Are you in the Boise, Idaho area and wondering about copier and printer cartridge recycling? Here are some good resources to keep toner your cartridges out of the landfill.

Several weeks ago, one of our readers posted a question on our blog about where to recycle toner and waste toner cartridges. I started asking around my office as well as calling local recycling companies, and I ended up with the conclusion that cartridge recycling is complicated. Toner manufacturers all seem to have different recycling policies, and many recycling companies will only accept certain cartridge models from certain brands. To reduce confusion, I have condensed down what I learned by cartridge type. Several additional resources are linked at the end of the post.

Ink Cartridge Recycling

Ink cartridges are probably the easiest to recycle. Often they will come with return envelopes, so all you have to do is put them in the mailbox and they will be sent back to their manufacturer. Many office supply stores will also accept ink cartridges for recycling. Schools and non-profit organizations quite frequently hold cartridge recycling drives, where they earn a little bit of money for each cartridge that gets recycled. Earth 911 is a handy website to search for non-profit organizations that have ink cartridge recycling programs in place.

All-in-One and Home Laser Printer Cartridge Recycling

Toner cartridges for small copiers are also usually fairly easy to recycle. Like ink cartridges, many small laser cartridges come with shipping labels or are able to be returned to office supply stores. If your cartridge does not come with a shipping label, it is a good idea to check with the recycling company you choose to make sure they will accept your model of cartridge.

Toner Recycling for Office Copiers

I had a very hard time finding anyone in the Boise, Idaho area that would take toner bottles from large copiers and multi-function printers for recycling. I finally was pointed toward Project KOPEG.  This organization is able to recycle most kinds of cartridges, including ones no one else will take. The other option that I found was to box up a bunch of toner cartridges and send them back to the manufacturer. Each manufacturer has different recycling policies, so check with your manufacturer before sending off the box.

Waste Toner Cartridge Recycling

Most office copiers have a waste toner container, where leftover toner from printing is stored. To the best of my knowledge, these containers cannot be recycled. In many copier models, however, these containers can be emptied out and re-used. It is best to have a professional copier technician determine if the waste toner container in your machine can be re-used. The technician should also be the one to empty the waste toner container and reset the copier.

Toner Cartridge Recycling at Fisher’s

Currently Fisher’s Document Systems is only able to provide toner cartridge recycling services for our customers. When new toner cartridges are delivered, we are glad to take the empty ones back to our warehouse for recycling. Customers can also drop off used toner cartridges at our Boise, Idaho location.

Additional Information

Here are some helpful links with more information about toner cartridge recycling. Also, special thanks goes to Pamela at the Boise Public Works Department for all of her useful information and web links to local recyclers.

Staples' toner cartridge recycling policy

Office Depot's toner cartridge recycling policy

The Boise Ronald McDonald House's toner cartridge recycling program