A new Cartridge World blog explains how and why consumers should recycle their used printer cartridges.
As the blog states, both ink and toner cartridges “require a lot of energy and materials to manufacture” and this “has a significant impact on the environment.”
The carbon footprint of just one new cartridge is approximately 4.5kg of CO2 – and every time a used cartridge is thrown away and a new one has to be made, this amount of CO2 is produced again.
If that wasn’t bad enough, only 30 percent of cartridges are recycled, meaning a whopping 45.5 million cartridges end up in landfill in the UK on a yearly basis.
The “good news”, as Cartridge World comments, is that recycling your used cartridges is a simple and straightforward process, which both saves money and aids the environment. As the blog states, “The average recycled print cartridge has a carbon footprint of 2.8kg of CO2, 46 percent less than that of a new cartridge.”
One way you recycle your cartridges is by having them refilled so you can reuse them. The majority of the time, used ink cartridges “can be refilled and reused again, and any other components it requires” can be replaced, either at a Cartridge World store or by using a similar service.
Alternatively, you can simply send them away to be recycled elsewhere.
