1.  Why recycle ink and toner cartridges?

It takes one gallon of oil to make a new laser cartridge. 

Almost 8 cartridges a second are thrown away in the United States alone.  In North America alone, over 350 million cartridges per year are discared in our landfills and that numer increases by 12% annually. 

A laser cartridge thrown into a landfill can take up to 450 years to decompose.  Some components made of industrial grade plastics will take over 1000 years to decompose.  A remanufactured cartridge saves nearly 3 1/2 pounds of solid waste from being deposited in landfills. 

Every single cartridge saved from a landfill makes a difference.  But imagine the difference made when a million or even a thousand cartridges are saved?  This would not only protrect our environment, but also save consumers thousands of dollars.

2.  What does it mean to recycle inkjet and toner cartridges?

Recycling means refilling and remanufacturing your empty cartridges.  Every remanufactured cartridge saves nearly 3 and 1/2 pounds of solid waste from being deposited in landfills.

3.  What is the proper way to handle a cartridge?
Always handle your cartridge with care. Do not touch the nozzles with your hands. When the cartridge sits outside the printer unwrapped, the ink will dry out and then the nozzles may get clogged.
You cannot get a good print output with the blocked cartridge after it is refilled. The best way is to refill the cartridge before it runs out of ink or keep the empty cartridge wrapped in a zip lock bag for storage.

4.  What is the proper way to handle a cartridge?
Always handle your cartridge with care. Do not touch the nozzles with your hands. When the cartridge sits outside the printer unwrapped, the ink will dry out and then the nozzles may get clogged.
You cannot get a good print output with the blocked cartridge after it is refilled. The best way is to refill the cartridge before it runs out of ink or keep the empty cartridge wrapped in a zip lock bag for storage.   

MAGNUSON-MOSS

WARRANTY IMPROVEMENT ACT

United Stated Code Annotated – Title 15 Commerce and Trade

Chapter 50 Consumer Product Warranties Section 2302

(c) No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer’s using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name; except that the prohibition of this subsection may be waived by the commission if:

 1. The warrantor satisfied the Commission that the warranted product will function properly only if the article or service so identified is used in connection with the warranted product, and

2. The commission finds that such a waiver is in the public interest.

 How this affects you!

The manufacturer of the printer you are using cannot void the warranty on your printer because you use a cartridge or refill kit manufactured by someone other than the printer manufacturer. This prohibition includes the use of compatible cartridges, and remanufactured cartridges.

 IBM vs. The United States

(The Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Law)

Furthermore: you don’t have to be intimidated when the printer people tell you they will void your warranty on your equipment if you do not use the O.E.M. ink or toner.  Nor should you be intimidated if they should try to charge extra because you are not using the O.E.M. ink or toner.  This is illegal for another reason and this is referred to as product linking, check it out:

 The Supreme Court (IBM vs. The United States) held that IBM could not threaten customers with termination of their data processing equipment leases just because they did not use supplies manufactured by IBM.  Such practice constituted a “tying agreement” and was found to be in violation of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Law.

How this affects you!

Stand up for your right of choice of vendor because you are acting within the letter of the law.  Your printer service people are aware of lower priced supplies, so threatening to void warranties and service call charges are their only defense.  Save this information to intimidate them with their illegal actions.

 We all can make a difference together, one cartridge at a time.