10 May Chips, Cartridges and Recycling
Even with the knock on effects of the global pandemic and worldwide shortages there are still opportunities to reduce waste, air and water pollution associated with land filling.
The 2020–present global chip shortage is an ongoing global crisis in which the demand for integrated circuits (usually known as semiconductor chips) exceeds the supply, affecting a large number and variety of industries. The crisis has led to major price hikes, shortages queues, and scalping among consumers for vehicles, graphics cards, video game consoles, computers, and other products that require semiconductors. Commonly cited causes for the shortage include the COVID-19 pandemic, the China–United States trade war, and various severe weather incidents.*
As a result of the Covid 19 Pandemic, an increase in remote work and remote learning caused a surge in demand for computers, laptops, printers, network peripherals, and other consumer electronics with chips. Due to lockdowns, chip production facilities were closed down, leading to the reduction of stocks. In the fourth quarter of 2020, traditional computer sales had seen an increase of over 26% growth over the previous year.
Reducing Waste and Conserving Natural Resources
Many organisations are now striving to reduce their impact on the environment and promote sustainability. Each year, millions of pounds of materials are responsibly reused and recycled, and it starts with you. Did you know that your simple printer cartridge has a chip housed within the casing? By just throwing them in the bin, that valuable technology is most likely ending up in landfill.
Our printer manufacturers run recycling programs where our customers can return their cartridges free of charge. In turn, the chips themselves can be harvested and reused and the rest of the cartridge is able to be recycled into another product (such as car interiors). You can do your part, please follow this link to the Lexmark cartridge collection programme to get started…
*source: Wikipedia
