Top 5 Reasons to Recycle Empty Inkjet Cartridges

Recycling empty inkjet cartridges is an easy way for anybody to help to reduce the strain on our environment.

Here are the top 5 biggest reasons to recycle your empty inkjet cartridges.

First of all, each cartridge that is recycled saves almost 3 pounds of natural resources associated with the production of a new cartridge.

Second, each inkjet cartridge that is recycled also saves an average of 3.5 ounces of oil. With the worldwide demand for oil on the rise and supplies shrinking, a little effort can make a significant impact over time.

The third reason you should recycle or reuse your empty inkjet cartridges is to reduce the strain on local landfills. An inkjet cartridge does not biodegrade in a landfill, as other waste will over time. Once a cartridge is discarded, it will be there for several hundred years.

It is estimated that over 300 million printer cartridges are disposed of in landfills annually. That creates 75,000 tons of waste each year, which is equal in weight to more than 30,500 African Elephants!

The forth reason is that recycled and remanufactured inkjet cartridges save money. Recycling your empty cartridges provides empty cores to cartridge remanufacturing companies that, in turn, professionally refill and sell to users at a discounted price. Consumers will see the same reliability, performance and quality as using an original brand OEM cartridge but at a lower cost.

Finally, recycling ink cartridges is fast and easy. Many companies that sell remanufactured cartridges either at the retail level or online also have a recycling program.

One of the most popular methods for end users to recycle inkjet cartridges is through the use of postage paid return envelopes that are sometimes included with an online inkjet cartridge purchase.

A return mailer (recycle envelope) is typically a self-sealing plastic bag that is pre-addressed to a recycling company. The consumer puts their empty inkjet cartridge into the bag, seals it, and drops it off at a post office or any USPS mailbox. The postage is pre-paid, and the whole process takes just a few seconds.

Another method of recycling is through the use of an inkjet cartridge refilling service such as the Jetpak mailer program.

With the Jetpak mailer program, the customer purchases a special refilling service mailer in advance. When the customer runs out of ink, they place the empty cartridge into the postage paid mailing box, and drop it in the mail. When the cartridge refilling company receives the empty cartridge, the refilling service cleans, inspects, and professionally refills the cartridges and mails it back to the customer.

The customer receives their refilled cartridge back in about a week, and enjoys a big savings over buying a new cartridge.

Why recycle? Why not recycle?

It saves money, natural resources, reduces garbage and the strain on our landfills, and is the right thing to do.

Just because an empty inkjet cartridge is out of ink, doesn’t mean it’s broken.

It just needs to be recycled.

For more info on the Jetpak cartridge refilling service, visit our page on how to recycle ink cartridges with our Jetpak Mailer program.