How to recycle printers and printer cartridges

You can recycle printers just as easily as printer cartridges. Here’s how.

close up on a pile of multicoloured printer cartridges

Printer recycling near me

How to recycle your old printer

Inkjets, laserjets and all-in-one printer-scanner-copiers of all brands and sizes can be recycled.

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ASK

Is your printer beyond use? Or could you repair, or donate it? If it has to go, remove ink cartridges and memory cards. Restore the printer to its factory settings to wipe data (see below).

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BAG IT

Bag up your old printer and cables until you’re ready to recycle it – or until collection day, if you have one.

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CHECK

Enter your postcode in our electrical recycling locator to find your nearest donation or recycling point. You’re all queued up to recycle your old printer.

Recycling locator

What to do with old printers: other ways to recycle

Pause – before recycling your old printer, here’s what else you could do with it.

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Repair

If your printer has developed a fault that basic troubleshooting doesn’t fix, check our guide to repairing electricals.

Repair electronics
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Donate

If your unwanted printer is in working order, someone else might be able to use it. Read our page on how you could donate your printer to charity.

Donate electricals
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Sell

It’s never been easier to sell second-hand electronics – whether a laptop, your old headphones, hair dryer or kitchen appliances. Time to turn all that electrical clutter into hard cash.

Sell electronics
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How to recycle a printer but keep your data safe

Some printers store data after being switched off or disconnected from a computer. WiFi- or Bluetooth-enabled printers, for example, might keep your network’s connection details. To be safe, factory reset your printer – check the maker’s documentation on how to do this.

For more on securing your data, see our guide:

How do I delete my data?

Where to recycle printers you’re replacing

Use our recycling locator to find your nearest reuse and recycling point.

Or, if you’re going shopping, bear in mind that retailers now take back old electricals when you’re buying new. And some larger stores will recycle your old tech even if you’re not buying.

In other words, it’s getting easier all the time to recycle printers and other electricals.

More on appliance recycling at retailers
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‘HypnoCat’s head (a magenta-coloured Persian cat with blue spiral eyes) in front of a blue spiral background. Text: HUMANS bag up your electricals for recycling ink cartridges and printers stacked on a bright blue table top ready for recycling

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