Printer, Ink Cartridge Manufacturers Ordered to Show Costs

According to NJ.com, the state Senate passed the bill (A1230) 33-6 which would require manufacturers of printers and cartridges to mark their products with an estimate of the average cost to print 1,000 pages.

Printer and ink manufacturers would have to show printer’s yield on its packaging. Companies disregarding the law would be imposed on a $10,000 fine for the first offense and $20,000 fine for the second offense.

Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-Gloucester), the bill’s sponsor, said, “The amount of ink in these cartridges is so miniscule that it appears ink is worth more than champagne. For an ounce of ink – or less than an ounce of ink – you’re paying in some cases $50.” “This is a small industry that has found a way to sell something for a high price without people understanding anything about what it will do,” he added.

The bill passed the Assembly in February 2012 by a vote of 56-17 with 1 abstention. But then it was suspended until the state Senate pick it up now without a committee hearing.