The gross greenhouse gas emissions within the UK in 2012/13 totalled 5.75 million tonnes of CO2e. To reach the target set to reduce the UK’s global carbon emissions by 90% before 2050, employers are now trying to recycle everything possible to reduce emissions, while sustaining profits within their business.
With an estimated 40 million cartridges going to landfills within the UK every year, the printer cartridge industry has now taken up the responsibility of recycling its own products, as the plastics used in ink cartridges take over 1000 years to decompose.
Some companies, such as Cartridge Discount, offer a free-post service for their customers to send in their used ink cartridges and will even donate £1 to Cancer Research for every cartridge they receive. Other manufactures, like Epson, offer their customers a similar service including a package for office based businesses who use a lot of ink. These services aim to use recycled materials and create recyclable products.
To understand more about the importance of recycling, here are five facts about printer cartridges to persuade more people to help reduce the UK’s carbon footprint:
1, People discard enough cartridges each year to circle the earth – that’s over 24,000 miles.
2, 30 million inkjet cartridges are placed in UK landfills each year – that’s the same weight as 18 blue whales.
3, More than 1.1 billion inkjet cartridges are used annually around the world, laid end to end this would be 129 times as long as the Great Wall of China.
4, In 2005, 17 million laser cartridges were recycled in Europe, saving 6 million litres of virgin oil, which would fill three Olympic sized swimming pools with leftovers.
5, When cartridges are past their useful life, they are taken to a waste electrical plant where the metal and plastics are grinded then separated to be used in new products like garden furniture and broomsticks.
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- UK Shoppers Could Soon Pay for Plastic Carrier Bags (assuredsecurityshredding.co.uk)
