Recycling your compatible ink and toner cartridges not only is very good for the environment, but it is quite a simple thing to do as well. There are many quality outlets that sell toner that will be happy to take your used up cartridge from you and will also offer you a good price on a new toner and ink cartridge when you trade in the old one. Then the old cartridge is refilled and sold at a discount, and it will compare very favourably to a new cartridge when it comes to performance.
Refill your own cartridges
Toner cartridges are made of very intricate parts that will wear with use, so it means that the number of times one particular cartridge will be used is limited. When recycling toner cartridges, you will find that the retailer might ask you if your cartridge has previously been refilled. There are kits that are available that will allow you to refill your own toner cartridges with cheap ink and toner. This can turn out to be very convenient and that at the same time inexpensive. The toner refill kits will differ, and this will depend on the type of cartridge. Most of the kits come with basic instructions and the toner is usually packaged in a plastic bottle.
When you refill a toner and ink cartridge, you might need to make a little hole in the cartridge casting which you can do using a soldering iron. Don’t use a drill as they can then force bits of ground plastic back into the toner chamber. Toner can be poured through the hole which is then taped closed afterwards.
When you are recycling toner cartridges, if the cartridge has been refilled quite a few times, it might be a good idea to add only a bit of the toner rather than filling up the entire chamber because then if the cartridge does go back, you won’t have lost so much toner.
The drum will also last longer
The laser printer cartridges have built-in drums in most cases and over time, this drum will deteriorate and leave marks on the blank areas of a page. Generally speaking the drum style cartridge can only be refilled once or twice. If you are recycling your ink and toner cartridges by filling your own ones, you will be able to use the drum as long as it performs well, which could well extend well beyond two refills.
Conserve nature
Toner is inclined to be rather messy if it is handled incorrectly and it can ruin clothes or carpets or furniture. You also should not inhale it so you should try and refill yours out of the reach of children and pets. By recycling toner cartridges, you are extending the life of countless cartridges that would otherwise just be discarded prematurely. Over 375 million empty toner and ink cartridges are tossed onto landfills ever years which equates to about eleven cartridges being discarded every second. Putting all these toner and ink cartridges end to end you would encircle the earth about three times. Surely this should make all users of cartridges consider the prospects of recycling ink and toner cartridges. Just by recycling them, you are conserving our natural resources and energy by reducing the need to use brand new and fresh materials. Ninety seven percent of the materials that are used to make up a printer cartridge can be recycled or reused if taken care of. It is time to start taking care.