SWANFIELDSWANFIELD
RECYCLING PRINTER
CARTRIDGES AND MOBILE PHONES
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your trash into cash and
WIN A WEEKEND FOR TWO
WHY RECYCLE CARTRIDGES?
- More than 1.1 billion inkjet cartridges are used annually around the world - laid end to end this would be 129 times as long as the Great Wall of China
- Approximately 3.5 litres of oil are required to produce each new laser printer cartridge and 90 ml of oil is used to produce each inkjet cartridge
- Each discarded empty laser printer cartridge adds approximately three pounds of waste to our landfills
- The plastic used in a typical cartridge is made of engineering grade polymers and is expected to take up to 1000 years to decompose
- More than 30 million inkjet cartridges are dumped each year in the UK (1800 tonnes) - the same weight as 18 Blue Whales
- Industry analysts estimate a spent cartridge can be reused or remanufactured between 3 to 7 times - every cartridge remanufactured is one fewer going directly to the landfill
- 20-30% of all cartridges sold worldwide are remanufactured
WHY RECYCLE MOBILE PHONES?
- 23 million new mobile phones were purchased in the UK (2004 – LG)
- It is expected that one billion handsets will be sold each year by 2009
- There are about 50 million mobile phone subscribers in the UK
- The average mobile phone user will replace their handset once every 18 months.
- It is estimated that less than 20% of all unused mobile phones in the UK are currently recycled
- Estimates state that close to 90 million phones are hiding in drawers and cupboards across the UK (11250 tonnes) - these weigh almost six times as much as the London Eye!
- Mobile phones contain numerous substances which need to be disposed of in a safe and efficient manner:
The Cadmium in the battery from a single old phone could seriously contaminate 600,000 litres of water, enough to fill a third of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Cadmium is being phased out of new batteries.
Lead - which affects the immune, endocrine and central nervous systems, and causes serious damage to children's brains - is used to solder components to the printed wiring boards.
Brominated flame retardants, used in wiring boards and plastic cases, have been associated with cancer, liver damage and problems with the neurological, immune and endocrine systems.
Beryllium, which can cause serious lung damage, is used in contacts and springs and highly toxic dioxins can be emitted if the phones are incinerated in waste plants.WHY JOIN THE MS THERAPY CENTRE RECYCLING APPEAL?
Because you care about damage to the environment.
Because it will cost you nothing - just pop a freepost envelope into the post-box.
Because each month you could win a weekend away for two.
Because the Therapy Centre will get 10p to £5 for each cartridge you recycle, and 20p to £10 for each mobile phone, depending on the make and model - and some are worth as much as £60 to us!
Download a Pricelist (PDF)
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Facts and graphics from the http://www.recyclingappeal.com website.
The Recycling Appeal is run by Redeem Plc, an award winning firm started in 1999 as Eurosource Europe. Through the Recycling Appeal Redeem has helped various organisations raise more than £2 million for good causes. Redeem is based in Falkirk, in the central belt of Scotland and is registered in Scotland. Company No. 194216. Registered office 31-37 Etna Road, Falkirk, Stirlingshire, FK2 9EG
