Aussies ‘increase recycling of printer cartridges’

More than 18 million printer cartridges are recycled every year throughout Australia with a net weight of over 5,000 tonnes, new research has revealed.

As a number of major office products manufacturers step up their environmentally-friendly campaigns, a study by ARN has found that the recycling of office supplies and printer cartridges in Australia has increased by 40 per cent in the past two years.

Such figures are replicated around the world, with the UK, France, Italy and South Africa all noting a large rise in the amount of printer cartridge recycling schemes, the report found.

One such scheme is run by Close the Loop, a Melbourne-based public company designed to encourage the reusing of many office products.

The APN report stated: "Of those cartridges recycled each year, half of the laser cartridges are returned to the original manufacturer for their own component recovery programmes, while the remaining volume is recycled by Close the Loop in its Melbourne facility."

Earlier this month, Lexmark launched an environmental campaign targeting homes, offices and businesses in the UK.

Lexmark’s Earth Month – which runs all the way through April – aims to improve the recycling of printer cartridges, attempts to persuade offices to print documents less and use more eco-friendly office supplies.

At Paperstone we can supply your firm with a wide selection of printer supplies.