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

Departments and administration areas can contact either vendor to have a pre-paid shipping box ordered and sent directly to their department. This box is used for packaging and shipping the expended cartridges back to the specific vendor.

They can be ordered via the following links: 

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

Konica: https://www.myctlportal.com/konica-minolta

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

Mikan: http://procurement.umich.edu/sites/default/files/mikan_green_purchasing_and_recycling.pdf

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

Getting Access to Office Printers