Printers are bulky, worth almost nothing secondhand, and accepted free for recycling in more places than most people realise. The cartridges are a separate stream, and on an office machine there is a data step that gets forgotten.
Where to take an old printer
Office supply retailers. The major office chains run free electronics recycling that includes printers, and they take cartridges at the same counter.
Manufacturer take-back. The main printer brands operate free return schemes, usually with a prepaid label, covering both hardware and consumables.
Municipal electrical recycling. Every civic amenity site accepts printers as small electrical waste, free.
A certified recycler, for volume from an office clear-out.
Cartridges go separately
Ink and toner cartridges are their own recycling stream and should not be left in the machine or thrown in a bin. Most manufacturers include prepaid return envelopes or labels, and office retailers take them over the counter, sometimes with a small store credit per cartridge. Toner in particular is worth returning, because the plastic and residual toner are both handled specially.
Wipe the storage on a networked machine
An office multifunction printer often has an internal drive that holds scanned and printed documents, sometimes going back years. Before disposal, use the machine's own data clear or format function from the admin menu, or ask for the drive to be removed. A home inkjet has no such storage, but any device that scanned to email or held an address book should be reset to factory defaults so credentials do not travel with it.
What it costs
| Route | Typical cost |
|---|
| Office retailer drop-off | Free |
| Manufacturer mail-back | Free, prepaid label |
| Municipal electrical recycling | Free |
| Junk removal service | Highest, priced per load |
Repair is rarely worth it
On a low-cost inkjet the cartridges frequently cost more than the printer did, and a mechanical fault is almost never economic to fix. Laser printers are the opposite: they are built to a higher standard, parts are available, and a fuser or roller kit can add years to a machine that still prints well.
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