Proper way to dispose ink?

[PenguinLust]

I have a septic tank, btw. I've already put quite a bit of the residue from each refill into it.
If I don't have to worry about the environment or the health of my septic system, I'd just pour the lot down the drain, rinse the bottles in the dishwasher and chuck 'em in the recycling.

 

[turbguy]

I live with a septic system, too. I avoid high ink loads down the drain. I pour any wastes into a dedicated drying pan (disposable aluminum cook pans) lined with paper. Then toss the pan when it gets disgusting.

 

[martin0reg]

Does anybody know how poisonous or harmful inkjet ink really is?
Other sorts of paint may have certain warnings or "red flags" on the label.
Normal water based ink don't have this - because it's harmless..??

 

[The Hat]

It’s not harmless but compared to what comes out of a washing machine or dish washer then it’s relatively mild..

 

[stratman]

It’s not harmless but compared to what comes out of a washing machine or dish washer then it’s relatively mild..

Or what goes into the septic tank.

 

[websnail]

Not that I'm an expert on septic tank systems but if you have one of those bio-digester types with "friendly" bacteria that breaks everything down then you won't want to be chucking ink down the pipes.

As a rule we've been told that bottling the waste up and throwing it out with general waste is preferable to dumping it down the sink or drains due to the way that waste water is processed or rather isn't. It's probably a minor issue given that it's desktop inks but still...

 

[nrdlnd]

I'm taking all things like this to the waste depot as there may be chemicals in the ink that's harmful for the environment. I don't think you should pour things like this in the drains as they may harm the biological cleaning in the communes purifier (I don't know if this is the correct name in English but I hope you understand what I mean). We also separate food waste, paper, plastic, metal etc. for recycling. I guess most of you do the same!
Per

 

[The Hat]

@nrdlnd, believes you should only leave a footprint after you’ve gone..
And rightly so..

 

[nrdlnd]

@nrdlnd, believes you should only leave a footprint after you’ve gone..
And rightly so..

Sure but I will take a photo of it and print it on canvas with the correct profile.

 

[Inkboy]

Most water based inks are non toxic, non flammable, and non hazardous but the last place you want to dump them is down the drain... it's best you turn all waste ink into a solid if possible. One way you can due this is with potato starch... Example: the old Iris Plotters contained a plastic bottle/waste bin for the negative discharged ink. These bottles contained pouches of potato starch which could be disposed as a solid directly into the trash...