Overall Fact

• Over 375 million empty ink and toner cartridges are thrown away each year with most ending up in landfills or in incinerators.
  
  

Plastics

• The plastics used for cartridges are made of an engineering grade polymer that has a very slow decomposing rate that ranges between 450 to 1,000 years, depending on the cartridge type.
  
  

Ink

• Ink cartridges leak printer ink, which seeps into and pollutes the surrounding environment.
  
  

Petroleum Oil

• An ink cartridge takes about 3 oz of petroleum oil in its production process, while a toner ink cartridge takes 3 quarts of oil to produce it.
  
  

You Can Help

• You can help by recycling your ink and toner cartridges. Many ink manufacturing companies provide instructions, packaging materials and free postage that encourage you to recycle your old cartridge, which is refilled and used again. Also, many office supply stores offer rewards, cash or discounts on future items if you bring in your empty or used cartridges to be recycled.