Tamworth Regional Council is a supporter of ‘Cartridges for Planet Ark’.

About 'Cartridges 4 Planet Ark'

As cartridges are made up of a complex mix of plastics, metal, inks and toners they represent a significant investment in resources. When they are disposed of into landfill these resources are lost.

That's why Planet Ark joined with Close the Loop and the participating manufacturers to set up the innovative 'Cartridges 4 Planet Ark' program. This program collects and returns cartridges for remanufacturing and recycling - therefore keeping them out of landfill. In fact they guarantee zero waste to landfill for all of the cartridges collected through the program. The Melbourne-based recycling partner, Close the Loop, is independently audited on an annual basis for its zero waste to landfill guarantee as are the manufacturers' reprocessing plants.

All types and brands of printer cartridges used in printers, photocopiers, multi-function centres and fax machines can be placed in the 'Cartridges 4 Planet Ark' bin.

The printer and toner cartridge recycling drop-off locations in the Tamworth Regional Council area are:

• Tamworth Regional Council
  Parry Building
  468 Peel Street
  Tamworth NSW 2340
• Tamworth Regional Council - Nundle Office
  Cnr Jenkins St & Innes Street
  Nundle NSW 2340
• Tamworth Regional Council - Barraba Office
  Alice Street
  Barraba NSW 2347
• Tamworth Regional Council - Manilla Office
  210 Manilla Street
  Manilla NSW 2346
• Australia Post Outlets
• Harvey Norman - Tamworth
  43 The Ringers Rd
  Tamworth NSW 2340
• Dick Smith Electronics - Tamworth
  13 White St
  Tamworth NSW 2340

If your office, business or school uses more than three cartridges a month, you may be eligible for a free collection box.

For more information call the Cartridges Hotline on 1800 24 24 73 or visit www.planetark.com/cartridges

Printer Cartridge and Toner Recycling - The Facts

• printer cartridges are very complex
  • they are not like a plastic drink bottle made from two types of plastic. Printer cartridges are a complicated assembly of mixed plastics, metal, toner powder, ink, foam and rubber. This makes the print consumables waste stream very complex and potentially hazardous to human health and the environment when disposed of in landfill
• there are over 2,000 different types of printer cartridges available in Australia
  • 'Cartridges 4 Planet Ark' accepts and processes them all. Meaning all brands, makes and models of print consumables from copiers, printers or fax machines are accepted. This includes inkjet and laser cartridges, toner bottles, fuser and drum units, print heads and fax rolls
• there are more cartridge recycling outlets than ever before
  • 'Cartridges 4 Planet Ark collection boxes are in over 2,300 participating Australia Post, Officeworks, Harvey Norman, Tandy, Dick Smith Electronics and Powerhouse stores.
• Australia leads the way with innovative cartridge recycling technology
  • Planet Ark's recycling partner Close the Loop® developed the technology to recycle all print consumable waste with zero waste to landfill. This means that not one component of the printer cartridges collected for recycling ends up in landfill. This technology is a world first initiative
• seven of the major printer manufacturing companies have collaborated for the sake of the environment
  • Planet Ark is successfully working with Lexmark, HP, Brother, Konica Minolta, Epson, Panasonic and Canon to collectively take responsibility for the end life of their products. This voluntary Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program is one of the most successful of its type in the world