| By :
Wendy Moyer
Every year many millions of empty printer ink and toner cartridges get thrown away, only to end up in incinerators or landfills. Because these inkjet cartridges are made of plastic they can take up to 1,000 years to decompose. Used ink jet cartridges account for filling up millions of cubic feet of landfills per year. You can help save this space and the tax dollars that would be necessary to provide additional landfills by recycling your used cartridges. If these petroleum based products are incinerated the results can be even more catastrophic. When they're incinerated both toxic petroleum related and heavy metal chemicals are belched into the air we breathe. Recent estimates show that twenty to forty percent of ink cartridges are recycled. If you're not recycling yet, you can do your part to increase this percentage - and earn some money while you are helping the planet. Most printers ink cartridges can be recycled up to half a dozen times. When they are recycled they are rebuilt, refilled, and sold at considerably lower prices than OEM cartridges. And recycled printer ink jet cartridges will give you the same great quality and output as original equipment manufacturer cartridges. How to Recycle Your Empty Printer Ink Cartridges Once you've decided to recycle your empty printers ink cartridges you've got a couple of alternatives available to you. The first is to search on the Internet for organizations that will pay you money for your used cartridges. You'll find that these websites will either pick up your cartridges or give you free pre-paid shipping. And with a little time spent on the search engines you'll find that quite a few of them will pay you up to four dollars for each empty cartridge you send them. Some of these websites also offer the option of donating that money to a charity of your choice. Before sending in your empty cartridges make sure that it is on their list of acceptable cartridges. If you send in something that is not on their list you won't get paid for it and might even be charged a penalty. A simpler (but not profitable) way to recycle your used cartridge is to send it back to the original manufacturer. Many companies now provide instructions right on the box. They also often provide free postage and packaging for you. So why not do your part to recycle your used printer ink cartridges and help the planet while you help yourself?
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