Members with full Cartridges 4 Planet Ark boxes can securely seal their collection bags and send it through Australia Post using the attached Reply Paid sticker or book a collection with our recylers at Close the Loop.
Used printer cartridges can also be dropped-off at any participating retail or community site.
Get it collected
To return your cartridges, you can either:
1. Take the bag to your local Australia Post and it will be returned via the attached Reply-Paid sticker.
2. Book a collection online through Close the Loop's Member Portal or by calling 1800 24 24 73. Collection is only available to metropolitan users.
Book a collection
Find a drop-off
Cartridges 4 Planet Ark has over 1,500 public drop-off locations around Australia, at select retailers, businesses, and community centres.
Find a drop-off
Existing members
To return your cartridges, you can either:
1. Book a collection online through Close the Loop's Member Portal or by calling 1800 24 24 73 to arrange a courier pick-up within five days. Collection is only available to metropolitan users.
2. Take the bag to your local Australia Post and it will be returned via the attached Reply-Paid sticker.
These services are provided with zero cost to the consumer.
Please note:
We would like to encourage you to book your collections when you have two or more full bags ready to go. This ensures the process is economically more efficient and better for the environment through the reduction in carbon emissions from transport.
Ordering collection bags and other consumables
Member enquiries
If you are still having trouble logging in or have other membership enquiries, please contact our program partner Close the Loop as they manage the membership database.
Contact Close the Loop:
info@closetheloop.com.au
Resource Recovery Certificates
These certificates can be used to report on the positive environmental impact that your workplace has achieved by participating in 'Cartridges 4 Planet Ark'.
They can also be used to motivate and encourage staff and clients to recycle even more. You can access a Resource Recovery Certificate on the Close the Loop member portal.
Whats Accepted
All inkjet cartridges, toner cartridges and toner bottles can be placed in the Cartridges 4 Planet Ark box.
Accepted items includes:
- Toner cartridges
- Inkjet cartridges
- Laser cartridges
- Unused cartridges
- Toner bottles
- Fuser and drum units
- Print heads
- Containers, collectors, and kits
- Environmental ™ pens
Returning Your Cartridges
If you would like a public collection box for your customers, residents, the general public or school community to drop-off their cartridges in you can register for a 'public site' box by calling Close The loop on 1800 24 24 73. Please specify that this a to be a box for the community not an internal workplace box. Once you have received your collection box you can download our promotional resources to inform your colleagues about the program.
At Work
If your workplace, business, community group, university, or school uses more than three (3) inkjet, toner cartridges or toner bottles in a month you may be eligible for a Cartridges 4 Planet Ark collection box.
You can call 1800 24 24 73 or complete the registration form.
All registered Workplace Collection points can receive Resource Recovery Certificates that outline the weight of cartridges collected and returned.
These certificates can be used to report on the positive environmental impact that your workplace has achieved by participating in 'Cartridges 4 Planet Ark'.
They can also be used to motivate and encourage staff and clients to recycle even more. To request a certificate, simply email CSTeam@closetheloop.com.au
Example of a Resource Recovery Certificate
Our participating manufacturers, Brother, Canon, Epson, HP or Kyocera, cover the cost of collecting, transporting and recycling their own cartridges as well as promoting the program to workplaces like yours and to the general public.
When you put a cartridge from a supporting brand - Toshiba, Fuji Xerox Australia, Samsung, Sharp, Dell, Konica Minolta or Lexmark - into one of our boxes, that manufacturer covers the cost of recycling their cartridge. Some of these manufacturers also have their own collection programs.
But if you put a cartridge from any other manufacturer or a compatible brand in a collection box, these are not paid for but the cost is borne by Close The Loop and the program generally. You can help us make sure we can continue to provide a recycling service by reducing the number of non-participating manufacturers' cartridges in your collection boxes.
If your workplace uses lots of these cartridges you could:
Contact the manufacturer to see if they run their own collection program; or
Switch machines to one of the manufacturers who are taking responsibility for their cartridges.
This program has been established to collect and recycle cartridges from end users only. We cannot accept printer cartridge waste from commercial recyclers or brokers.
In the Community
If you would like a public collection box for your customers, residents, the general public or school community to drop-off their cartridges in you can register for a 'public site' box by calling Close The loop on 1800 24 24 73. Please specify that this a to be a box for the community not an internal workplace box. Once you have received your collection box you can download our promotional resources to inform your colleagues about the program.
What happens to cartridges
All of the cartridges put in to one of our boxes, whether in a workplace or a retail collection point, are sent back to Close the Loop ™ in Melbourne. Once there, they are hand sorted and their brand and type recorded. Many of the laser cartridges are sent back to the original equipment manufacturers for their re-manufacturing or component recovery programs.
- The inkjet cartridges, toner bottles and drum units are processed through the patented, Australian-made Green Machine, which reduces the cartridges to smaller particles that can be more easily separated.
- Inkjet cartridges are processed through another machine, which also uses patented world-first technology.
- Magnets are used to remove ferrous (iron-based) metals, while eddie currents are used to remove aluminium.
This waste stream is a complex mix of potentially valuable and/or hazardous raw materials needing state of the art equipment for safe processing and handling.
The end result of this process is the recovery of 'raw' materials. These 'secondary raw materials' are further filtered, upgraded and then used instead of virgin materials in normal manufacturing to make new products. The ultimate aim is to return the raw materials back to the original equipment manufacturer for reuse in new cartridges.
All of this is achieved with zero waste going to landfill.
Participating Manufacturers
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why recycle printer cartridges?
Printer cartridges are made up of a complex combination of plastics, metals, foam, ink and toner. Therefore, they are not suited to the collection systems and sorting facilities used for home collections by councils. Throwing them into landfill represents a waste of resources and can impact the environment.
