Sunday, November 25, 2007

USED PRINTER CARTRIDGES POLLUTE THE ENVIRONMENT (!!)
from www.earthtonesolutions.com

non-biodegradable parts of inkjet cartridges will pollute the environment for at least 100 million years.

Facts:

* In 2005, over 700 million new printer cartridges were sold ONLY in the USA. (650 million inkjet cartridges and 70 million toner cartridges)

* In 2005, over 60 million new printer cartridges were sold in Canada. (59 million inkjet cartridges and 7 million toner cartridges)

* In 2005, over 500 million new printer cartridges were sold in Europe. (525 million inkjet cartridges and 49 million toner cartridges)

* In 2005, over 100 million recycled printer cartridges were sold worldwide. (62 million inkjet cartridges and 42 million toner cartridges)

* 2 1/2 ounces of oil are used for each new inkjet cartridge.

* 3 1/2 quarts of oil are used for each new toner cartridge.

* Every toner printer cartridge on average, is made up of about 2 1/2 pounds of plastic, along with rubber, aluminum, and steel.

* About 3 1/2 quarts of petroleum are required to power the manufacturing process that converts oil and natural gas to plastic , to produce a single printer cartridge.

* Every printer cartridge contains petroleum as "embedded energy". It take the energy equivalent of about 1/2 gallon of oil to produce a 2 1/2 pound laser cartridge.

* Each new toner cartridge uses about 3 quarts of oil to produce, and adds 2 1/2 pounds of plastic to the environment.

* By some estimates, about eight inkjet and toner cartridges are thrown in the trash in the United States every second.

* Printer cartridge recycling industry analysts estimate that used inkjet and toner cartridges can be recycled and reused between 4 and 7 times.

* According to industry statistics, over 86% of inkjet cartridges consumed in the United States are not recycled, they're thrown in the trash. Toner cartridge recycling is a very large industry in the USA. It employs thousands of people yet over 1/2 of the used toner cartridges are still discarded every year. That translates to 350 million printer cartridges that end up in landfills or incinerators or about 875 million pounds of e-waste. Stacked end to end, these discarded printer cartridges would cover a distance of about 24,000 miles; enough distance to circle the earth.

* For every toner printer cartridge we recycle, we save at least 1/2 gallon of oil. With America consuming about 700 million gallons of oil per day, recycling printer cartridges is helping to save our natural resources, and curb additional greenhouse emissions.

* It is estimated that in the next seven years, if we recycle every inkjet and toner cartridge, a bridge can be built from the Earth to the Moon; that's a distance of 223,000 miles.


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