Recycling Programs Of Top Printer Companies

Recycling Programs Of Top Printer Companies

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Many of the components of your computer can be recycled and reused for making other materials. Instead of dumping these in your trash bin, taking them to your local recycling center is beneficial to the environment. Recycling centers promote the highest and best reuse of computer and electronic equipment, and recycle unusable items to keep them out of landfills. An online search will return dozens of organizations that offer recycling or reuse for your old equipment.

Many computer hardware manufacturers also have their own recycling and/or trade-in programs. It would be worthwhile to research this prior to buying that new notebook printer, or desktop computer.

Several Inkjet printer manufacturers also maintain recycling programs. However, your recycled ink cartridge doesn't always make it around the loop.

Epson, in cooperation with Funding Factory, recently launched a free recycling program for its customers. Schools and businesses can get points for collecting and remitting empty cartridges to Epson. However, the cartridges are not remanufactured or refilled. They are incinerated. To be fair, mention must be made that the incineration is at an environmentally friendly
waste-to-energy plant; however, it's easy to see that Epson is the big winner in this recycling effort. Their recycling plan takes cartridges out of the hands of remanufacturing plants that can offer less expensive remanufactured compatible cartridges to the consumer.

Hewlett Packard also has a free recycling program and they proudly announce that more than 1.8 million HP Inkjet cartridges were recycled in 2003.Unfortunately, for the consumer, plastics and metal from the HP cartridges are also disassembled and made into new products. Other components are "used to generate energy or are disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner."

Canon offers its customers several options for recycling toner cartridges, including a single return option, an up-to-eight multiple return option, and a bulk return option. Whichever you choose, a shipping label can be downloaded directly from their website. Return shipping via UPS is pre-paid by the company. It appears from many recycling and other eco-friendly programs displayed on their website, that Canon is a leader in environmental stewardship, however to date they have no recycling program in place for Inkjet cartridges.

Lexmark's recycling program is 100% free, as are the other printer manufacturer recycling programs. Customers request a kit using an online order form. Lexmark pays the postage both ways.

However, there is one major difference between Lexmark's program and the programs of the other print giants. Lexmark works with Planet Ark and Close the Loop in Australia to ensure every collected cartridge is remanufactured or recycled. In addition, they have similar recycling programs in Latin American and South Africa. In Europe, every purchase of a Lexmark high-volume cartridge comes with a postage-paid recycling bag included. Now that's closing the circle!

Donate Computer Hardware:

Rather than disposing of your old computer, if the equipment still functions consider donating it to a local school or nonprofit organization. If you have a usable good computer you may want to consider donating the computer instead of dismantling or recycling it. By searching online you can find a number of different charitable organizations who would be more than happy to receive outdated but functional computer equipment.

If you decide to donate the computer and want to get an idea of the value of your old equipment for tax purposes, you can search eBay or other auction sites for the model of the equipment you are donating to see what the fair market value would be (be sure to look at closed auctions too).

If you want to document the value of your donation for the IRS or other authorities, you can get an instant online appraisal from the industry standard Computer Blue Book.

About the Author:
Kishor Nayak is a Business Consultant working with International clients. Did you find this information useful? You can read reviews and product features of the latest printers. Visit: http://myprinterblog.com/



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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