How To Recycle Printer Cartridges? - It's Too Easy!

Did you know that there are around 1.5 billion printer ink cartridges sold each year around the world? Unfortunately, 70% (1 billion) of these cartridges are not ethically recycled. With composting times of anywhere between 400 to 1000 years, printer cartridges are not exactly mother nature's best friend and can wreak serious havoc on landfills worldwide.

As such, the social responsibility of ensuring these do not end up in landfill is real – and it falls to both of us (aka, printer suppliers and you, the printer user). At CartridgesDirect, we take efforts to do our part wherever possible, including by working with ethical printer manufacturers like HP, who champion sustainability by using recycled materials to manufacture their HP printer cartridges. 

In March 2018 alone, HP sourced more than 170 tonnes of plastic (over 8.3 million plastic bottles) from Haiti—plastic that might otherwise have washed into the waterways and oceans. Alongside protecting Haitian waterways from these potential pollutants, HP’s bottle recycling initiative has also continued to produce economic opportunities for Haitian citizens, supporting HP’s environmental and societal impact.

So what can we do to contribute to HP’s own green legacy? To start off, you can recycle your printer cartridges with our team at CartridgesDirect rather than tossing all your empty cartridges directly into your landfill waste bin. 

Why Recycle your Printer Ink Cartridges?

Believe it or not, but recycled materials aren’t just used to make your printer cartridges – they’re also generated by recycling your printer cartridges and returning the materials used to manufacture your cartridges back into production and manufacturing facilities. Did you know that nearly every aspect of your printer cartridges can be recycled into new products? Therefore, by not recycling, you are also wasting valuable non-renewable resources. 

So, if you were wondering why you should recycle empty cartridges, here are two reasons for you straight off the bat. For those of you who want to make a difference, take a look at these 5 fantastic options on how to recycle printer cartridges easily throughout Australia.

You'll be surprised at how easy printer cartridge recycling can be!

How to Recycle Printer Ink & Toner Cartridges: 5 Easy Methods

Recycling your empty printer cartridges is the best way to dispose of them once you’re all done with your printing. All original, manufacturer-produced printer cartridges (or ‘genuine ink cartridges’) can be ethically recycled through authorised collection programs. This is why most printer recycling programs specify that they’ll only take original ink cartridges over compatible ink cartridges. Sadly, this adds to the figure that only about 15% of all purchased and used printer cartridges worldwide end up being recycled.

However, at CartridgesDirect, we’re not like most other recycling program facilitators! As all of our compatible printer cartridges are ethically sourced and are guaranteed to use only high-quality components, you can actually recycle your compatible cartridges directly with us as well! So if you have purchased compatible ink cartridges with us, you can still send them in with your mailing satchel to have them recycled by our team here at CartridgesDirect.

Anywho, enough rambling about a serious environmental issue. Let's put you in the 85th percentile and show you how to recycle ink cartridges in Australia for free!

1. Join our free cartridge recycling program.

Through Cartridges 4 Planet Ark and other local printer cartridge recycling schemes, you can easily dispose of your depleted printer ink cartridges and avoid having to contribute unnecessarily to your local landfill. At CartridgesDirect, our printer cartridge recycling program is designed to be like no other. Instead of having designated cartridge drop-off points, we give you the option to send your ink cartridges for recycling directly to us and we’ll take care of it from there!

As proud partners and supporters of Cartridges 4 Planet Ark and Close The Loop, recycling your cartridges is simple with CartridgesDirect. Whenever you purchase ink cartridges from our website, you will receive a complimentary AusPost mailing satchel with your packed order. Once this recycling satchel has been received, simply collect up to 8 empty ink cartridges and drop your filled satchel off at your nearest postbox at a time of your convenience. It is totally free as the postage is pre-paid for your satchels by our team at CartridgesDirect. Plus, all of our mailing satchels are then posted directly to Close The Loop for responsible recycling. 

By purchasing ink cartridges from a provider such as ourselves here at CartridgesDirect, you will not only be guaranteed to have the best quality ink, you will also take comfort in knowing that we're investing back into the earth.

2. Cartridge recycling through Australia Post.

Just like CartridgesDirect, Australia Post is also an official partner of Cartridges 4 Planet Ark. If you already have existing printer cartridges and do not have a recycling satchel, you can simply visit your local post office for processing. Each post office will have a Cartridges 4 Planet Ark recycling box. Here, you can simply drop-off your empty cartridges absolutely free of charge. 

