What are dealing with?

24 million homes in the UK have a personal computer and 90% of those homes have printers. The average household uses 2-3 inkjet cartridges a year and many offices use large numbers of laser cartridges. Only 15 % of the 65 million printer cartridges that are sold in the UK are recycled which means the rest end up in landfill sites and this is major bad news as the plastic used in a typical cartridge is made of engineering grade polymers and is expected to take up to 1000 years to decompose!

In 2003, 30-40% of the 40 million inkjet and toner cartridges sold in the UK were remanufactured or recycled, with 12-14,000 tonnes ending up in landfill. Refilling ink jet cartridges is straightforward and can be done on a DIY basis, with a number of companies supplying the ink and refilling equipment. In addition it is also possible to send cartridges away for refilling or to buy refilled cartridges. Many charities and individuals raise money through the collection of used printer cartridges for refilling and resale although increasingly the introduction of smart "killer" chips is hampering this process.

Toner cartridges cannot be refilled, but most types of toner cartridge can be remanufactured. The cartridges are sent to a factory where they are completely dismantled and cleaned, any worn parts are replaced, and the drum either re-coated or replaced. They are then refilled with fresh toner, tested and sold with a guarantee.