Landfill is not the answer

Printer cartridges are a complicated assembly of mixed plastics, metal, toner powder, ink, foam and rubber. This makes the print consumables waste stream very complex and potentially hazardous to human health and the environment when disposed of in landfill.

Fast Facts

Australians send 34 printer cartridges to landfill every minute. That equates to 2,050 an hour. That’s 5,000 tonnes per year.

More than 3.4 litres of oil are needed to make one new laser cartridge. In just 12 months, cartridge recycling could save 4.3 million litres of oil in a country of 22 million people.

Millions of cartridges go into landfills each year, and their number increases by 12 per cent annually.

Laser printer cartridges account for over 90 per cent of all disposable cartridges.

A laser cartridge thrown into a landfill can take up to 450 years to decompose

Almost 90 per cent of empty cartridges are incinerated or dumped in landfills.

Extending the life is the first step, then reuse, then recycle.