A Better Way For Ink, Remanufactured Ink cartridges

You need more printer ink. Those five words probably brought a sigh of resignation to your lips and a sinking feeling to your stomach. I know it did with mine right after I wrote those words and I don’t even need printer ink right now. Imagine my surprise and excitement when I learned about remanufactured ink cartridges.

A Better Way For Ink, Remanufactured Ink cartridges

How Many?

It turns out that people go through a lot of ink. 350 million printer cartridges are discarded annually, but only 30% of those are recycled. Or less, if it is anything like other recycled materials that are sent to be recycled. In the case of remanufactured ink cartridges, did you know:

  • It takes 3 ounces of oil to originally manufacturing a single cartridge?
  • It takes 3 quarts of oil to originally manufacturing a single laser cartridge
  • Remanufactured ink cartridges can be remanufactured three to four times.

That saves 9 to 12 ounces of oil per ink cartridge and 9 to 12 quarts of oil for laser cartridges! A quart is 96 fluid ounces, which means each single laser cartridge would need the same amount of oil as 32 regular ink cartridges. For comparison, did you know that a 4-cylinder car engine needs about 5 quarts of oil in total?

That means when you or I have a laser cartridge remanufactured, we are saving the equivalent amount of oil that 32 regular ink cartridges take, and or completely replacing the oil in a 4-cylinder car 2.4 times each time a remanufactured laser cartridge is chosen over a new laser ink cartridge.

Cost

You might have known this as well, but did you know that printer ink is more expensive than human blood? How much more expensive?

  • The price of human blood is $0.40 per milliliter
  • HP #45 black ink is $0.71 per milliliter

That means that that particular brand and number of black ink is 1.775 times more expensive than human blood. There is a 2016 graph that compares the price of printer ink to various other liquids. According to that graph, penicillin isn’t even $0.10 per milliliter and looks to be about $0.06 per milliliter. This means that printer ink is 11.8 times more expensive than penicillin.

As for remanufactured ink cartridges? Those cost anywhere between 15 to 50 percent less than regular cartridges. Top Ten Reviews also states that:

  • Remanufactured ink cartridges are filled to capacity while regular ones are not
  • Merchants who sell remanufactured ink cartridges can set their own prices
  • Merchants also do not have to comply with the prices set by printer companies

I do think that while merchants who remanufacture ink cartridges are doing something great, there is something more that needs to be done. Perhaps somewhere in the realm of a new printer ink company stepping forward and manufacturing a better ink cartridge that costs less and has less of an impact on the environment?

Benefits Of Remanufactured Ink Cartridges

There are many benefits of remanufactured ink cartridges.

  • Prices are more affordable.
  • Remanufactured ink cartridges are filled to capacity.

Remember how up above that it was mentioned that printer ink companies don’t fill their ink cartridges to capacity? Remember how much ink is also left even when the printer says there is no more ink? With remanufactured cartridges, they are filled to capacity, meaning they will last longer before they have to be replaced. Some more benefits include:

  • As easy to use as regular cartridges
  • Keeps cartridges out of landfills.
  • Minimizes consumption
  • Less consumption and fewer cartridges in landfills will have less of an impact on the environment
  • Quality of remanufactured ink cartridges are as good, and sometimes even better than the original

The last one makes me wonder about the quality of the cartridges if remanufacturing the cartridge increases the quality of the cartridge. Speaking of quality, remanufactured ink cartridges also come with a warranty if the manufacturer is a reputable one.

Personally, I love the idea of remanufactured ink cartridges. Not only do they cost less and last longer than regular cartridges, but they use at least two of the seven Rs of what to do when it comes to trash: repair and reuse. It’s definitely time to spread the word and increase awareness about remanufactured ink cartridges.

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