Think about the fact that in 2012 around 1,8 billion print cartridges could have been left in landfills and be supplemented by a further 350 million every single year, and you have some idea of the usage issue of cartridges in addition to the environmental dilemma they lead to. Cartridges are projected to take up to from four hundred and fifty to 1000 years to break down. These little beasts also contribute to several other environmental concerns in their manufacturing, like causing the emission of 4,8 kg’s CO2 per cartridge. An additional 3,2 Kg’s of CO2 is released by the toner contained in the cartridge for the life-span of the toner.
In an attempt to counter this occurrence, the United States and Europe have started with the release of guidelines to encourage the recycling of cartridges. This is not totally good news for the producers of cartridges, as they definitely will lose out on the sale of new cartridges. Some suppliers in reality make it difficult for the re-filling and recycling of their cartridges, by adding a chip that can not be reset for further use. On the other hand somebody who could remove this chip on a specific manufacturers’ cartridge, found he could print up to 38% more than what the chip intact enables. So, in effect this producer was denying the consumer the use of 38% worth of ink thereby forcing the purchase of new cartridges.
An ink cartridge is a replaceable portion of an ink jet printer. The cartridge contains the ink and often the print head. The cost of such cartridges (mostly 2 per printer for white and black and colour printing) are pretty expensive and in some ridiculous cases it is less costly to buy a new printing device than replace the cartridges. Cartridges of different manufacturers can’t be interchanged because of different design features and other electrics. Generally when a printer uses two cartridges, the black and white cartridge won’t work if the colour cartridge is empty forcing the replacing of colour cartridges.
In spite of all these tricks by the original companies, it is possible to spend less on replacement cartridges. Firstly, look around for “compatibles” at +- 30-40% discount, which are generally originally manufactured cartridges by alternative companies, or secondly have your original ink cartridges filled again by one of the shops that sell compatibles. Provided your ink cartridges are in excellent condition and have not been refilled more than 3 times, such transaction will save you an impressive 50-70% discount in comparison to a new branded ink cartridge. Some stores also offer so called “re-manufactured” ink cartridges, but those are no more than re-filled and cleaned up cartridges. Another (perhaps not too good an option) is to refill your own cartridges, but this in practise has proofed not to be such a great option as it is messy and the results often less than adequate.
It is not always realized by the client but printing is an expensive part of computing, particularly for those individuals who get involved in photo printing or other forms of specialized printing. It is smart to explore alternatives to save on printing costs.
