|
*In 2005, over 700 million new printer cartridges will be sold in the US. (650M ink jet and 70M laser)
*In 2005, over 60 million new printer cartridges will be sold in Canada. (59M ink jet and 7M laser)
*In 2005, over 500 million new printer cartridges will be sold in Europe. (525M ink jet and 49M laser)
*In 2005, over 100M remanufactured printer cartridges will be sold worldwide. (62M ink jet and 42M laser)
*Two and a half ounces of oil are used for every ink jet cartridge produced.
*Three and a half quarts of oil are used for every laser cartridge produced.
*Each laser printer cartridge, on average, consists of approximately 2 1/2 pounds of plastic - primarily acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) - along with steel, aluminum, and rubber.
*Manufacturing each printer cartridge requires approximately three quarts of petroleum to power the manufacturing process that converts oil and natural gas to plastic.
*Each printer cartridge contains petroleum as "embedded" energy (i.e. the fuel value of the plastic itself). It takes the energy equivalent of approximately one-half gallon of oil to make one 2 1/2 pound cartridge.
*A new laser cartridge uses an average 3 quarts of oil to produce and adds 2.5 pounds of industrial grade plastic to the waste stream.
*By some estimates, nearly eight ink and toner cartridges are thrown away in the U.S. every second. (approx 240 Million per year)
*Industry analysts estimate that a spent ink and toner cartridge can be reused between four and seven times.
*Over 86% of all inkjet cartridges sold in this country are thrown away according to industry statistics. Laser cartridge recycling is a very large industry employing thousands of people and yet over 50% of the cartridges are still deposited in landfills every year. This translates to 350 million printer cartridges that end up in landfills or approximately 875 million pounds of environmental waste. Stacked end to end, these discarded printer cartridges would cover a distance of over 24,000 miles -- enough to circle the earth!
*Half a gallon of oil is conserved for every laser cartridge returned. With the United States consuming approximately 700 million gallons of oil a day, we are helping to conserve a valuable natural resource and reduce greenhouse emissions. Remember: oil is a nonrenewable fossil fuel, and it can not be remade.
*In the next seven years, if all the laser and ink jet cartridges are saved from landfills, a bridge can be built from the Earth to the Moon -- 223,000 miles!
|
