*NEWS*WHO RECYCLES 13M. CTGS A YEAR ?

[Anonymous]

Australia is Toning up for the future
October 
2007. If you have anything to do with printers, there’s a pretty good
chance you’ve sent a printer cartridge off for recycling at some point.
Have you ever wondered where it went?Close the Loop in Melbourne
recycles 13 million of cartridges each year from 43, 000 drop-off
points around Australia, including 43 in Canberra.Since the program
began in October 2001 until October this year, 20,4103 cartridges have
been collected in the ACT. Their combined weight was 125, 966 kilos.

The company also receives bulk shipments of used cartridges from locations in Asia.
CEO
Greg Turnidge showed 666 ABC Canberra’s environment reporter, Claire
Gorman around the plant. The pair looked at the entire recycling
process including both waste streams – inkjet cartridges and toner
cartridges. To understand just how it works, take a look at the photo
gallery at right.After the cartridges come in, they checked into a
computer system and manually sorted which can be a very messy job.Greg
explained that one of the things his staff has to be most mindful of is
toner dust becoming airborne. While toner dust is not classified as a
hazardous material, there is a danger if it becomes ambient. After the
toner cartridges are crushed, large extraction fans suck the toner dust
from the air to stop it harming employees’ health.”Toner dust is a very
difficult material to manage. As you can see it becomes ambient. It’s a
very fine substance and we have to be careful in the way we process it
so we don’t end up with issues in the plant.”We maintain this equipment
very regularly to ensure there’s no clogging which may result in
machinery malfunction and cause the toner to become a serious problem
in the factory. We are also very cognisant of the effect it may have on
the staff so you will see they have respiratory gear,” he said.Greg
said another concern is the noise. Staff have regular hearing checks to
make sure they don’t get industrial hearing loss.Plastic ‘lumber’ is
created from the crushed cartridge plastic. This material can be used
to replace hardwood and to date it has been used to create everything
from park benches to rail sleepers.

[Author]

October 30, 2007 at 11:56 AM