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Saturday 30 June 2012

Options for Empty Toner Cartridges

By Raymond Tuckett


Most people feel bad throwing something like big, bulky, plastic toner cartridges in the trash when they are empty and therefore no longer useful. Refilling your empty toner cartridges has multiple benefits; you can save money because refilling is cheaper than buying new ones, and you can also save your local landfill from having one more toner cartridge in it. The dramatically lower cost of refilled or remanufactured toner cartridges (compared to new cartridges) is the main draw for most people who choose to refill and reuse.

Buying new toner cartridges for your laser printer from the original printer manufacturer is a recipe for burning through that office supply budget quicker than you can say, "are we out of toner?" Other people buy new cartridges from discount manufacturers; but doing this carries the risk of wasting your money because the cartridges are not of guaranteed quality. Choosing to refill your toner cartridges then is a great option for those who want to both save their money and get good results.

People who love to tinker will love to find out that you can actually refill your own cartridges. Kits and toner to refill your empty laser toner cartridges are available wherever you can buy ink, toner, and office supplies. Not just any toner will do, though; if you buy a cheap toner or the wrong kind, you're not going to get good results and you might have to throw the cartridge away (which, obviously, would render your efforts to save the planet and save money doubly useless).

Most refill processes involve pouring the new toner into a hole in the old cartridge. Depending on the cartridge, the hole for refilling might already be there. Other types of cartridges don't have a hole, and you'll have to drill one or melt one. You'll then have to reseal the hole after you've put the new toner powder into the cartridge; you'll either already have a plug for this, or you'll have to find something else to seal it (most people use duct tape).

If all of this sounds pretty unappealing, you usually can get someone at the printer supply store to do it for you for a small fee. Simply drop off your empty cartridge at their store and pick them up later when they're ready to print all over again. Also with this method you're a lot less likely to have a messed up cartridge that was improperly, unprofessionally filled which doesn't end up working. No matter which method you end up choosing, you'll be happy to know that you've not only saved money on printing, but you've helped reduce the amount of plastic toner cartridges in circulation; always a good thing for mother earth!




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