How to Recycle Your Used Printer Inkjet or Toner Cartridge for Cash

Are you tossing your used printer inkjet or toner cartridges into the garbage can? If so, you could be losing out on receiving cash for that trash. In this article, you'll learn how to help the environment while reaping financial rewards by recycling your used printer inkjet and toner cartridges.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Used printer inkjet or toner cartridge

1. Bring your used printer inkjet or toner cartridges to Staples, Office Depot, or OfficeMax to receive credit toward their respective rewards programs. You can then use the credits to receive a discount on purchases made in these stores. Other retailers accept used inkjet and toner cartridges as well, though you won't necessarily make money from them.

2. Staples. Staples gives you $3 in Staples Rewards per printer inkjet or toner cartridge for HP, Lexmark, Dell, or Kodak cartridges.

3. Office Depot. Get $3 back in Worklife Recycling Rewards for Lexmark, Dell, HP, and Office Depot brand inkjet cartridges. Qualifying toner cartridges are Canon, Dell, HP, Brother, Lexmark, Samsung and Office Depot brand. You can recycle up to 5 qualifying ink cartridges per day.

4. OfficeMax. MaxPerks members receive $3 in rewards for each Dell, Lexmark, or HP ink or toner cartridge dropped off in an OfficeMax store location. You may bring in up to 10 Dell, HP, or Lexmark ink and toner cartridges per week for a maximum of $30.

5. FedEx Kinkos. Walk into most Fedex Kinkos stores and pick up an envelope that you can take home, place your inkjet or toner cartridge into, and mail to a third-party ink recycler.

6. Walgreens. Walgreens offers inkjet cartridge recycling. Most 24-hour Walgreens locations also offer inkjet refilling, an easy and convenient option that really helps save the environment.

7. Best Buy. Drop your inkjet cartridge into the recycling kiosk just inside the door. Best Buy does not accept toner cartridges for recycling.

8. Fundraising. You can start a fundraising effort recycling used inkjet and toner cartridges. EcoPhones.com, Thinkrecycle.com, Fundingfactory.com, and Recycleplace.com allow you to start a recycling drive for used printer cartridges as well as cell phones.

9. United States Postal Service. Starting in the Spring of 2009, walk into a select post office and get a free prepaid mail-back envelope for recycling inkjet cartridges. Using this same envelope you can recycle cell phones, digital cameras, PDAs, and other small electronics.

Tips & Warnings

• While you can recycle any brand of printer inkjet or toner cartridge at Staples, Office Depot, or OfficeMax, you will receive money back only on store-approved brands.
• Small businesses especially benefit when getting paid for their used printer inkjet and toner cartridges at Staples, Office Depot, and OfficeMax stores.
• Charitable organizations and non-profits benefit by getting paid for used printer inkjet and toner cartridges as well as cell phones.
• Be cautious of scams and phishing schemes on the internet. Give your personal information only to reputable organizations.

Resources

• Earth911.com: Tips About Recycling (Printer) Cartridges and Search for Recyclers

[NightScribe]

on 2/20/2009 Thank you. This is good to know.

[vallain]

on 2/4/2009 I appreciate knowing more ways for recycling ink cartidges.

[02SmithA]

on 1/21/2009 Thanks for the very helpful info!

[ManInTheShadow]

on 1/18/2009 Very interesting, did not know about it.

[maryellen1001]

on 1/17/2009 Great info!