This achievement represents more than just a number, it reflects over 2 decades of simple, positive and practical environmental action, collaboration across industry, and the everyday choices of workplaces, schools, and communities that have chosen to recycle rather than send valuable materials to landfill.

Since 2003, Cartridges 4 Planet Ark has made it free and easy for Australians to recycle printer cartridges through public drop-off points and registered workplace collections. The program has become a trusted example of product stewardship in action, helping to ensure printer cartridges are recovered, recycled and transformed into useful new products, including road base through Close the Loop, and ink through Lousy Ink, instead of being wasted.

Printer cartridges are made from a complex mix of plastics, metals, inks and toners, which means they do not belong in kerbside recycling bins and should not be treated as ordinary waste. Through Cartridges 4 Planet Ark, these materials are collected through an environmentally accredited pathway and processed with a zero-waste-to-landfill commitment, supporting a more circular approach to resource use.

The 60 million milestone has been made possible by the combined efforts of Planet Ark, participating manufacturers, including Brother, Canon, Epson, and HP, retail collection locations, workplaces, schools, and councils, the programs recycling partner, Close the Loop, and accredited by Exis.

We would like to thank and celebrate all those who have contributed to the program and use this as a reminder that it is a reminder that environmental progress is strongest when it is collaborative, practical and easy to take part in. Every cartridge returned represents someone making a positive choice, and when those choices are repeated millions of times, they create real impact.

As Cartridges 4 Planet Ark looks ahead, the challenge is to keep building participation, improving return rates, and continuing to show how collaboration can help create a world without waste.