Recycling Articles : Recycling Printer Cartridges

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Over 24 million homes in the UK possess a PC and at least 90% of those use printers, but what do you do with the ink cartridges once they’re empty? If the average household uses 3 inkjet cartridges a year then how many more does your office use, and have you thought about whether or not they’re recycled? In reality, only 15% of all cartridges sold in the Uk are recycled, meaning that 85% end up lying in landfills where they will take an estimated thousand years to decompose, not to mention leeching harmful chemicals into our waterways in the meantime.

The other option that is becoming more popular do to its costcutting nature is refilling ink old ink cartridges. Printer cartridges are often very expensive but this price falls dramatically when we recycle cartridges by refilling them. There are many stationery shops which will provide this service, saving you some money and the environment some damage.

Alternatively, you can buy cartridge refill kits from similar shops and do it yourself but this can be messy and badly done refills have been known to ruin printers. Typically, a refill it will contain a cartridge holder, bottles of ink and needles and the process involves sucking the air out of the cartridge and then injecting new ink in with a needle.

If you’d rather not refill your ink cartridges then there are many recycling services who accept ink cartridges for recycling. They usually distribute plastic bags with the address and a freepost mark already printed on them.

You simply insert the cartridge, seal it and send it to the organisation. Charities sometimes accept them, selling them as refilled cartridges and using the profit to help others. If you have large quantities of cartridges to recycle then charities such as the Recycling Appeal will often offer a collection service.

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