Trash for Treasure?

There is an old saying that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.  Of course this saying refers to what many would call junk or items that have little or no useful value to the owner.  When it comes to recycling ink and toner cartridges the saying takes on an entirely different meaning. Whether a person is recycling these cartridges for an environmental reason or as a method to offset the cost of toner, there are several very solid reasons to recycle.

Each year over 375 million empty ink and toner cartridges are thrown away with most ending up in landfills or in incinerators.  That is about 11 cartridges per second and if you put those cartridges end-to-end they would circle the world three times.  The large amount of waste can be reduced through simple reuse and recycling yet approximately only 30% of all ink cartridges and 50% of all toner cartridges are recycled today.  The plastics used in printer cartridges are made of an engineering grade polymer that can take between 450 to 1,000 years to decompose.  Also carbon black toner has been classified as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

By recycling printer cartridges, we conserve natural resources and energy by reducing the need for virgin materials.  Up to 97 percent of the materials that make up a printer cartridge can be recycled or reused if taken care of.  Printer cartridges can in extreme cases be refilled up to 15 times before reaching the end of their life and though most average between 5-7 refills.

There are numerous companies that focus on return programs that will help you return your used ink and toner cartridges at absolutely no cost.  One such company is Green Cartridge Recycling which specializes in the collection and recycling of ink and toner cartridges.  This company has truly found the “Treasure in the Trash” but more importantly is helping us improve the environment.