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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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