Toner (and Ink) Cartridge Recycling

Toners in some printer cartridges contain hazardous constituents. The State of California recommends treating any non-empty toner cartridges as hazardous and recycling them appropriately. 90-95 % of the materials used to manufacture a toner cartridge are recyclable. Accordingly, Stanford’s Department of Environmental Health & Safety and Sustainable Stanford recommends the following:

• Whenever possible, purchase remanufactured toner cartridges. They are generally less expensive and require less energy and raw materials to produce. According to Staples, "The remanufactured toner process emits 60% fewer carbon equivalents than manufacturing a new cartridge and each remanufactured toner cartridge helps save 2 quarts of oil".

• If purchasing a new cartridge, purchase a brand that offers a mailing label to return the cartridge to the manufacturer (i.e. HP) for refurbishment / recycling.

• Use Staples Toner Recycling Program: A prepaid return mailing label can be printed at: http://www.staplestechnologysolutions.com/TonerRecycling/ for free shipment of any cartridge to their recycling center, whether purchased through Staples or not.

• Give the cartridge (boxed) to a Staples driver. Staples drivers will accept spent cartridges whenever they make a delivery at your location.

• Toner Cartridge recycling bins: Dispose of your spent cartridge, whether empty or not, in one of the toner cartridge recycling bins located throughout campus. The cartridges must be boxed or bagged. For a list of current toner recycling bin locations, click here.

• Electronic Waste consolidation buckets: For quantities of one or two cartridges, place the toner cartridge (boxed or bagged) in one of the Electronic Waste consolidation buckets located throughout campus. For a list of current bucket locations, click here: http://electronicwaste.stanford.edu.

For more information about EH&S' Toner and Ink Cartridge Recycling Program, please contact:

Chris Craig at 723-0654.

The Used Toner and Ink Cartridge Dropoff Boxes:

Back to Environmental Programs Home Page