DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

Following up on Office Depot’s semi-recent refusal to accept Epson brand inkjet cartridges for recycling, I contacted Epson directly.

Epson is not interested in the ecological impact of their products, apparently; they refuse to accept their own cartridges for re-use or recycling. Here is the official response:

Thank you for your interest in recycling used Epson inkjet cartridges. Due to the design of our inkjet cartridges, we do not refill or remanufacture them. Neither of these alternatives is cost effective. Nor do we have a program set up to receive them for recycling at this time. We are continuing to search for the most cost effective, consumer friendly and environmentally sound program available for disposal.

In the meantime, we recommend that you contact your local City Government and participate in their recycling and e-waste efforts whenever possible.

It’s disappointing and somewhat unbelievable that a company with Epson’s resources can simultaneously claim to be searching for a disposal program and fail to name a single such program.

Update 2007-02-15: Dave F. pointed me to CartridgeWorld, which accepts Epson inkjet cartridges for recycling. (Actually, they refill and sell the cartridges.) Thanks, Dave!