Earth Day Provides An Important Reminder For Us All

In case you haven’t heard, today is Earth Day, a global event held annually designed to raise awareness of environmental concerns. Around the world, thousands of people will mark the day by holding a plethora of unique events designed to help people do their bit for the environment.

The environment is something close to our hearts at Cartridge World. The waste generated by discarded ink cartridges and toner cartridges is substantial and is having a massive impact on our environment. The materials, such as plastics, used in printer cartridges are largely non-biodegradable.

This means they take hundreds, if not thousands, of years to decompose. A toner cartridge, for instance, can take up to 450 years to decompose, with some parts taking up to 1000 years to decompose. This isn’t necessarily a problem in small quantities, but when you consider that 70% of all used cartridges worldwide are thrown away rather than recycled, it becomes obvious what an issue this is.

Not only are discarded cartridges contributing to the ongoing landfill problem, but chemicals used in cartridges (such as the VOCs used in ink) can lead to soil and water pollution.

It isn’t just thrown-away cartridges that are creating an issue, however; it’s the new cartridges being manufactured to replace them too. Every cartridge that isn’t recycled is another cartridge that needs manufacturing to meet demand. This is a resource-intensive process; it’s estimated that the average toner cartridge requires 4.5 litres of oil to produce!

But how much demand is there for printer cartridges? Well, 65 million printer cartridges are used every year in the UK. Of these 65 million, only 30% are recycled, leaving a massive 45.5 million going to landfill. Presuming that each of these 45.5 million cartridges are replaced with a new cartridge, that’s a staggering 182,000,000 litres of oil used in the production of new cartridges!

The biggest tragedy of the ongoing impact of printer cartridges on the environment is that it’s so easy to recycle your old cartridges too. At Cartridge World, we offer a range of options to reuse and recycle old cartridges, whether it’s through popping down to your local store to refill a used ink cartridge or utilising our Business Direct service.

Even if you choose not to use our services, most OEMs offer some kind of recycling service. Most of the time, this involves sending your old cartridge back to the manufacturer in a bag provided with the cartridge. While easy though, it’s worth remembering that you will need to replace the cartridge with a new one so refilling is always a more cost-effective option.

There really is no excuse not to be recycling your old printer cartridges; not only can you save a few quid, but you’ll also be doing your bit for the environment!