Toner Cartridge Recycling
Advantage Laser Products is now STMC Compliant
We’ve always had a quality product and recently to help us improve our quality control we completed STMC training. STMC stands for Standardized Test Methods Committee. The goal of STMC certification is to create a standard test method for testing toner cartridges that so that no matter who tests a toner cartridge you will consistently get the same results. Using STMC methodology allows us to test MICR Toner Cartridges , OEM Toner Cartridges and Remanufactured Toner Cartridges to make sure all of our toner cartridges meet or exceed OEM specifications consistently. STMC has adopted the best test methods from ASTM, ISO, ASTA and ANSI. ASTM testing concentrates on page yield, print density and back grounding.
Advantage Laser Products is now STMC Compliant.
Teaching Old Cartridges New Tricks – eWood
Close the Loop in Australia has found a great way to recycle old and previously unrecycleable cartridges into something they call eWood. First let me explain that many cartridges can not be remanufactured, they are either too unreliable to be remanufactured or worn out. Before we ever sell a remanufactured toner cartridge, first we have to be able to provide a reliable product, and in many cases that just isn’t possible. In which case what do you do with the empty? Our goal is to keep it out of the landfill and if it can’t be re-used, then it has to be broken down into its base components and recycled. Recycling the metal components is easy, but the recycling the plastic is a problem.
Close the Loop has a process in which they shred the cartridge via the “Green Machine”, remove the metallic components (mostly steel and aluminum) then recycle the remaining plastic by transforming it into eWood. eWood is like Trex or other plastic decking a plastic wood that can be used for decking, park benches, fences, you name it. The big drawback to eWood as I see it is the wood comes out black. For most applications, black is not only ugly, it holds heat. As all cartridges are black, this is a problem. Furthermore it’s virtually impossible to pigment black plastic into anything more attractive. Still the fact that you took a toner cartridge bound for the landfill and transformed it into something useful like a bike path. The Simpson Gap Bike Path was constructed from eWood.
We want your empty HP toner cartridges!
We’re now providing a free shipping label to purchase your empty toner cartridges for select HP models. We’ve always bought HP empty toner cartridges, but now we need your empties more than ever, so we’re providing shipping labels to pickup your empties. For more on our ECP (Empty Cartridge Purchase) program check out ECP Section on our website.
In talking with our customers, most customers felt it just wasn’t worth packaging and shipping their empty toner cartridges to us once they paid shipping. Hopefully by providing a free shipping label more customers will sell their empties to us for remanufacturing.
Click here for our current HP ECP Pricelist.
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Free Shipping Label – These empties qualify for a free shipping label |
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HP 8000, 5Si – C3909AHP 4100, 4150 – C8061X HP 4000, 4050 – C4127X HP 2400 – Q6511A, Q6511X HP P3015 – CE255A, CE255X |
HP P2015 – Q7553XHP P3005 – Q7551X HP P2035 – CE505A HP P2055 – CE505X HP P1005 – CB435A |
HP P1505 – CB436A HP P1102w – CE285A P1606dn – CE275A HP 4200 – Q1338A |
And the survey says…
We recently polled our customers on a couple of questions and the results are below. Note only about 2.8% of all emails sent to customers resulted in a completed survey. I’m not surprised, we’re all bombarded with unnecessary email and completing a survey isn’t exactly a top priority. Still even if only a few people complete the survey, it’s helpful to keep a tab on the pulse of our customers. We had 37 Brother P-Touch printers to give away for people that filled out the survey, and 450 people filled out the survey. Sorry we didn’t have a printer for everyone, for those of you that didn’t get one – better luck next time! On to the survey…
UPS vs. FedEx – We’ve just switched to FedEx from UPS and while half of our customers seem indifferent between the two services, those that did have a preference prefered FedEx. I guess we made the right move.
Recycling with “the box” – this one surprised me. To date, we’ve had very little participation with recycling with the box. We’ve tried fliers with each “box”, but not much success. We recycle so many common items, but most people hopefully are recycling locally. Yet 61% plan to recycle with the box. Hopefully the survey also worked as a reminder that we offer this service and will recycle more and more with the box. Check out our box recycle flier and see all that can be recycled with “the box”.
