Refill and recycling of waste toner cartridges

Otpadni toneri svrstavaju se u opasni otpad jer sadrže metale, polimerne materijale i toksični prah. Kako se tonerski prah uglavnom sastoji od čestica ugljika, u doticaju sa zrakom postaje eksplozivan. Gospodarenje otpadnim tonerima promatra se kroz djelatnost obnove tonera (eng. Refill) i njihove ponovne upotrebe (eng. Reuse) i recikliranja tonera (eng. Recycle) kojim se dobivaju vrijedne sekundarne sirovine. Tonerski prah kao sekundarna sirovina može se iskoristiti kao vrijedna sirovina u građevinskoj industriji u proizvodnji bitumena i asfaltnih smjesa. Ostale dobivene frakcije polimernih materijala, aluminija i čelika vraćaju se kao sekundarne sirovine u ponovnu proizvodnju. Svrha ovog rada bila je prikazati mogućnosti, uvjete i troškove u procesu obnove dotrajalih tonera kao i sustav za zbrinjavanje i recikliranje otpadnih tonera.Waste toner cartridges are classified as hazardous waste because they contain metals, polymer materials and toxic dust which is mainly composed of carbon particles and becomes explosive in contact with air. We observe waste toner management through toner refilling, reusing and recycling that provides valuable secondary raw materials. Toner dust, as a secondary raw material, can be used as a valuable raw material in construction industry for bitumen and asphalt mixtures production. Other fractions of polymer materials, aluminium and steel we get from the recycling process are being reused as secondary raw materials in toner production. The purpose of this paper is to present the possibilities, conditions and costs in the process of refilling the toner cartridges as well as the waste toner disposal and recycling system