topic Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill? in General Discussion

Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

T_H_M — Wed, 05 May 2021 13:22:20 GMT

I switched from HP to Canon because of the ability to refill tanks rather than buy cartridges. I saw this as a way to reduce my enviormental impact, but it seems I was short-sighted in my evaluation. I suddenly have these sturdy bottles with a scant bit of ink left in them which I must toss in the trash! I wish there were a way to send them back for refilling .... something! If anyone knows of a company which refill or recycles these, I would love to know about it. Thanks.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

oycart — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 02:41:53 GMT

It would be great if Canon had a program to return empty bottles to them. Like you, I didn't do quite enough research and thought I would be reducing my environmental impact also. Amazon shows a little green icon next to it indicating some kind of ecological pledge or some such BS.

Anyway, yeah, Canon, if you actually read the postings on this forum, PLEASE start some kind of recycle program for the Pixma ink bottles. Those things are going to around for thousands of years in the landfill!!

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

Tintype_18 — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 12:37:28 GMT

Can to take them to one of the box stores as Staples, get credit for them on a trade for new ink cartridges?

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

T_H_M — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 13:07:09 GMT

These are not cartridges. These are heavy duty bottles that could be reused if Canon had such a program, but to our great dismay, it does not.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

Hardin56 — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 08:56:34 GMT

@T_H_M wrote:
I switched from HP to Canon because of the ability to refill tanks rather than buy cartridges. I saw this as a way to reduce my enviormental impact, but it seems I was short-sighted in my evaluation. I suddenly have these sturdy bottles with a scant bit of ink left in them which I must toss in the trash! I wish there were a way to send them back for refilling .... something! If anyone knows of a company which refill or recycles these, I would love to know about it. Thanks.

so sorry but i m not sure about that.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

katrax — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 21:15:36 GMT

I feel the same as THM and am disappointed these plastic bottles cannot be recycled. Had I known I might have bought something else.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

Tintype_18 — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 12:40:10 GMT

Does the bottle have the recycle triangle on the bottom? If so, it can be recycled. If not, you are outta luck.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

T_H_M — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 13:21:52 GMT

The point of the post is that these CANNOT be recycled. Best option would be if Canon allowed for their return and reuse.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

Tintype_18 — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 20:39:03 GMT

You say it can't be recycled but never said if the triangle isn't present on the bottle.

Our local recycling center says they will take any plastic except car bumpers. Check with your recycling center.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

AlanEisen — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:12:06 GMT

This is still a good question. I just got a Canon printer and feel like I should be able to do something with these bottles; but the guidance seems to not be to wash them out, and they have no recycling logo on them. Canon has a big recycling program for ink cartridges and toner cartridges, but not bottles.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

T_H_M — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 18:02:01 GMT

They have no recycling # on the container.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

yourcableguy — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 00:12:52 GMT

Putting them in the regular recycle will still put them in a landfill.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

yourcableguy — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 00:13:41 GMT

I came here looking for the same thing. There's no reason they couldn't have a program to reuse them.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

shwaun — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 22:48:12 GMT

Ship them in bulk back to Canons recycling department and let them deal with it:

Canon USA, Inc.
Attn: CETI
5980 Industrial Drive
Gloucester, VA 23061-3874

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

oycart — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 04:31:43 GMT

I found a solution to this problem. I bought ink made by someone other than Canon who bottles the ink in recyclable containers. So, given that the business model for printers is "sell the printers cheap because we'll make it back on the ink," Canon potential profit from the sale of my printer and will continue to because I will continue to buy non-Canon-made ink until they start using recyclable bottles. Cheers!

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

Stephen — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 13:50:19 GMT

We were told that the bottles are fully recyclable as of a couple of years ago. You should see the ♻ logo on the bottom of the bottle. If you do, you can drop the bottle in your blue bin. The inks are non-toxic.

Also, non-Canon inks aren't recommended because we don't know what is in them. We have formulated our inks very specifically to work with these units and provide not only the best print quality, but the consistency of the ink so it doesn't clog the hoses or printhead in your printer.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

yourcableguy — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 13:53:22 GMT

In my experience the off brand ink is fine for documents, but for printing pictures they have faded real quick in the past. However, I haven't printed a picture in about ten years so maybe it has improved since then.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

Stephen — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 13:57:41 GMT

Many years ago, a company I worked for got off-brand black inks for our desktop printers. They worked for our purposes, but the documents stayed wet forever, were gray instead of black, and smelled like fish oil. It was disgusting. I sure hope it's better now! (I've been with Canon for over 15 years)

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

oycart — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 16:34:31 GMT

I suspected/hoped that the mention of buying non-Canon ink would FINALLY be noticed by Canon because EVERY printer manufacturer ALWAYS recommends their ink over others. This thread started more than three years ago and no one from/representing Canon has ever participated/responded. My first post even asked Canon to pay attention to this issue. If you were told a couple of years ago that the bottles were fully recyclable, why didn't you or anyone else from Canon post something in this thread earlier, some how notify customers, or announce it widely?

The last of the Canon ink bottles I have absolutely do not have the recycle symbol on them anywhere! Trust me . . . I've searched for it under the brightest of lights and even using a magnifying glass! Because they don't, I cannot drop them in my blue bin.

Lastly, I've had the similar experience as yourcableguy when using off-brand ink for other printers I've owned in that they made no difference whatsoever in print quality regardless of the type of print (documents vs photos). I don't dispute that some off-brands can affect print quality, but not all.

While I appreciate that a Canon representative has finally addressed this thread, it feels like "too little too late," and I will probably continue to buy off-brand ink for my Pixma.

Re: Ink bottle disposal? Dismayed I cannot recycle! Refill?

T_H_M — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 16:47:03 GMT

Alas, the sad truth is that even plastics marked as recyclable are simply not. Even the companies able to recycle the few #1 or #2 types, ironically creates a worse problem. The waste water and air emissions from the process has microplastic particles that are an extreme hazard to the environment, albeit invisible to the eye. Our dependence on plastics is a curse.