Old electronics, or e-waste, are becoming a significant concern in the global waste stream. Each year, millions of computers, printers, and other electronics are discarded – left sitting in landfills as chemicals like lead and mercury seep into the soil and water. Empty ink and toner cartridges account for a large percentage of that harmful e-waste, especially in developed countries.

Electronics recycling is one solution to this ever-growing problem. While a number of manufacturers sponsor recycling programs in an attempt to minimize the impact their technology has on the environment, nearly 80% of the items collected are exported to underdeveloped Asian countries for recycling.

Leading manufacturers like Lexmark, Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, and Dell collect thousands of ink and toner cartridges each year for recycling. Recent reports from the small city of Guiyu, China outside of Hong-Kong found those same cartridges, with the OEM labels intact, littering the dirty streets while the sticky, chemical-laden toner trickled along the soil.

These third-world recycling hubs have several common characteristics:

• Water supplies are contaminated by lethal amounts of lead and acids.
• 10% of children in these countries suffer from respiratory complications due to the heavy fumes released when the unused plastics are burned without regulation.
• Workers empty the remaining toner within the cartridges using their bare hands and no protection, risking inhalation of harmful toxins within the ink.
• These toxic leftovers are often transferred to new cartridges and sold as OEM toner.

The pollution and suffering that result from these recycling efforts make it more sensible to discard rather than recycle!

The dangers associated with this progressing recycling trend were quickly realized and the international Basel Convention was enacted in 1992 to prohibit the export of electronics from developed countries to less developed areas for disposal or recycling. The United States is one of the only countries to still not ratify the treaty, meaning the millions of printer cartridges rescued through manufacturing recycling efforts most often end up in a third-world country - causing even more environmental damage.

Reflexion toner cartridges provide consumers with a better option. Rather than contaminating the environment and wasting space when empty, Reflexion cartridges are reused – again and again. Each year, more than 300,000 empty toner cartridges are remanufactured and virtually eliminated from the waste stream through the eco-friendly processes perfected by the Reflexion brand.

Choosing remanufactured toner cartridges is a smart choice for your budget as well as your conscience. Not only do these printing supplies reduce global warming and ozone depletion by more than 70%, remanufactured cartridges cost about 30% less than their OEM counterparts without a decrease in performance. Reflexion ink and toner cartridges are more than an option – they’re a global solution.