Tag: toner recycling

Why Importing Your Toners From The U.S. Matters

Buying US-made toners have certain advantages over those manufactured by competitors from Mexico, Brazil, China or other countries. Toner cartridges are not born equal.

If you haven’t gotten into the habit of asking your toner supplier where s/he imports her toners or inks from, you might want to start developing that practice now. And if you’re the importer of your toner or ink cartridges, you should be bothered with the country they come from.

As with many industries, toner cartridge competitors from other countries give the US some stiff competition. OK, we can argue all day about the Japanese Toyota being better (or worse) than US-made cars, but with toner cartridges the winner is obvious.

Blindly Buying the Dust

Economists and business analysts like to tell us about how today’s buyers are so savvy and how they know the market better than ever.

And that’s true. To an extent.

Most toner buyers are buying blinding. Blinded by price, usually. Sometimes buying cheap is cheap. Prices may, in fact, reflect value. Making a buying decision solely on the money you’ll spend out of pocket could turn around to bite you.

So what else should you consider when buying toners? And why should you buy them from the US? Let’s explore answers to these questions.

Dangers of Buying Substandard Toners

We use toners in our homes and usually don’t consider them dangerous. However, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified toner dust as a 2B carcinogen — particles that are capable of causing cancer to humans. Substandard toners are more likely to expose you to danger.

Carbon Black Dangers: Substandard toner cartridges could easily break, and toner would leak. This leak may expose you to inhaling potentially cancer-causing toner dust.

Carbon Monoxide Dangers: The London Hazards Center says that overheated toners, especially those in confined spaces, emit carbon monoxide. Exposure to this dangerous gas could cause drowsiness, a spike in pulse rate, and severe headaches.

Substandard toners may demand more energy than usual for your printer to work. The excess heat required by your toner would cause carbon monoxide emissions.

Ozone Dangers: Toners of poor quality may emit ozone in high quantities during electrical discharges. If you expose yourself often to ozone you’re likely to suffer health problems like nausea, headaches, and dermatitis; ozone may also cause your throat, eyes, and lungs to have irritations.

 

Why are American Made Toners the Best?

It’s not uncommon for consumers who want premium quality printing to opt for Made-in-the-USA toners. However, it’s NOT just the toner quality that attracts buyers to American toners.

Desirable characteristics such as color integrity, ongoing R&D, product purity, and archivability are some of the other attributes that set US-made toners head and shoulder above their competitors.

Printer cartridges made in America are less likely to leak. Policies and industry best practices guiding cartridge manufacturing in the USA demand significantly higher standards compared to foreign manufacturers. Spending an extra $1 or 3 dollars may save you from health problems and other dangers that come with toner exposure.

Am I saying that toners made in the US are always great? No. That’s not the point. Some substandard US-made toners may slip through, but this isn’t the norm. And toners not imported from the US are not always bad. But the odds are in favor of toners from the US when you weigh health, toner quality, archivability, and other essential factors.

Cartridge recycling businesses like Virginia based Impression Products (which recently won a legal battle against Lexmark) collect used cartridges, refill them with toners, and resell them for significantly cheaper than OEMs sell them. So you have the opportunity of selling off your used toner cartridges — which is an environmentally friendly thing to do — and buying remanufactured products that are as good (or nearly as good) as OEM toners.

 

The Stiff Competition Benefits You

The US is home to the most prominent and most reputable printer brands and toner remanufacturing companies. America’s capitalist market demands that businesses compete for your money. Fighting for your cash drives companies to deliver better solutions.

Brother, HP, Lexmark and other OEMs have research facilities aimed at improving their product’s quality. On the other hand, you have remanufacturing companies like Impression Products that are driving prices down while keeping toner quality high.

In short, buying made-in-USA OEM, remanufactured, or compatible toners assure you of getting the best solutions possible as companies compete for your money.

 

Avoid Fraud

One risk that can come from buying overseas is obviously fraud. Once you send these companies funds you may or may not get what you ordered. It’s not very likely but it has happened in the past with some of our customers.

Buying remanufactured toner cartridges abroad can also damage your printers because they seem to leak toner when they spin in the printer.

US-based remanufactured cartridge makers wholly disassemble, and then thoroughly inspected, cleaned, and then recouple their products after filling it with the highest quality toner mixture in the market. Toner remanufactured in the US may even work as good as the original laserjet cartridge.

Buying your toners from home (if you live in the U.S.) assures you of the highest quality possible, and saves you the likelihood of fraud. You can more easily bring a fraudulent seller to book if the exchange happened in the U.S.

 

US Toner Makers Uphold High Industry Standards

It’s easy to lose the real meaning “quality,” especially these days that the word gets thrown around without corresponding action or proofs. So what does “premium” or “quality” toner mean?

Back in 2007, PC Magazine reported a research which had appeared on the American Chemical Society’s Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) journal. The report revealed that toner printers spewed particulate matters equivalent to the volume of fumes a cigarette smoker inhales.

In response to that report, the American OEM toner maker, HP said “HP is currently reviewing the Queensland University of Technology research on particle emission characteristics of office printers. Vigorous tests under standardized operating conditions are an integral part of HP’s research and development and its strict quality control procedures.”

“As part of these quality controls, HP assesses its LaserJet printing systems, original HP print cartridges and papers for dust release and possible material emissions to ensure compliance with applicable international health and safety requirements.”

American OEM toner makers, like HP, are continually improving on their past successes and course-correcting on their mistakes. Toner manufacturers in the US invest a lot of money in R&D. Religiously investing in research and development is the American manufacturer’s advantage in providing the market with the best toner cartridges.

Now, that’s quality!

 

To Wrap this Up

If you’d rather have toners made from durable materials, and that maintain product purity, archivability, and color integrity, then you should consider importing your toners from the US. Toner manufacturing standards are higher in the US than in other countries. The stiff competition within the US toner industry is continually driving prices down and improving the quality of toners.

In case you’re interested in selling your new and unused toner supplies, we buy. Please contact us here to get started.

 

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3 Ways Recycling Ink Cartridges in Schools Can Help Build Students Character

Ever wonder what’s the best thing your kid could be doing at school to help you save some coins?

