Where Your Old Cartridge Actually Goes: Australia's Recycling Numbers

Cartridge recycling schemes have existed in Australia for years. The uptake numbers are still a lot lower than most people would guess.

The scale of the problem

More than 18 million printer cartridges are thrown out in Australia every year, representing over 5,000 tonnes of complex mixed materials heading to landfill. Despite widely available drop-off and mail-back programs, the actual recycling rate for printer cartridges is estimated at only around 15%, meaning roughly three in four empty cartridges never make it into a recycling stream at all.

Where the recycling is actually working

It's not all discouraging. Australians are currently recycling a record 13,500 cartridges on every working day, with more than 3.5 million cartridges diverted from landfill each year through established programs. The longest-running of these, Cartridges 4 Planet Ark, has recycled more than 50 million cartridges to date through a network of over 30,000 participating businesses and more than 3,500 retail drop-off points. Brother's own recycling partnership with Planet Ark separately accounts for over 46 million cartridges recycled.

Why it's worth the extra five minutes

A printer cartridge left in landfill can take more than 400 years to break down. Beyond the sheer volume, reusing an empty cartridge rather than manufacturing a new one from raw materials saves up to roughly 5 lbs of CO2 per unit, a meaningful reduction when multiplied across millions of cartridges a year.

The compatible and remanufactured cartridge industry already extends the useful life of cartridge shells once by refilling and re-manufacturing them. Pairing that with genuine end-of-life recycling, rather than a bin, closes the loop properly instead of just delaying it.