Industry fact sheet
A citable collection of current and clearly dated figures on office imaging energy use, toner-cartridge recovery, and the wider e-waste picture.
Last updated November 3, 2026. Each figure links to its original source.
What this covers
Printer cartridges are part of a larger supply-and-equipment cycle. Reliable public data does not always isolate toner cartridges from every other office-imaging product, so this page labels the scope of every figure instead of pretending a broader statistic applies to one cartridge.
Use these figures when you need a sourced starting point for a story, report, product comparison, sustainability brief, or purchasing conversation.
62 million tonnes
That figure covers all electrical and electronic equipment. It is useful context for printer owners deciding whether equipment and supplies have a responsible end-of-life path.
International Telecommunication Union, Global E-waste Monitor 2024 ↗2022 data, published 202422.3%
The rate is for e-waste as a whole, not toner cartridges alone. It shows why verified collection and recovery programs matter.
International Telecommunication Union, Global E-waste Monitor 2024 ↗2022 data, published 202434%
The UN report includes large printers and photocopiers in this category. It is a category-level figure, not a cartridge-recycling rate.
International Telecommunication Union, Global E-waste Monitor 2024 ↗2022 data, published 202482 million tonnes
This projection comes from the Global E-waste Monitor’s business-as-usual outlook, rather than a printer-specific forecast.
International Telecommunication Union, Global E-waste Monitor 2024 ↗Projection published 202418 kWh/year
The benchmark is a 25-images-per-minute electro-photographic colour multifunction device. The less-efficient comparison model used 109 kWh/year.
U.S. Department of Energy, Purchasing Energy-Efficient Imaging Equipment ↗Market data as of December 2024$34
The Department of Energy compares an ENERGY STAR-level model with a less-efficient example, using a four-year product life and federal electricity assumptions.
U.S. Department of Energy, Purchasing Energy-Efficient Imaging Equipment ↗2024 assumptions454,000 tonnes
Canon reported this cumulative total across 24 countries and regions, collected through the end of 2022 for recycling at four sites.
Canon Sustainability Report 2023 ↗Reported through the end of 202285%
HP says those recovered materials were used in other products and that none went to landfill. This is HP program data, not an industry-wide rate.
HP Sustainability Help Desk ↗2025Method and sources
We selected primary or first-party sources that name the reporting period and describe what each number measures. Government and UN figures provide the wider equipment context. Manufacturer figures are presented as program-specific results, never as an industry average.
Cite this page: Laser Discount Toner, “Toner Cartridge and Printer Recycling Statistics,” updated November 3, 2026, https://laserdiscounttoner.com/toner-and-printer-recycling-statistics.
For a claim about a particular manufacturer or program, cite the original source linked with that statistic as well.
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