Recycling Cartridges – Which method should I use?

Oh no, not another article on the environment. It seems the whole world has gone green crazy – recycle this, remanufacture that, won’t someone think of the ice caps?!?

It is obviously a worthwhile cause, but with the tireless repetition now seen across every charity and corporation it gets a bit overwhelming and – to be frank – difficult to take seriously. If everyone is taking these steps so heavily marketed as a unique selling point, then what is the big deal? The whole “if everyone’s unique, no one is” kind of thing. Indeed, if all manufacturers are making large steps in recycling and constantly looking to make it more efficient, is there really that big of a problem within the industry? It could only be eradicated with the removal of printing… heaven forbid.Though doing something is obviously needed, highlighted by a fancy little stat:

If for the next 7 years, every single purchased ink and toner cartridge was recycled 100% efficiently…. you would have enough material to build a bridge to the moon! 221000 miles…. Just don’t try and walk it.

There are two main methods of recycling for our industry:

• direct recycling – where the cartridge is broken down and reconstructed into a shiny new cartridge as efficiently as possible
• refilling/remanufacturing the cartridge.

But you really have to do some research to ensure you don’t do more damage than good when you send off a cartridge.

Direct Recycling:

Each of the manufacturer’s has been undertaking environmentally beneficial activities for quite some time. HP started a recycling scheme in 1991, and since then has recycled 265 million cartridges. …. Canon started toner recycling in 1990, a world first…. Lexmark has its well documented cartridge Returns programme doing both recycling and refilling… Brother runs its own similar operations – and the list goes on.

The sole intent of manufacturers appears to be limiting landfill levels – but direct recycling consumes a huge amount of energy, is it doing more damage for the long run?

Canon claim to reuse 75% of every returned toner cartridge, and of the remaining 25% ALL of it its recycled to other products such as roof tiles. HP aims to be able to reuse all the plastic in its cartridges. How much energy does this use?

Have you ever seen a HP 45 cartridge? It is essentially a melee weapon with an alter-ego of a life printing your letters – possibly the one to the police explaining why you hit someone with a cartridge. Even the tab to grip the cartridge is solid plastic, the printer could place a Schwarzenegger-esque grip on it and you could still prise it out with ease. The energy needed to break this cartridge down for recycling must be immense – and at time of writing this cartridge can go into no less than 52 types of HP printer. That is 52 consumer demands for 1 product. 52 times more demand than a cartridge for a single printer. Is it not better to refill these cartridges – with the cleaning and refilling process being energy efficient – than completely breaking up and rebuilding each time?

But companies like HP claim this affects quality to such an extent it should not be considered. Whilst HP has a point, compatible quality will be slightly lower, not all printer users will be aiming for the highest echelons. Not every image printed needs to be of Van Gogh clarity, and I’m sure Shakespeare could handle text which isn’t perfectly sharp. It is this general use where refills can shine green. When you view cartridges such as the compatible for the TO711 for Epson printers, which literally just drop into the machine and work – as it is essentially just a tank of ink – you realise the inherently simple nature of cartridges which is achievable. Yes, select printers internal makeup requires some form of technology or hardware within the cartridge, such as older printers not including a print head, but these should not have to be immediately broken down as the first stage of recycling. Those print heads will last more than 1 print cycle.

Stemming from this, select cartridges have chips embedded within them which only allow a certain amount of prints. These cannot be refilled, and are forced to be recycled. The only way to get past is a replacement chip designed to bypass this limit. I understand manufacturers trying to guarantee quality – but wouldn’t it be better for the environment to put a disclaimer about the possible impact of repeated use, and open up the realms of refills to all cartridges?

Recycling Epson Cartridges

A quick comment for Epson users. With Epson printers putting the important technology, such as print heads, into the machine itself their cartridges have no particular value. Essentially they are just a plastic casing for the ink you are using to print. Due to this, there is not really anything to recycle. Epson themselves (at time of writing) incinerate cartridges that are returned to them, not the most environmentally friendly process, potentially worse than just taking recyclers stance of “We don’t take Epson cartridges”.

If you are looking at using your Epson cartridges for a good cause then simply clean them out and take them to your local plastic recycling centre. It is as easy as that

Where does Recycling go now?

To be fair, the manufacturers are acknowledging shortcomings in environmental procedures and trying to address them in new models, which is a start. However some methods give more of an inkling of being a money-maker than as an environmental concern. Take HP as an example (I am sorry Mr Hewlett)…..

A common HP problem – as soon as one colour runs out, the printer will refuse to print.
Their Solution – All the remaining Inks blend together to produce the empty ink until it is replaced.
Surely this uses more ink and drains all cartridges faster? Yet is advertised as a Green Scheme. Hmmm.

Bashing HP leads me nicely to the next recycling method, as they actual lead this area for efficiency!

Carbon Footprint:

Let me outline an example process which should be avoided…..
1. Cartridges for recycling arrive in the South Coast of America…
2. Plastic shipped to North West America….
3. Refined cartridges sent to China for packaging….
4. Cartridges returned to America for sale….
5. The polar bears take their jackets off, bit toasty here

Okay so maybe point 5 is fabricated, but this does raise an interesting point. Why do polar bears have jackets? Or better yet, why am I trying to save the environment by shipping cartridges all around the world? This method is actually used by 1 American remanufacturer who shall remain nameless, so congratulations to them, using more resources in shipping than would have been used to break down a cartridge for recycling.

The carbon footprint can be applied to all stages of the recycling, from how the cartridges reach consumers in the first place – to how they leave the area of usage – to how they get to where they are recycled – finally how they are actually recycled.

This raises issues to when you should send them off:

• stockpile them instead of individual recycling packages?
• priority of future printer purchases, ones that are more eco friendly?
• Use of cartridges you know are recyclable? – the list goes on.

A final point – both Ink and Toner utilise oils, a non-renewable source, and how much more oil is burned to break a cartridge down for recycling? Or used as petrol in transportation? It is no different than trying to save electricity in light usage, so choosing to burn down a forest and bathe in the light it generates. Yes an extreme example, but some clarity needs to be put into the available methods to consumers so they can make valid choices of their own, instead of all manufacturers slating third-party refills – promoting their own recycling plans with the exact same information provided – with thinly masked attempts at boosting sales.

Our Efforts

We like to be clear on our recycling efforts. We are as energy efficient as possible within our offices and warehouses, utilising Energy Star printers and maximising the use of all packaging materials. We also have strong ties with 2 recycling companies whom we recommend to all customers, depending on the products you buy.

For Ink cartridges – The Recycling Factory. We typically include free-post bags to this company in all orders of recyclable ink cartridges to encourage participation.
Toner cartridges – Re-Claim It, a great heavily-active UK company for the recycling world, who clean and sell from their location to refillers around the country.

If you would like more information on this please feel free to email me

I hope this article highlights how users must be careful of the choice of recycling, it stems much further than just avoiding the landfill areas.

It was not intended as a “recycle NOW” article, just to think about your actions when your low-ink light starts to flash… though if you don’t recycle, me and my HP45 will find you

This entry was posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 2:39 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.