The Cartridges 4 Planet Ark program is a free, accessible, and convenient way for you or your organisation to contribute to a more sustainable future. You can help the planet by:
•Diverting waste from landfill. Disposing of cartridges in landfill wastes valuable resources and can cause hazardous chemicals to leech into the soil and groundwater as they erode. With a zero waste to landfill guarantee, our program diverts more than 3,440kg of cartridges from landfill every day.
•Contributing to a circular economy. Cartridges can be reprocessed into new cartridges or recycled to make other valuable products from their plastics, metals and inks, keeping these valuable resources in circulation and reducing demand for raw materials.
•Saving water and energy. Making products from recycled materials generally uses less water and energy than making them from new materials. For every 1 tonne of print consumables collected, recycled and recovered by Close the Loop, over 10 times more carbon is saved through the avoided use of virgin materials. ?Accordion body...
What happens to recycled printer cartridges?
Recycling printer cartridges results in the recovery of a variety of 'raw' materials which are then used instead of virgin materials in normal manufacturing to make new products. All of this is achieved with zero waste going to landfill. Cartridges collected through Cartridges 4 Planet Ark are sent to Close the Loop in Melbourne where they are hand-sorted by their brand and type.
Some of the laser cartridges are cleaned and sent back to their manufacturers to be refilled or their components remanufactured into new cartridges.
Materials recovered by Close the Loop are used in the following applications:
•Metals are removed and sent for smelting in Australia where they enter a secondary market.
•Ink is refined and used to make Pens, and artists’ ink through EnviroLiner and Lousy Ink.
•Some of the plastics are recovered and made into eWood products such as fencing, garden beds, outdoor furniture.
•Toner powder is combined with recycled plastics to create TonerPlas, an innovative product added to asphalt to improve the durability, performance, and sustainability of roads.
Why can't I recycle other brands of printer cartridges?
Cartridges for Planet Ark is free for users as the costs for recycling and collection are covered by our participating manufacturers at Brother, Canon, Cartridge World, Epson, HP, and Kyocera. If you put a cartridge from a brand that is not aligned with the program, the cost is borne by Close The Loop, and the program, making it harder for the scheme to operate.
For Cartridges from brands such as Toshiba, Fuji Xerox Australia, Samsung, Sharp, Dell, Konica Minolta or Lexmark, contact Close the Loop for additional options.
If your workplace uses lots of these cartridges, you could:
•Contact the manufacturer to see if they run their own collection program; or
•Switch machines to one of the manufacturers who are taking responsibility for their cartridges.
This program has been established to collect and recycle cartridges from end users only. We cannot accept printer cartridge waste from commercial recyclers or brokers.
What printer cartridges can I recycle?
The following items from our participating manufacturers can be placed in the Cartridges 4 Planet Ark box:
•Toner cartridges
•Inkjet cartridges
•Laser cartridges
•Unused cartridges*
•Toner bottles
•Fuser and drum units
•Print heads
•Containers, collectors, and kits
•Environmental ™ pens
*Please remove all outer packaging prior to recycling.
Where can I recycle my printer cartridges?
Cartridges 4 Planet Ark has over 3,500 public drop-off locations around Australia, thanks to the support of participating retailers.
How do I return my printer cartridges?
When your Cartridges 4 Planet Ark box is full, take out and tie off your bag to return your cartridges. Then, you can either:
•Book a collection online through Close the Loop's website or by calling 1800 24 24 73 to arrange a courier pick-up within five days. (Only available for metropolitan users.)
•Take the bag to your local Australia Post and it will be returned via the attached Reply-Paid sticker. The Reply-Paid sticker means you do not need to pay for any postage.
If you are not an organisation with a collection box of your own, you can visit over 3,500 public drop-off locations anywhere around Australia. Cartridges 4 Planet Ark is available in all Australian states and territories.
How much does it cost to get a Cartridges 4 Planet Ark box?
Cartridges 4 Planet Ark is completely free. The cost of registration, collection, and delivery of materials are all covered by the participating manufacturers. including Brother, Canon, Cartridge World, Epson, HP, and Kyocera, that help fund our program.
If you return your bag of cartridges to Australia Post, each bag provided by Close the Loop has a Reply-Paid sticker on it which means postage is covered, at no cost to you.
I can’t remember my Close the Loop account details
If you are unsure of your login details, you can select the ‘lost password’ option or the ‘search contacts’ function, using your Contact ID which is written on the sticker on the side of your bags.
If you are still having trouble logging in or have other membership enquiries, please contact our program partner Close the Loop as they manage the membership database.
Contact Close the Loop:
1800 24 24 73
info@closetheloop.com.au
What do I do with my compatible cartridges?
Only Cartridge World compatible cartridges are accepted as part of the Cartridges 4 Planet Ark program.
All other non-genuine cartridges can be recycled through Close the Loop, however, the costs per cartridge must be covered by your organisation. Please call Close the Loop directly on 1800 24 24 73 to discuss this option.
We strongly encourage consumers to purchase genuine-branded cartridges or Cartridge World compatible products. Doing so ensures your cartridges can be recycled and supports manufacturers who are committed to taking responsibility for the environmental impact of their products.
When is my bag suitable for collection?
Bags should weigh a minimum of 8kg and have at least 17 items to be eligible for collection.
Bags must not exceed 16kg and should have enough bag length left at the top to safely tie off with the supplied cable ties.
Please note:
We would like to encourage you to book your collections when you have two or more full bags ready to go. This ensures the process is economically more efficient and better for the environment through the reduction in carbon emissions from transport.
