** INK and TONER BIN COLLECTION SCHEME CLOSURE, Jan 2026 **
Sadly, we have had to bring our printer cartridge recycling activities to a close.
Due to current market values and the cartridge recycling industry in general we are no longer able to collect and pay for cartridges through our bin collection scheme.
Our toner bin collecting ended in November 2025 and our ink bin collecting ended in January 2026
All the team at EP would like to express a very heart felt ‘Thank You’ to all our recyclers for using our services over the years. It has been fantastic fundraising with you all! We have kept millions of printer cartridges out of landfill and raised over £300,000 for your good causes! We will miss working with you all very much.
YOUR RECYCLING DOESN’T HAVE TO END HERE!
Here are some alternative schemes to help you get your cartridges recycled going forward –
https://www.therecyclingfactory.com/
https://www.recycle4charity.co.uk/inkjetcartridges/
To recycle ‘Branded’ cartridges direct with the manufacturer –
https://www.brother.co.uk/recycling
https://www.canon.co.uk/about-us/recycling/
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/lp/recovery-recycling-consumer-solutions
https://epson-recycling.cycleon.eu/en/home
https://inktoner-recycle.ext.hp.com/ui/index.html?languageCode=en&countryCode=GB#/recycle
https://www.konicaminolta.co.uk/en-gb/about-konica-minolta/customer-support/recycle-toner-cartridges
https://www.oki.com/uk/printing/support/consumables-recycling/index.html
https://www.sharp.co.uk/sustainability/toner-recycling-scheme
https://www.toshibatec.co.uk/sustainability/recycling
https://www.xerox.co.uk/en-gb/about/recycling
To recycle ‘Non branded / cheaper alternative’ cartridges contact your supplier and ask about WEEE recycling
To date our account recyclers have raised ‘£310,603.50’ for good causes!
Our admin office opening times for 2026 –
We are open Tuesday to Friday 9.15am – 2.45pm, closed on a Monday and Bank Holidays. Our staff are ‘WFH’ and our phone isn’t always manned, please leave a voicemail or email your queries and questions to – info@emptiesplease.com
🚂 Our ‘Day Trip for 2 on The Northern Belle’ competition has now ended 🚂
🎉 Congratulations to our February 2025 and final draw winner ‘TONY SWARBRICK’ enjoy your trip! 🎉
Would you like to recycle with Empties Please? There are ‘2’ ways you can help to keep cartridges out of landfill – See details for both our schemes below and pick which one is best for you …
1 – Our printer cartridge ‘RECYCLE BIN’ collection scheme for INK cartridges
- Complete the relevant application form on our website, by clicking either the schools, business or charity pages above
- We’ll send you a welcome pack by email with posters to display, letters to print and everything else you need to know about our scheme
- We’ll send you a set of recycle bins and our special recycle bags if you are a school
- You promote your Empties Please recycling scheme via social media, newsletters, email and your website
- Collect INK cartridges in your recycle bin
- When your bin is full, contact us to arrange a free return
- We process your cartridges in our warehouse
- We pay a school, charity or good cause for the ink cartridges we can recycle!
Our scheme is so simple and completely free to run. We supply everything you’ll need to make it a great success! All you need to do is promote it through the channels advised and you’ll be raising money in no time!
For more information on the correct scheme for you, click either the schools, businesses, charities or Roy Castle tab at the top of our homepage.
2 – Our ‘FREEPOST ENVELOPE’ ink cartridge returns service
If you do not use enough ink cartridges to warrant having one of our recycle bins but would still like to recycle the cartridges you use, we can send you some of our FREEPOST recycle bags.
Check we can recycle your cartridges by post here – INK CARTRIDGES we can accept via freepost bag returns and then complete this form – Freepost bags for ‘INK CARTRIDGES’ to order 6 of our freepost bags.
Our postal recycle bags are designed for ‘INK’ cartridges only and you can fit quite a few in them!
** Unfortunately we are unable to make payments to charity for cartridges returned by post **
What we CAN and CAN’T recycle via our ‘RECYCLE BIN RETURN’ scheme
We are unable to pay for any damaged INK cartridges!
PLEASE NOTE! Unfortunately we are UNABLE to recycle –
- Ink tanks from Canon, Brother, Epson (individual colour cartridges)
- TONER / PHOTOCOPIER / WASTE TONER CONTAINERS cartridges
- Drums and imaging units
- Any damaged ink cartridges, this includes cartridges with the chips removed
(Payments for returned recycle bins will be made for values of £5 and over. Any bins returned with a value of less than £5 will have the amount added to their account and paid once the balance has exceeded £5)
WEEE Recycling / WEEE Directive 2016
If your cartridge is not on our price list, unfortunately we are unable to accept them but you will be able to recycle them direct with the manufacturer or with your supplier
If your cartridges are ‘CHEAPER ALTERNATIVES TO BRANDED ORIGINALS’ contact your supplier and ask about their WEEE recycling facilities
If your cartridges are ‘BRANDED MANUFACTURERS ORIGINALS’ use the helpful links below –
https://www.brother.co.uk/recycling
https://www.canon.co.uk/about-us/recycling/
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/lp/recovery-recycling-consumer-solutions
https://epson-recycling.cycleon.eu/en/home
https://inktoner-recycle.ext.hp.com/ui/index.html?languageCode=en&countryCode=GB#/recycle
https://www.konicaminolta.co.uk/en-gb/about-konica-minolta/customer-support/recycle-toner-cartridges
https://www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.co.uk/en/support/return-your-toners/toner-take-back-service.html
https://www.lexmark.com/en_gb/supplies-and-parts/reuse-and-recycling-program/cartridge-collection-program.html
https://www.oki.com/uk/printing/support/consumables-recycling/index.html
https://www.ricoh-return.com/
https://www.sharp.co.uk/sustainability/toner-recycling-scheme
https://www.toshibatec.co.uk/sustainability/recycling
https://www.xerox.co.uk/en-gb/about/recycling
If you are a school, business, charity or printer cartridge retailer, click the relevant link below for more information about our recycling schemes …
Empties Please can be ran as your ‘WASTE’ project with Eco-Schools!
You can now run your Empties Please recycling scheme as your ‘Waste’ project with Eco-schools!
For more information on Eco-schools, their award scheme and the 10 topics you can choose from click this link – http://eco-schools.org.uk/
To sign up for our school scheme click on the ‘Schools’ tab at the top of our Homepage
