When people talk about e-waste, the conversation usually centers on big-ticket items: cell phones, laptops, televisions, or kitchen appliances. But one of the most common forms of electronic waste is often left out of the picture — printer cartridges.

Millions of them are used every single day, yet they rarely get the attention they deserve. And that oversight comes at a steep environmental cost.

The Scale of the Problem

Globally, the world generated 62 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022 — and only about 22% was documented as properly recycled. While ink and toner cartridges represent just a fraction of that weight, their sheer volume is staggering:

• In the U.S. alone, over 375 million cartridges are discarded each year.
• That’s more than one million every single day.

When cartridges are tossed in the trash, they don’t simply vanish.

What Happens in the Landfill

Cartridges are made of plastics, metals, and residual ink or toner. Once in a landfill, they:

• Take up to 1,000 years to decompose.
• Leach toxins and microplastics into soil and groundwater.
• Add to the global plastic pollution crisis, where waste breaks down into harmful particles that travel through the food chain.

They may be small, but collectively, cartridges become a massive and long-lasting environmental burden.

Why Cartridges Deserve More Attention

Unlike many other forms of e-waste, cartridges have a straightforward, proven path to reuse. An empty cartridge isn’t truly “waste” — it’s a reusable core that can be cleaned, rebuilt, refilled, and put back to work. That makes ignoring them even more problematic, because every cartridge thrown away represents a missed opportunity for reuse.

The Role of Fundraisers, Schools, and Organizations

One of the best ways to bring cartridges back into the recycling stream is through collective effort. When schools, nonprofits, and community groups encourage their supporters to recycle cartridges, the impact multiplies:

• Empties get diverted from landfills.
• Organizations earn funds for their causes.
• Awareness spreads about the importance of recycling even “small” e-waste items.

What seems minor at the household level becomes transformative when scaled across communities.

Planet Green Recycle’s Mission

At Planet Green Recycle, we’ve made cartridges our focus for a reason: they’re too important to be overlooked. Our free recycling program makes it simple for anyone — from individuals to large organizations — to recycle empties. And our DoorStepInk remanufactured cartridges prove that cartridges can have a second life without sacrificing quality or performance.

Every cartridge recycled is one less in a landfill. Every remanufactured cartridge purchased is one more step toward a sustainable future.

A Small Item With a Big Impact

Cartridges may not grab headlines like smartphones or flat-screen TVs, but they matter. In fact, because of their sheer numbers and their proven potential for reuse, they may be one of the most important e-waste streams of all.

Ignoring them means choosing waste over opportunity. Paying attention means choosing a cleaner, more sustainable future — one cartridge at a time.

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