Recycling.

Not just any recycling. All recycling. Papers and paperboard scraps discarded from class projects. The leaves collected from caring for a school garden. And the ink cartridges used while printing Arial font newsletters on how to keep the PTA alive.
Recycling is everywhere. And because of this, our children are learning some handy lessons day to day.
Schools are powerful conveyors of social norms. What they’re exposed to for more than six hours a day can be a heavy influence on future behavior.

That’s why teaching children the importance of recycling everything – even with those small ink cartridges inside of the class printer – is a huge contributor to molding good personal character.

Nobody wants a mean kid.

Read on to find out how encouraging school recycling habits can foster good character traits in students at school and at home.

Recycling Shows Compassion

We all want to raise our kids to be compassionate beings with hearts of gold. The biggest way to teach such lesson is by our own actions.

When schools take the initiative to introduce recycling to students, there is an enlightenment happening.
Kids are understanding the world around them and how organisms work together to create a coexisting society.

Where should it start?

The classroom is a great opportunity. Encouraging students to compost food scraps, recycle plastic utensils and be mindful of waste is an effective character fet building tool.

They learn what caring for something bigger than themselves really stands for. It becomes more about helping the environment and the organisms than helping themselves.

Schools should take the opportunity to encourage walks with their students through the classrooms and school offices while pointing out recyclables.

There should be some exposure to recycling in other parts of the school like the offices and the cafeteria so that students may appreciate the effort school administrators are putting to make their environment cleaner.

School children are heavy receptors of information and providing useful tips in a natural setting is a big help to showing them how to develop and keep healthy habits.

Landfills are destroying our environment. Our children should know about it.

Recycling Shows Responsibility

A huge benefit of teaching kids the importance of recycling is the big responsibility lesson.

Children like to feel as a part of the bigger picture. Allowing them to help with the recycling while encouraging them to care for their surroundings is key to providing them with a voice to do so.

Let them take control of the recycling around the classroom and school. They can create signs for the garbage cans, make lists of what people should look out for to recycle and encourage their own families to try saving their planet. It’s fun, boosts creativity and imagination but more importantly, it saves the planet.

Recycling is Saving Money

Saving money is a huge asset to schools. Explaining the process of saving money to the kids will help give them insight on the importance of smart spending.

And smart spending is still a valuable asset to have as an adult. Imagine the healthy choices and practices a child with recycling habits from young will express when older.

Imagine if you knew more about recycling before the threat of global warming. Would it have made a difference?

Probably not.  But your conscience would have been clear and your pockets a little heavier.

It’s a lesson in money management when your kid pays attention to recycling. They become more aware of the types of products they should be using and more concerned with the way they’re disposed.

Ultimately saving you and the environment some distress.

Landfills are destroying our environment. Our children should know about it. In between the tough algebra lessons, schools should take some time to practice recycling.

More and more offices and tech workplaces are utilizing the useful money saving practice that is recycling ink cartridges. So it makes sense to extend this to our kids who are, in the end, following our steps to saving the planet.

If not the little ones…then who?

If you have unused toner, please consider visiting us at tonerconnect.net. For any used toner, please reach out to your local community about recycling.

How Much Money Is Hiding In Your Closet? Your Unused Toner Could Be Worth a Lot

That’s what happened when a restoration project at Liberty Hall Museum in Union, NJ uncovered wine that was over 200 years old (and unopened!) that had been shipped there shortly after the American Revolution.

Picture this:

You’ve got an endless supply of office supplies.

Perhaps you’ve got a new printer, and some of your ink cartridges are no longer compatible.

Or maybe, you simply have a surplus that you don’t have the capacity to use up before the expiration date.

In any event, you decide to declutter.

What if you could turn that clutter into cold hard cash

That would mean savings for your business that can go towards your other needs.

Best of all, if printing is a major part of your day-to-day, you can save thousands on a yearly basis.

The result?

That money goes towards your bottom line and can make all the difference between a negative fiscal quarter and a good one.

So, have you looked in your closet lately? You could be sitting on some cash.

Why There’s Massive Earning Potential In Unused Toner

Here’s the thing:

There’s a high demand for unused toner cartridges.

That’s mainly because replacement cartridges are expensive to purchase directly from manufacturers.

Also, many people have a surplus that they would love to get off their hands without losing the money that they spent. In all cases, they’re willing to part with their toners at a lower price than they acquired them.

For businesses and individuals who have a heavy ink inventory that needs to be frequently replenished, the benefits can be nothing short of remarkable.

This means that the market for recycling unused toners has grown tremendously over the years. From online marketplaces to buy-back programs, there’s a profitable niche out there.

You now have more options than ever to get some monetary value out of toners that have been collecting dust in your closet.

How can you sell your toner cartridges? 

To begin, you want to find toner cartridges that qualify.

Naturally, it depends on the type of cartridge and the condition that they’re in. Different buyers may also have different demands.

There is, however, a superior standard for the toner cartridge.

I’m talking about Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) cartridges. These are toners manufactured by the same company that manufactured your printer.

If you have these in your possession, they’re liquid gold!

Why so?

Simply put, they’re the highest quality toners and will get you the best selling price.

It’s also important that your cartridges aren’t expired of defunct in any way.

After you’ve identified the cartridges that you can part ways with, you have quite a few options for selling them.

1. Sell Your Unused Toner On An Online Marketplace 

Online marketplaces like eBay make it easy for you to connect with potential buyers. Alternatively, you can use Amazon or craigslist.

It’s up to you to decide which is less risky.

Create a listing on a marketplace of choice, and that’s all there is to it.

What can you do to ensure you get the best possible price

Here’s what I recommend:

Try selling cartridges in bulk, so your listing will seem more attractive to potential buyers.

Be sure to include the specifications of your toner cartridges. Who’s the manufacturer? What’s the model number? What color is the ink? The more detail you provide, the more eyes you get on your listing and the more persuasive you’ll be.

Include a photograph of your supplies so buyers can have an idea of their condition. This transparency eliminates any future problems that may arise from transacting on an online marketplace. 

2. Turn In Your Unused Toner At Your Office Supply Store

Many office supply stores will allow you to turn in your unused toners for cash back or store credit.

