All persons, businesses and governments must strive to reduce the collective impact modern industrialized society is having on the global environment. In attacking environmental issues such as non- biodegradable refuse, toxic waste disposal, and raw materials depletion – recycling has come to the forefront as a viable means of reducing the pace of the debilitation of our worldwide ecosystem.

For over a decade ISI has been contributing to this effort by recycling and remanufacturing print cartridges for printers, fax machines, and copy machines.

Today, almost everyone has a computer at home with an inkjet or a laser printer. Many people also have home-office fax machines. There are very few businesses and organizations that don’t have printers and fax machines.

Industry statistics indicate that approximately 90% of all inkjet and laser printer cartridges used in the U.S. are thrown away in the common trash and end up in landfills. An estimated 400 million cartridges are tossed in the trash every year! Cartridge manufacturers, in the course of manufacturing new cartridges, burn the equivalent of three quarts of petroleum products to make just one new cartridge. Every empty ink cartridge is virtually non- biodegradable and contains at least some toxic residue.

Remanufactured cartridges are not only a better deal for consumers, they're also good for the environment. Remanufactures refill and refurbish depleted cartridges, thus keeping thousands of tons of industrial-grade plastic and metals from ending up in common waste dumps each year, according to the International Imaging Technology Council (IITC), an industry group formed to support the remanufactured-consumables industry.

Many countries have instituted environmental regulations specifically covering the disposal of laser and ink cartridges. In Japan for instance, the disposal of toner cartridges is government regulated, requiring specialized disposal procedures including incineration as well as land fill burial. Approximately 800,000 laser printers are sold in Japan every year. It is estimated that there are more than five million printers there producing approximately fifteen million used toner cartridges being burned or buried annually.

By recycling cartridges, not only can the full life cycle of the components be utilized, but when cartridge parts are deemed unfit to perform another cycle they can be broken down and separated into their basic material groups, such as ferrous metals, aluminum, and plastic which can then be recycled to provide raw material for the manufacture of other types of products. ISI uses the best production line equipment along with years of recycling/remanufacturing experience to provide a product that is not only environmentally friendly, but of the highest quality. In addition, high factory efficiency and low materials costs lead to bottom line savings for each ISI customer.