If you've recently upgraded your printer, you may be wondering what to do with your old machine. Here, we cover four of our favorite ways to properly recycle your printer so you can prevent one less printer from ending up in the landfill.
Find a local recycling facility
Recycling locally is convenient and better for the environment. Instead of boxing up your printer and shipping it to a recycling facility across the country, the benefits of those recycled materials stay in your community and lower your carbon footprint too! Visit Earth911.com to locate the nearest recycling facility. Their recycling locator makes it easy to track down all of the closest recycling facilities, all you need to provide is your zip code!
Recycle at an office supply store
Local office supply or big box stores are a solid choice. Most will accept recycled electronics onsite free of charge – or if they don’t- will be able to point you in the right direction. Some may even offer incentives or discounts just for recycling with them.
Sell your printer
If your printer still has some life in it, you may want to consider selling it. There are tons of great online marketplaces that can help you make the sale, including sites like ebay, Craigslist, Facebook marketplace or NextDoor classifieds. If online sales aren’t your thing, you could also try selling it at your next garage sale.
Donate your printer
Donating your printer to a classroom, community center or senior center are just a few ways you can responsibly part ways with your old printer. Ebay for Charity is another option. Used by over 4 million people, you can donate the proceeds of your sale to a favorite cause like the Humane Society or United Way. Ebay supports over 25,000 charities!
One last reminder! Don't forget to prep your printer before recycling. Make sure to take out the printer cartridges from the machine and recycle those too. Include the power cord, USB cable and the user guide along with the printer if you are planning to donate or sell the machine and if your user guide has gone missing, you can always find a PDF version of user guide on the printer manufacturer's website. Check out our cartridge recycling guide for more recycling tips.
