False-printer and ink companies want consumers to pay for new oem ink cartridges, and so they may offer a slight discount for sending them used cartridges to recycle, but there is little or no energy savings. refilling with ink is very inexpensive and a much more efficient use of cartridges. printer companies actively attempt to keep consumers from refilling and reusing ink cartridges, as ink cartridges are a high profit item for printer companies. new printers are often equipped with chip sensors to check whether a cartridge is oem, and the chips in cartridges record when a cartridge is empty, and will not let a refilled cartridge print.