| Five interesting printer facts | | | | we’ll take an example of a popular cartridge |
| 1, Laser printers use toner and work using the | | | | – the HP 350 (low or standard capacity) and |
| Xerography method. This was invented by | | | | the Hp 350XL (high capacity). Using the prices |
| Chester Carlson (Wasn't he in the Goonies?) in | | | | from the standard capacity original cartridge |
| 1938. At first, no one wanted to buy Chester's | | | | comes in at £15.95 for 4.5ml and the high |
| idea and he was rejected over and over until the | | | | capacity xl version is £27.95 for 25ml. So to |
| Haloid company (later to become Xerox Corp) | | | | compare the two cartridges millilitre for millilitre, |
| agreed to partner with Chester and in 1950, the | | | | the standard is £3.54 per ml and the XL |
| first of Carlson's "Xerox" machines went on sale | | | | cartridge is £1.11 per ml. So the XL cartridge is a |
| in the USA. | | | | far more economical cartridge and offers a better |
| 2, Johannes Gutenberg was the father of modern | | | | longer term investment. |
| printing and invested the “Gutenbeg | | | | 4, Approximately 3-4 litres of crude oil is used in |
| Press” in circa 1440, a full 500 years before | | | | the manufacture of each toner cartridge. If these |
| the first Xerox machine went on sale. Gutenberg | | | | are not recycled then they can end up in rubbish |
| also pioneered the use of oil based ink which is | | | | tips. Toners and inkjets can take thousands of |
| more stable then water based ink solutions. This | | | | year to biodegrade and cause pollution. Sadly, only |
| was the forerunner to the kinds of inks that are | | | | around 25% of cartridges are recycled each year |
| used in today’s inkjet printers. | | | | worldwide (more than twenty five million are |
| 3, There are usually 2 types of printer cartridge | | | | dumped in the UK alone), but the good news is |
| for each printer. The printer usually comes fitted | | | | that this number has increased from about 10% |
| with a low capacity or starter cartridge. These | | | | ten years ago. |
| are often only ten to fifty percent full. Imagine a | | | | 5, According to the UK Cartridge |
| seven hundred and fifty CL bottle of wine with | | | | Remanufacturers Association (UKCRA), the UK |
| only one hundred CL of wine, this is essentially | | | | remanufacturing industry provides 1,500,000 |
| what you are getting from a low capacity | | | | remanufactured cartridges to the public each year. |
| cartridge. Now this is ok if you hardly ever print | | | | In addition, the UK imports 10 million laser toner |
| as the starter cartridges are less expensive but | | | | cartridges and 30 million inkjet cartridges annually. |
| when you compare the price millilitre by millilitre | | | | The recycler website cites a 2003 MPA market |
| then they are more expensive on the whole. To | | | | research report as stating that this number |
| give you an idea of the difference in price , | | | | equates to a market of over 1.5 billion pounds. |