There’s nothing worse than ink or toner running out mid-print… except not knowing how to get rid of the old cartridges. Instead of them cluttering up your drawer, a box, or your waste paper bin in your office, there are plenty of benefits to recycling your printer cartridges instead. Here is how to recycle ink cartridges.
How & where to recycle printer cartridges
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to recycle printer cartridges in your office recycling bin as they are classified as Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and can’t be put into your blue bin. They need specialised facilities to correctly dispose of them and because of this, recycling them is a little tricky.
Our cartridge recycling service
Here at Officeology, we partner with our suppliers Ricoh and Toshiba to help you recycle your toner cartridges properly. Both manufacturers offer recycling services for their printer ink cartridges. Send your empties back to us and we’ll take care of the rest – it couldn’t be easier.
Toshiba printer and photocopier toner recycling:
- Call Officeology and ask for an eco box – we will cover the charge
- An eco box holds approximately 20 toners cartridges
- Follow the instruction given on the eco box
- Contact Toshiba and arrange a collection of your eco box
- Toshiba then recycles or reuses all materials
Ricoh toner recycling:
- Ricoh’s recycling service is still free of charge, but is organised via their website
- Visit https://www.ricoh-return.com/en/start/160 to create an account and arrange your return
- In the UK the minimum return quantity is 4 toners. There is no maximum quantity, just a maximum weight of 25kg per parcel. Any boxes you have around your establishment can be used for the return
- You can choose a pick-up or drop-off service, print off you labels, and then organise your pick-up time (if chosen)
Environmental benefits of recycling printer cartridges
One of the biggest benefits of recycling toner and ink cartridges is that it helps to conserve natural resources.
New toner and cartridges require the extraction and use of finite resources such as oil, plastic, and metals. By recycling these, instead of buying new every time, we can reduce the demand for these resources, preserving them for the future.
Recycling your ink cartridges also reduces waste like microplastics and heavy metals getting into the environment. By recycling, we can reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, helping to keep our planet clean and happy.
Business benefits of recycling printer cartridges
By recycling your cartridges, you are reducing your business waste. Recycling any material is much more preferable than sending it to landfill, reducing your carbon footprint and boosting your business’ eco-credentials in the process.
For all of your printing needs, including office printers and office photocopiers, Officeology has everything you need.