How to Recycle a Printer Cartridge

When you recycle a printer cartridge, you save the landfills from more plastic and chemicals because these items can be reused.

Printer cartridges, whether they're laser toner or ink jet, can be expensive to buy. Recycling the case and inside components to be used again allows those portions of the printer cartridge to be reused, thus saving money.

Instructions

1

Use the printer cartridge until it is empty. Follow the manufacturer's instructions on shaking or rocking the printer cartridge from side to side to redistribute the toner inside, if applicable. Use the printer cartridge until it is as empty as practical.

2

Remove the printer cartridge from your printer. Find the box it was sold in, if possible, and place it inside the box. Otherwise, place the printer cartridge in a plastic bag in case the toner leaks out.

3

Contact the manufacturer to return the cartridge for it to recycle. It's often possible to request a shipping box from the manufacturer to ship the empty printer cartridge back to the maker. The manufacturer often pays the postage.

4

Donate the printer cartridge to charity. Recycle4Charity (recycle4charity.com/store.tpl?rnd=7364&cart=EC7D4D20-2E82-4DEC-9506-A8C938858AA8&) is a nonprofit group that accepts old printer cartridges. It provides prepaid shipping boxes and mailing labels through UPS for consumers to use for recycling a printer cartridge. Note that the organization doesn't accept remanufactured, new compatible or generic cartridges.

5

Recycle an inkjet printer cartridge by shipping it to Enviro Solutions (envirosolutionsllc.com/index.html). This company offers fundraising for groups to collect printer cartridges and to turn them in for earning cash for their group or organization. Individuals can recycle a printer cartridge through them and select one of two organizations to donate the money: Shriner's Children's Hospital or American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.