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Planet Ark Recycling

What is Cartridges 4 Planet Ark?

Cartridges 4 Planet Ark is an innovative recycling program that provides Australians with a free, easy and environmentally-accredited way to recycle their used printer cartridges.

As cartridges are made up of a complex mix of plastics, metal, inks and toners they represent a significant investment in resources. When they are disposed of into landfill these resources are lost.

That's why Planet Ark joined with Close the Loop® and the participating manufacturers - Brother, Canon, Epson, HP & Kyocera - to set up the innovative Cartridges 4 Planet Ark program. This program collects and returns cartridges for remanufacturing and recycling - therefore keeping them out of landfill. Our Melbourne-based recycling partner, Close the Loop®, is independently audited on an annual basis for its zero waste to landfill guarantee.

How does Maxitech assist Planet Ark?

Maxitech not only recycle all inhouse cartridges used by our business but we also provide facilities for our customers to drop off their own used inks and toners to our Planet Ark collection box located in our SA office at Unit 2/497 Marion Road, South Plympton SA 5038.

Customers are also welcome to send in empty toners and cartridges to the above address for recycling.

What happens to the printer cartridges?

All of the cartridges put into one of our boxes are sent back to Close the Loop® in Melbourne. Once there, they are hand sorted and their brand and type recorded. Many of the laser cartridges are sent back to the original equipment manufacturers for their re-manufacturing or component recovery programs.

What happens during the recycling process?

The inkjet cartridges, toner bottles and drum units are processed through the patented, Australian-made Green Machine, which reduces the cartridges to smaller particles that can be more easily separated.

Inkjet cartridges are processed through another machine, which also uses patented world-first technology.

Magnets are used to remove ferrous (iron-based) metals, while eddie currents are used to remove aluminium.

This waste stream is a complex mix of potentially valuable and/or hazardous raw materials needing state of the art equipment for safe processing and handling.

The end result of this process is the recovery of 'raw' materials. These 'secondary raw materials' are further filtered, upgraded and then used instead of virgin materials in normal manufacturing to make new products. The ultimate aim is to return the raw materials back to the original equipment manufacturer for reuse in new cartridges.

All of this is achieved with zero waste going to landfill.