Refillable Inkjet Cartridges

Refillable inkjet cartridges are cheap inkjet cartridges that can be refilled with replacement ink this keeps the cartridges out of the landfills and keeps costs down.

Before manufacturers started making refillable inkjet cartridges there were kits that you could buy that would force a disposable cartridge to accept new ink. This can get messy and not all cartridges no matter what type of kit was used were able to be refilled.

With the new refillable inkjet cartridges refilling them is a breeze and does not require much effort at all.

Ink cartridges are the expendable part of printers, they are more times than not disposable and get thrown out when they are empty. This of course raises a few concerns. The money that is spent just to be thrown out and of course environmental impact is always a concern.

Controversies

There has been a great deal of controversy over printer manufacturers and remanufactured ink cartridges. The printer manufacturer will sell a printer at just about cost not realizing much of a profit but that more than makes up for the lost profit on the printer with the ink cartridges.

The inkjet ink cartridges can cost up to one half the cost of the printer. So with three replacement cartridges the printer manufacturer has more than realized the profit on the printer over two years time the printer manufacturer has more than tripled the cost of the printer with the replacement ink cartridges.

Printer manufacturers have ignored complaints of consumers regarding this practice and have largely ignored the cries of foul from environmental groups. As a matter of fact they have taken steps to make it even harder to replace inkjet cartridges with anything other than manufacturer replacement parts by including smart chips in the cartridges. Some manufacturers have responded and have started including refillable inkjet cartridges with their printers. Toner ink cartridges are refillable also.

Benefits

The obvious benefit is the money that is saved by refilling an inkjet cartridge, but it goes beyond the cash savings. Keeping these cartridges out of the landfill goes beyond reducing bulk in the landfill. Inkjet cartridges are not completely empty when they need to be replaced there usually is still some ink left in the cartridge that can potentially leak over time and cause major problems with the ground water.

Drawbacks

There are a couple of drawbacks to refillable inkjet cartridges. Printers that are manufactured to use refillable inkjet cartridges are more expensive than conventional printers, of course the additional cost is recouped overtime in the savings of being able to refill the inkjet cartridges as opposed to disposing of them and buying new ones. Typically purchasing the initial refillable inkjet cartridges is also higher in cost, and if the refillable inkjet cartridges become defective over time it is more expensive to replace the refillable inkjet cartridges.

Overall refillable inkjet cartridges are the best choice, and spending the additional money initially is well worth the cost and will result in a much larger overall savings.