Press Releases

Lexmark International has announced a major expansion of its on-site collection programme, with a new pick-up service for business customers using large numbers of its laser printer cartridges. Containers will be available to order from the Lexmark website in two sizes, holding approximately 15 or 60 cartridges, depending on the type of cartridge.

This new initiative highlights Lexmark’s wide-ranging commitment to the environment, based on proactive collaboration with its suppliers and customers. This latest example of the company’s ‘greener’ approach to business underlines its efforts to avoid cartridges going into landfill and thus ensuring that they are recycled properly.

This is in addition to the existing ‘Laser Cartridge Postal Service’ that allows the use of a pre-paid label, which is included with the company’s top-selling laser products. The service will be further expanded from July this year to cover all Lexmark laser cartridges sold in the European market. These pre-paid labels are also available for customers to download from the Lexmark website.

“We’re proud of the environmental policy we have in place and pleased to announce the expansion of our European environmental initiatives,” said Giovanni Giusti, General Manager, Lexmark UK. “We are providing a cost-efficient means for our customer to dispose of used cartridges in an environmentally responsible manner.”

Lexmark has also been offering its inkjet customers a postal service using pre-paid mail envelopes, included in the cartridge box at the time of purchase. This is available for numbers, 50, 60 70 and 80. Lexmark was the first manufacturer of new inkjet cartridges in the industry to do so, when it launched the programme in September 2003. 

“The company’s own research indicated a large majority of consumers simply threw their cartridges in the rubbish bin instead of recycling them,” said Giusti. “The challenge was to collect the spent cartridges in a way that was easy to use and free for consumers, making the process the same for a small business in Manchester as it would be for a family in Amsterdam.”

Background:
Lexmark’s laser cartridges can be returned to the company through the Lexmark Cartridge Collection Programme. This programme offers customers various methods of return and sponsors unique collection partnerships around the world. Collection programmes are always free to the consumer and are designed to be easy to use.

The company also provides its customers the opportunity to share in its commitment to the environment through such products as the Lexmark Return Programme Cartridge.
Lexmark Return Programme Cartridges are sold at a discount versus the prices of regular cartridges in exchange for the customer's agreement to use the cartridge only once and return it only to Lexmark for recycling.

Since the Lexmark Return Programme Cartridge was introduced, the company has increased the number of cartridges collected around the world by a factor of nine. In 2003, millions of cartridges came back to Lexmark for recycling.

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