Ink Cartridge Recycling Reaps Rewards

Millions of ink cartridges are discarded every year by British businesses. Many don’t realise they could save a huge £30 million if they recycled their ink cartridges and toner each year. This is according to research released today.

The data found that just 11 per cent of UK businesses currently recycle ink cartridges by sending them to a recycling centre or refilling with ink to reuse in the business. This figure has risen from five per cent in 2014.

More than 40 million ink cartridges are dumped each year in the UK, instead of being reused or recycled, according to research by CartridgePeople, who surveyed 1000 UK workers on their recycling policies and processes in work.

If disposed of in general waste, ink cartridges can take up to 1000 years to decompose.

The research has revealed that businesses in the UK are failing to reduce their carbon footprint in the office, despite the increase in household waste being recycled in the UK.

When questioned on the reasons for not recycling ink cartridges, 38 per cent of respondents confessed that there are currently no processes in place to encourage recycling in work.

The survey also revealed that 1 in 20 employees in the UK choose to ignore the recycling policies that do exist in workplaces and put everything in general waste.

Andrew Davies, Spokesperson for Cartridge People, said: “Many businesses and workers are unaware of the savings and extra revenue that can potentially be made from recycling ink cartridges. Ink cartridge recycling firms can pay up to 75p for original branded or even remanufactured ink cartridges.

“An individual ink cartridge can be reused or remanufactured by an ink cartridge recycling centre up to seven times, which reduces the amount going straight into landfill. We work with many companies in the UK to help reduce their carbon footprint and wastage, by supplying ink cartridge refill kits and tanks amongst other recyclable office supplies including LED bulbs and stationery.”

The UK industries with the most green office policies are design, media and marketing and education. The financial and legal sectors currently have the fewest green policies.

To help reduce your business’ carbon footprint, follow these useful tips from Cartridge People:

Green Printing

To reduce financial and economic damage during the printing process, businesses can recycle or refill ink cartridges, use recycled paper and keep hardware such as printers up to date – a new printer will be more energy efficient in addition to producing an improved quality of prints.

Switch Off and Unplug

Encourage all staff and employees to switch everything off at the end of the day, including all lights and equipment. This will not only save money on energy bills but reduce consumption.

Which Bin Is It In

Make it easy for your company to recycle, by introducing paper and plastic bins for workers in which they can easily recycle their waste. In addition to this, businesses produce technological waste such as mobile phones, cameras, obsolete laptops and computers, which can be toxic for the environment when sent to landfill. There are many companies that will recycle and refurbish old tech.

Cartridge People is a leading UK retailer of high quality printer ink cartridges, supplying home users, businesses and public sector organisations including schools and Government departments.