In an industry first, HP today announced it has developed an recycling program that enables the use of post-consumer recycled plastics in the production of new Original HP inkjet print cartridges.

More than 200 million cartridges have been manufactured using the process thus far. HP used more than 5 million pounds of recycled plastic in its inkjet cartridges last year, and the company is committed to using twice as much in 2008.

The company’s recycling process facilitates the combination of multiple sources and grades of recycled plastics – from everyday water bottles to highly technical HP inkjet cartridges.

“By developing the technology to use recycled plastics in Original HP inkjet print cartridges, we have the opportunity to reduce the environmental impact HP products have on the planet,” said Michael Hoffmann, senior vice president, Supplies, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. “HP’s considerable investments in building a recycling infrastructure made this achievement possible, and this is just the beginning of what we hope to accomplish.”

HP inkjet cartridges returned through HP’s Planet Partners program undergo a multi-phase recycling process that reduces them to raw materials such as plastics and metals. HP combines plastic from the inkjet cartridges with recycled bottle resin and a suite of compounding additives.

The amount of recycled content in these HP inkjet cartridges may vary between 70 to 100 percent of the total plastic used, but the reliability results for each product are stringently tested and consistent across the lineup.