What Happens To Recycled Printer Ink Cartridges

2010-02-05

The phrase "Green Technologies" is all the rage these days. It conjures up images of electric cars, windmills, solar energy, and for some optimists, is touted as the cure for our economic doldrums and the bright, shiny future of job creation. We usually imagine green technology to be somewhere "out there," without realizing that there are many down-to-earth ways we can help the environment as well as save money at the same time. Let's start with an often overlooked piece of equipment: the printer ink cartridge.

If you own a home computer, you probably have a printer as well; often they are bundled with the new PC at the time of purchase. The typical printer is the most mechanical component in a home PC setup, meaning it's the device with the most moving parts. Therefore, those parts will definitely wear out at some point, and throwing out old printers or cartridges into the normal waste stream is not a wise idea. The two better options consist of refilling the empty cartridges with ink, and returning the ink cartridges to the appropriate locations when they're too old to be refurbished.

So what actually happens to the recycled printer ink cartridges? The answer may surprise you because it varies depending on whom you ask. All the major manufacturers of consumer computer printers, namely Brother, Canon, Epson, Hewlett Packard, and Lexmark, have instituted some kind of official "closed loop" return and recycling program for their cartridges. The way it's ideally supposed to work is that you drop off your old printer cartridges at one of the big office supply chains, get a store credit for your good dead, and sleep soundly knowing that old plastic was being reborn. HP in particular, has emphasized their environmentally-friendly practices. They have stated their commitment to make recycling old cartridges free and easy for their customers anywhere in the world. As they are an industry leader, it is informative to observe their reclamation procedure in more detail.

On the HP company website, there is a four-and-a-half minute video named "HP Print Cartridge Recycling Tour", which gives a good overview. (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/education/eco-videos10.html) We can see the inner workings of their Inkjet Print Cartridge Recycling Facility in Nashville, TN. As you would expect, everything is automated and high-tech. First, the old cartridges are de-packaged en masse, they then travel along a conveyor belt and finally, go through a X-Ray machine. This is done so that the individual units can be sorted according to their product line "families;" i.e. make and model number. This allows HP to more efficiently recover raw materials. The metals and plastics are separated then shredded. Finally, these elements are remolded into new cartridges as well as other products.