Turning Your Empty Ink & Toner Cartridges Into Cash

Are you a member of the PTA or are you involved with another charitable foundation that might be looking for an idea to start a fundraiser? Maybe, you work for a large corporation looking for ideas to push green initiatives.

In either of these cases, we know we can help you make some spare cash from your used and empty office supplies, including ink & toner cartridges.

Simply put, visit ERS USA for a complete list of what empty ink cartridges, or what particular print cartridge, that this company might be buying and willing to pay you for.

After you accumulate over 100 ink or toner cartridges, call the company to get a purchase order number, secure them in a corrugated box and send them off. Although free shipping is, generally, not included and the company will deduct for ink cartridges or toner cartridges that may be defective, your organization can still make money and you can be assured that you will be promoting intiatives to go green.

Static Problems with Toner Cartridges

November is here and if you make online purchases of toner cartridges for your laserjet printer, you will want to be reminded that when a cartridge is sent by UPS or FedEx, it is exposed to cold air. Using a HP 4000 toner cartridge, as an example of something you may have purchased from a storefront, it has had time to adjust to inside temperatures, a toner cartridge exposed to the cold weather must be allowed to adjust to room temperature, prior to installing it in your printer. Failing to allow your cartridge to adjust to room temperature may cause you more of a headache than you had expected, as static problems could occur.

HP Compatible, Bio-Black, Bio Toner Cartridge

Environmental stewardship has become a top priority and more consumers are demanding sustainable practices from vendors.

In some of our previous posts we have discussed the environmental benefits of utilizing recycled, or remanufactuted, inkjet or toner cartridges, and how purchasing these products will extend their lifecyle by keeping them out of landfills. We know that the resins found in a HP cartridge are derived from petroleum, hence increasing our reliance on oil, a non sustainable resource. Additionally, we have reviewed the fact that a compatible, recycled, or remanufactured, inkjet or toner cartridge cannot void your printer warranty, but instead may better your bottom line.

That said, it should come as no surprise that a new type of resin, for toner cartridges, has been developed that is ideal for end-users and companies who promote green initiatives. The new resins are bio-based and sustainable because they are produced from soy, cottonseed and corn. And, best of all, the use of these bio-black toner cartridges, as they are called, require no modifications to any existing HP network printer. Simply put, you merely get a bio toner and put it into your HP printer, and use it just as you would any toner cartridge.

Will A Remanufactured Cartridge Void My Warranty?

More times than I can count, I have had a potential customer tell me that they cannot buy remanufactured inkjet, toner, mail addressing or Videojet marking ink cartridges because the manufacturer, or their maintenance service provider, informed them that it would void their printer warranty.

Simply stated, this is NOT true!

The manufacturer of the printer you are using "cannot" void the printer warranty on your printer, mail addressing equipment or packaging equipment because you use a cartridge manufactured by someone other than the printer manufacturer. This includes the use of compatible toner cartridges and a remanufactured Canon ink cartridge, Dell ink cartridge, HP ink cartridge and Lexmark ink cartridge, as well as many others.

Should someone tell you this, ask them to put it in writing. You might have grounds to take action against them, as anyone who claims this is in violation of The Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Law. Free choice of vendor allows for competition and keeps prices affordable. Your printer manufacturers are aware of lower priced ink and toner supplies, some who even market remanufactured but who want to convince you that because you are purchasing from a manufacturer, you are getting the best deal. (This is no necessarily true). Threatening to void warranties and add additional service call charges for use of compatible toner or a remanufactured Canon ink cartridge, Dell ink cartridge, HP ink cartridge, Lexmark ink cartridge, or cartridges manufactured by anyone else are their way of trying to limit competition. Save this information to protect yourself against these illegal actions, if anyone ever threatens you by saying that you cannot use remanufactured ink cartridges, especially those Made In America.

The Perception Of Better Value - Is Shipping Free

Earlier this week, one of the US's discount airlines announced that they had intentions to start charging a $45.00 fee for carry on luggage, in addition to all the other little add-on's everyone who flies these days is paying. On the surface, the cost of the actual ticket from this carrier appeared much less than all the other carriers, encouraging price conscious fliers to go with the cheapest fare by purchasing from the discount airline. Adding up all the little add-on's, however, revealed something quite different, as compared to the national carriers supersaver plans, the discount carrier was more expensive, not less expensive.

As a consumer, the lesson to be learned is that although something might have the perception of better value, the slogan "Buyer Beware" still holds true.

Online buyers need to remember this lesson as many websites will post an inexpensive price, only to charge extra for freight or shipping/handling at checkout. As concerns toner cartridges, one should be aware that differences exist that would make one cartridge more, or less, expensive than another toner. These differences include, but are not limited to, 1) If the product has a warranty, 2) Whether the page yield of the cartridge is high yield, or low yield and 3) If the cost includes free shipping.

Whether it is true, or not, I've heard that the average retention rate of an online shopper is 15 seconds. In order to make certain we really are comparing apples to apples, a thought for the wise might be to make a concentrated effort to pay more attention when considering an online purchase.

GOING GREEN

As an environmetally responsible company and a member of The Green Business Network, Mother Earth Recycling provides an answer for people who are looking to purchase recycled products and to keep their ink and toner cartridges out of landfills. We offer an alternative to the standard end-of-life model for these items by extending their lifecycle and closing the loop on their production. We take this cause seriously and extend it to our business philosophy and practices.

Considering these facts, we hope others will join our cause to purchase products that have recycled components:

1) More than 300 million printer cartridges end up in landfills on a yearly basis. That translates into more than $450 million being thrown away.
2) Approximately 90% of toner cartridges are recyclable but only 20% are being recycled. Excess ink and toner can filter into our water supply.
3) More than two ounces of oil are used for the production of every, palm-held, inkjet cartridge, with much more being used to manufacture laser, fax and copier cartridges. That means we're going through more than 4,000,000 gallons of oil for single-use cartridges each year.
4) The recovery and reuse of empty toner cartridges diverts millions of cubic feet of material from waste disposal, saving us millions of tax dollars needed to pay for addtional landfill management.

Besides purchasing products that reuse plastic cores, purchasing products containing a new, compatible, HP toner - made from soybeans, corn and cottonseed is available. These bio toner cartridges contain a resin called Bio-Black and they will benefit anyone wanting a greener office environment.