Can I Have My Empty Ink Cartridges Recycled?

Inkjet cartridges are manufactured using plastic components and with plastic being a petroleum based compound it can take up to 1000 years for this product to decompose in a landfill site. Unfortunately every years tens of thousands of these ink cartridges are throw in the bin with little thought given to how the impact the will have on the planet. These ink cartridges will almost certainly end up in landfill or go for incineration. Of course the amount of money spent each year for landfill management is growing because landfills are filling up faster than ever.

Recycling an empty ink cartridge is also financially profitable. It helps reduce the amount of waste that is generated and helps conserve our raw materials. Below are some little known facts about recycling inkjet cartridges or laser toner cartridges.

1. Every year over 300 million of these cartridges worldwide are dumped. This adds up to 75,000 tons of rubbish.
2. A remanufactured or recycled ink cartridge is every bit as good as a new one. When you purchase recycled ink cartridges at a lower cheaper price than the original brand, you are not compromising on quality, you are saving yourself money because cartridge was produced for less by the company that remanufactured the ink cartridge.
3. All large town and cities and Ireland have an ink and toner cartridge-recycling zone in their refuse site. It may not be obvious to everyone but they do exist and should become part of your monthly routine to visit and dispose of the cartridges sensibly and do you bit for the environment. Many council facilities will pass the cartridges to an organization that will then help charities with a contribution from the profits made on an eventual sale of a remanufactured ink cartridge.

With sales of compatible ink and toner cartridges on the increase it is important, now more than ever, that we address the problem of disposing of our cartridges in an environmentally friendly manner.

Paul Johnston

Paul Johnston is a Partner and co-founder of Printerinkcartridges.ie.
Paul had vast experience gained in the graphic design and print industry for 15 years prior to his venture into on-line retailing in 2010 with ink and toner replacement cartridges. Paul enjoys writing blogs, social media for small businesses, internet marketing and above all sharing the latest information he deems helpful to fellow bloggers.