These reward programs are a great way to save on the cost of future ink supplies. Bare in mind, large name office supply stores may have stricter qualifying criteria.

Before you turn in your cartridges, ensure that you know what qualifies or not. Also, there’s usually a maximum number of cartridges that you can turn in per month.

While this may be a bit more convenient for you as opposed to creating a listing on eBay, you need to consider all the variables.

3. Use A Website With A Buyback Program To Cash In On Your Unused Toner

The third and best option is to patronize a website with a toner buy-back program.

There are many of these available.

The best part?

It’s a simple process.

A google search of “toner buy-back program” or “sell unused toners” will give you a myriad of options.

You can then easily go to the website that you’re considering, check that your cartridges qualify, and ship it to them.

Most companies will take care of the shipping costs and will have your payout to you in record time.

I recommend comparing a few companies to decide which is best for you. Consider who offers the biggest cash back, has the quickest turnaround, and the best service.

In my experience, companies who have niched down to one particular element of toner recycling are the best bets.

In other words, you want to pick a company who specializes in unused toner recycling only. 

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They’ll outperform other companies on price and quality of service. That’s mainly because their concentration in one area will allow them to build a stronger network within their industry.

This means that they can provide more competitive payouts for your supplies.

Are you ready to cash in on your unused toners?

margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: 0px 0px; font-weight: bold;”>This should be a no-brainer. 

If you have unused toner cartridges lying around, it’s an excellent decision to sell them for some cash

The savings can go a long way for your business.

The great thing is, you are not short of options.

Consider the methods discussed in the article and choose what’s best for you.

Whether you decide to use a buyback program, create a listing on eBay, or turn your toners in at your office supply store, you’ll be several hundred dollars richer.

The 5 Easiest Ways To Get Rid Of Your Toner

It’s easy to let your empty cartridge situation get out of hand. You can’t figure out how to dispose of it, nor are you aware there was even a way to save yourself some heartache and earn some money in the process. 

 

How do you get rid of your toner – and feel good about saving the environment?

 

We’ve narrowed down some of the environmentally friendly ways to get rid of your toner.

(cue the super hero music) Lets dive in.

 

You’d really like to save the environment, but it wouldn’t hurt to make some coins too.

 

There’s a way.

 

Don’t sleep on the old school methods. Set up your free eBay or Craigslist account, upload your photos, name your price and wait for the cash to roll into your account. Craigslist is still a pretty decent option for posting goods and services. eBay has always been a great tool to sell your old stuff.

 

Why not try your hand at selling your used or unopened toner? You could make anywhere from $15 to $50 hard cash.

 

Be sure to include lots of details about your toner. Don’t forget to add stuff like manufacturer and model numbers, the colors you have available and adding an image is sure to seal the deal and earn you more money.

 

2.Sell on Apps like OfferUp

Gone are the days where apps collected dust on our home screens. If you’re living anywhere but under a rock, you use at least one app per day.

 

So maybe selling your toner on an app might be more your cup of tea. Craigslist can seem a bit outdated and the interface isn’t the most attractive so using an updated app with a smooth user friendly interface might be more appealing.

 

Some common apps where you can sell your toner includes Cloud5, OfferUp, Letgo and Mercari are all great starting points to look into. Just post your item photo online and wait for the money to come.

 

 

 

3.Donate to schools.

 

You don’t have to be on your kid’s PTA board to give back to their schools. All those toner cartridges hanging around the house can be put to good use.

 

If they are empty, encourage the school to join an ink recycling program that would encourage them to recycle ink and toner.

 

Programs like Cartridges for Kids and Inkjets for Education help promote recycling in schools with their buyback program. They pay the schools cash for the empty cartridges.

 

It’s a great way to get kids involved and a great introduction to a lesson in keeping healthy habits to save their environment.

 

In one of our recent posts, we talk about the importance of getting kids involved in recycling. It’s never too early to start.

 

Recycling Rewards Programs

 

Your favorite office supply store gets it. People like rewards.

 

And people really like rewards that help them save. Office Depot, Bestbuy, and Staples all run recycling reward programs to help customers save.

 

The way it works is you purchase your ink or toner, recycle them in-store after use and save cash the next time you shop. Pretty useful if you have empty cartridges in bulk as you earn more if you have more.

 

Don’t forget to ask your local office supply store about their possible recycling reward programs.

 

 

Toner Buy Back Programs

 

At Toner Connect, we make selling your unused toner easy. All you have to do is fill out our online form, get an offer from one of our helpful sales associates and if you accept, we send you the shipping label to print in order to ship.

 

And yes, shipping is on us!

 

We offer competitive rates and want our customers to get the bang for their buck.

 

This is easy money people. Don’t waste time and cash in on your empty toner cartridges. Take a look at our helpful guide explaining what kind of toner you may have and what it means. You’ll be saving the environment and have your pockets a little fatter. Our previous post talks about the importance of buyback programs so be sure to take a second thought before tossing out your toner – you may be tossing out cash. 

Toner Connect’s New Toner Pick Up Policy

Toner Connect is launching a new pick-up service for our wonderful customers within a 50 mile radius from our Passaic, NJ office. To qualify for an on-site pickup and on the spot payment via check, your order must meet the following guidelines:

Pick-up Guidelines

1. The pick-up MUST be at a valid and verified business location.

 

2. All items MUST be genuine name brand in perfect condition – no generic, open or damaged items.

 

3. You MUST submit your quote 48 hours before a pick-up. Last minute pickups with less than 24 hour notice will be deducted a $20 late service fee and only approved, if no prior pick-ups are scheduled.

 

4. Pick-ups will only be done Monday through Thursday between 10AM and 2PM.

 

5. All orders MUST be prepared to be inspected and loaded into the company vehicle once the driver arrives.

 

6. Any additional items that have not been quoted prior to pick-up will NOT be paid out during the pick-up. These items MUST be dropped off at the warehouse, inspected and payment will be mailed via check only if we decide to purchase those items.

