For decades, the ink cartridge has been one of the most familiar parts of owning a printer. You buy a printer, eventually the ink runs out, you replace the cartridges and carry on printing. It is a simple cycle that millions of households and businesses have followed for years.
But something has changed. Dean Michael, owner of www.inkhub.com.au has put together this in depth article discussing all of the pros and cons for both printer types.
Walk into a printer retailer today and you will increasingly see printers that don’t use traditional ink cartridges at all. Instead, they have large built-in ink tanks that are filled from bottles. Epson calls its system EcoTank, Canon has MegaTank, and Brother has developed its own range of refillable tank and high-capacity ink systems.
The appeal is obvious. Instead of buying a small cartridge containing a relatively modest amount of ink, consumers can buy a bottle of ink and refill a tank capable of holding enough ink to print thousands of pages.
The question, therefore, is becoming increasingly difficult for the traditional ink cartridge industry to ignore.
Will the ink cartridge eventually disappear?
The short answer is probably no.
But the longer answer is much more interesting.
The ink cartridge is almost certainly going to change, and its role in the printer market may become considerably smaller than it has been in the past. However, there are still many situations where cartridges make sense, and there are good reasons to believe that they will remain an important part of the printing industry for many years to come.
The rise of the refillable printer
The biggest challenge facing the traditional ink cartridge isn’t another type of cartridge. It is the fact that consumers are increasingly being offered a completely different way of buying ink.
Epson has been particularly aggressive in promoting this idea. Its EcoTank range is specifically designed around large refillable ink tanks rather than conventional cartridges, with the company promoting thousands of pages of printing from the supplied ink and low-cost bottle refills.
And this isn’t simply a niche product strategy anymore.
In Australia, Epson has continued expanding its EcoTank range during 2026, including new models aimed at households and small offices. Epson has explicitly positioned these printers as alternatives to traditional cartridge and laser printers.
Brother is also moving further into the tank market. Its current Australian tank printers offer high page yields and refillable bottles, while Brother continues to maintain its INKvestment range, which takes a slightly different approach by combining large-capacity cartridges with an internal ink storage system.
Canon has also developed its MegaTank range.
This tells us something important.
The refillable ink tank printer is no longer an experiment.
It has become a serious part of the printer market.
Why consumers are attracted to ink tanks
If you have ever bought a traditional inkjet printer and then discovered how much replacement cartridges cost, the attraction of a refillable printer is easy to understand.
The biggest advantage is running cost.
Traditional cartridges are relatively small. Once the ink inside them is consumed, the entire cartridge is normally replaced. Even high-yield cartridges eventually have to be discarded or recycled.
A tank printer works differently. The printer remains in place while the ink reservoir is refilled.
That fundamentally changes the economics of printing.
Instead of thinking about ink in terms of a cartridge costing a certain amount, the consumer begins thinking about ink as a consumable liquid that is purchased in a bottle.
This is a much more logical system when you look purely at the physical product.
A bottle can contain considerably more ink than a conventional cartridge while using relatively little packaging. Epson itself claims that its EcoTank system can reduce consumable material weight by up to 84% compared with certain cartridge-based models.
That is a powerful argument, particularly at a time when consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of waste.
There is also the convenience factor.
Imagine printing several thousand pages without having to replace a cartridge.
For someone running a home office, small business or busy household, that can be extremely attractive.
The psychology of the printer buyer is changing
Perhaps the most important development isn’t technological at all.
It is psychological.
For many years, consumers accepted the idea that a printer required cartridges. It was simply part of owning a printer.
Today, consumers are beginning to ask a different question.
“Why am I buying cartridges at all?”
That is a much more challenging question for the traditional cartridge industry.
People are becoming more aware of cost per page rather than simply the price of the printer itself. A printer that costs $100 but requires expensive cartridges can ultimately be more expensive than a printer costing $300 with inexpensive refill bottles.
This is one reason the traditional “cheap printer, expensive cartridges” model is facing increasing pressure.
Modern consumers are much more likely to research running costs before buying a printer.
They want to know how many pages they can print, how much replacement ink costs and how frequently they will have to refill the machine.
That represents a fundamental change in the way printers are being marketed.
The printer is no longer the entire product.
The ink supply system is becoming just as important.
The environmental argument
There is another reason refillable printers are gaining momentum: the environment.
It would be simplistic to suggest that every ink tank printer is automatically environmentally friendly. Manufacturing any electronic device requires materials, energy, transportation and resources.
Nevertheless, there is an obvious difference between replacing a small plastic cartridge every few hundred pages and refilling a permanent tank from a bottle.
Fewer consumable components need to be manufactured, packaged and transported.
