Products Designed for Disassembly

Toner cartridges are one of the few products that are widely reused on a massive scale. their complexity/cost make them an especially good fit for this use pattern. It’s fairly common in europe especially germany and some of the nordic nations that have particularly strict environmental regulations. most german auto makers have dramatically simplified the number of unique resins in their autos to make recycling at a large scale possible/cost effective.

other than a few specialized industries it is only done as a sort of green wash. like recycline tooth brushes that you can buy at trader joes. you can supposdly send the base of the brush back after youve used it and it will be recycled, but so few are sold and the external costs related to the collection and repurposing of the spent plastic makes it an economic and environmental non starter.