Toner refill
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The term toner refill or toner refilling refers to the practice of refilling empty laser printer Toner cartridges with new toner powder. This enables the cartridge to be reused, saving the cost of a complete new cartridge and the impact of the waste and disposal of the old one.
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[edit] Refilling methods
Toner refilling commonly occurs several ways:
- Refilling and reuse by the end user. This is normally done by use of a DIY toner refill kit that includes a supply of compatible toner, Reset chips where required and full detailed instructions for the process of refilling. There are various grades of toner powder quality, and many DIY toner refills products such as Uni-Kit toner refill kits are available either online from an ecommerce supplier or through specialist retail stores.
- Refilling and resale by the original manufacturer. It is common for toner cartridges to be sold with reply paid labels enabling them to be returned to the manufacturer for recycling and reuse.
- Refilling and resale by a third party. Many independent companies who sell toner cartridges refill and reuse the original manufacturer's cartridges which they typically obtain from recycling companies. This is generally considered legitimate provided that the original manufacturer's branding is removed from the recycled product.
- Refilling as a service. Many independent companies exist who offer a refilling service where customers can bring empty cartridges to be refilled. Toner refills franchises have sprung up over the last few years, such as 123 Refills, Cartridge World and others. Such refill chains offer services for customers to bring their empty toner cartridge and have it refilled on site or exchanges with a ready filled toner cartridge.
Toner cartridges can not be refilled indefinitely. Cartridges include mechanical parts (such as drums and rollers) which eventually wear out. Organisations refilling cartridges for resale generally clean and test each cartridge to ensure that it is fit for reuse and resale. It is also possible to purchase brand new empty OEM cartridges that can be filled with DIY Toner refill kits and chipped for use as a new cartridge[citation needed].
[edit] Economic reasons to refill cartridges
Because the cost of replacing toner cartridges in many laser printers in many cases now exceeds the actual cost of the laser printer that uses them, Refilling toner cartridges has now become popular making the toner refill a new consumable product. There are many variations on Toner refill as a product. Full rainbow refill kits where a person purchasing the kit receives everything needed to refill the 4 Toner cartridges (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black), or standard toner refills where the kit will only contain maybe 1 colour and Reset chip if applicable to the model of printer.
[edit] Environmental reasons to refill cartridges
There are also environmental benefits to refilling the toner cartridges of laser printers, The production of Toner powders and liquids does not contribute CO2 to the environment other than that released from the electricity consumed in the production process and fuel for transportation. The shipping of powders is by far more economical because 1kg of powder can refill up to 25 cartridges where the same space used to ship 1kg of powder would be used to ship 1 or 2 cartridges.
Toner Cartridges are mostly made from plastic. The plastic in each cartridges takes approximately 3.3 litres of oil to produce (over half a gallon). 1 gallon of petroleum is also burned to manufacture one toner cartridge releasing the equivalent of .01 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Each time a Cartridge is refilled, it will not only conserve approximately 3.3 litres of oil and 1 Gallon of petrolium. Also, it will prevent 0.1 metric tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Refilling means a cartridge will not be thrown away thus will not be put into landfill where it will take at hundreds if not thousands of years to decompose.
[edit] Safety considerations
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (April 2008) |
Toner powder can be harmful if inhaled. As such there are same safety risks involved in refilling toner cartridges.
Toner powder is not Toxic but does need to be handled with care. Health and Safety and COSHH regulations must be considered when handling, transporting and storing Toner powders.
Gloves should be worn when handling toner as well as a protective dust mask to prevent inhalation.
