Report reveals over half of US cartridges go to landfill

A Harris Interactive poll conducted on a random sample of 2,079 adults has revealed that 55.6 percent of American consumers throw out their empty printer cartridges instead of recycling them. This represents the addition of more than 40 million pounds (over 18 million kilograms) to the nation’s landfills.

“Most consumers are unaware their used printer cartridges can easily be refilled and reused,” commented Phillip L. Theodore, executive vice president for Nu-kote, a developer of environmentally friendly imaging supply products. He went on to say that “It’s an education process. Many people understand the need to recycle paper, aluminium and plastic. They shop for products made from recycled content. We want them to know they can also turn in their empty printer cartridges and shop for a replacement that has been ‘remanufactured,’ completing the life cycle of the product.”

Consumers need to be made aware of the facts about buying and recycling cartridges such as recent research by the Rochester Institute of Technology, released in November 2004, that found remanufactured printer cartridges provide the same print quality and page output as new cartridges. “This is good information to have during the holiday shopping season,” said Theodore. “If you have a new printer or a new digital camera, you’ll soon need a replacement inkjet cartridge. Consumers can feel good about having more choices when it comes to finding a less expensive, environmentally friendly replacement that will perform just as well as the one supplied with the printer.”