help the environment
It is a fact that every year millions of empty printer cartridges are needlessly thrown away into landfill sites.
Almost all inkjet and toner cartridges can either be refilled or remanufactured, saving you money and protecting the environment.
- Each cartridge sent to landfill can take over 1000 years to decompose.
- Over 250 million cartridges have ended up in landfill sites or been incinerated in the last 10 years.
- Each laser cartridge contains over 1.5kg of plastic, aluminum and assorted precious metals.
- It takes 3 litres of oil to produce a new laser toner cartridge.
What can you do to help?
It's simple - Refill & Re-use your empty toner cartridge.
By refilling your toner cartridge you are helping to reduce your carbon foot print.
Every cartridge refilled is one fewer going to a landfill site; it is also one less (OEM) cartridge that needs to be produced, saving the planets precious natural resources.
The idea behind it all
Toner cartridges, as you may have noticed, are very expensive to purchase.
Someone clever worked out that refilling made much more sense (environmentally as well as economically), and a whole industry has grown around this simple idea.
As an office consumable, photocopier & printer toner cartridges are perhaps singly, the most environmentally damaging product that your office contains.
As a waste product, toner cartridges are made of mainly non-biodegradable plastic with toxic elements, weighing nearly 4lbs each, making them particularly environmentally damaging products to throw away.
Refilling cartridges is a relatively simple procedure, involving emptying, and then refilling. This can be done 2-3 times, before the cartridge should be eventually be retired and then recycled.
Where do OEM cartridges end up?
Landfill Sites.
Toner cartridges dumped in land fill sites release harmful toxins and chemicals into the earth whilst also taking 1000’s of year to degrade. The alternative is incineration - which pollutes the environment by releasing the toxins directly into the air as well as increasing carbon emissions, as the cartridges are burnt.
Many OEM cartridges are dumped in places such as rural China, even though the export of hazardous waste from developed to undeveloped countries is prohibited.
In places like Guiyu, China, migrant workers are often seen searching around the sites where empty printer cartridges are dumped, trying to recover suitable parts for sale.
The internal and external parts of empty printer cartridges that are not considered to be worth any value are burned along streets, roads and rivers. This has led to massive pollution and environmental damage.
What’s our environmental policy?
Zinetic is an environmentally based business, which aims to practice what it preaches. We recognize we have an impact on the environment and we will strive to minimize this impact through prevention of pollution, continual environmental improvement and compliance with environmental legislation.
We apply the following principles:
- Comply with applicable environmental laws and regulations.
- Wherever possible, reuse, reduce and recycle any materials purchased.
- Wherever possible, save energy and reduce water consumption.
- Minimize any packaging used.
Useful links
http://www.recycle-more.co.uk