With free postal services and collection bins, the question is not 'how to recycle printer cartridges'. It is in actual fact 'when will you recycle printer cartridges'. There are zero roadblocks designed across these printer and toner cartridge recycling schemes to make it as easy as possible for you to do your part as a consumer and help us create closed loop production processes in printer manufacturing worldwide. 

3. Start your own collection program.

If you want to make a bigger difference, you too can become a Cartridges 4 Planet Ark partner. If your workplace, business, university or school uses more than three inkjet, toner cartridges or toner bottles within a month, you may be eligible for your own free ‘Cartridges 4 Planet Ark' collection box and effectively become a registered Workplace Collection point with Planet Ark. All registered Workplace Collection points can also receive Resource Recovery Certificates that outline the weight of cartridges collected and returned. These certificates can actually be useful for reporting on your organisation’s overall environmental impact. So if you’re looking to invest in environmental monitoring and management processes for your business, partnering with Cartridges 4 Planet Ark and becoming a registered Workplace Collection point may just be a vital component of your green strategising!

Using your Cartridges 4 Planet Ark collection box, you can avoid having to ferry your printer ink cartridges from one collection point or another and instead, just recycle them entirely in-house and via your own partnership with Cartridges 4 Planet Ark. Once your box is full, all you need to do is just tie off the bag inside your box using the cable ties provided, and send your filled bag through Australia Post using the Reply Paid sticker affixed to that bag. It really is that easy.

4. Partner with Close The Loop.

Close the Loop has earned the reputation for being the best-in-class sustainable option for businesses looking to reduce their impact, without having to do the work themselves. Close the Loop works on a simple three-step model - take back, recover and reuse. Taking back printer cartridges is the most important step as it’s the only one that’s intentional and it informs the following steps. You, the consumer, are responsible for only this step and once you have registered your interest, taking back can be easily automated. 

After the printer cartridges are collected (either through a regular partnership arrangement or a pick-up request) Close the Loop can recover the valuable materials and parts from the printer cartridges. These materials include precious metals and minerals that are used to make the technical components of printer cartridges – think copper, zinc, barium, and even trace amounts of gold and palladium in some cases!

Once these materials have been recovered, they’re processed and cleared for reuse. Recycled printer cartridges can actually be used to create a wide range of recycled products, from outdoor furniture, railway sleepers and bollards, and rubber pavers, to road surfaces, rumble bars, wheel stops, and other essential urban infrastructure to be used for civil developments worldwide. 

5. Refill your ink cartridges.

Last, but not least, you could always refill your ink cartridges. While a method for recycling empty ink cartridges, by not purchasing new cartridges, you are greatly assisting the earth by reducing CO2 emissions that are caused by manufacturing. If you have an original brand ink cartridge that you have used just once, there is a very good chance you can refill and reuse that cartridge with the correct ink refill kit.

Most refill kits include a bottle of ink, a syringe, screw tool, plastic gloves and refilling instructions. To refill, you will need to manually inject the appropriate level of ink into the cartridge. Once the cartridge is at capacity, you should be able to reuse the cartridge again and print as expected. Be sure the refill kit you’ve purchased is intended for your specific cartridge series, refill instructions and ink capacities vary across brand and cartridge type.

And if manually refilling your ink cartridges doesn’t feel right for you, that’s okay too! There’s always ink refilling stations that you can visit – just make sure you read reviews and customer testimonials before you bring your ink cartridges there for refilling. Ink cartridge refilling can be messy and delicate work, so you’ll want to make sure you leave the task in expert hands. 

Or simply forgo this printer cartridge recycling method for some of the methods we’ve shared today. The best way to keep recycling your printer ink cartridges is to find the most sustainable methods to suit your lifestyle. That’s also why our printer cartridge recycling program is designed to be as easy and seamless as possible for you, our valued customers. 

How To Recycle Ink Cartridges: A Quick Summary

As we’ve mentioned, both companies and consumers share a responsibility when it comes to recycling – and that includes recycling printer ink and toner cartridges. But learning how to recycle ink cartridges is just half the equation: you also need to make a lasting commitment to recycling your printer cartridges over the long term. 

Remember that every tonne of empty printer cartridges recycled for re-application can save up to 10 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. It’s true that printer cartridges are made from numerous non-renewable resources, but every component can be recovered and used for something else. Now that you know how to recycle printer cartridges, we hope to see you receive one of our free recycling satchels soon.

Should you have any questions regarding how to recycle printer cartridges or our free program, please feel free to hit us up in the comments. It’s our goal to make sure 100% of all supplied printer cartridges go through the recycling process. So, next time you find yourself with empty cartridges, be sure to avoid throwing them in the bin!