Eco-Friendly

Eco-Friendly Toner: Print with Purpose

As environmental concerns continue to grow, many people are
looking for ways to reduce their impact on the planet.  One area where businesses are finding they can make a meaningful impact is through their printing practices. 

Each year in the United States, 350 million used ink and toner cartridges are thrown away, with the majority ending up in landfills.  A single discarded cartridge from a laser printer adds roughly 2 pounds of metal and plastic pollution to our landfills – waste that takes 1,000 years to decompose entirely.  The math is simple but staggering: we contribute 700 million pounds of waste to our environment yearly from empty printer cartridges alone. 

It may seem like a small problem compares to the greater challenge of pollution or climate change, but the environmental impact from trashing used printer cartridges deserves our attention.  While 700 pounds of cartridge landfill wastes is unsightly, and prevents habitation or wildlife, the CO2 emissions from manufacturing those cartridges are even worse. 

According to the environmental think tank, Energy Collective Group, a single printer cartridge emits 4.8kg of carbon emissions during production.  If we consider that approximately 500 million printer cartridges are sold in the U.S. per year, that equals 2.4 billion kilograms (or a shopping 2.4 million metric tons) of carbon emission solely from cartridge manufacturing. 

Putting these figures in perspective, the EPA estimates that the average passenger vehicle creates 4.6 metric tons of CO2 each year.  Another way to look at it, the amount of CO2 released by manufacturing printer cartridges in the United States each year is equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions from 521,739 cars – over half a million cars!

Evaluating your printer needs, use and wastes is important for two key reasons: it reduces our carbon footprint and makes for a healthier work environment.By focusing in environmental responsibility, we hope to make a positive impact on the environment and to our customers’ bottom line.