subject: Don't Waste Those Empty Toner Cartridges [print this page] The environmental battle is real, urgent and you can help. If you own a laser printer please don't end up throwing those empty toner cartridges away. There's lots of ways you can help by starting to recycle them. Remember the mantra for our day simply has to be "reduce, reuse and recycle"
The simple fact is that you can save valuable raw materials, energy and waste by simply using your laser toner cartidges again. In Europe there are nearly 50 million laser cartidges bought each year, 95% of these only get used once. Considering each new cartidge takes between 1 and 2 litres of oil to produce, that's a lot of waste.
These cartidges end up in landfill areas, thousands of tons every year across the world. The materials don't exactly decompose quickly either, the plastics are usually non-biodegradable. Every single time you reuse a cartridge you really do save on waste landfill.
Don't throw these cartidges away or even send off to the many 'so-called' environmentally friendly remanufacture schemes, designed to save the print companies eco-reputation. Remember these empty toner cartridges all used to come with a little stopper which you could use to refill with compatibe toner ink, now that's eco friendly. However the printing companies realised they were missing out on a huge source of revenue here - so they removed them.
There are many companies who can provide you with simple kits which can refill most empty toner cartridges. Many of these cartidges can be refilled 4 or 5 times with no real problems and each time you are saving up to 87% of the cost of a new laser toner cartridge. It's a serious way of saving money and to be honest virtually anyone can do it, the majority of cartridges are relatively easy to refill but check with an expert first.
All you need is one of the kits and some compatible toner to refill it, most cases it's a 5 minute job, and requires no real skill. Empty toner cartridges still work they just have run out of ink so just refill them.
It's true these cartridges are not broken, they're not faulty, they are merely empty. If you notice a little plug or stopper on your cartridge, it means that your toner is one of the lucky few and is designed to be refilled. Just buy some replacement toner and refill the empty cartridge.
Other cartridges need you to create a refiller hole but it's very simple with the right kit anyone can do this. You don't need to tamper with the cartidge itself (as you have to in remanufacturing), so there's little that can go wrong. Your just filling it up with ink.
They won't damage your printer, and you can refill the cartidge until you see a deteriation in the print quality and then buy a new one. The advantage you will have saved hundreds of dollars and reduced environmental waste significantly. Imagine if every one did this, saving millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands less toner cartridges being produced and thrown away.
by: John Greenhoff
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