Why remanufactured toner cartridges? Laser Precision gives many toner cartridges another life through reuse. The alternative is that they may be dumped or burned in every place imaginable, from riversides, open fields, roadsides, and irrigation canals.
It has been stated that every year in the United States and around the world,--more than 300 million plastic printer cartridges end up dumped in landfills. Industry sources say that every second almost eight cartridges are thrown away in the U.S. Every day we dump thousands upon thousands of pounds of this hazardous waste into our landfills, even though we know it is damaging to the environment and harmful to human health and other living organisms. This is definite a major environmental concern. Our hope at Laser Precision is that even though we can never completely stop the cycle of cartridges entering the waste stream, we can at least slow down the flow.
Remanufacturing also greatly aids in preserving the environment. It saves natural resources, and reduces the number of cartridges that take up limited landfill space. To produce the plastic in each laser toner cartridge it takes three and a half quarts of oil; to produce each new inkjet requires two and a half ounces of oil. The remanufacturing of 2 million cartridges can save more than three million gallons of oil. For each laser cartridge that is returned for remanufacturing, a half a gallon of oil is conserved.
Energy is also saved by reusing cartridges. It uses much less energy to remanufacture a cartridge than to produce a new one, thus saving energy and the natural resources used to produce power. The U.S. Department of Energy has said that greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change is reduced by remanufacturing. Remanufacturing products takes less energy than recycling them. What’s the difference? Recycling converts the material back into raw material which is used to manufacture an original product. But, remanufacturing ‘captures’ many of the resources from the original product…including the added value of the labor, energy, and capital. Most laser cartridges contain mixed resin plastics—which are difficult to recycle. Therefore, remanufacturing is the best way to save products from the landfill and is an excellent choice both environmentally and economically. Remanufacturing calls for cartridges to be cleaned, inspected, and refilled—reusing the majority of the original plastic parts.
Money savings is another reason to use remanufactured toner cartridges. When we compare 7 commonly used cartridges with equal page yield, this is what we find:
Laser Precision was founded in 1989, by Vern Fielding working out of his ‘washroom.’ As business picked up, the company moved to a ‘shed’ in his backyard. Today, over 20 years later, we reside at 9 South Main Street in Providence, Utah. Besides Cache Valley, our customers span from Idaho Falls, Idaho to Salt Lake City, UT. We also service customers in Preston, Idaho; Garden City, Utah and Afton, Wyoming.
Our remanufacturing plant receives cartridge cores, which technicians inspect and disassemble in a room where toner is removed, parts are cleaned, seals are installed and drums replaced. Next, toner filling final assembly is accomplished at single-function production benches. Remanufactured cartridges perform as well as the OEMs. Performing the cartridge evaluations in-house, allows Laser Precision to implement a continuous quality control program and troubleshoot problems as they occur. Each cartridge produced by Laser Precision receives a number that corresponds to information on toner batch, date of manufacturing, and the remanufacturing technician.
…..Simply Choose to Reuse. The choice is yours! Working together we can save money, protect our air and water from harmful pollutants, and conserve our natural resources.
*(Imaging Spectrum magazine Aug. 2002; Recharger magazine April 2001)