Office equipment and supply dealerships can play a key role in minimizing the hundreds of millions of pounds of long term, non-perishable waste, such as printer cartridges, that currently finds the way into landfills each year. Green Business has long been a buzzword with so many companies and individuals proclaiming an interest in helping to minimize the carbon footprint that’s clearly having a negative long term effects on our planet. Whereas companies claim a social consciousness there are far too many that are just providing lip service. There are so many common sense solutions to lessen our environmental impact and in my opinion too many people ignore the simple ways of making a positive contribution in the effort to save our planet. Let’s talk about some of the ways that we can make a positive difference.
1,000,000,000 printer cartridges annually litter our landfills
So what are some of the ways that many office equipment and supply providers are adding to the problem instead of the solution and how they can help in the pursuit of environmental responsibility? Consider that there are estimated to be 1,000,000,000, yes, 1 billion printer cartridges purchased and used each year and the majority of these cartridges are thrown in the trash after use. Add to this startling fact that a large percentage of the materials used to manufacture printer cartridges are made of engineering grade polymers with a very slow decomposition rate that takes 500 to 1,000 years. When you multiply this startling mountain of non-perishable waste by 10, 20, 30 years we are talking about hundreds upon hundreds of millions of pounds of waste. The good news and the point of this writing is that we can positively impact this problem by making a small shift in our current patterns relating to the purchase, use and disposal of these printer cartridges.
80% of the materials used in the manufacturing of printer cartridges can be recycled and reused
Many Office Equipment and Supply companies have taken steps to participate in the reduction of the waste created by these cartridges while simultaneously lowering consumer costs by offering factory remanufactured printer cartridges. By recycling printer cartridges, companies are able to keep slow deteriorating materials out of the landfill and by repurposing these materials they are able to simultaneously lower printer cartridge costs for the consumer. Many office equipment and supply companies offer an easy way for their consumers to recycle their cartridges after use by directing consumers to websites providing one step recycling pickup and return. Consumers can quickly and easily download a shipping label at no cost to the consumer and without opening any form of account.
Consumers have concerns about the quality of remanufactured printer cartridges
As is the case with any product the quality and availability of individual brands can vary. The vast majorities of factory remanufactured printer cartridges is made to identical standards as original OEM cartridges and offer the same yields and reliability. In most cases, factory remanufactured cartridges are produced in the same ISO 9001/14001 manufacturing facilities that make the original OEM products. These ISO 9001/14001 factories employ stringent testing procedures and frequently offer warranties that far exceed those offered on originally manufactured products. There are factory remanufactured cartridges available for nearly 100% of the printers in the marketplace. In addition to the positive environmental benefits, these factory remanufactured cartridges can cost 25% – 60% less than OEM cartridges and often provide higher print yields in order to last longer. If consumers are serious about lessening their environmental impact while simultaneously lowering their own expenses than it should be encouraged that they consider the benefits of recycling their empty cartridges and using factory remanufactured cartridges in their workplace.
Recycling and reusing materials is good common sense
We feel that most printer cartridge consumers would agree that this practice of recycling and repurposing existing materials would allow them to make a positive difference both in the environment and to their personal bottom line. To find out more about any of the information shared in this publication in addition to learning of more ideas on recycling and repurposing existing office equipment and supplies visit www.csbscopiers.com. Together we can make a difference.