Epson has made this a major part of its EcoTank message. The company says more than 90 million EcoTank printers had been sold globally between 2010 and 2023 and estimates that the system has avoided substantial emissions associated with consumables manufacturing.
Brother is also highlighting sustainability in its tank products, including reduced packaging materials and the use of EPS-free moulded pulp packaging on its Australian ink tank models.
Whether consumers are primarily motivated by environmental concerns or simply by saving money almost doesn’t matter.
Both motivations point in the same direction.
Use more ink.
Replace fewer consumables.
Reduce waste.
That is a difficult trend for traditional cartridges to fight.
But cartridges have some advantages that are often overlooked
It would be easy to look at the growth of EcoTank-style printers and conclude that traditional cartridges are doomed.
I don’t think that is realistic.
There are still many situations where cartridges are extremely convenient.
For occasional printers, for example, a traditional cartridge printer can be perfectly adequate.
Someone who prints 20 or 30 pages a month may not care about having thousands of pages of ink available. They may prefer a compact printer that is inexpensive to purchase and straightforward to replace when necessary.
There is also the issue of ink drying.
Inkjet printers are not particularly fond of sitting unused for long periods. Regardless of whether the printer uses cartridges or tanks, infrequent printing can create its own problems.
There are also consumers who simply don’t want to refill ink.
The word “refill” can still make some people nervous.
They imagine spills, stains, messy bottles and the possibility of putting the wrong colour into the wrong tank.
Modern tank systems have become much easier and cleaner to use, but the perception remains.
A cartridge, by comparison, is incredibly simple.
Open the package.
Remove the old cartridge.
Insert the new cartridge.
Close the printer.
For some people, that simplicity is worth paying for.
The cartridge isn’t necessarily dying. It is being forced to evolve.
The future may not be cartridges versus tanks
One of the most interesting things happening in the printer industry is that the boundaries between cartridges and tanks are becoming less obvious.
Brother’s INKvestment technology is a good example.
Rather than simply copying the EcoTank concept, Brother has developed systems where large-capacity cartridges feed an internal ink storage system. The company promotes these systems as offering high yields while retaining the familiarity of cartridge-based ink replacement.
This is important because it demonstrates that the future isn’t necessarily going to be one technology replacing another overnight.
Instead, printer manufacturers are experimenting with different ways of delivering more ink to the printhead while reducing the frequency and cost of replacement.
The traditional small cartridge may therefore become less common, while larger cartridges, sub-tanks, internal reservoirs and refillable tanks become increasingly common.
In other words, the future of the ink cartridge may actually be to become less like the cartridge we know today.
The rise of generic and compatible ink
There is another part of this story that deserves attention.
The growth of refillable printers does not necessarily mean the end of the aftermarket ink industry.
Quite the opposite.
It could simply change what the aftermarket sells.
For decades, compatible and generic ink cartridges have provided consumers with an alternative to expensive original cartridges.
If the market moves towards refillable tanks, the opportunity changes from selling a replacement cartridge to selling replacement ink bottles.
The fundamental consumer requirement remains exactly the same.
People want reliable ink at a reasonable price.
This means that companies selling compatible printer consumables can potentially adapt to the changing market rather than disappear with it.
Instead of producing a compatible cartridge containing ink, the industry can produce compatible bottles designed for specific tank printers.
In many respects, the concept is actually simpler.
There is no need to manufacture an entire cartridge housing, electronic chip and other components every time the customer needs more ink.
The product becomes closer to what it actually needs to be: ink.
This could create an interesting future where traditional cartridge suppliers gradually become suppliers of a much broader range of printer consumables.
The cartridge may simply become one product among many.
What happens to cartridge recycling?
One of the arguments traditionally made in favour of cartridges is that they can be recycled.
Many cartridge manufacturers and retailers have established recycling programs, and consumers have become accustomed to returning empty cartridges rather than simply throwing them into the rubbish.
But recycling is not the same as eliminating the waste in the first place.
A refillable tank system changes the equation because the main ink reservoir stays inside the printer.
Instead of throwing away the container holding the ink, the consumer replaces only the liquid.
This doesn’t mean there is no packaging waste. Ink bottles still need to be manufactured, transported and eventually disposed of or recycled.
But the volume and type of consumable material can be substantially different.
This is one reason the environmental argument for refillable systems is likely to become stronger over time.
The printer industry is moving towards a more circular way of thinking.
Rather than replacing a component every time the consumable runs out, manufacturers are increasingly looking at ways to keep more of the printer in use for longer.
And that could ultimately be more important than the debate over cartridges versus bottles.
Will cartridge printers eventually disappear?
I don’t believe they will disappear completely.
At least not in the foreseeable future.
Instead, I expect the market to divide into several distinct groups.
High-volume home users and small businesses are likely to increasingly favour refillable tank systems because the economics are compelling.
