Recycling old ink cartridges

Are the cartridges really returned to the manufacturer or simply melted down and sold for remoulding as other products?

I dont think ink cartridges are that expensive to make. The reason ink cartrages are so expensive is to make up for the cheap cost of printers.

You can pick up a printer these days for around £50. This is obviously sold at a loss. Once you have a Epson printer, you need to buy Epson ink cartrages, so the manufacturers have you in their grips, and milk you for every penny your worth through expensive ink cartrages.

There is some minor benefit to the environment in recycling them (no plastic or ink dumped into the local landfill). If you aren't going to refill the cartiridges and resue them yourself and the company is providing a pre-paid mailer then why not send them in strictly based on the environmental factors?

I refill mine myself a few times before I actually replace them and then send them back in. *shrugs*

I would like to refill my own cartridges but I'm afraid that I would wind up with a mess.

I certainly wouldnt recommend it. My father done it once, and the ink leaked out inside the printer, causing a hell of a mess. It was some job trying to clean it up. Only ever done it once, and never again!