Disposal of expended Xerox, Canon, or Konica copier or printer toner cartridges

Problem/Question

What do I do with used/empty Xerox, Canon, or Konica toner cartridges? Does ITS collect them?

Overview

More than 350 million empty toner cartridges are discarded into landfills each year. On average each toner cartridge contains 2.5 pounds of plastic and metal waste and uses up to 3 quarts of oil in their production. Empty toner cartridges take up to 450 years to decompose in our landfills. 

ITS does not collect Xerox, Canon, or Konica toner supplies, nor does it send them back to the vendor. The good news is that many vendors have recycling programs in place that allow one to send used cartridges back to them.

Solution

Smart Business is the university's main contact for toner and printer parts. If you have used toner carts, it would be recommended to contact them to see if they will take them (Green Purchasing & Recycling)

Furthermore, departments and administrative units are encouraged to reach out to the supplier from whom they acquired the toner to arrange for the delivery of a pre-paid return shipping box. These can be requested through the links provided below

Xerox: https://www.xerox.com/perl-bin/product.pl?mode=recycling&XOGlang=en_US&referer=xrx

Canon: https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/about/environment-sustainability-initiatives/toner-cartridge-return-program

HP: https://inktoner-recycle.ext.hp.com/ui/index.html?languageCode=en&countryCode=US#/recycle/shipit-in/get-started

For additional information, check these categories in the Knowledge Base:

Getting Access to Office Printers