by: Neil craig
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