Recycling needs a WEEE bit of help

Join us in our plight to stop Printer Manufacturers preventing the recycling of ink cartridges!!

If you use a printer for personal or business purposes or if you are generally concerned about our environment, this will be of great interest to you.

We spoke with Andy Leech and Jon West of Cartridge World, 997 Ecclesall Road, they revealed some shocking facts about the recycling of computer printer cartridges. First let's put some facts into perspective:
• According to Office of Fair Trading figures released last December, 94% of personal and business PC owners have an inkjet printer.
• Printers range from only £50 upwards, yet some £315m per year is spent on ink cartridges alone.
• A refilled cartridge costs approximately half the price of a new one.

As things stand, every year, over one million empty printer ink cartridges will end up in landfill sites in the UK and consumers will be forced to buy more expensive ink cartridges from the manufacturers rather than recycling. Used cartridges are classed as an electrical product and as such they are recyclable.

The WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive is aimed at halting the growing volume of electrical and electronic waste dumped in landfill sites by making manufacturers recycle their products.

Returning cartridges to the original manufacturers is logistically impractical. This means that environmentalists like Andy Leech and Jon west of Cartridge World could offer a service refilling empty cartridges at half the price of buying a new one - consumers save money and in so doing, save the environment. A very affable arrangement it would have seemed.

Unfortunately, manufacturers like Epson, Lexmark and HP started inserting 'smart chips' in their cartridges, claiming that the device merely notified the user of an empty cartridge, the truth is that these are in fact 'killer chips' and once empty, they block the cartridges from working, even if refilled.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), under the EU directive, plans to classify inkjet cartridges as consumables rather than electrical waste, which means they do not require recycling and will instead be dumped.

Keith Moss, chairman of the UK Cartridge Remanufacturers Association (UKCRA), warned that if the UK government stuck by this definition, printer manufacturers would have the green light to install anti-reuse devices. Moss argued that the consumer would be deprived of "cheaper, more environmentally friendly alternatives." Chris Davies, Liberal Democrat for the North East, who has taken an interest in the subject, said, "If inkjet cartridges require any silicon chip, then they should definitely be considered an electrical product, not a consumable."

Web Express Guide has decided to "fight the good fight" and help make everyone aware. We have got together with Cartridge World, who has formed a petition to try and inform the powers that be that the concern does stretch further than just their little circles and to sway the decision the other way.
Help us to let the government know our feelings towards the environmental issue and the big manufacturing companies know that they are only as big as their customers let them be!

We all have a right to make savings on refilling cartridges and protect the environment!

Contact us for more information at Web Express Guide, pop in to see us or Cartridge World to sign the petition. Every little bit helps.

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