Now we know what at least one company is doing with the printer ink cartridges they collect. There has been speculation over the years that some OEM’s collect empty cartridges simply to ship them to third world countries and dispose of them in landfills. This has never been confirmed, but the rumor has continued to grow over the years.

But, we finally have confirmation of what one OEM is doing with them, and they are doing something good.

HP, through its Planet Partners program, has revealed that it uses post-consumer recycled plastic in the production of new original HP ink cartridges. The cartridges that are returned through the company’s Planet Partners program are reduced to raw materials (plastic and metals). The plastic is then combined with recycled bottle resin and other compounds to make new inkjet cartridges.

HP reports that the amount of recycled material in a new ink cartridge may vary between 70-100% of the total plastic used. If 100% of the plastic is recycled does this mean that HP is selling remanufactured ink cartridges?

They have further reported that more than 200 million cartridges have been manufactured using recycled plastic, and in 2007 alone they used more than five million pounds of recycled plastic. Their goal is to use twice as much in 2008.

Pacific Ink offers the same empty cartridge collection services. When you recycle with us, our goal is to take your empty and use it as a remanufactured cartridge. A remanfuactured ink cartridge will save you substantial money over using the “name brand” OEM cartridge.