 

Order Requirements

Miles: 0-20 for orders of $500 or more

Miles: 21-30 for orders of $750 or more

Miles: 31-40 for orders of $1000 or more

Miles: 41-50 for orders of $1500 or more

 

Any orders that are over 50 miles must be shipped to us at: 90 Dayton Ave, Unit 4J, Passaic, NJ 07055

 

4 Reasons Why Toner Buyback Programs Are Better Than Toner Recycling

If you have an unused toner cartridge, it might be tempting to just throw it away.

 

Though, according to the EPA, it takes up to three quarts of oil to make a single printer cartridge and the plastic that cartridges contain can take generations to decompose in a landfill. 

 

On top of that, ink from cartridges can leak and pollute the environment. 

 

Certainly there’s a better way. 

 

There are definitely benefits of recycling ink cartridges, so you may be tempted to turn to toner recycling programs. But those actually have a number of setbacks if your cartridge is unused and unopened in its original packaging. 

 

You may not be able to make as much money on them by recycling, the reuse process has its limits and many reclaim programs can’t be done completely online. 

 

Below we’ll look in depth at these issues and explore why a toner buyback program is your best bet for unused and unopened cartridges.

 

It’s easy money

 

 

We live in a world that tells us there’s really no such thing as easy money. But if you have unused toner cartridges, it is a way to make some quick cash in a fast and easy manner.  

 

Our process for selling toner cartridges really couldn’t be any easier. You simply fill out a form detailing the brand of the toner, the toner model number and the quantity. 

 

Someone gets back to you offering what we can pay for your toner cartridges. If you accept, we pay via PayPal or company check through mail. 

 

It really is quick cash in your pocket.

 

On the other hand, many of the traditional recycling programs offer more limited means of reimbursement. 

 

For instance, Best Buy gives a $2 store coupon and 15 percent off ink purchases through the My Best Buy loyalty program. Customers are also limited to five cartridges under this offer, and only one coupon can be used for every $40 of new ink or toner.   

 

Staples gives back $2 in Staples Rewards for each cartridge turned in, if you’ve spent a minimum of $30 on ink or toner over the last 180 days. Toner recycling is far from the easy cash of a buyback program.

 

There are limits to recycling toner cartridges  

 

While there are benefits of recycling ink cartridges, reuse programs also work best for used cartridges. If a program uses closed-loop recycling, like HP’s ink cartridge program, it makes no sense for a perfectly good cartridge. 

 

Closed-loop recycling simply means that raw materials from old cartridges are broken down to be used in new ones. A great idea for used cartridges, not so much for unopened, pristine ones.

 

The County of Kaua’i’s governmental website describes what happens to used cartridges the county receives: they are sent off for re-manufacture, meaning they’re disassembled, inspected, repaired, put back together, filled and inspected again.

 

It simply wouldn’t be logical to submit an unused cartridge to such a process.  

 

There are limits to recycling


 

Reusing products makes sense most of the time, like when you’re done with a milk carton or you’re done reading a physical newspaper because you’re old school like that. But recycling itself does have some drawbacks.  

 

Reutilizing plastic, one of the main components in an ink cartridge, isn’t the infinite process you’d think it is. That’s because plastic has fibers, like paper, which shorten each time something is recycled.  

 

The Auckland Council states that plastic can be reused about seven to nine times before it becomes too degraded.  

 

Granted, one of the benefits of recycling ink cartridges is that it’s much better to get those seven to nine lives out of plastic, rather than just consigning it to a long lifetime in a landfill right off the bat. But that doesn’t mean it would make sense to go reclaiming unused products willy-nilly.   

 

Then there are political forces that get in the way of reusing products. Back in 2013 it was reported that much of U.S. plastic wasn’t actually getting recycled.  

 

That was because China put up what’s called the “Green Fence” in an effort to reduce pollution.

 

It’s a policy that bans import of anything but the most highly organized and most clean bales of reusable trash. Some types of trash are banned completely.

 

That means recycling has to happen here, rather than shipping it to cheap labor overseas. Considering how many products are produced in China, the old system would have reusable materials sorted out of our trash overseas and rerouted right back into the manufacturing of goods. 

 

Resin from our plastic materials is especially valuable in the manufacturing process. This meant China actually used two-thirds of the U.S.’s used plastic each year, which accounted for billions of dollars.    

 

Yet it wasn’t a perfect situation. Anything that couldn’t be used was put in China’s trash mountains and many of the recycling processors would pollute heavily, despite being part of the reuse model.  

 

This isn’t to shame the recycling industry. It doesn’t mean that reusing materials is senseless, and we should just ditch it as a system.

 

What tricky foreign affairs means is an opportunity for domestic efforts to take up the slack, creating jobs and other business opportunities. So that is one of the benefits of recycling ink cartridges.    

           

Yet it’s more of a reason to not put stress on the sometimes-fragile recycling industry. Especially when selling gets you straight cash, and the process itself can be so easy.

It gives toner “new life”

We’re definitely proponents of recycling used toner instead of throwing it away. When it comes to new unopened toner though, it just makes more sense to sell it to a toner buyback company.

 

You’re not only preventing it from going through the arduous process of recycling but also allowing it to be sold to someone else who needs and will use the toner.

 

Chances are, they’ll even be purchasing the printer toner at less than retail price.

 

It’s a win-win for everyone.

 

Selling toner can be done online


 

Many toner recycling programs also require you to drop off your cartridges at a physical location. 

 

A search through the popular cartridge recycling program database at Earth911 simply yields a list of addresses, mostly at electronics, office or toner stores. Many listings state that you should call for further information.    

 

But with Toner Connect, you simply fill out your form detailing what you have, get your offer and approve the offer. Then you’ll receive a pre-paid shipping label through email to print. 

 

Simply ship us your toner cartridges for free and your cash is on its way. So if you have unused toner cartridges, get selling today!

 

Why Recycling Your Toner Cartridges Revitalizes Your Wallet and Environment

These days we don’t even pay attention to the fact that we recycle literally on a daily basis.

Every garbage service has the option for a can by your home (or office) to throw in your pop cans, plastic and paper, and then you forget about it. Recycling’s easy now.

Back then it was a bit of a headache, because we weren’t used to it. Now we toss it and forget it. Who knew there was a way to get your toner cartridges recycling, and not just recycling like your everyday plastic, but recycled and benefiting you with cash?

