New Industry “Green” Rules for Printer Cartridges

One manufacturer of printer cartridges helped to develop new guidelines for the industry towards the end of last year, aimed at making the whole sector “greener” and more environmentally friendly.

The firm, based in the north of England, collaborated with representatives from the Environment and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on the project.

The idea was for a new industry standard governing printer ink cartridges to be developed. Then more than 40 countries across the world would be encouraged to adopt it.

The freshly drawn up guidelines urge makers of print cartridges to manufacture toner and inkjet products that cannot merely be crushed and recycled, but at the same time can be used more than once in printers without compromising the warranty from the manufacturer.

A spokesman for the organisation said: “We want to focus on providing environmentally friendly products that are also aimed at saving our customers money.
The investment and development work has allowed us to operate more efficiently, and the idea is that it will allow our customers to do the same.

“If a company such as ours can make a difference to the environment and put procedures in place to achieve this, we’re confident that anyone can. Perhaps the hardest part is taking that first step.”

Printer Cartridges: The Environmental Impact

Every year in Britain, some 45 million non-biodegradable cartridges from printers are thrown away and end up in landfill sites. In some cases, the plastic used to make them can take as long as a thousand years to break down. This gives ample time for the toxic chemicals in them to permeate the soil and harm the environment.

Put Differently, All These Discarded Cartridges Could:

• Be enough to build a new Blackpool Tower
• Cover the pitch at Old Trafford 17 no fewer than 17 times
• Stretch for 73 miles when placed end to end

Here Are Some Other Facts About Printer Cartridges And Environmental Impact:

• The manufacturing of an original cartridge uses up some 3.5 litres of oil
• When it is sitting in landfill, each cartridge represents 3.5lb of solid waste
• It’s been worked out that greenhouse gas emissions from the production of a single mono toner cartridge are around 4.8kg of carbon for every cartridge.

An independent survey carried out by a sustainability company found that the cartridge remanufacturing process saves some 2.5kg of carbon emissions compared with the making of new ones. So refilled and remanufactured cartridges can do their bit for the environment as well as offering significant financial  savings.

It appears that the myth of the “paperless” office is remaining just that – a myth. Especially when proof-reading, or studying a document in detail, it seems that most of us still like to see documents on paper rather than on screen.

But it’s important that everyone who prints regularly is aware of the possible impact on the environment. Aside from only printing out when you really have to, you can help by ensuring that you replace your cartridges responsibly, whether you’re buying for yourself or your business.