Environmental Awareness
Toner Cartridges - Nine Lives!
Laser printers produce images by transferring the dry toner powder from an electrically charged drum to the paper using heat. Laser printer toner cartridges contain between two and three pounds of plastic and metal. These materials are completely usable after the toner runs out.
Discarding toner cartridges simply because the toner powder contained in them has been used up is an unnecessary waste of natural resources.
Discarded products take up valuable landfill space and pollute the environment. Industry estimates indicate that it takes about one pint of oil to produce a new cartridge. Remanufacturing toner cartridges to last just one more lifetime could save about 100,000 barrels of oil each year. Moreover, remanufacturing makes perfect economic sense as well because a remanufactured cartridge can be obtained at roughly half the price of a new one. In the 1980s, remanufacturing of laser toner cartridges consisted of drilling holes in the unit, pouring the toner in, and then sealing the holes. This “drill and fill” process was not reliable, and the product quality was inconsistent. The current remanufacturing process consists of completely disassembling the cartridge, properly disposing of the remaining toner, cleaning and inspecting all internal parts, refurbishing or replacing the drum as necessary, repairing or replacing all worn parts, refilling with fresh toner, reassembling, and testing.
With thousands of toner cartridge remanufacturers in the United States today, and laser printer cartridge remanufacturing forming the largest segment of this industry, it is important to keep the following questions in mind when you select a vendor:
- Are the unusable (worn) parts removed from spent cartridges recycled?
- Do the replacement components incorporate recycled content?
- Does the vendor accept spent cartridges and provide a credit?
- Does the vendor test 100% of the units?
- Does it claim that the remanufactured cartridge will perform as well as or better than the OEM cartridge?
- How good is the vendor’s warranty?
Credit of Article taken from greenseal.org - a Green Office Report.