That’s the ticket. Imagine throwing away all your pop bottles and getting money in return. Sure, you get exactly that by turning in pop bottles at the grocery store…. But this is different.

And then you get that little slip with the amount of cans or bottles you’ve recycled. 2 bucks maybe. You’re overjoyed, and you should be.

 

The difference between that and toner cartridges recycling is the fact that you get so much more, in real cash, via the eCycle Group, a service managing everything from the collection of the ink and toner cartridges to the actual payment process.

 

You need to keep in mind that the ink and toner business is total money. Ink’s a hot commodity, so it would stand to reason that the cartridges go for a lot as well.

 

Businesses and manufacturers will pay big money to get those replacements. Saves on cost to manufacture the cartridges. Saves on cost for filling up those cartridges with new ink.

 

Recycling Empty Toner Cartridges

 

How do you recycle your empty ink cartridges? It’s not as simply as throwing them into the recycle bin, honestly. Many municipalities have the service available, and you just have to do the research for it.

 

However, services like the eCycle Group and Empties4Cash.com make it very simply. If you can read instruction manuals, you’re pretty much set.

 

Most laser or inkjet cartridges will actually have specific instructions written on the side. Read them. You’ll often find instructions on packaging materials as well as information on where to get free postage – because, after all, you don’t want to have to pay just to recycle them.

 

With that put aside, the real information is in the benefit beyond that of the environment. This industry’s chock full of money, and the fact is this: cartridges can be recycled and refilled up to six times before they’re rendered unusable.

 

That’s good news both for the environment, your pocket book, and the bottom line of many manufacturers.

 

So you can do yourself a favor and find via the Internet numerous services like the couple we’ve mentioned already designed to offer prepaid free shipping or even pickup of your used cartridges, and here’s the real bonus – you may find a service that’ll pay up to $4 per cartridge.

 

That’s giving you some ROI for your efforts in not only contributing to the environment, but even keeping ink, toner and printing costs down.

 

Just be sure to check the list of cartridges any service will accept and make sure yours are in line with that list. Don’t make that a priority, and it might actually cost you (it’s true – some services will actually penalize you for offering cartridges that are unacceptable for them).

 

The ability to get toner cartridges recycling on a daily basis offers benefits for everything from churches, to businesses, to fundraisers – to even schools.

 

It can even be used as a way to donate proceeds to any nonprofit organization of your choice, hence you get the fantastic tax deduction to go with it.

 

Toner Recycling Benefits

 

We’re beating a dead horse, obviously, but we can’t stress it enough: the environment. After all, ink cartridges are plastic and petroleum-based. They take literally a century to decompose.

 

That means our Earth, if we threw out all of our printer cartridges into landfills, would be filled to the brim of them for a full 1K years before finally decomposing, and you better believe:

 

We’ll pile on the empty toner and ink cartridges faster than they can decompose! As of now, only about 20% to 40% of ink cartridges get recycled, leaving a paltry 60% to 80% ending up in landfills.

 

We can reduce that count to zero, diverting literally millions of cubic feet of waste and saving taxpayers millions of dollars in landfill management expenses.

 

When it comes to toner cartridges recycling, that’s well worth the time and effort to simply contact any one of those services and get your empty cartridges taken care of without any hassle.

 

Sure, it’s a little more legwork than throwing a cartridge in the trash. But remember: you’re getting some money, some benefit, in the long run for doing it. The economy will see a surge, particular in the ink and toner business.

 

And certainly your printer will be much happier for it. For more insight on the ink and toner business, feel free to explore our content, and if you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to ask.

 

The ink and toner business is a massive frontier, and it’ll only get bigger and more reliable. Why?

 

Think about it: after all this time, out of all the advancements we’ve made in business, the one thing that has relatively stayed the same – is printing!

 

Sustainability in Business: How to Recycle Unwanted IT Equipment

Business sustainability is an ideal that many organizations seek as part of their long term goals. In the same realm, electronic waste has become nothing short of a crisis in the corporate world.

But what does e-waste have to do with sustainability in business?

The United Nations reports that 20-50 million metric tons of e-waste is discarded every year. Any electronic equipment that has been thrown away like computers, cell phones, and printers fall into that category.

Businesses are responsible for a sizeable percentage of the world’s electronic waste and it’s not a difficult task to imagine why. For this reason, recycling of computers, printers, cell phones, and other IT equipment should be an integral part of a business’ sustainability agenda.

If your organization seeks to make a real shift in that direction, e-waste recycling is the first and most consequential move.

 

Why Recycling Of Electronic Equipment Matters

 

 

Most people, including business owners, harbor several misconceptions about what sustainability really is.

Is it all about the environment? Not at all.

It is an expensive agenda to push? Certainly not.

Is it more hassle than it’s worth? It’s a small effort for a large reward.

There is a distinct  economic advantage for businesses who espouse a culture of sustainability throughout their daily operations.  

The initiative is geared towards meeting the triple bottom line of a business, namely:

● Financial

● Ecological/Environmental

● Social

 

So why is the recycling of electronic equipment the best way to contribute to that triple bottom line?

 

The answers lie with the many benefits of e-waste recycling:

 

1. Save Money For Your Business: There are several organizations who have made e-waste their business. They collect all end-of-cycle IT equipment and some provide a cash back. This extra money can be used to finance replacement tech for your business or any other financial goals.

The fiscal benefits also extend to the Tech Industry. According to James Allen, Director of EPEAT, if the recycling of gold, silver, and platinum increases to 100%, the Electronic Sector will have  a 12 billion dollar financial and natural capital advantage.

 

2. Create Employment: Out of the 90 % of recyclable e waste, only 12.5 % is recycled. If that gap were to be bridged, companies who recycle and refurbish old electronics would require an increase in manpower. This would result in a rise in job creation on a mass scale.

 

3. Conserve Natural Resources: The valuable materials collected from recycled electronics can go towards creating other products.

For example, palladium is a metal that can be used to create surgical instruments, watches, and other electronics. Copper, silver, and gold are among the other precious metals that can be recovered.

