UK Full Cartridge Recycling

It's much better for surplus, unused cartridges to be reused as full cartridges as they were intended instead of being recycled, as this is a much better use of the resources that went into making and filling the cartridge. And often they have significant value for a good cause.

⚠️ If you have empty cartridges, please see our empty cartridge recycling guide. If you have both full and empty, deal with your unused cartridges first as these will be handled at different facilities.

Plant Trees: CartridgeForest

CartridgeForest will plant 2 trees with their partner charity Trees for the Future for each eligible full cartridge received.

🌲 Helping charity Trees for the Future
➕ Reuse is better than recycling
➕ Free collections / drop-off options

Visit CartridgeForest

Charity: Cartridges4Charity

Cartridges4Charity supports the Against Malaria Foundation, who distribute anti-mosquito nets to save lives by preventing the spread of malaria.

➕ Raising funds for an effective anti-malaria charity
➕ Reuse is better than recycling
➕ Free collections / drop-off options

Visit Cartridges4Charity

Alternative Reuse Options

If your cartridges are not eligible for the above web sites supporting good causes, there are some other reuse options you can try to get your cartridges to somebody who has the same printer model. This is the best outcome for the environment as it means one fewer cartridge needs to be produced to fill that demand.

Give Them Away

If your cartridges don't have enough value for the charity options above, we suggest listing your unwanted cartridges for free on these sites, so that individuals nearby who have compatible printers can pick them up and use them as they were originally intended.

Facebook Marketplace
eBay
Gumtree — you can list your cartridges for free, or for a nominal amount
Freecycle — find the group near your city and list your cartridges
Freegle — similar to Freecycle

You're unlikely to find a buyer if you try to sell them, so it's best to just find a new home for them and ask them to collect.

Return to Supplier

If your items are completely unopened in undamaged condition, you may be able to return them to your supplier — for a refund if you purchased recently, or maybe for store credit or a discount on a future purchase if you negotiate.

Last Resort: Recycle as Empties

If you’re not able to find somebody to take your full cartridges as-is, please look at the empty cartridge recycling options as all these services will also take the full versions.

For example, your cartridge’s manufacturer will likely have a free recycling scheme in place to take empty cartridges, and you can send the full ones to the same place.

There are certainly free alternatives to binning your cartridges — where they will take up to 1,000 years to fully decompose.

Why Recycle Unused Cartridges?

Any full, surplus, unused cartridges you have should be reused as full cartridges before you consider recycling, or binning them.

This is a much better use of resources, as the cartridge will be used as intended and save on labour, energy and CO₂ that would be used to produce a new cartridge.

Because they can be used as an alternative to buying new cartridges, your unused cartridges have value that can raise funds for good causes.

everycartridge.com is here to help you find something useful to do with them.