How & Where to Recycle Toner Cartridges from Your Copier or Printer

Everything a business does has an impact on the environment in one way or another. Unfortunately, these impacts are more often negative rather than positive.

That is why when organizations contribute in any way to save the environment they actively promote their actions, and rightfully so. It isn’t always easy to change and adapt to new practices that contribute to a cleaner and healthier world.

However, there are some changes businesses can make that are easy to adapt and have a significantly positive impact on the environment.

The implementation of recycling practices is one. This practice doesn’t just encompass regular waste but all waste, including printer cartridges. Printer cartridges may seem harmless. However, the manufacturing process produces toxins, and improperly disposing of used cartridges has serious repercussion for the earth. The manufacturing process of a single cartridge generates over seven kilograms of CO2 in the environment. Companies that do not recycle toner exacerbate climate change and put more non-degradable junk in landfills. A single cartridge adds three pounds and three quarts of oil to a landfill. Remember, while a single cartridge may seem small, roughly 400 million cartridges are used in North America annually.

Where to Recycle Toner Cartridges?

The easiest way to recycle toner cartridges is through a third-party remanufacturer. ASE works with third-party remanufacturers to reuse every component of the cartridges our customers give us. This turns recycling into a process that doesn’t burden companies or their employees.

Toner cartridges are easy to recycle. They contain many different elements that can be recycled. For instance, the plastic shell of the cartridge contains steel elements inside. The steel elements includes a mixture of:

In creating the plastic and steel components, fossil fuels are used and the environment is further polluted. At the same time, when the cartridge is not recycled they are thrown into landfills. Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down. While it decomposes the remaining ink leaks to the atmosphere, potentially causing much more harm.

Recycling the toner can help businesses avoid causing this harm to the environment. This reduces the emission of harmful gases in the environment because the cartridge is reused. Every remanufactured cartridge replaces a new cartridge that would otherwise have been built.

How to Recycle Toner Cartridges?

The process to recycle toner cartridges is rather simple. In fact, it’s free with ASE Direct. It starts with the collection of empty toner cartridges at our customers’ workplaces.

To return the empty toner cartridge all that is required is for businesses to fill out a form on ASE Direct’s website to obtain a pre-paid shipping label. The toner cartridges can be put in a box with the shipping label affixed on it and dropped off to the nearest UPS office. It can also be provided to a UPS driver.

With such a simple process, there is no burden on businesses. There is no additional cost when it comes to recycling toner cartridges so it’s a practice that can be implemented by small businesses and huge enterprises alike.

Remember, that the smallest contribution counts when it comes to the environment. It’s not just the environment that benefits from such a step – your business also does, through access to high-quality, low-cost remanufactured toner cartridges.

Not all toner cartridges can be remanufactured. Those that are badly damaged are used for parts. The parts that work can then be allocated to other cartridges, ensuring that the process generates the minimum possible amount of waste.

How Recycling Toner Cartridges Can Benefit a Business

Beyond the environmental benefits of toner cartridge remanufacture, there are key economic incentives businesses should pay attention to. These serve to motivate executives and management to invest in recycling programs and find out how to return toner cartridges to remanufacturers.

• Reduced Expenses. The most prominent benefit remanufactured toner offers is low cost. New toner cartridges tend to be expensive and they tend to run out quickly. Remanufactured toners are anywhere from 15% to 30% lower in cost than new cartridges. The savings can be even greater when purchased in bulk.

• Corporate Social Responsibility. Recycling practices can be highlighted in a company’s marketing material under their corporate social responsibility initiatives. Consumers prefer to give business to companies that have sustainable practices. Give figures of how many cartridges were recycled and the amount of harmful gases that were kept from the environment for your sustainability-minded customers.

Recycling toner cartridges benefit companies as much as they benefit the environment. It is time for organizations large and small to adopt the practice. Simply finding out where to recycle toner cartridges can represent a key step forward in your corporate sustainability initiatives.

ASE Direct can help you return empty toner cartridges and enjoy excellent rates on high quality remanufactured toner cartridges. Talk to one of our sustainability experts today!