MANY INKLING TO ENTER INK INDUSTRY

[Anonymous]

Many in state heeding inkling to enter multibillion industry
All over Mississippi and throughout the nation, companies are getting their hands into the multibillion-dollar business of refilling and remanufacturing inkjet cartridges and toner casings.It’s an industry that in 2006 was likely worth $32 billion, according to a news release by BizAssist Ltd.In recent months, local competition has increased as chain retailers such as Walgreens pharmacies have entered the arena, offering to clean and refill an empty cartridge at half the cost of a new one.Cartridge World in Madison has earned such good customer following in the last 15 months that store owner Sonny Sanne anticipates opening a second store in March in Flowood.”They’re looking at the price. Compared to buying a regular cartridge off of the shelf versus getting one refilled in our store, they save at least 50 percent on it,” said Robert Smith, manager of Walgreens in Clinton. “This is a service that will save customers a lot of money in the long run. As long as they bring it in we try to fill it right there on the spot.”Dale Cookson, district photo supervisor for Walgreens in Jackson, said inkjet refills are offered at 1,500 stores around the country.Walgreens charges $14.99 to refill a Hewlett-Packard 96 black factory cartridge and $31.99 for a new one. A new Lexmark 26 color cartridge costs $35.99. The cost to refill one is $16.49.Not all empty cartridges can be refilled. flawed containers are discarded. And trading in your empty cartridges in good condition can earn you anything from free photographs at Walgreens to free printing paper or a discount on your purchase at Office Depot.The consumer must be careful to purchase quality products, said Layton Smith of Jackson.”We have bought some and not had very good experience with it. So we have basically gone with the cartridges that are manufactured by the maker of the machine we’re putting them in,” said Smith, president of S&S Apache Camping Center on U.S. 80 in Jackson.Smith is the kind of customer Sanne said he would recruit – those who want no excuses when it comes to getting what they paid for. “Everything is 100-percent guaranteed,” he said.Sanne said keeping cartridges reliable means thoroughly cleaning them and rebuilding laser cartridges.Growth in technology will continue to spawn competition in the industry according to Steve Hockett , president of Rapid Refill Ink of Minneapolis, which has 75 franchise locations since opening in 2004.
The industry has grown for several years.Hockett agreed that convenience is the major reason businesses such as his continue to flourish.”The concept is pretty simple. People are attracted to it because there’s a significant cost savings from having to buy (original). They’re attracted to it because it’s recycling,” Hockett said. “I think the cost savings will be a factor of going forward.”Because if you recycle something and you use it again, there is typically always a big cost savings.”# Almost 8 cartridges are thrown away per second in the United States alone.# 300 million cartridges are thrown away annually.# More than 1.1 billion inkjet cartridges are used annually around the world.# A discarded cartridge takes approximately 1000 years to biodegrade.

[Author]

January 22, 2007 at 12:47 PM