Out of the 60 million inkjet cartridges and 44
million toner cartridges used each year in the UK alone,
less than 8% are recylced leaving over 95 million
of them being thrown away and ending up in landfill sites.
Landfill sites contain over £100 million worth in raw
materials from discarded printer cartridges alone. These
cartridges contain precious oil resources (it can take up to 6
pints (almost 3.5 litres) of oil to make just one printer
cartridge), as well as cartridge ink, both worth a fortune to
replace as new.
In less than one year, recycling cartridges in Europe could
save more oil than the 11,000,000 gallons spilled by the Exxon
Valdez oil tanker into Prince William Sound in Alaska in
1989.
So how can you help?
* Refill and reuse your existing cartridges
Refilling your existing cartridges not only saves you money but
the amount of natural resources that will be spared is amazing.
Do you throw away your car when it's petrol tank needs
refilled?
* Buy remanufactured inkjet and toner cartridges
Buying Remanufactured cartridges saves on the enviromental and
purchase cost of buying new. With todays standard of
remanufactured cartridges so high, it is almost impossible to
distinguish the quality brands such as Printrite from the
original manufacturers own.
* Recycle your used inkjet cartridges and laser toners
Collect and return your used inkjet cartridges to be recycled –
with every returned cartridge a donation is made to charity –
so you not only help the environment but also worthy
causes!
So what benefits does recycling my cartridge have?
* Slows down the depletion of the earths non renewable
resources.
Oil is a non renewable natural resource and refilling your
cartridges makes a significant contribution to its
conservation. Other materials in cartridges include aluminium
and steel.
* Less non-biodegradable plastic and other material is
disposed of.
The majority of discarded laser printer cartridges are disposed
of in land fills. This amounts to about 10,000 tonnes of
material a year in the UK and takes over 1000 years to
degrade.
* You save money!
Purchasing a refill kit or remanufactured cartridge costs a
fraction of the original manufacturers selling price. Also, by
sending cartridges to landfill, a landfill tax is incurred
which is passed on to you, the consumer, through Council Tax
or companies waste collection costs.
The future....
The pressure for the reduction of the amount of waste disposed
of in landfill and increasing emphasis on manufacturers
responsibility to consider and plan for the whole life of a
product, including its eventual disposal, are both current
issues in Britain and Europe. The WEEE (Waste Electrical and
Electronic) directive is coming into force in January 2006 and
it creates obligations on the supply chain in respect of the
disposal of end of life equipment.
The reuse of inkjet and laser printer cartridges by all
different means is likely to grow.
Refill kits and remanufactured cartridges –
www.everythingink.co.uk
WEEE -
Waste Electrical and Electronic
Written July 2005 by
Neil Craig
neil@everythingink.co.uk
Printing
Consumables
Inkjet Cartridges, Laser Toners, Refill Kits, Photo Paper and
all Printing Consumables
http://www.everythingink.co.uk
Categories 