Consumers who print occasionally will continue buying conventional cartridge printers because of their low initial purchase price and simplicity.
Businesses with specialised printing requirements may continue using cartridge-based inkjets, high-capacity cartridge systems or laser printers depending on their workload.
Photo enthusiasts will also have different requirements. Some premium photo printers use multiple colours and specialised inks, and the economics and technology of those machines are different from a basic home printer.
There will also be printers where speed, durability, paper handling and workflow features are more important than the absolute cost of ink.
The market therefore isn’t going to move in one direction.
It is going to become more segmented.
And that is probably the healthiest outcome.
The death of the cheap printer may be more important than the death of the cartridge
One of the biggest changes we could see over the next decade isn’t necessarily the disappearance of cartridges.
It could be the disappearance of the ultra-cheap printer.
For years, printer manufacturers have competed heavily on the purchase price of the hardware.
A printer might be discounted heavily because the manufacturer knows that the customer will continue buying consumables for years.
The refillable tank model turns that relationship upside down.
The manufacturer has to sell a printer that makes sense over its entire lifetime rather than relying on frequent cartridge replacements.
That means consumers are increasingly encouraged to think about the total cost of ownership.
A $99 printer isn’t necessarily cheap if it costs hundreds of dollars a year to operate.
Likewise, a $300 or $400 printer isn’t necessarily expensive if it can print thousands of pages at a very low cost.
This shift could ultimately benefit consumers regardless of which technology they choose.
The future printer may look very different
If we look ten years into the future, I suspect the typical inkjet printer will look quite different from the machines many people bought ten or twenty years ago.
Large refillable tanks are likely to become increasingly normal.
High-capacity cartridge systems will continue to exist.
Ink bottles will become more common in retail stores.
Printers will become smarter about monitoring ink levels.
Manufacturers will continue developing longer-lasting printheads and more efficient ink delivery systems.
And consumers will increasingly compare printers based on total ownership costs rather than simply the price on the box.
We may also see more printers designed around modularity, where individual components can be replaced rather than forcing consumers to replace the entire machine.
That would be a particularly positive development.
The biggest opportunity for manufacturers may ultimately be to build printers that last longer.
If a printer lasts five, seven or even ten years and receives regular supplies of inexpensive ink, both the consumer and the environment potentially benefit.
The real threat isn’t the refillable tank
There is a temptation to view EcoTank-style printers as the enemy of the traditional ink cartridge.
I think that is the wrong way to look at it.
The real enemy of the entire printer industry is declining demand for physical printing.
People now have smartphones, tablets, laptops, cloud storage, digital signatures, electronic invoices, online banking and digital documents.
There are many things we used to print that we simply don’t print anymore.
That trend is far more significant than whether the ink arrives in a cartridge or a bottle.
The printer industry therefore has to make printing valuable enough that people continue to want to print.
For businesses, that is relatively easy. Documents, invoices, labels, forms, marketing materials and other physical records still have practical uses.
For households, however, printing needs to remain convenient, affordable and useful.
This is where lower-cost refillable systems could actually help the industry.
If printing becomes inexpensive enough, consumers may print more.
And that could be good news for manufacturers, retailers and ink suppliers alike.
So, what is the future of the ink cartridge?
The traditional ink cartridge is unlikely to disappear overnight.
It may not even disappear completely.
But the days when almost every inkjet printer depended on small disposable cartridges are probably behind us.
The industry is moving towards larger capacities, refillable tanks, bottles and more efficient ink delivery systems.
Epson’s continued expansion of EcoTank, Brother’s development of refillable tank and INKvestment systems, and Canon’s MegaTank strategy all point towards the same broader trend: consumers are increasingly being offered ways to buy more ink while replacing fewer consumable components.
From a consumer’s perspective, that is probably a good thing.
Competition between cartridges, tanks and hybrid systems should encourage manufacturers to make printing cheaper and more convenient.
For the aftermarket industry, it represents a challenge, but also an opportunity.
The companies that adapt will continue selling ink.
They may simply sell it in a different form.
And perhaps that is the most realistic way to think about the future.
The ink cartridge isn’t necessarily going to die.
It is going to evolve.
There will probably always be people who prefer the convenience of inserting a cartridge, just as there will be people who prefer the economics of pouring ink from a bottle into a tank.
Neither system is perfect.
Neither system is likely to completely replace the other.
What is changing is the expectation of the customer.
Consumers are increasingly asking a very reasonable question before buying a printer:
“How much is this thing really going to cost me to use?”
That question is likely to shape the future of the printer industry far more than any individual printer technology.
And if the answer increasingly favours refillable ink, the traditional ink cartridge will have to become cheaper, larger, smarter or more convenient to remain competitive.
The cartridge may survive.
But it will have to earn its place.
