March 7, 2008 - Eastman Kodak and Wal-Mart have partnered on a national effort to recycle used materials from in-store photo kiosks. The program, now underway at 4,100 Wal-Mart stores and Sam’s Clubs in the U.S., is expected to recycle two million pounds of plastic each year.

The printer ribbon, spools, and cartridges found in photo kiosks are made primarily of polyethylene terphthalate (PETE) and polystyrene, two widely recycled plastics. Wal-Mart and Kodak will work together to separate the materials and process them for reuse.

Kodak recently downsized the shipping size and weight of photo kiosk components by removing the bubble wrap from their packaging material.