STUDIES ON RECYCLING AND TREATMENT STATUS OF WASTE TONER AND INK CARTRIDGES IN CHINA

With the wide use of printers and other office equipments，the generation of waste toner and ink cartridges is increasing，and how to deal with them effectively has become the key point to recycle the waste printers． In this study，the collection and treatment status，the recycling technologies，and the extented producer responsibility ( EPR) system were presented． The results showed that the management of waste toner and ink cartridges was chaotic，and most waste toner and ink cartridges flowed into the informal recycling channels． In China，some enterprises and research institutes has developed effective recycling technologies for waste toner and ink cartridges． In addition，some companies has done some efforts to recycle the waste toner and ink cartridges，but there was no obvious effect． The EPR system is the deemed way for waste toner and ink cartridge management． In future，China will still face with the great challenge for recycling waste toner and ink cartridges．