City Councilman John Lee Tuesday proposed a ban on counterfeit printer cartridges in Los Angeles, citing environmental challenges posed by the plastic waste.
Lee introduced a motion at Tuesday's council meeting that would prohibit the distribution and sale of aftermarket single-use clone compatible printer cartridges, or "knockoffs" that are primarily manufactured overseas.
An estimated 70% of printer cartridges end up in landfills and the knockoffs make up the majority of them, according to the councilman. Cartridges can take between 450 to 1,000 years to decompose, contain hazardous chemicals, and negatively impacts the industry that recycles original equipment for reuse.
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"It is incumbent upon the city of Los Angeles to continue paving the way forward on environmental issues," Lee said in a statement. "As the representative of the community in which the Sunshine Canyon Landfill is located, I fully recognize the importance of minimizing the impact of waste on our neighborhoods. Banning aftermarket clone cartridges is a simple way to keep building on our environmental achievements and bring attention to an issue that has gone unaddressed for too long."
The motion will next be heard by the council's Energy and Environment Committee.
Sean Levi, founder and CEO of Planet Green, a Chatsworth-based ink cartridge remanufacturing company, supports the potential ban.
"Chatsworth was once the center of the printer cartridge remanufacturing industry, providing jobs for thousands of Angelenos," Levi said in a statement. "Now, compatible printer cartridges have decimated this once-thriving circular economy and are contributing to the global plastic waste crisis."
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