Have you ever changed the carbon in a carbon filter?
It's messy as hell and you need respiratory protection.
Yes I have tried and I agree its a messy, dirty, dusty, shitty job.
However, the previous posts mention of a tea-bag type replacement sounds great to me, unscrew 3 nuts/bayonet fittings/threaded cap, drop out the old tea-bag straight into a plastic/paper bag, drop in a new tea-bag, seal the rim... bingo up and running.
Sell 3 tea bags with each filter box? sell teabags and outer dust filters as a set, marketing wise it seems like a no brainer to me.
I for one would buy such a product. Saving money, saving rubbish, I find it a real shame to throw my heavy metal filters away.
But as it stands its all about marketing and profits, repeat profits for manufacturers, repeat profits for the shippers, repeat profits for retailers more waste, more pollution and more costs for end users.
Time to go back to "over engineered" well made, well designed products that serve a purpose over the long term. imho.