Prasanna.ws

The green movement has made us all more aware of how our consumption effects the earth. Instead of blindly throwing everything away these days, we often try to find an alternative to waste – recycling, which reuses our waste and reallocates the material back into the supply chain. To recycle a toner cartridge is no different. The plastic that they are manufactured from can be harmful to humans and animals alike. In addition, since they are by their very nature a disposable commodity, ink cartridges are bound to run out sooner or later. It’s simply a question of whether they’ll end up in a landfill, or being put back into the next cartridge you buy from the store. It is always a good idea to consider toner cartridge recycling before simply throwing away a cartridge.

If you’re not sure where to start, try the place you got the toner cartridge from. For example, Staples, the office supply chain store, has a promotion that will credit each new purchase with $2 for recycling each cartridge that you bring in to recycle. This will add the cartridge back into the supply chain for the manufacturer, helping them cut down on cost of material production, thereby working its way back through to the consumer in the form of a price cut, credit or discount. Recycling makes good economic sense as well as being good for the environment.

Depending on the make and model of the cartridge, some can fetch a decent price through some websites – up to about 20% of their value. On some websites, certain brands of empty toner cartridges were going for up to $4 – not bad when one of them costs about $20.

Make sure that when you invest in a printer, you realize that cartridges will be a consistent and sometimes large expense in your home office use. Be positive that your printer can use refills or you can at least get some kind of credit or cash for your toner cartridge – this will give you an extra incentive to be good to mother earth.