*NEWS*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