One of the main issues in the printer cartridge recycling industry is Epson inkjets and the fact that no one will accept them to be recycled.
As part of the industry I regularly try to explain to Epson users why this is, admittedly without knowing a precise answer except no one wants to buy the empties to refill them.
Epson have responded to customer pressure over the years by allowing them to return empty inkjet cartridges to Epson Express Centres and also providing a return address (though this was not a freepost address so eyebrows were raised).
Epson now have a freepost address to return empty inkjet cartridges to!
This isn't new news either - CNet reported this news back in October 2008
However, there is a caveat. After checking the site I noted that of approximately ten randomly selected inkjet models listed, only two were accepted for return.
Not the result Epson users had hoped for I guess, but certainly a step forward.
Here is the link to Epsons website again:
http://content.epson-europe.com/environment/collectandrecycle/en/
Greensource Solutions is pleased to announce that it has a new charity partner.
New Futures Nepal is a UK registered charitable trust. It was established in 2002 by a group of like-minded people who, having spent time trekking in Nepal, wanted to give something back to the people of that country. Disabled and orphaned children live a harsh life in this desperately poor country (one of the top 10 poorest countries in the world).
Without regular financial support and assistance they are often reduced to begging on the streets, living rough and are prey to unscrupulous traffickers and drug barons.The charity obtained UK registered charity status in July 2003. We are a non-governmental, non-political and non-religious organisation.
The charity is engaged in raising funds to provide assistance and relief and to support cases of need, hardship and distress for Nepali children and adults. We are the main providers of financial support to two homes for disabled and orphaned children and adults; one in Kathmandu, Nepal and one in Kalimpong, Northern India. In these homes we care for 32 resident children, 2 disabled adults and we provide salaries for 7 carers. Our funding also helps to cover medical care and treatments required as well as education for all the children living in the homes. We also support one-off projects providing shelter for street children and aid for community projects throughout the Himalayan region.
The charity’s total administrative costs are under 1% and all the trustees work voluntarily for the charity A trustee visits Nepal at least once a year to oversee our projects and confirm that funds are spent as intended.New Futures Nepal is a registered charity: 1098661We at Greensource Solutions look forward to working with New Futures Nepal and raising money for them through collecting empty printer cartridges, mobile phones and PDAs.If you wish to know more about New Futures Nepal and the charities work please visit our website www.newfuturesnepal.org or contact us at info@newfuturesnepal.org
It's always nice to see us referenced in the media. the Guardians Ethical Living blog said we were a better option for recycling mobile phones, than the subject of their article - Air Miles.
Greensource Solutions and SUMS have gone into partnership to sell 3500 Dell Axim X51 PDAs to the education sector in the UK.Greensource Solutions, a Bristol based printer cartridge and mobile phone recycling company, have joined forces with SUMS, the developers of award winning software applications for the classroom, to offer schools and City Learning Centres a fantastic opportunity to purchase Dell Axim X51 PDAs installed with the SUMS software.These PDAs were donated to Greensource Solutions from a large pharmaceuticals company to be reused and raise money for our charity partners and a foundation that the staff at the company are starting.Greensource Solutions have pledged to give 50% of all profits to these causes.The decision to approach SUMS and go into partnership with them was made after seeing their expertise in hand held learning.Both companies wanted the education sector to get the benefit of this offer.The PDAs with SUMS software installed are retailing at £50 per handset when 10 or more are purchased. This is so much cheaper than the price of many PDAs on the market today (that normally retail for hundreds of pounds) – before any learning applications have been bought.Sadly this offer is limited to the 3500 units available.The current specifications of each unit are listed below:MODEL: Dell Axim X51PROCESSOR TYPE: Intel PXA270PROCESSOR SPEED: 416MHZ (Dynamic speed throttling to save power when not in use).RAM SIZE: 64MBROM SIZE: 128MBONBOARD STORAGE: 76MBWIRELESS: Bluetooth (WIFI available with add-on. Compact Flash card not supplied).DISPLAY: 3.7 inch 16BIT colourOPERATING SYSTEM: Windows mobile 5EXPANSION SLOTS Compact Flash (storage or accessories) and SD cards (storage only - SDIO, max size 2GB)Each unit will come with the charging cradle that also has a data transfer connection.For more information contact:Patrick SheridanGreensource SolutionsT: 0117 3042390patricks@greensource.co.uk
In what can only be described as sensible behaviour, it's been reported today that 10 of the main mobile phone manufacturers have agreed to adopt a universal mobile phone charger.
The change will take place from 2010 and the all important connector will be a Micro USB (note that after reading comments on Guardian website and consulting with a colleague it has been established this is different from the Mini USB connector as is seen on many digi cameras).
Consumers vent their spleens whenever something like a £20 replacement charger gets in the way of our essential communication tools. Is this the beginning of harmonised electronic equipment? (I don't know what that means, but I like the sound of it)
Our ever popular and thrilling Mobile Phone Amnesty has just begun. This event promotes mobile phone and PDA recycling (like we always do) but participants get entered into our prize draw and could win one of the following:
- Elonex Web Book (running Windows XP)
- A night's stay at the plush Thistle Grand Hotel in Bristol for two people including breakfast
- A day pass to Centre Parcs Longleat for 6 people
- Sainsbury's gift vouchers
After a little head scratching at Greensource HQ, Vaughn (the brains behind the Mobile Phone Amnesty) decided to change how we classified all donations.
In short, phones and PDAs are now graded so more valuable models get more chances in the prize draw to win a prize.
We think this is a fairer reflection of rewarding those with top phones as they will raise the most for our charity partner for this event St Peter's Hospice -
and of course we reckon it means all those iPhone owners are scrambling to get their buff hardware back to us sharpish!
