Recycling Toners and Ink Cartridges for Printers

Recycling ink and toner cartridges is pretty easy to do. You can donate them or sell them to stores that will either give you money back for buying them or give you credit for trading them in to buy new cartridges. You can also send your cartridges back to the manufacturer after you have used them. The instructions should be inside the box and there are companies who provide packing materials and free postage. Cartridges that are recycled are then refilled and resold to consumers as refurbished for a lower price. It is estimated that about 30% of printer cartridges are recycled.

Re-using your ink cartridge is better than recycling it. You can buy a cartridge refilling kit at the store that you can use to inject the ink into the cartridge by yourself. If you if you do not feel comfortable doing it yourself, you can ask if a professional at the store can do it for you.

Refilling Toner Cartridges

Toner cartridges can also be refilled, making it a cheaper alternative than buying a new one. The number of times a toner cartridge can be refilled is limited. So if you are taking an empty cartridge to a store for recycling, they are going to ask you how many times you have previously refilled it. Refilling a toner cartridge is more complex than an inkjet cartridge so take the proper safety measures when you are refilling them as they are toxic to inhale and they can ruin your furniture if they are mishandled

Where Can I Recycle Cartridges

Following is a list of companies that recycle toner and inkjet cartridges

• Laser Tone International (laser-tone.com) at 1-800-EARTH-58 will pick up and deliver laser and ink jet cartridges for free.
• Overstock.com buys unused and unwanted HEWLETT PACKARD Printer Cartridges
• Usedcartridge.com pays your shipping for printer cartridges and even pays you for cartridges depending on the brand.
• Eco-office.com provides a list of companies in your area that purchase and recycle used cartridges.