How to Recycle Print Cartridges in Arkansas

If you do not refill your ink cartridges, and throw them away every time one runs out of ink, you are adding to not only our planet's physical waste but its chemical waste as well. When tossed in a landfill, the remaining ink in print cartridges can leak out into the ground and contaminate the soil and eventually the water supply. Recycling print cartridges can help prevent this. If you would like to recycle printer cartridges in Arkansas, the Keep Arkansas Beautiful website provides information on several locations that accept cartridges for recycling.

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  Check with a local school to see if they accept print cartridges for recycling. Keep Arkansas Beautiful is a partner with a national recycling organization called EcoPhones, and they have brought the project into more than 100 schools in the state. Though it is mostly a cellphone recycling project, schools participating with EcoPhones can also accept inkjet print cartridges. You may have to hold your cartridges for a little while, though, as many of these schools collect items as part of a fund-raising drive and may accept your cartridges only during a specific time period.

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  Recycle your print cartridges through the mail with EnviroSmart. Since Arkansas has no mail-in program in the state, Keep Arkansas Beautiful recommends this Virginia-based company for mail-in recycling. The entire mail-in recycling process is not only free, because EnviroSmart provides you with all of the shipping materials, but as long as you fulfill the requirements of the number of cartridges per box, you actually get paid a small amount for each cartridge recycled. To see a list of payments for cartridges and to have items shipped to you, you must email EnviroSmart through the email address found on the "Contact" page of their website (see Resources).

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  Call your local recycling facility, but don't just show up with cartridges. Not all recycling facilities are equipped to handle items that contain chemical waste, but some local government facilities will have the containers and equipment required. In Fayetteville, for instance, print cartridges should not be taken to the recycling facilities but are accepted at the Solid Waste and Recycling Office located at 1560 S. Happy Hollow Road.