Toner goes green

Next time you sit in one of Sydney’s parks, you could be parking on an old bank toner cartridge.

More than 21,000 old plastic toner cartridges will be turned into park benches, under a recycling initiative undertaken by Ricoh.

The plastic recycling programme, made possible through a partnership agreement between Ricoh Australia and the Commonwealth Bank, aims to recycle cartridges, reclaiming the plastic to make durable objects such as park benches.

Close to 1,000 Commonwealth Bank branches and departments participated in a trial, providing 1,000 kilograms of fax toner cartridges and photocopier toner bottles to be recycled. In the six month trial period Ricoh recycled more than 3,200 toner cartridges and bottles which is equivalent to 2,500 kilograms of plastic. Three park benches were donated to educational institutions.

Nigel Shepherd, managing director, Ricoh Australia comments: ‘We hope that the success of this Ricoh initiative will alert other manufacturers and users of toner cartridges to the benefits of recycling. A wider commitment to recycling will not only reduce landfill but also reduce the dependence on virgin plastic resins that are produced from valuable hydrocarbon resources.”