Is their anyway to verify their claims?

There are several companies which claim that they are selling ink cartridges made from recycled materials. Is their anyway to verify their claims? Can any cartridge manufacturer or dealer offer detailed explanation on this? I think, only someone who has spent considerable number of years in selling fax, printers and cartridges can answer my question.

Could you link to a couple of these claims? I think it might mean an ink or toner cartridge that has been remanufactured/refilled, not that the cartridge is new and made from recycled plastics.

But remanufacturing/refilling also save resources.

gailkeys said:

There are several companies which claim that they are selling ink cartridges made from recycled materials. Is their anyway to verify their claims? Can any cartridge manufacturer or dealer offer detailed explanation on this? I think, only someone who has spent considerable number of years in selling fax, printers and cartridges can answer my question.

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One of the "tricks of the trade" is to claim that something is made from recycled materials by recycling defective parts before they ever get assembed or leave the plant. In this way, the recycled content is known and clean, and is therefore easy to reuse. The key word to look for in these claims is "post-consumer". If you don't see that word, it probably just uses in-process recycle (which almost every process does in some form or other).

Consider the costs to disassemble used carts and to separate the casings from the sponges, filters, fill hole balls, labels and adhesive, remembering that a single piece of sponge left in a casing can contaminate an entire batch of casings. For a small part like a cart casing, it will cost far more to use post-consumer recycle than to make a new one. There's a reason why soda bottles are recycled into carpet fiber and not made back into new bottles.

Pre vs Post Consumer Recycling

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/wayoflife/05/05/pre.post.consumer.recycling/

Who knew Grandad35 is a Greenie.

I think that remanufacturing a cartridge uses less resources than manufacturing a new cartridge from recycled plastics, and so is more sustainable.

I also think that a remanufactured OEM cartridge might be better than a new after market cartridge, especially for the combined sponge/print head cartridges. Years ago I used the HP78 and HP45 cartridges and bought remanufactured cartridges, when my refilling attempts failed. I also got one type 78 that I couldn't get working no matter what tricks I used. I cut this cartridge open using a hacksaw and it was clear it was not made by HP. Instead of sponges the cartridge held the ink in plastic bags. I didn't know that compatible type 78 cartridges even existed.

PeterBJ said:

I also think that a remanufactured OEM cartridge might be better than a new after market cartridge, especially for the combined sponge/print head cartridges.

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For all intents and purposes, purging and refilling a Canon BCI-3/BCI-6/CLI-8 cart is a remanufacturing operation.

While it may be possible to remanufacture a cart with an integral print head, the print heads in those carts are only designed to last for a (guaranteed) single load of ink, and may have a limited lifetime. Even if a cart can be remanufactured without disassembly, I'll wager that when the cost of labor, used cart recovery and finished cart testing is included that HP's highly automated lines can make a new cart for less than the cost of remanufacturing a cart. Remember that I'm talking cost, not the sell price. If you count labor as a resource, a new cart may actually use fewer total resources (talk about a controversial statement).

Grandad35 said:

If you count labor as a resource, a new cart may actually use fewer total resources (talk about a controversial statement).

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You mean like gasahol using more resources than gasoline?

Thank you guys for your replies.Lets see what others are think? Guys plz share your thoughts...

I would had personally thought most carts are re-used or re-manufactured rather than recycled. Melting or grinding them up to make new carts or use the plastic in other products entirely surely would be counter productive.

CakeHole said:

I would had personally thought most carts are re-used or re-manufactured rather than recycled.

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I would wager actual cash money, and @The Hat knows how thrifty I am, that most cartridges are thrown away.