1,975,286 printer toner cartridges
4,623,010 pounds of printer toner cartridges
697,395 printer inkjet cartridges
1,486,975 pounds of printer inkjet cartridges
The Cannon IV recycling initiative has been in place at Cannon IV for nearly twenty years. And the numbers above are a testamemt to our commitment.
 In the late 1980’s Cannon IV recognized that our business could have a great impact on our world environmentally by recycling many of the inkjet and toner cartridges that we were shipping to our clients. A partnership was formed in 1991 with Noble of Indiana. Noble is an organization whose mission is to help developmentally disabled adults achieve more meaningful lives often times through Noble’s employment services.
Throughout the first half of the 90’s cartridge returns were sent to Noble where they were unpackaged, sorted, cleaned and then sent to Cannon IV for an environmentally-friendly distribution. For those that could be reused they would be refilled with ink or toner and cartridges that were damaged were sent to a materials recycler to be fully broken down and reused in other ways.
 In the mid 90’s the recycling grew substantially. At that time Cannon IV’s largest client, State Farm, was consuming 12,000 to 14,000 ink and toner cartridges per month. The potential damage to our environment was very visible and together Cannon IV and State Farm created a distribution and pickup plan for all the cartridges the company was consuming. Cannon IV and State Farm both share the knowledge that our communities create our support and it is our responsibility to give back to those communities in meaningful ways.
The Occupational Development Center of Bloomington, Illinois is an organization with a similar goal and mission as Noble of Indiana: help developmentally disabled adults achieve independence and more meaningful lives. Once the distribution and recycling program was put in place, all inkjet cartridges were sent to ODC in Bloomington and toner cartridges were sent to Noble. Again, all items were sent to Cannon IV for environmentally-friendly distribution.
 The primary focus of Cannon IV’s recycling program does not focus on plastic. While we have saved upwards of 4,000,000 pounds of plastic from landfills in the area of cartridge recycling alone, the primary benefit, we feel, of the recycling program is in its focus on people. Through Cannon IV cartridge recycling adults with special needs in two states have been given an opportunity to attain a more meaningful life through work and independence.
The cartridge recycling program at Cannon IV is not established as a profit-generating area of the company and in fact due to the pickup and distribution system is actually an expense for the company. But it is viewed in Cannon IV’s corporate culture as a small price to pay to see so many people who might otherwise receive a glancing look from a business community lead much more enriching lives by achieving increased self-worth through hard work and independence.
To learn more about technology recycling best practices, customer recycling programs, or recycling at Cannon IV, please call (800) 825-7779 or contact us. |
