When casually tossing a used laser printer ink cartridge into the dustbin, few people consider the great harm this is doing to the environment. Such an object, it is estimated, will survive in the ground for a thousand years without decaying. During a recent national seminar on recycling of waste computer materials, experts called for the publicizing of related laws and regulations to standardize the recycled use of waste computer materials.

Gong Binliang, an official from the Computer Association of China, said that, with the popularization of modern office equipment in China, the number of laser printers was increasing at an annual rate of 30 percent and now totaled about three million. If each printer requires cartridge renewal two or three times a year, more than 200,000 cubic meters of discarded solid materials will be produced, enough to fill 3,000 railway carriages. Moreover, the remaining dust in the waste cartridges pollutes the air and water, and is harmful to health.

In Shanghai the number of laser printers has exceeded 400,000, accounting for more than 10 percent of the national total. The resulting pollution equals 100,000 kg of dust.

Gui Weimin, chairman of the board of directors of Shanghai Aolingdun Electronics Co. Ltd., said that the discarded ink cartridges actually have great use value after being recycled. As a result, materials industries in Europe and the United States have long been promoting "green printing". The United States wrote a requirement for the recycling of laser printer ink cartridges into its environmental law eight years ago, stating that federal institutions must promote the use of recycled products. Currently, there are nearly 1,000 ink cartridge manufacturers in the United States, with annual output exceeding US$10 billion.

Experts from the East China Normal University also agreed that the re-use of old ink cartridges by adding new ink in can save 50 percent of the cost of producing a new one, while the resale price is only 70 percent. However, since domestic consumers know little about the harm produced by discarded ink cartridges, 90 percent of them are used only once. On the other hand, since there are no related laws, regulations and industrial standards in China, few enterprises are engaged in their recycling. But, the 10 million ink cartridges discarded each year could create a recycling industry valued at billions of yuan and with a bright market future.

Considering environmental protection and energy saving, 40 percent of the laser printer materials in Europe involve recycled products, while this area is still virgin territory in China. Therefore, Chinese experts call for a rapid move to recycling waste laser printer and computer materials. By referring to the experiences of developed countries, environmental departments should make related laws and regulations to standardize recycling projects. State policies should give priority to recycling production and promote the concept of environmental protection. Activities such as consumption at a just-for-once discounted price that is harmful to the development of environmentally-friendly materials will be stopped in line with the state policy that makes discarded materials small in capacity, harmless, and resourceful, and thus promote the comprehensive, healthy and orderly development of the environmental protection industry.

(China.org.cn by Li Jingrong July 17, 2002)