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Unfortunately, I know of no water filter cartridges that can be recycled in North America. At this point, they all go in the garbage.

There are a few of us planning a campaign to ask Brita to create a filter take-back and recycle program. Why Brita and not Pur? Because Brita already has a recycling program going in Europe. They collect all the used filters, return them their plant in Germany, take them apart and recycle the materials. In the U.S. however, Brita is owned by Clorox Corporation and they do not have such a program.

For more info, please visit my blog:

http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2008/01/take-back-brita-filter-campaign.html

Perhaps if we can get Brita onboard with recycling, we could move on to Pur and the other water filter companies.

I'm so glad this post is up! I propose campaigning for recycling from both companies simultaneously. I can't imagine that Pur would want to see Brita pull ahead because they lack the advantage of being environmentally responsible with the materials that they sell. Keep up the good work!

After hanging on to it for weeks, I had to toss mine in the trash just yesterday and didn't feel good about it..

I don't see the need to recycle this cartridge. It has about the same amount of plastic as a bottle, and you only use one every two months.

The inside is just filled with activated carbon and sand type material. Cut one open and look.

What you say, xxrobot, is true. If I use 6 filters a year, and Pur sells to a million customers, then 6 million filters may not be as big a pile of plastic as we'd have if we were all drinking bottled water. Still, might be a pretty big pile. Too bad they can't make the exterior out of some compressed paper or something that would degrade over time.