Recycling of toner cartridges
Toner cartridges before treatment
According to the EU Directive 2002/96 / EC, toner cartridges are to be taken out of the printers and copying machines before recycling, since the toner dust contained is harmful to health. Above all, however, when cartridges are used commercially, a considerable quantity of cartridges are produced which cannot be refilled due to their design or damage. Toner cartridges are normally destroyed in waste incineration plants. However, they are often used in treatment plants with insufficient explosion protection. For this reason, URT Umwelt- und Recyclingtechnik GmbH Karlstadt decided to develop plant concepts for recycling toner cartridges.
The plant concept described is enabling an automatic removal of the toner powder from the toner cartridge. Every single toner cartridge is put into a feeding device by a co-worker. These cartridges are then fed into a lock system. Thereafter, the cartridges are cracked by a shredding unit, whereupon a sieving machine separates the toner powder from the cartridge components.