Resource Smart

Are you recycling your old printer cartridges?

Cartridges 4 Planet Ark is a free recycling scheme that has been operating for more than 20 years. There are more than 1,500 public drop-off locations around the country. So far, more than 57 million cartridges have been recycled through the scheme.

Empty laser and inkjet cartridges can be recycled at all Officeworks stores and participating Australia Post, Cartridge World, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, JB Hi-Fi, Office National and Office Products Depot outlets. Use the directory on this page to find a recycling point near you.

What's accepted?

Printer cartridges from participating brands are accepted in the Cartridges 4 Planet Ark  program. This includes cartridges used in printers, photocopiers and fax machines . The program accepts inkjet cartridges, laser cartridges, toner bottles, fuser and drum units, fax rolls, print heads, waste hoppers/containers collectors and ink sack, tank & bottles

The Cartridges 4 Planet Ark program is an example of an extended producer responsibility program. The four participating brands , Brother, Canon, Epson, and HP pay for the collection and recycling of their cartridges.

Why recycle?

When printer cartridges break apart in landfill, they have the potential to contaminate groundwater and the environment. Recycling your used cartridges instead of putting them in the bin, protects the environment and keeps the materials used to make the cartridges in use. As cartridges are made up of a complex mix of plastics, metal, inks and toners, they represent a significant investment in resources. When they are disposed of into landfill these resources are lost. Recycling ensures these materials are used again, which reduces demand for mining new materials and associated greenhouse gas emissions.

What happens to them?

All cartridges collected through the Cartridges 4 Planet Ark program are sent to our recovery partner in Melbourne, Close the Loop™. The program has a zero waste to landfill guarantee, which means every part of the cartridge is recovered and used again. At the recycling facility, the cartridges are hand sorted and their brand and type recorded. Many of the laser cartridges are sent back to the original equipment manufacturers for re-manufacturing or recovery programs. As cartridges are made up of a complex mix of potentially valuable and/or hazardous raw materials, they require state-of-the-art equipment for safe processing and handling.  Inkjet cartridges, toner bottles and drum units are processed and reduced to smaller particles so they can be separated and sorted. Magnets are used to remove ferrous (iron-based) metals, while eddie currents are used to remove aluminium. The result is the recovery of 'raw' materials, which can be substituted for 'virgin' or new materials in manufacturing to make new products.