Rats! Seems I Can’t Recycle My Ink Cartridges!

With my husband hunting for a new job, suddenly our printer is going through ink. We’ve been low for a long time, but we finally managed to use up a couple cartridges.

Come to find out that a lot of Canon ink cartridges aren’t recycleable. Some are, but not the ones we use.

I gather that the ones Office Depot recycles have to have the print head in them. I guess that’s something of a plus, that disposing of my cartridges is not disposing of a print head every time. But I still hate seeing the plastic go to waste.

I even checked an ink refill site, and no go there either. Not that it would have helped this time, since we needed the ink today. But it would be nice to know.

All this is making me really glad we don’t do a lot of printing most of the time. I find it simpler to order my prints on those rare occasions I need a photo printed, so my printing needs come out to pretty rare occasions. The printer is only about 2 years old, so we obviously have no plans to replace it just because the cartridges won’t recycle. But it’s a thought for next time.

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3 replies on “Rats! Seems I Can’t Recycle My Ink Cartridges!”

  1. Gina says:

    Walgreens refills ink carts now. I don’t know if they’ll do the kind you have or not, but it might be worth checking.

  2. Stephanie says:

    Interesting… of course there are no Walgreens near me. But good to know.

  3. eCycle Group says:

    Try eCycle Group (www.ecyclegroup.com). We might recycle your Canon model. If we don’t, check http://www.epa.gov, Waste Wise and search for your local municipal recycler. They won’t likely refill it, but they might chip it and recycle the petroleum on the secondary market. Good Luck!

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