A used ink cartridge sure looks like trash, why not just throw it in with the rest of your office waste? The thing is, inkjet cartridges are far more hazardous and hurtful to the environment than other kinds of office trash.
Inkjet cartridges are plastic, a petroleum-based product that can take 1,000 years to decompose. Imagine your split-second decision to throw away a cartridge lasting 1,000 years!
The Surprising Facts
Despite the known harms that trashed cartridges represent, millions are thrown away every year and end up in our landfills or incinerators. Landfills are filling up at a faster rate than we can keep up with them, and millions of dollars spent every year on landfill management. Here are a few facts about cartridges that may surprise you:
- Every new cartridge is made up of three pounds of resources
- Every cartridge relies on 3.5 ounces of oil in its creation. Imagine this amount saved a million times over
- 300 million cartridges are thrown away every year, amounting to 75,000 tons of garbage
Cartridge Recycling: The Simple Solution
It’s surprising how many cartridges end up in landfills given how easy they are to recycle. With just a little extra effort on your part, you can reduce your office’s environmental impact in a big way.
And here’s the big secret that shouldn’t be a secret at all: Remanufactured cartridges are every bit as good as brand new ones. In fact, recycled cartridges are often cheaper for the same quality product. Recycling and buying recycled cartridges not only saves you money, but it saves resources over and over again.
For more information about how to recycle your printer cartridges, visit our cartridge recycling how-to page on our website. If you need more help, feel free to contact us anytime.