DON’T TOSS THAT CARTRIDGE AWAY !

[Anonymous]

Don’t toss that cartridge away!
Refill service touts price, low impact on environment
SHILOH – The owner of a new shop in Greenmount Crossing claims he can help you refill your printer’s ink cartridge instead of allowing the empty plastic boxes to fill your waste can.”We have about 150 different kinds of ink in stock, so we can fill just about any kind of cartridge you have,” said Michael Hug, owner of the new Cartridge World franchise toward the rear of the shopping center near Target. “In most cases, it costs 40-50 percent less to refill the cartridges than to replace them.”That includes inkjet cartridges typically used in home computer printers and laser printer cartridges used by businesses.Hug said many popular inkjet cartridges are kept in stock so customers can simply walk in and trade their empty container for a pre-filled one. If you’re model doesn’t happen to be in stock, the staff can refill it with the right formula ink in about 15 minutes in most cases.Laser cartridges are a more complicated proposition. They have to be hand disassembled and cleaned. All the moving parts inside are replaced, then they’re reassembled and filled with powdery black toner.”It’s more tedious work to do the laser cartridges for sure,” said Cartridge World head technician Cory Thacker, a former auto mechanic. “Every one of them is different.
Originated in Australia in 1988, Cartridge World has been stateside since 2002.”They’re adding about a store a week,” Hug said. “There are a couple in St. Louis. But I’m the first in the metro-east.”Hug said the company started a little bit slow on this side of the Atlantic because consumers burned by do-it-yourself cartridge refill kits were reluctant to try the service.”They just had one kind of ink that they used for everything,” Hug said. “And all the cartridges are a little bit different. If you use the wrong ink in the wrong printer, it’s not going to work right. That’s why we carry so many different kinds.”It costs about $120,000 to get a Cartridge World franchise, Hug said. And much of that cost goes for fancy equipment, including a vacuum-equipped cartridge filler that prevents troublesome bubbles from forming in the containers and a centrifuge used to make sure the cartridges are clean.Cartridge World’s Green Mount Crossing store is open 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturday.

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June 2, 2006 at 11:47 AM