Compatible toner and compatible ink cartridges

Third party ink and toner vendors have broken up the mini-monopolies of the printer makers. With a compatible cartridge you will have the possibility to continue printing with great results and save big bucks at the same time.

A compatible cartridge is a cartridge that is not produced by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). These cartridges are designed to meet or in best case even exceed the standards set by the OEM in terms of performance, print quality and page yield.

Up until a couple of years ago, finding compatible cartridges for Epson, HP and Lexmark printers was hard. The reason was that printheads was costly and not all that easy to integrate into the cartridge making few compatible Epson cartridges to come out on the market. HP and Lexmark on the other hand had their cartridge design patented which effectively hindered cartridge copies to come out.

Nowadays, compatible cartridges are easy to find for all the larger printer brands such as Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Kip, Oce and Xerox.

Green procurement of printers and copiers

Analyze printer and copier procurement

The preliminary questions are:

1. Do you need the printer or copier at all? Can you reduce the number of printers?
2. Are there any older ones inside the organization that can be refurbished?
3. Can you buy printing and/or copying services instead of installing equipment?

Important:

1. Always determine the necessary capacity and function of each device (How many people will use it? How many pages are printed or copied on average? Do they need color printing and copying? etc.)
2. Use central printers and copiers wherever possible, instead of the principle of “a printer for every computer” and “a copier for every room”.
3. Use multi-functional devices.
   
   

Environmental aspects

Production
Printers and copying machines are produced from many materials in a complex process. Important points are:

1. The use of non-renewable natural resources (plastic parts)
2. The use of harmful chemicals for flame retardants and other harmful substances
3. The use of resources for packaging

Use
Despite the relatively short life-cycle, the most important environmental effect emerges during the usage phase in the form of energy used, the use of inks and consumables, etc. Additionally, there are effects on the health of users, these are:

1. Ozone, styrene and dust emissions
2. Noise

Waste
The many different materials used cause a severe problem of wastage. Most of the materials can be recycled. A (free of charge) take-back system for recycling should be taken into account when purchasing computers and monitors. Printer consumables (toners and cartridges) also create waste throughout the life of the machine.


Cost aspects

Life cycle costs

1. Savings in energy costs can be made by using energy management programs.
2. The use of consumables: toners and cartridges for inks and paper. Here, savings can be made by, for example, printing draft versions of documents in the economy mode. A device for double-sided printing/copying also saves paper.
3. A smaller part of the life-cycle cost relates to maintenance and disposal.

For more information about green procurement go to EU Green Public Procurement.

Protect the Environment with Remanufactured Ink and Toner

Recycling is one of the best ways to protect the environment. There are countless ways to recycle. One new method involves reusing empty printer cartridges. Remanufactured cartridges reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills across the world.

What is a Remanufactured Cartridge?

A remanufactured printer cartridge is made of used parts from empty cartridges. During the remanufacturing procedure, each empty printer cartridge is closely examined for damages. If it passes examination, the cartridge is carefully cleaned and refilled with ink or toner. It is then repackaged and ready for use by consumers like you!

Why Buy Remanufactured Cartridges?

The two main reasons to purchase remanufactured cartridges are because they cost less than original products and they help conserve natural resources.

Remanufactured ink and toner cartridges are often half the price of store-bought cartridges. If you or your company prints a lot of documents, you could save hundreds of dollars each year by purchasing refilled cartridges.

New printer cartridges are made from valuable natural resources such as aluminum and steel. Remanufactured cartridges, on the other hand, are made from recycled products. In this way, refilled cartridges protect natural resources and help the environment because they reuse the aluminum, plastic, and rubber of empty cartridges. If everyone used remanufactured printer cartridges, just imagine the difference it could make.