Toner ink cartridges waste facts

If you have a desktop or laptop in house then you will definitely have a printer too.  It does not matter how often you use but you need to know the amount of waste the ink cartridges can create. Do you know that 375 million empty ink and toner cartridges are thrown away in the landfills each year? This means that 1,000,000 cartridges are disposed each day. This is an alarming ratio.

There is more. The printer cartridges are made from polymer plastic, which can delay the decomposing time of the cartridges. Hence, they take the time period between 450 to 1000 years for decomposing.  When ink cartridges are dumped into the garbage, this can cause harm to the environment. The international agency for research on cancer has called the carbon black toner carcinogenic.

3.5 ounces of oil is consumed for manufacturing a new ink cartridge.  If the ink cartridges are recycled then it can save 11 million gallons of oil in just 7 months. The only solution to stop the cause of pollution is to recycle the cartridges. Do you know that 97 percent of the material from the ink cartridge that you have dumped can be recycled? You can refill the cartridges 15 times before they break. If the ink cartridges are reused or manufactured then the consumption of oil can go down to zero.

The environmental benefits are not the only reason why you would want to recycle the ink cartridges. Getting them refilled can also make you save money. Those organizations that use printers on daily basis need to get new cartridges time after time and this can make them incur a huge cost. You can save money by getting the cartridges refilled. The manufacturing companies have now started to support programs of refilling the empty cartridges. You can get discount on the ink cartridges, which means you will not have to pay the actual price for the cartridges. This can be a massive saving of money.

Let’s see how you can recycle the toner ink cartridges in different ways instead of just getting them refilled.

• Use cartridge as a paperweight

If you think you can do nothing with the toner cartridge then here is a crafty idea for you. You can use it as a paperweight. Paint it up and add accessories like colorful stones, buttons, sequins, etc. You can be as creative as you can. Once you are done with the project, you can use it as a paperweight. Only you will have a fancy paperweight at your desk whether it’s your office or home.

• Refrigerator magnet

There are some parts of the toner cartridge that can be used as a refrigerator magnet. Purchase some strong management and glue them to the parts of your cartridge. You can paint these magnets and add accessories too.

• Custom photo frame

There are some parts of the printer toner cartridge or ink cartridge that can be used for making a custom photo frame. Open up your mind and be creative. Color the empty cartridges, make a frame, and join them up. You can also add a piece of plastic or glass on the picture to keep it persevered and give a little professional look to the photo frame. This is going to be a unique picture frame and you can be creative with it as much as you like.

• Piggy bank

You can use your cartridge for making a nice piggy bank. Cut the slot of the top of the cartridge with a knife. Find the logical places where you can open and close the cartridge from. You choose the spot you like for making a way to empty out the coins from the piggy bank.

There can be many other things you can do with your empty ink cartridges but the best way is to reduce them by giving them away for refilling. It surely is a blessing for organizations that they can save money on it but the thing is that it has become a necessity now because the environmental pollution that has been produced is reaching to an alarming state. The environmental troubles that are being created are not only causing present problems but they are also making this environment dangerous for our future generation. It is even said that this pollution can extinct certain animal species too.

If you have some ink cartridges that need to be refilled then you can seek help from any professional like http://www.cartridgediscount.co.uk/.

Author Bio:

Simon Hopes is a freelance writer, professional blogger, and social media enthusiast. His blog http://www.cartridgediscount.co.uk/ focuses on telecom bloggers and technology bloggers.