According to statistics, there are hundreds of millions of printer ink cartridges sold every year in Europe and in the United States alone. However, only a bare 5% of those printer ink cartridges ever find their way to a recycling center once they are used up.
Why Recycle Printer Ink Cartridges?
Advocates of the environment have two major reasons why they think printer ink cartridges should be recycled. One is that printer ink cartridges can harm the environment, while the other is that the materials they are made of come from finite sources that need to be conserved.
1.Printer ink cartridges are pollutants. Printer ink cartridges are non-biodegradable materials. When they find their way to a landfill, they do not rot so they just sit there for years. What is bad about that is that the chemicals that printer inks are made of are harmful.
2.Printer ink cartridges are made from finite sources. Printer ink cartridges are primarily made from plastic and metal. Plastic is a derivative of petroleum while metals are mined from the earth. Both petroleum and metal ores are finite and there is no knowing when they will be exhausted.
As thus, printer ink cartridges need to be recycled rather than just thrown away. The two main methods of recycling printer ink cartridges are: 1) refilling them when they become empty; and 2) giving or selling them to recycling centers.
Recycling Printer Ink Cartridges by Refilling
One of the simplest ways of recycling printer ink cartridges is by taking them to an ink refilling station to get them refilled, or by buying ink refill kits for some do-it-yourself refilling. If you are not so finicky about the quality of the ink in refill kits (we do need to recognize that inks in refill kits are not the same as original inks), then you can extend the life of your printer ink cartridge by refilling it once or twice.
Giving Printer Ink Cartridges to a Recycling Center
Once your printer ink cartridge cannot be refilled anymore, you can take it to a facility that recycles them. These recycling centers will even pay you for your empty cartridge, unless you specify that the cartridges are your donation to the facility. What these recycling centers will do to your printer ink cartridge is to retrieve the materials and find other uses for these materials.
The idea of recycling printer ink cartridges is not just some fad. It is a serious matter that we need to take seriously. Do your part and recycle your printer ink cartridges.
Have you heard that in the United States alone, there are about 480 printer cartridges being thrown every minute? This means that every hour, there are about 28,000 cartridges discarded. In order to compare it will other things, it is estimated that the weight of the used ink cartridges used in America alone is the same with the weight of almost 67,600 Ford Explorers or the weight of almost 112,500 Volkswagen beetles. With these huge amounts of printer cartridges used everyday, it is high time that you do something about it. You should try to reuse and recycle in order to help the environment.
The most common users of printer cartridges are the business sector. They are usually the ones who consume a lot of ink since they get to print documents for their offices. Next to them are the households that changes toners at least twice every year, depending on their printing needs. In order to save the environment, there are several ways on how to recycle these used cartridges.
One and most practical way is by reusing your printer cartridges. You can refill this by buying a refill kit. Refill kits can help you save on ink costs. The refill kits come with everything that you need. It contains the ink, whether black or colored, that you will put inside the cartridge. The kit also has a syringe, which you will use to insert the ink. You will need to inject the ink inside of the cartridge. It also has a pair of plastic gloves that you will use to keep your hands from stains. Lastly, it has a manual of instructions on how to properly do the procedure of the refill. The price of the refill kit is usually half the price of the original ink. If properly refilled, the output of the ink is almost the same as the original ink. The cartridges can be refilled up to six times.
Aside from refilling the printer cartridges, you can also recycle the toner printers by sending it back to the company where you bought the cartridges. There are some companies that give special instructions for their clients on how they can recycle their cartridges. You can visit their sites for these instructions. There are also some companies that require their clients to send back to them the used cartridges. The companies shoulder the cost of the shipping.
Another option is to bring these printer cartridges to retailers. This serves as their after sales strategy to their clients. There are even some stores that offer trade-ins. These stores give incentives such as store coupons, free products or discounts on some items that you will purchase from them.
As a summary, you can help save the earth by recycling and reusing your printer cartridges. You can either reuse it by refilling it with new ink or you can also recycle it by sending it back to the ink manufacturers or cartridge retailers. With these steps, you can save money at the same time and you can also save the earth.
Both James Kara Murat & Vikram Kuamr are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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