4. Protect The Health of The Environment: Toxic elements like mercury, chromium, and lead can find their way into the environment when electronics are not recycled the right way. This has grave repercussions for public health.

 

5. Support The Less Fortunate: Naturally, businesses want superior technology to increase their output and maximize their efficiency. The outdated technologies can be refurbished and donated to schools, nonprofits, and others who need it.

 

What Equipment Can Be Recycled?

 

 

We’ve already pinpointed the recycling of electronics as one of the primary means of achieving sustainability in business. But, there are many layers and nuances to e-waste recycling.

Here’s a basic hierarchy:  

Repair and remanufacture of entire units –  Many electronics are disposed when they only have a simple malfunction. These problems can usually be fixed to extend the life cycle of the entire unit.

 

Reuse of what’s functional – In some cases, the electronic in it’s entirety may not be viable but some components can still be used. Your business can also donate unwanted computers to an organization like World Computer Exchange that will get them in the hands of those who need it most.

Recycling of what cannot be repaired – If certain parts or whole electronic units are beyond repair, they can be recycled to salvage the valuable materials.

 

Responsible disposal of what can’t be recycled or reused – About 10 % of e-waste cannot be recycled. Every effort should be made to get these disposed in the proper disposal sites so hazardous elements like lead don’t make its way into our water and airways.

 

A List Of Recyclable IT Equipment and Their Components:

This list is by no means exhaustive but these are the common ones relevant to businesses. They include:

● Desktop and Laptop Computers

● Monitors, Televisions, and Other Display Devices

● Keyboards, mouses, and other computer accessories

● Printers, photocopying machines, and Ink/Toner Cartridges

● Cellphones & Pagers

● Fax Machines and Telephones

● Audio Devices

 

Is There A Sizeable Market For Recycling Electronics?

 

 

The prolific e-waste problem has led to the emergence of many waste management and electronic recycling organizations.

Let’s get into the solutions that are out there. 

1. Take Back Programs – A plethora of businesses and manufacturers have their own recycling initiatives where you can turn in unwanted electronics.

Many offer rewards like gift cards, credit, and cash. Some of the notable programs include:

 

● Staples Technology Trade In

● Sony’s Take Back Program

● LG Electronics Recycling Program

● Dell’s Reconnect Initiative

● Best Buy’s E waste Trade In

● Samsung’s Recycling Direct 

 

2. Many States Have Their Own E- Recycling Solutions – Your business can conduct a local search to find the programs that have been put in place for your particular state or city. Kansas city, for example, has an e-waste grant program.  A simple google search would be “E Waste Recycling [Name of Your State/City]”.  

 

3. Donations To Nonprofit Organizations – Organizations like EWaste4Good help businesses to donate their electronics with ease. It’s a simple process where they come to your place of business to collect the unwanted equipment at no charge.

 

3. Professional E Waste Disposal Facilities –  There are companies with specific licensure for the proper disposal of e-waste. For instance, The Coalition for American Electronics Recycling (CAER) has more than 130 companies as signed members. 

 You can also find companies that have been vetted through e-stewards.org.

Wrapping It Up

 

 

E-waste is a critical problem both in the corporate world and on the global scene. However, if every business looked at their sustainability initiative as a way to contribute to their business’ bottom line, the problem would be half solved.

Take a look at the specific electronic use and subsequent wastage in your organization and select the recycling methods that best suit your needs. The solutions are there and the benefits to your business are clear.

 

How Long Should Ink Cartridges Last?

One of the main questions people will ask when they purchase ink cartridges is how long the cartridge will last. To answer this question properly, you must first look at different aspects of the cartridge. Understanding this information will help you determine how long you should expect ink cartridges to last.

Why Does Cartridge Size Matter?

The first thing to look at is the actual size of the ink cartridge. Ink cartridges come in many different sizes.

There are even several different sizes available for one particular brand and model of printer. Larger cartridges could give you better value and last longer.

When you are looking at this information, make sure you keep an eye on the volume of the cartridge rather than the capacity

Choosing a cartridge that has a higher volume will naturally last longer than one with a lower volume.

CartridgeWorld , if your cartridge is an all-in-one model, you can expect for it to run out faster than if the colors were separate. Most of the time, when a color runs out in one of these cartridges, it will stop working altogether.

 

How Does your Printer Affect the Cartridge?

Your printer and how often you print could also be an indicator of how long your ink cartridge will last.

According to WiseGeek , different types of printers and print jobs require different types of ink.

Many printers are limited on the size of cartridges and only offer one solution. If this is the case, the
overall quality and performance of your printer could determine the lifespan of your cartridge.

For example, lower quality printers often have a lower capacity cartridge to go along with them. This will cause them to not last as long.

Likewise, if you print frequently, you can expect to run out of ink sooner rather than later.

The amount of printing you do on your printer is a key factor in how long your cartridge will last as is the type of documents you print.

Printing high-quality color photos will drain an ink cartridge much faster than printing black and white documents.

 

Surprisingly, there are actually things you can do to make your ink cartridges last longer. In fact, you can learn quite a few tips from the Frugal Living website.

When it comes to maintaining your cartridges, start by allowing the printer to clean the nozzles and print heads every time you change out a cartridge.

This will help you avoid clogs, which could affect your print quality and make it harder for an ink cartridge to function properly.

In addition to this, make sure you use your ink cartridge regularly. Avoiding use of your printer could cause some of the ink to dry up or for clogs to occur.

This could mean you will need to run the printer through its cleaning system, which will use up more of the ink.

If you are experiencing an issue with ink residue, a damp cloth can sometimes be the answer. However, you will want to check with the manufacturer’s suggestions for this issue because some cartridges may require a different type of maintenance.

For those planning to store their ink cartridges, you should make sure they are stored in a place that is dark and dry.

You will also want to take note of the expiration dates so that you make sure you use them before that time. Turning the cartridges on their side is also the best decision because it can help keep clogs from occurring.

According to ColorTonerExpert, there are several other things you can do to store your cartridges properly. Here are some of the top tips they suggest:

1.) Avoid touching the print head

2.) Keep the Tape

3.) Know the shelf-life

4.) Keep it in the package

5.) Avoid the light as well as heat

 

Can you Revive a “Dead” Cartridge?