Top marks as well for the light entertainment legend who hosts the website for us.
Please note this event runs for a limited period so contact us to enter or get more info.
We recently were donated nearly 4000 Dell Axim X51 PDAs by a large pharmaceuticals company.
This is an amazing donation and we have pledged to give 50% of all profits from the sales of these to our charity partners and a charitable Foundation that staff at the company intend on creating.
I hope this means a cheque for big money will be cut for these charities shortly!
For all interested parties these devices will be on sale shortly through our usual outlets.
Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia move closer to producing a device that will never need plugging in to the mains to recharge!
Ambient electromagnetic radiation--emitted from Wi-Fi transmitters, cell-phone antennas, TV masts, and other sources--could be converted into enough electrical current to keep a battery topped up, says Markku Rouvala, a researcher from the Nokia Research Centre, in Cambridge, U.K. said the Technology Review yesterday.
I won't quote all the details of this development, will just say the ramifications of this are massive and far reaching for electronic equipment that can survive on small amounts of power.
Though it's not new technology (Nikola Tesla discovered this phenomenon) a company like Nokia could pull one of the coups of modern times implementing this - imagine no more chargers and free power.
I also like to hope that once one multinational releases a product with a feature so helpful for the customer and the energy used by us, we consumers will come to expect this and all other businesses will have to follow suit.
It's always nice to spread news like this. Airbus in Bristol contacted us recently with a large quantity of printer cartridges surplus to their requirements and after collecting them we have raised £650 for Bristols St Peter's Hospice
We have been a partner with St Peter's Hospice since 2008 collecting empty printer cartridges and mobile phones to raise funds for the work they do.
They are a great charity who provide an invaluable service for those with life threatening illnesses and their families and being local to us makes it all the more worthwhile.
The Guardian reported last week that "Sony Ericsson will unveil two "green" handsets tomorrow with a carbon footprint 15% lower than current models."
This model looks pretty snazzy to me and I like Sony Ericsson mobiles so all good to them.
Reading the article shows a lot of "improvements" are packaging based which is all good but doesn't deserve too big a slap on the back in my opinion.
We at Greensource Solutions are partners with St Peter's Hospice who provide an invaluable palliative care service at two hospices in Bristol - so they are close to our hearts.
The volunteers who work for the charity have just been honoured with the Queens Award for Voluntary Service which is the equivalent of an MBE.
Three cheers for them!
I am pleased to announce that Greensource Solutions has a new charity partner it is collecting empty cartridges and mobile phones for.
The World Development Movement (WDM) campaigns for a world without poverty and injustice. Our world has the wealth and means for all to live comfortably and to end poverty.
Yet despite this nearly half the world’s population live on less than £1.40 a day and over 11 million children will die from poverty-related illness this year.
We believe that charity is not enough. The policies of governments and companies are keeping people poor by exploiting them to make bigger and bigger profits. Unless we challenge them, we are allowing this injustice to continue. We challenge the powerful by lobbying decision-makers to put an end to practises that harm the world’s poor. We work in solidarity with activists around the world to tackle the root causes of poverty, researching and promoting positive alternatives which put the rights of poor communities before the interests of big businesses.
We are currently campaigning on two major issues. On climate change, we are lobbying the government to reduce UK carbon emissions by saying no to airport expansion and coal. On trade, we are campaigning to abolish unfair trade deals including those between the European Union and the global south.
We have already achieved great successes on debt cancellation, genetic modification, the arms trade, workers’ rights, and access to water.
To join us and take action, go to www.wdm.org.uk.
The World Development Movement
Registered charity no. 1064066, registered company no. 2098198
Greensource Solutions are very happy to announce this new partnership. Anyone wishing to support World Development Movement by donating empty printer cartridges, mobile phones or PDAs should contact us on T: 0117 3042390 or email info@greensource.co.uk
Mobile phones have been the subject of scrutiny in the UK in regards to recycling. They were included in the WEEE directive back in 2007 so legally cannot go in landfill (good news and I sometimes wonder how many still might end up there - I know the local tip AKA Recycling Centre in Bristol near us are pretty hot on all electrical waste and keep it separate to sort it).
The good thing about phones is economically there is obvious value in them and in our contract heavy system people update their handsets regularly. This has meant the recycling market of which Greensource Solutions is a part of has been eager to collect unwanted phones for over a decade. Charities often benefit too which is good.
Motorola has now unveiled their new handset, the W233 which their press release states is the Worlds first carbon neutral phone and its housing is made using plastics comprised of recycled water bottles and is 100 percent recyclable.
The packaging has also been minimised and plant based dyes used. It all sounds good so fair play to Motorola for putting their money into this and importantly the handset looks good too!
I hope the recycling industry will have no issues with reselling this handset in years to come - Lucy Siegle raised an interesting point in the Guardian recently where her recyclable mobile phone needed to go in an anaerobic digestor to break down properly - reuse first!!
There was an article about printer cartridge recycling in an online magazine The Waste Paper that came out recently and Greensource Solutions was featured.
http://www.crn.org.uk/the_waste_paper/features/printer_cartridge_recycling
Our company has been in the recycling industry since 1993 dealing with empty printer cartridges and more recently mobile phones and PDAs. We sell our own brand of Greensource Imaging Supplies compatible cartridge, oem cartridges, printers and all other office supplies.
And it can't be forgotten that in all of our time as a business we have supported charities (the cartridge and mobile phone collection schemes support their work and our Greensource Imaging Supplies cartridge donates £2 to our nominated charity with every unit sold).
We want to keep you informed about what Greensource Solutions is doing and also about the issues we hear about that affect us and you - like cartridge prices, waste and recycling.
Blog on!
Thanks and enjoy from Greensource
