I found an Ink and Toner cartridge recycling bin at my local library. I have visited a couple libraries within my area and I also found bins like this.
Here are some facts that I found about Ink and Toner cartridge recycling from the Cartridge World website:
- About 8 cartridges are thrown away in the United States every second.
- Every cartridge reused is one less cartridge thrown into our landfills
- It takes a gallon of oil to make a new laser cartridge
- In North America, over 350 million cartridges per year are discarded in our landfills, and that number increases by 12 percent annually
- Every remanufactured cartridge saves nearly 3 and 1/2 pounds of solid waste from being deposited in landfills
- Remanufacturing cartridges reduces pollution. Almost 90% of empty cartridges are incinerated or dumped in landfills
- 70 percent of used printer cartridges throughout the world are currently being thrown out
- It can take as long as 450 years for a cartridge to decompose in a landfill
- In one year, if the world's discarded cartridges are stacked end-to-end, they would circle around the Earth over three times.
The bins are part of a recycling program that is run by Cartridge World. They provide the bins to schools or non-profit organizations to help them raise money.
Cartridge World has over 1600 stores worldwide. They can refill inkjet cartridges or remanufacture toner cartridges in their stores. Reusing printer cartridges helps saving the environment and with the tough economy, it can save you some money, too. You can visit their website to find a store near you.