When your ink cartridge runs out of ink, one of the first things you may attempt to do is shake the cartridge.

For some cartridges, this could allow you to print several more pages of print. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

This is actually a tactic that can be easily used for toner cartridges, which are filled with powder instead of regular ink.

Over time, the powder can become lodged in the cartridge and shaking it could dislodge some of it.

For other types of cartridges that use ink rather than powder, it is much less likely that you will be able to revive a cartridge by shaking it.

Sometimes, however, it is possible to print a few more pages by simply cleaning around the area where the ink is dispersed.

You can also try this trick to unclog an inkjet cartridge.

This is all information that can help you determine how long you should expect your ink cartridge to last.

The important thing to remember is that you should follow the instructions the manufacturer gives you in order to give it the longest lifespan.

In the end, following this information can allow you to get the most value from the ink cartridges you purchase.

How Do Toner Cartridges Work?

One of the interesting aspects of laser printers and copiers is the toner. 
Rather than the printer applying ink, the paper actually “grabs” the toner.
The toner itself is not ink, but rather an electrically-charged powder made of plastic and pigment.

How does toner work?

The two ingredients of toner, plastic and pigment, each have a simple role in the printing process.

The pigment provides the color, while the plastic allows the pigment to stick to the paper when the plastic is heated and melts.

The melting process gives laser toner an advantage over ink, in that it binds firmly to the paper fibers, resisting smudges and bleeding.

This also provides an even, vivid tone that helps text appear sharp on paper.

Another advantage of toner is the cost. Offices usually choose laser printers because the cost of replacing the toner cartridges is less than inkjet printer cartridges, and laser printers tend to cost only slightly more than inkjet printers.

Anatomy of a toner cartridge

The design of a toner cartridge varies with different models and manufacturers, but the following components are commonly found in most toner cartridges.

Toner hopper:The small container which houses the toner

Seal:A removable strip that prevents toner from spilling before installation

Doctor blade: Helps control the precise amount of toner that is distributed to the developer

Developer:Transfers toner to the OPC drum

Waste bin:Collects residual toner wiped from the OPC drum

Wiper blade:Wipes away residual toner applied to the page

Primary charge roller (PCR):Applies a uniform negative to the OPC drum prior to laser-writing. It also erases the laser image

Organic photo-conductor (OPC) drum:holds an electrostatic image and transfers toner onto the paper

Drum shutter:protects the drum from light when outside the machine and retracts the drum into the printer

How does the cartridge work?

In most cartridges, the toner hopper, developer and drum assembly are all part of the replaceable cartridge unit.

When an image or text is being printed on paper, the printer gathers toner from the hopper with the developer.

The developer, composed of negatively-charged magnetic beads attached to a metal roller, moves through the hopper gathering toner.

The developer collects positively-charged toner particles and brushes them past the drum assembly.

The electrostatic image on the drum has a stronger negative charge than the beads on the developer, so the toner is pulled from the developer onto the drum.

Next, the drum moves over the paper. The paper has an even stronger negative charge than the drum, and pulls the toner particles off of the drum in the shape of the electrostatic image.

Next, the paper is discharged by the detac corona wire.

At this point, gravity is the only thing keeping the toner in place. In order to affix the toner, the paper needs to pass through the fuser rollers, which are heated by internal quartz tube lamps.

The heat melts the plastic in the toner particles, causing the toner to be absorbed into the paper fibers.

Although the melted plastic sticks to the paper, it does not adhere to the heated fuser rollers.

This is possible because the rollers are coated with Teflon, the same material that helps food slide out of non-stick frying pans.

Color vs. Monochrome Printing

Color toner works essentially the same way as monochrome toner, except the process is repeated for each of the toner colors.

The standard toner colors are cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black. The black is needed because the three primary colors (red, yellow and blue) can be combined to form any color except black.

The reason for this is black is not technically a color, but the complete absence of color.

These four toner colors, when combined at varying levels of saturation and lightness, can produce millions of different shades and hues.

This quick guided tour of toner cartridges should help provide a basic understanding of how they work.

The current technology of toner cartridges has allowed laser printers to dominate the office printing market.

In the years to come, new designs of toner cartridges promise to provide more efficient and cost-effective solutions for office and home printing.

 

Three Most Common Methods Used to Refill Toner Cartridges

A toner cartridge is a very important part of a printer. It is very significant to the working of a laser printer. Purchasing one can however prove very expensive.

Finding the right model may also be a daunting task. As a result, many people tend to opt for refills. One thing to note about the same is that toner cartridges are very delicate.

And there is a slight chance you might miss.

The recommendation often given is to leave the task to a trained professional. But really there is no need for that if you can as well know how to go about it?

Below are the three most common methods used to refill toner cartridges. The guide will surely help you avoid the mess.

But first, let’s start with a typical framework of a toner cartridge then look at the refill kits and later have the common practical & procedural approaches.

Most toner cartridges bear integrated compartments that serve to hold the toner, control it as well as monitor the circuitry

They also feature large drums and one or more smaller rollers. Some cartridges have additional features, but most of them bear the top and bottom body parts.

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) toner cartridges are hard to refill. They are by design not supposed to be refilled by persons who are not professionals.

However, as earlier indicated, this is not impossible. Refill kits vary in sizes, types and models. Also, some are provided with toners and tools necessary for opening and cleaning.

On the other hand others are accompanied by the toner and a syringe.

It is important therefore to look for the refill kit based on the model and type of toner cartridge. It is crucial to specify for instance, if you are looking for a refill kit for a HP Laser Jet 5.

Other tools you need to try and have include: screwdriver, cleaning supplies as well as rubber gloves.

The Toner Refill Approaches

1. Full Service Method

Begin by disassembling the toner cartridge. While at it, wear rubber gloves. Each part of the body should have its own set of screws. Store the screws well after removing them.

Pull the plates of either sides of the toner cartridge straight off. Jiggle the two halves of the cartridge gently back and forth to pull them apart.

Remove the large colored drum from the now open body then pull out the smaller roller behind it. This should reveal a tinny thin strip of metal.

Remove the screws before lifting the strip of metal out with the relevant tool, often a needle-nose plier or tweezers. You should take care not to bend the metal.

