HP today announced the expansion of the HP Planet Partners print
cartridge return and recycling program, along with steps to reduce
shipping materials and increase transportation efficiency.
HP Planet Partners, part of the HP Eco Solutions
program, is designed to offer customers free and convenient print
cartridge return options, and now includes HP authorized retail
recycling locations for HP ink cartridge and LaserJet toner cartridge
collection, in addition to other recycling options.
Because all HP ink cartridges and LaserJet toner cartridges
returned to HP authorized retail locations are recycled through HP’s state-of-the-art processes, customers can be confident their print cartridges are recycled responsibly and diverted from landfills.
“We introduced HP Planet Partners long before ‘going green’ was
a trend, and over time HP has made print cartridge recycling easier and
more widely available,” said John Solomon, vice president and general
manager, North American Consumer Business, Imaging and Printing Group,
HP. “As environmental awareness and customer participation have
increased, we’re proud to offer customers authorized retail recycling
locations as a natural evolution of the program.”
Program details and benefits
To reduce the amount of shipping material required for recycling
returns, HP will no longer include return envelopes in HP ink cartridge
packaging. However, HP will continue to accept ink cartridges returned
in envelopes that customers have saved.
The company offers customers several free, postage-paid return options at www.hp.com/recycle,
including return envelopes, bulk collection boxes and printable labels.
HP will continue to offer return labels in HP LaserJet toner cartridge
packaging as well as its online and in-store recycling options.
HP estimates that if all ink cartridges returned via in-box
envelopes in 2008 were instead returned in bulk from authorized retail
recycling locations, the amount of shipping materials used would have
been reduced by more than 600,000 pounds – enough to fill more than 15
tractor trailers.(1) Additionally, transport efficiency may
be improved as cartridges shipped in bulk can be packed more tightly
than those shipped individually – with twice as many cartridges fitting
in the same amount of space.
HP print cartridge recycling milestones
HP recently achieved a milestone in environmental responsibility by
recycling more than 250 million HP print cartridges worldwide since the
inception of HP Planet Partners in 1991. Today, print cartridge
recycling through HP Planet Partners is available in more than 47
countries, regions and territories.
To accommodate greater customer participation in the HP Planet
Partners program, HP is currently doubling the size of its North
American ink cartridge recycling facility to more than 80,000 square
feet to improve efficiency and increase productivity.
Last year HP used more than 5 million pounds of recycled
plastic – from everyday plastic water bottles to highly technical HP
cartridges – to make new HP ink cartridges and is well on its way of
doubling that goal in 2008.
A behind-the-scenes tour of HP’s print cartridge recycling facility along with information about how
HP uses recycled plastic from cartridges returned through HP Planet Partners to make new Original HP ink cartridges is available at the
HP Pressroom.
More information on this announcement and the HP Planet Partners program is available in an online press kit at
www.hp.com/go/retailrecycling.
HP and the environment
For decades HP has been an environmental leader, driving company
stewardship through its holistic design for environment strategy. HP
influences industry action through its long-standing commitment to
maintain supply chain responsibility, sustain energy efficient
operations, reduce its climate impact and offer product reuse and
recycling options. HP also makes it easier for customers to recognize
environmental attributes through HP Eco Solutions, a program that helps
customers identify products and services designed with the environment
in mind. More information is available at
www.hp.com/environment.
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