Most of us are familiar with recycling paper and glass and few people are aware of the importance of printer cartridge recycling. Printer cartridges are made out of plastic, which can take up to one thousand years to decompose. Millions of people worldwide simply dispose of their empty printer cartridges without even considering recycling them. These unwanted printer cartridges end up in landfills where they could easily have been recycled or remanufactured.
When one considers that printer cartridge recycling allows the printer cartridge to be reused up to seven times and more than 90% of the printer cartridge can be reused, just imagine how much energy is being saved to create new printer cartridges to keep up with the demand. With printer cartridge recycling there is no need to make use of natural resources to create new printer cartridges. Similarly, the amount of energy for disposal or incineration of old printer cartridges is also unnecessary.
Numerous printer cartridge recycling companies offer to come and collect the printer cartridges from your home, school or office and other may even purchase your old printer cartridges from you. These recycling companies often sell the old printer cartridges or refurbish the printer cartridges themselves.
The recycled printer cartridges are first sorted into make and models and damaged printer cartridges are removed. The damaged printer cartridges are checked to ascertain if they can be repaired. The printer cartridges are then cleaned and refilled with printer ink. The printer cartridges are tested to ensure they meet the required printing standard, and are finally packaged and sold.
Current statistics show that more printer cartridges are being disposed of than the amount of printer cartridges that are being recycled. This can change if we all take an active role in printer cartridge recycling by implementing recycling in your workplace, school or home and encouraging others to do the same.