Los Angeles aims to ban single-use printer cartridges — new ordinance will target ink and toner that can't be properly recycled

Most printers, laser or inkjet, are powered by cartridges that are single-use by design; you have to buy a new one when the old one runs out. This is exacerbated by the DRM-infested curfews manufacturers often put on these things, so you usually can't just refill them yourself. Thankfully, the city of Los Angeles is looking to put an end to the reign of archaic printing norms.

The City Council has voted to create an ordinance that will ban single-use printer cartridges that can't be refilled or that don't have a take-back program offered by the vendor. This includes basically any ink or toner module that's bound to end up in landfill — unable to be properly recycled and therefore in the way of Los Angeles' zero-waste ambitions.

Printer cartridges are usually built with a combination of plastic, metal, and chemicals that makes them hard to easily dispose. They can be treated as hazardous waste by the city, but even then it would take them hundreds of years to actually disintegrate at a waste site. Since they're designed to be thrown away in the first place, the real solution is to target the root of the issue — hence the ban.

To be clear, the LA City Council isn't trying to solve the printer ink crisis or even address affordability — most people only take into account the upfront shelf cost of a printer. The angle is environmental, tied closely to reducing unnecessary loops in the distribution pipeline. Even if the vendor is supposed to collect the empty cartridge from you, there's no point if it's being discarded on your behalf.

Another aspect is the sheer number of options available, as one can find duplicate or counterfeit cartridges in the market that hurt production. These dupes aren't designed to be refilled either: They're just cheaper, so their existence hurts manufacturing, which the government doesn't like very much. The new law, therefore, targets single-use cartridges that violate copyright laws or infringe on IP as well.

All those stories you've heard about companies blocking third-party ink or toner through firmware... those likely aren't going away. This ordinance is solely about controlling unnecessary waste caused by printer cartridges that you're forced to throw away with no recycling or remanufacturing programs in place. It still needs to be fully approved before it becomes a law and goes into effect, however.