YC business sets the (green) tone

"Cut the waste, cut the cost" seems to be the catchphrase for Cartridge World.

The Yuba City shop recycles and refills cartridges for inkjet and laser (toner) printers.

"We can recharge an ink cartridge about five to six times, on average, and we've had some that have been refilled 10 times," said Scott Hansel, owner of the local franchise.

"And a laser cartridge, as long as you don't break the plastic case, will last almost indefinitely," he said. "But because we're replacing the internal components, it's almost new every time and we're keeping all that (external) plastic out of the landfill."

He estimates that 70 to 80 percent of the plastics, aluminum and other scrap metals in a laser cartridge can be recycled.

The shop owner pointed out that, in addition to cutting down on waste, refilling can save money: Depending on the laser cartridge, people who go the refilling route can save on average about 30 percent over the cost of using only new laser cartridges — and refilling ink cartridges can save even more.

Hansel said that he and his four employees work hard to keep waste to a minimum at the shop on Gray Avenue. He pointed out that the paper they use to test the cartridges is used seven or eight times before it's put into the recycling bin and that all the boxes and other paper products that come into the shop are put into their recycling bins.

"There's very little that we throw away," he said.

As he walked around his shop, he pointed to the bins where the to-be-recycled plastic parts end up and said that Hewlett-Packard has begun reclaiming the minute amount of gold from their cartridges' electrical connections. Hansel also talked about his store's recycler, Clover Technology, which recycles around 2 million cartridges a day.

But the business isn't all about recycling; it's also about producing a good product for their customers.

All their cartridges have a 100 percent guarantee. "If it doesn't work, or the customer isn't satisfied, we'll replace it," said Hansel. "After all, it's a recycled product, so it's not always going to work even though it's been completely tested."

To meet their customers' needs, the staff empties the cartridges of the old ink or toner, cleans and refills them, and finally tests them — all before repacking the cartridges for sale. He explained that they refill the vast majority of the HP inkjet cartridges in-house, but that the more difficult cartridge brands — Lexmark, Dell and some of the Canons — are outsourced.

One stumbling block that Hansel continually works to overcome is a legacy from the early days of cartridge refilling.

"When I talk to people about remanufactured laser cartridges, I find that 73 percent of the people know about them, but only 27 percent have actually tried them. The reason the other 50 or so percent haven't tried them is fear, because so many people were burned by bad recycled cartridges years ago," he explained. "The industry has come long way since then. The components have gotten better."

Hansel said that Cartridge World's inks are almost the same as those of Hewlett-Packard, Epson, Canon and other major manufacturers.

"There are differences in the ink. HP uses a dye-based ink while Epson and Canon tend to use pigment-based ink, which have micro particles floating in the ink, which is why they have more vibrant colors. We can't copy their inks because that would be violating their patents, but our inks are specific to Epson, specific to Canon, and specific to HP."

But he does say that Cartridge World's inks are not always the best for every use.

"What I tell customers is that if you want to print your wedding pictures to keep forever, go buy yourself a brand new cartridge," Hansel said. "But if you're printing pictures just to enjoy yourself, our inks are going to be just as good."

The slow economy hasn't hurt Cartridge World.

"This month (March), we are up 38 percent over March of 2007 on gross sales, For the quarter, we're up 37 percent over last year," said Hansel. "I think part of the increase is due to the economy. I think more people are willing to try us — and we've been here almost three years now."

First-time customer Juan Delgado of Yuba City fits that description. He said he hadn't noticed the store until recently.

"I stopped in and asked what they did and found out I can keep the cartridges out of the landfill by refilling them," Delgado said.

"You can always tell the new customers because they'll hand us a new cartridge (that's never been recycled)," said Hansel. "When we ask them how they heard about us, six months ago the answer was, 'My mother or brother told me to go in'; now that number has shrunk and the answer we get now is: 'I've been driving by, I've seen you and now I want to try this.' The drive-by number is now up to the 25 to 30 percent range."

Not all printer companies appreciate the cartridge-refilling industry. "Lexmark and Epson are the two most aggressive manufacturers against refilling," said Hansel. He said he doesn't understand their reluctance, because refilling is only a 7 percent slice of the $20 million ink/toner market in the United States.

Under Hansel's leadership, Cartridge World is an active part of the Yuba-Sutter community. He said they hold recycling activities for Covillaud and Nuestro elementary schools as well as with the Boy Scouts.

He also said that on Earth Day, April 22, they're holding a free refill program. Hansel explained that if someone brings in an empty laser or inkjet cartridge, they'll refill it for free. They'll also be collecting empty cartridges to recycle.

Contact Appeal reporter John Hollis at 741-2400 or jhollis@ appealdemocrat.com