . They make a lot more money that way. That’s not earth-friendly – so make sure you check it out beforehand .

The cost savings between original and refilled inkjet cartridges can be   enormous . My mom’s printer took the HP78 tri-color cartridge. I could have purchased a new HP cartridge for around $35. Instead I bought a HP 78 recycled cartridge for $18 . I saved some cash , a charity earned some money and I helped help the earth. My wife’s small business uses a Xerox Workcentre printer that has ink that is very expensive. By buying a generic brand, you can acquire the xeorox solid ink   for around 65% off each time we order. That’s a savings of a lot of money in printer ink alone .

Those who have a printer or those in charge of purchasing printing ink supplies as their job should research how to take advantage of ink jet cartridge recycling. If everyone contributes, it can help save our environment. Plus you will be increasing revenue. It may take a little more time to get it all set up, but it is best for the planet.