Buying from environmentally conscious green companies – The survey we split 50/50 between those that prefer to buy green and those that buy based upon superior product and service. Luckily with Advantage, you don’t have to compromise. We are green and we provide the best products and service!
EcoFont – Save 20% Toner
Check out the ecofont! Ecofont claims to you will use 20% less toner / ink over other fonts. I haven’t tested the claimed savings, but you can see the holes in the stroke of the font. I’m sure this would work great for internal documents, if nothing else. When you print the font, the characters have a hollow look. In the toner business we would call hollow looking characters dropouts.
HP has offered an economode with their laserjet printers for years, but you have to remember to turn it on and off at the driver level. I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone to use it.
Recycle toner and much more with "The Box"
The Box – What’s the big deal? What is so unique about a cardboard box used to package a toner cartridge and what does it have to do with recycling? Advantage Laser Products created The Box to package remanufactured MICR toner cartridges and standard toner cartridges for laser printers but wanted to add more value to the product. The Box can used kept and re-used for storage of documents or a myriad of other things from glassware to crafts. The Box design was kept simple without distracting artwork in the hopes that would encourage the customer to keep and reuse the box, perhaps looking neater on a storage shelf without a cluttered exterior.
The Box can also be used to return the empty toner to Advantage for proper recycling. Be assured the cartridge, packaging and The Box will be recycled. However, why not allow the customer to return some hard-to-recycle items if Advantage can easily recycle them or give them to others for re-use? Small items can be included with the toner cartridge and not add any extra shipping cost; Advantage will recycle all of the following items if returned with empties.
Batteries, eye glasses, worn American Flags, children’s books, cell phones, empty ink cartridges and more.
HP Toner – $40 Rebate
HP has a great rebate, buy two identical HP toner cartridges, get $40 cash. This is a great deal if you are already buying HP product anyway. This rebate does not apply to New HP MICR toner cartridges, just new non-micr toner cartridges. Rebate expires 8/31/2009.
Top 5 Reasons to Buy Remanufactured!
Top 5 Reasons to Buy Advantage Brand Remanufactured Toner Cartridges:
5) Dramatic decrease in oil consumption and toxic emissions. FACT: You have to burn 3 quarts of oil to produce the average toner cartridge.[1] Last year alone, our customers saved 10,985 gallons of oil from being emitted into the atmosphere by purchasing remanufactured toner cartridges.
4) Waste reduction. FACT: Last year, our customers collectively saved nearly 15,000 cartridges from ending up in landfills by choosing remanufactured products—that’s 45,000 lbs or the equivalent of 23 automobiles! Stacked on top of each other, these cartridges would reach the top of the empire state building nearly 4 times over!
3) Not all remanufactured cartridges are created equal. Some remanufactures simply “drill and fill” their cartridges and/ or use the same “empty” over and over. At Advantage, we only utilize “virgin” empties (cartridges that have only been through their original cycle) and replace all moveable parts to ensure superior performance. FACT: Advantage brand toner cartridges match or exceed OEM cartridges in terms of performance and warranty—we guarantee our cartridges 100%.
2) Remanufactured cartridges DO NOT void manufacturer’s warranties. FACT: Antitrust legislation prohibits copier and printer manufacturers from voiding their warranties when remanufactured cartridges are used in their machines. Therefore, it is illegal to void a printer warranty because of remanufactured cartridge usage.[2]
1) Going GREEN means saving $$$$$! FACT: Buying Advantage remanufactured cartridges instead of OEM saves 30-60% on toner costs! Last year our customers purchased nearly 15000 remanufactured toner cartridges. If they would have purchased OEM, they would have spent $1,501,864 collectively. Instead they collectively saved between $450,559 and $901,118—that’s the Advantage!
[1] Recharger Magazine, March 2002
[2] Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act United States Code Annotated Title 15, Commerce and Trade Chapter 50 Consumer Product Warranties 15 Section 2302. Sherman & Clayton Antitrust Acts. If you’d like more information you can contact the Federal Trade Commission at (202) 326-3128.