In 2016 the 'Cartridges 4 Planet Ark' recycling program celebrated its biggest year since it began 15 years ago. So we want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone that helped make that possible, especially to the top ten returners. Were you one of them?
In the last 12 months, Australians have made history by recycling a record 13,500 used printer cartridges every working day, making it the biggest year ever since the launch of the program. This is equivalent to 386 bathtubs of cartridges returned every working day or 6 backyard swimming pools every week! The 3.5 million cartridges collected in the last year are enough to produce around 4,500 pens or 168,000 rulers made from the recycled materials.
So we thought we'd take the opportunity to thank everyone that helped make that possible, especially the top ten returners.
Top Ten Workplaces
To recycle as many cartridges as we did, means lots of workplaces are doing the right thing - so thanks to everyone who participated.
The top ten workplaces for the last year, including the total number of cartridges collected are:
- 45,616 - Aspitech
- 17,990 - Endeavour Foundation (Southport)
- 11,547 - Brother Int
- 10,045 - Endeavour Foundation (Redcliffe)
- 9,873 - Launceston City Mission
- 7,173 - Endeavour Foundation (Garbutt)
- 5,417 - Green Collect
- 5,297 - Cartridge Works
- 4,819 - Substation33
- 4,612 - The Printer & Office Wizards
If your workplaces made the top ten then share the achievements with our free promotional resources.
If your workplace does not have a collection box, you can register free now.
Top Ten Councils
Local councils are increasingly providing public collection points for their residents as well as recycling their own cartridges. The top ten councils were:
- 8,627 - Hornsby Shire Council, NSW*
- 4,716 - Mindarie Regional Council, WA*
- 3,299 - City of Monash, VIC*
- 2,055 - Randwick City Council, NSW*
- 1,959 - City of Tea Tree Gully, SA (NEW)
- 1,796 - City of Yarra Depot, VIC*
- 1,384 - City of Vincent, WA*
- 1,311 - City of South Perth, WA (NEW)
- 1,271 - Cessnock City Council, NSW (NEW)
- 1,168 - Logan City Council, QLD (NEW)
*Top ten last year
Together these and all the other collection points have helped divert thousands of tonnes of non-renewable resources out of landfill and back into the economy. So a huge thank you and we hope that you'll help us make 2017 even more successful.
Visit our Council Toolkit for more information on how councils can promote the program.