At this point, the old toner should be visible in the partition under the strip. Dumb the toner out and clean using canned air or a spirit-soaked piece of cloth.

Then replace the piece of metal and the cartridge rollers in the correct order they were before disassembling. This should come after carefully cleaning all the other components.

Also, cleaning the drum properly will contribute to improved performance.

Next, remove the thin roller on the other half of the cartridge. This is such that it is much easier to dump the toner powder from the body and to clean out the compartment with the air can.  

Again, this will reveal a narrow outlet next to a familiar-looking metal strip. The opening leads to a toner reservoir.

You should then be able to pour the powder into the gap using the included funnel. Feel free to make a panel funnel in case one was not included in the refill kit and use it to direct the toner powder. 

Fill the reservoir until it begins to overflow. Move the nozzle from one side to another to make the toner even.

Next, clean the roller, snap it back into place, and thoroughly wipe down the surrounding area to remove any excess powder.

Finally, reassemble the body parts and end the plates. All parts should snap back into place smoothly with minimal force.

Then, clean stray toner discovered in the crevasses and reinsert back all screws. Once the toner cartridge is reassembled, ensure that the drum rotates smoothly.

 

2. Quick Puncture Method

Some refill kits are designed to let the user refill his/her toner without even disassembling the cartridge. They include a special puncture bit that can be placed in a common drill even though some people use soldering irons

With these tools, the user must make a hole toward the rear of the cartridge where the toner reservoir is.

After the hole is made, the toner powder should be poured straight in with the funnel. Finally about this, the opening should be sealed with duct tape or a purpose-made plug.

Shaking the cartridge from side to side helps distribute the toner evenly.

3. Toner Refill Level Circuitry

Some cartridges have an additional refill step. This is the level circuitry. It comes after either of the steps above.

Some devices have toner level-sensing chips, users often have to slide the old chip out of its mount and replace it so that the printer recognizes that the cartridge is full.

Perhaps next time you call in the expert, stand by, and with this in mind, you won’t have to call him/her again and by extension you will without a doubt save some bucks

But until then enjoy your printing experience and of course we wish you all the best.

How Toner Cartridge Recycling Methods Save the Environment

Toner cartridges comprise complex non-biodegradable polymers. The chain of complex bio-molecules emitted from electronic wastes, toner cartridges among them, are the biggest threat to the environment other than carbon emissions.

The polymers can take close to 100 years to decompose.

According to leading environmental science journals, about 18 million cartridges are thrown out every year. The figure being that of Australia alone.

This could be hundreds of billions of toner cartridges in landfills the world over. The irony is that these are cartridges that could as well be recycled to save the environment as well as unnecessary costs incurred in production.

With the budding amount of electronic wastes, it is of all time becoming ever more important to recycle rather than dump.

Recycle centers revamp or rather refurbish, refill, and then resell the toner cartridges, often at considerably lower prices.
In most cases, the results a user gets with a repaired toner cartridge are similar to such when she/he uses a branded toner cartridge.

Why Recycle Toner Cartridges

According to the publications, barely 15 percent toner cartridges are recycled every calendar year.

This translates to over 75,000 tons of cartridges in landfills in developed countries of Europe and the United States (US).

The reports also estimate about 300 million of the same are dumped in the two continents alone.

Further, studies also indicate a single toner cartridge requires approximately 1.5 kilograms of the engineering polymer materials to manufacture.

This simply means recycling and or reusing the cartridges can save the manufacturer so much in terms of resources and while at it keep the environment not only clean but also safe.

Other than cutting down production costs and keeping the environment clean, through buyback  programs and toner cartridge refills, the buyer can also get a great deal of money saved as well.

There are numerous toner cartridge recycling programs and a variety of choices along with them. The secret here lies in choosing to dispose of your old toner cartridge in a responsible environmental friendly manner.

Learning how to recycle toner cartridges can be of great help to you and you can as well contribute to the protection of the environment in the following 3 simple ways: Company Recycling, Recycling Programs, and Selling of the Toner Cartridges.

Company Recycling

Brand toner cartridge manufacturing companies such as Canon, Lexmark, and Hewlett Packard (HP) have programs for recycling their cartridges.

The programs are generally available on their websites even though details and the specifics of each may vary from one product or company to another.

Most of these programs work through a program called the Planet Ark.

The program includes drop-off points at various participating retail stores. It should be noted most manufacturers only accept original cartridges. ..

In this case, users who may want to recycle third generation or rather generic cartridges may have to look for other recycling methods.

2. Recycling Programs

Recycling programs vary from recycling banks to recycling drives depending on relevant laws of the particular country.

In Australia for instance, users organize themselves in groups and offer a common drop-off point in the form of recycling banks.

Others are also known to offer curbside pick-ups for the e-wastes.

Due to the dissimilarity, local authorities should specify a preferable way of toner cartridge recycling in a given area. General practice however, is to drop-off toner cartridge at the bank then you send a mail indicating the same.

3. Refilling Toner Cartridges

Despite the above, many people still choose to refill their own toner cartridges. There are also companies that offer services, which include refilling cartridges and sending them back to the various customers.

Refilling is one other a way for consumers to save money they would have used on new cartridges as well as ensuring the environment remains clean and safe by reducing the amount of e-waste going into landfills.

It involves purchasing the right refill kits with the right toner and support equipment. The users should ensure the toner matches the one previously used in the printer.

They should also ensure the refill is compatible with the printer. Important to note is the fact toner cartridge refill route is a tedious procedure that requires one to be familiar with. Alternatively you may get services of a professional.

4. Buy Back Programs

While it is probable to recycle your toner cartridges through a recycling program, there are also organizations working independently who offer cash for empty toner cartridges.

Just like the recycling programs, buyback programs also vary from one location to another. Companies that are involved in this kind of a business normally offer a small amount of money for used toner cartridges, which they refill and re-sell for in most cases the full value of the original cartridge.

This is by far the best option for those who want something back from their cartridges without going through the trouble of refilling them on their own.

While this may not seem a traditional toner cartridge recycling method, it is a good way to ensure it stays in use for a long period of time before it can actually be dumped.