Toner Cartridge Recycling

Pardon the pun, hi-tech recycling makes dollars and sense. Or to be more precise, recycling usually makes sense and can occasionally earn a few dollars. Take toner cartridge recycling, for instance. While throwing an original equipment manufactured (OEM) toner cartridge into the trash might not be a crime, it's definitely wasteful. Why landfill a chunk of technology that has yet to life out its useful life? Especially when it might fetch a few bucks ...

Do you think that retail stores (and I'm not naming names ... you know who they are) provide toner cartridge recycling bins out of the goodness of their corporate hearts? Ha!

Okay, so maybe I'm being a bit too harsh on those benevolent corporate interest. In fact, some do, but others surely don't. Before you drop your toner cartridge in the slot, take the time to find out whether the profits will land in charitable hands or end up lining those corporate pockets.

I've spent a slice of time looking into the toner cartridge recycling game. It's an eye opener ...

For weeks now, I've been tripping over a pair of empty HP 7115A toner cartridges here in my office. While their replacements came with free shipping labels, I haven't had the urge to pack them up and ship them back to HP. In the back of my mind, I thought I might be able to get a free lunch out of them (much in the way that we used to save cases of empty longneck beer bottles to turn back in for a "free" six-pack).

tonerbuyer.com touts that it will pay up to $22 per empty toner cartridge. A quick search of their listing turns up only one toner cartridge that will bring $22 ... the Xerox 13R563. Common cartridges are worth much less. The company pays anywhere from 75 cents on up for empty OEM units. My dreams of a free lunch were dashed when I discovered that the commonplace HP 7115A (or X) were worth only a buck a piece.

Not as bad as dime a dozen, to be sure, but not enough for lunch, either.

More: Printer Cartridge Recycling