*NEWS*CURB WASTE & RAISE MONEY 4 EMPTIES

[Anonymous]

Curb waste and raise money
Schools and charities make cash recycling printer cartridges, cell phones
Cutting down on landfill waste could help a local school or charity.
The
opportunity for schools and charities to raise cash seems to be growing
along with rising sales of remanufactured inkjet and laser cartridges.
Tired
of the high price of ink and toner, owners of printers, faxes and copy
machines are buying remanufactured cartridges in ever-larger numbers,
industry experts say.
Big Brothers and Sisters of Portage County
started collecting inkjet and laser cartridges after seeing a decline
in the donation of old cars, a key fund-raising effort that suffered
after a 2005 change in tax law.
Over the last few months, the
recycling effort has raised $500, said Ron Kilchenman, associate
director of the Ravenna agency. While not a large sum, he said it could
help fund picnics and other extras for the 65 children in the program
each year.
He is asking more businesses to help in collecting the cartridges.
Collect
Inc. points out that U.S. individuals and businesses buy 400 million
printer cartridges a year, and more than 80 percent will end up in
landfills.
Collect Inc. is a remanufacturer whose products are sold
under the OfficeMax name and other brands, said President Michael J.
Frothingham.
With headquarters in Denver and a warehouse in suburban
Cleveland’s Bedford, Collect Inc. took in about 600,000 used inkjet
cartridges in 2005 and 200,000 laser cartridges. It also received about
50,000 used cell phones.
Collect Inc. operates the America’s Schools
program, which teams schools, including several in the Akron area, with
business groups.
Schools can get up to $4 for an inkjet cartridge,
$15 for laser and, on average, about $2 for a cell phone, Frothingham
said. The price paid (if any) changes frequently based on market demand.
The
cartridges are inspected and refurbished at Collect Inc.’s plants in
Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Mexico, he said. About one-third of the
cell phones are reused and sold in Central or South America, while the
rest are reused for parts or reclaimed for precious metals and shredded.
Dozens
of schools collect cartridges for Akron Recycling Center and make
hundreds to thousands of dollars a year, said President Greg Loo.
Parents prefer this fund-raiser to selling chocolate, magazines and fruit, he said.
“The community can support the schools without it costing them anything,” Loo said.
Akron
Recycling, which has three full-time workers, picks up used cartridges
in Northeast Ohio and neighboring states, while distant collectors can
mail them free of charge to the South Main Street company. The
cartridges are sold to remanufacturers.

[Author]

January 10, 2006 at 10:19 AM