How Do I Recycle My Empties?

The process of recycling your empty ink or toner cartridges is really not as hard as many might think it is. There are a lot of websites out there that will gladly accept your empty Laser Toners and Ink Cartridges. Listed below are some of the most standard ways of sending away your empty cartridges. Please make an effort and recycle.

Every recycling company or website has its own payment methods and set of procedures on how to recycle your empties. Make sure that you read through all the fine print before you send your empties in. Do not be afraid to contact the business you decide to go with if you have any questions. Inkpal.com has no ties with the organizations listed in our directory of businesses that will accept your empties, so if you ever have any issues with them, make sure to contact them directly.

Pick up

Some sites/organizations will send you pre-paid mailers/labels to send the empties to them. A local business might leave a drop-off box at your office and pick up your used cartridges on a monthly basis or at a scheduled pickup time.

Transportation

If you decide to send your empty cartridges away, make sure that you pack the empties up really well so that they do not get damaged during transportation. If that should happen, you will not get anything in return for them.

Accepted empties

You also need to make sure that they accepted all the cartridges you sent back. For example, one site may only accept inkjet empties, so if you send them toner cartridges, they might deduct the shipping costs from your pay. Make sure that you read through the sites /organizations rules before you send your empties away. This will prevent you from wasting the time and energy to send your empties away and getting nothing for them in the long run.

Pay

Doing a little research will save you money. Some sites will pay you more for certain inkjet or toner cartridges. Most sites provide a chart, allowing you to find out what empty cartridges they accept and how much they pay for them. Take your time and shop around. Some sites offer as little as $0.10 for up to $3-4/inkjets. We have found sites that will offer as much as $20 for a specific brand and type of toner, but on average the pay is between $1.00-$8.00/ per empty toner.

Virgin or Non-Virgin Empties

Another thing that you really need to look out for is finding out whether they accept non-virgin cartridges. A non-virgin cartridge is a compatible, re-manufactured or refilled cartridge. Most sites will not give you anything for a non-virgin cartridge, but there are sites out there that will. You might not get as much for a non-virgin cartridge as you would for a virgin cartridge, so make sure to carefully check the charts the sites have made available.

Non Profit Organizations

There are a lot of recycling programs that collect empties for donation. Schools and non-profit organizations often run recycling programs to collect empty cartridges to raise money for their individual cause. If you decide to recycle your empties to organizations like this, you will of course not get anything in return. On the other hand, you will instead be contributing to a great cause.