Why You Should Recycle Printer Ink Cartridges

2010-02-23

You don't need to change your lifestyle just to recycle an Ink cartridge. Recycling this small product is fairly simple and will help you and the environment. Ink cartridges cost between 20-45 dollars and that can get very expensive if you print a lot of items and use a lot of ink. Recycled Ink cartridges are about half the price so you can help contribute to that by recycling it when it runs out of ink. There are millions of printer Ink cartridges that are thrown into landfills every year. Due to the fact many people don't realize they can recycle the cartridges, or they simply don't want to, they are hurting the environment. There are many options instead of just throwing these away. There reason we want to keep these harmful products out of landfills is because they release pollutants into our air. They take an extremely long time to decompose and during this time they are considered a dangerous material. For one single printer cartridge, it takes 2 liters of oil to make it. When you recycle the cartridge you are also preserving steel and aluminum.

There are many recycling centers that will actually give you money for your empty cartridges. The companies will actually pick up your empty ink cartridges and some companies will pay up to 8 dollars for each cartridge. A company that penalizes in programs and recycles millions of ink cartridges a year is Staples. Staples is an office supply store and provides a reward program for their customers. Through this program you are able to recycle up to 10 cartridges a month and you receive a 3 dollar Staples reward each item you drop off, and you are able to spend the rewards in their store.

You may also simply refill your cartridge with printer ink, if you don't want to recycle the item. There are numerous products available at stores to specifically match your empty ink cartridge.

It is estimated that between 20-40 % of people recycle their Ink cartridges, and the other 60-80 % are responsible for having cartridges show up in the landfills. At this substantial amount of these empty products, it can total many cubic yards and it wastes a lot of space. If we reduce this number and more people recycle, we can clear up more space in the landfills and at the same time save hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. It is a very simple task but it makes a huge difference in the world, so recycle your Printer Ink cartridge today.