HP Innovates �Closed Loop� Inkjet Cartridge Recycling Programme

[DPNow]

Here is a summary or excerpt from an article that has just been published on DPNow:

More than 200 million cartridges have been manufactured using the process thus far. HP used more than 2.26 million kilograms of recycled plastic in its inkjet cartridges last year, and the company is committed to using twice as much in 2008

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[JSR]

For decades HP has worked to manage its environmental impact by adopting environmentally responsible practices

Sorry, but when a printer manufacturer starts going on about being environmentally responsible, I've got to check the calendar to see if it's April 1st.

More than 200 million cartridges have been manufactured

Doesn't that highlight what the real problem is? If printer manufacturers didn't put the tiniest amount of ink in each ink cartridge then maybe, just maybe, there wouldn't be a need for so many millions of cartridges using up plastic!

It's not rocket science. Instead of putting a thimble-sized amount of ink in millions of cartridges, put ten times as much ink into thousands of cartridges. Immediately there'd be an environmentally favourable impact because less cartridges mean less plastic is required! Less cartridges will mean less packaging is required. Less cartridges will mean less recycling is required. But no, they continue to sell thimble-amounts of ink and then claim that recycling will save the planet.

So, as I say, is it April 1st?

[Ian]

Sorry, but when a printer manufacturer starts going on about being environmentally responsible, I've got to check the calendar to see if it's April 1st.


Doesn't that highlight what the real problem is? If printer manufacturers didn't put the tiniest amount of ink in each ink cartridge then maybe, just maybe, there wouldn't be a need for so many millions of cartridges using up plastic!

It's not rocket science. Instead of putting a thimble-sized amount of ink in millions of cartridges, put ten times as much ink into thousands of cartridges. Immediately there'd be an environmentally favourable impact because less cartridges mean less plastic is required! Less cartridges will mean less packaging is required. Less cartridges will mean less recycling is required. But no, they continue to sell thimble-amounts of ink and then claim that recycling will save the planet.

So, as I say, is it April 1st?

Well, the problem is that we all want cheap printers to buy in the first place. Any printer manufacturer would quickly go bust if you didn't buy any consumables. Extra large cartridges pose some technical problems as they are usually mounted on the print head, which has to move precisely. Mounting them off the print head adds to the cost of manufacture.

Maybe we should pay more for our printers and so be rewarded with cheaper and higher capacity cartridges?

Although I'm very much in favour of recycling and avoiding poor waste management, I hardly feel that ink cartridges are a major factor in all this. The quantity if plastic, glass and other materials that needs to be managed in food packaging alone is thousands of times greater in quantity.

Ian

[JSR]

Mounting them off the print head adds to the cost of manufacture.

Maybe we should pay more for our printers and so be rewarded with cheaper and higher capacity cartridges?

I think that is the way printers should go. Since manufacturers have created this throwaway market in which the printer is virtually free, we end up with tiny cartridges which we throwaway by the bucketload. The manufacturers got themselves into this situation, and they're not going to get themselves out of it any time soon - unfortunately. Worse still, they've encouraged the laser printer market to follow this inefficient and wasteful lead. There must be a hideous amount of wasted plastic in each "starter" and "standard" (read: "low capacity") toner cartridge.

Perhaps if manufacturers went back to making printers that they support for more than a year or two before replacing them. Perhaps they shouldn't be so keen to obsolete old models just to bring out a new one. Perhaps they shouldn't release so many printers that you can't service quickly and cheaply yourself. From inkjets to lasers, we live in a society in which it's easier/cheaper to dump the unit in landfill and buy the next model than it is to change the parts and maintain it.

There's far more to address than recycling a couple of cartridges that shouldn't be so small that so many need recycling in the first place.

This all adds to my "April 1st" comment - printer manufacturers need to stop chasing headlines and sort this disposable printer and tiny cartridge market out, once and for all.

Although I'm very much in favour of recycling and avoiding poor waste management, I hardly feel that ink cartridges are a major factor in all this. The quantity if plastic, glass and other materials that needs to be managed in food packaging alone is thousands of times greater in quantity.

You'll get no argument from me on that one. I was just responding to the dubiousness of yet another headline grabbing article (not your fault, I know). These companies do all the wrong things then when they try and paper over the cracks they issue headline grabbing press releases that try to make out that they're little saints and angels who didn't create the problem in the first place.