Old or used printer cartridges can pile up quickly, especially if you have more than one printer or print on a very frequent basis. With more than 350 million ink and toner cartridges ending up in our landfills every year, proper printer cartridge recycling is more important than ever. Printer cartridges are designed to be easily reused and taking several extra steps can help reduce waste and shrink your carbon footprint. Why throw away your empty ink and toner cartridges when you can recycle them? In this article, we’ll introduce you 4 simple solutions on how to recycle printer cartridges.
1. Drop Them Off at Your Local Office Supply Store
Many office supply stores will joyfully take back your empty or used printer cartridges. You can drop off your used ink or toner cartridges at the closest Staples®, Office Depot®, Walgreens®, Costco®, or major office supply store near you.
2. Find A Local Recycling Facility
Once you’ve collected the used ink and toner cartridges together with small personal electronics you want to discard, visit Earth911.com to find the nearest recycling center. Just enter the material you’d like to recycle (ink and toner), add your zip code and you will be shown an extensive list of recycling facilities in your area. Moreover, Earth911.com also has an easy-to-use recycling app called iRecycle, featuring over 1,600,000 ways to recycle more than 350 materials.
3. Join Some Programs to Earn Extra Cash
You may also want to look for some programs that give you money back for recycling printer cartridges such as eCycle Group, Recycle4Charity, and Cartridges for Kids. The amount you get in return depends on several factors, including whether the cartridge is an OEM one, the type of printer cartridge, and etc.
In order for your printer cartridges to be recycled, they must be on the pre-approved recycling price list and received in good condition. If you’re planning on mailing your used cartridges to the recycling facility, be sure to individually wrap each cartridge in bubble wrap or old newspaper to minimize the likelihood they may be damaged in transit.
4. Consider Refilling Your Ink or Toner Cartridges
If you have an ink or toner cartridge that you’ve used just once, consider refilling them so there’s less waste. You can find a local refill service near you, or you can just refill your printer cartridges on your own with proper ink/toner refill kit.
Most refill kits come with a bottle of ink/toner, a syringe, screw tool, plastic gloves and refill instructions. Make sure the refill kit you bought is intended for your specific cartridge model, and refill instructions and ink/toner capacities also vary across brand and cartridge type. Keep in mind that you can only refill your printer cartridges a few times. For more information on ink/toner refill, you can read our articles: “How to Refill 4 Color Cartridge Refill Ink for General Inkjet Printers?” and “7 Easy Steps on How to Refill Printer Toner Cartridge“.
Recycling used printer cartridges not only helps reduce waste, but also contributes valuable components to be reused and refilled for remanufactured cartridges. We hope you find certain value in these eco-friendly solutions on how to recycle printer cartridges. Be sure to educate others the significance and simplicity of printer cartridge recycling. By making a concerted effort to dispose of our ink and toner cartridges properly, we can prevent a considerable number of printer cartridges from ending up in the landfills and collectively minimize our carbon footprint!
Post time: Jul-11-2019