Cartridge World

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Cartridge World
Type Private
Founded Flag of Australia (1991)
Headquarters Emeryville, California, United States
Key people Bryan Stokes, Founder
Industry Consumable Recycling
Products N/A
Website http://www.cartridgeworld.com/

Cartridge World is an international company specializing in the remanufacturing of ink and toner cartridges for consumer printing. Run under independently operated franchises, the company also sells compatible cartridges and printing accessories. All cartridge refilling is done in house, typically using vacuum injection for ink and manual repair to toner (laser) cartridges. The company was founded in Australia, but their international headquarters were recently relocated to its North America headquarters in Emeryville, California.

The company was originally called Australian Cartridge Co and was started by Bryan Stokes in 1991. He was joined several years later by Paul Wheeler who helped the company grow. In 1999 the company's name was changed to Cartridge World. In 2004, they were growing at roughly one store in the U.S. per day. They currently have over 1,400 stores open worldwide (500+ in the U.S.). OEM printer manufacturers, such as HP and Epson, have devised significant challenges against cartridge refill industries to combat their increasing market share. This includes litigation over patent violations concerning "compatible" cartridge design and ink formulations, more sophisticated cartridge design that includes computer chips, and more frequent new printer launches that require Cartridge World and other similar companies to spend R&D time and dollars to learn how to fill. Many consumers believe that their printer warranty will be voided if they use refilled or remanufactured cartridges in their printer, but the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act prohibits the manufacturer of the printer from voiding the warranty because you use a refilled or remanufactured cartridge.

Cartridge World operates on a franchise system and doesn't require store operators to have any prior technical skills. In the U.S., it provides as much as 80-hours of training to new franchisees before they open their stores. Cartridge World is a private company and as such does not release sales figures for individual stores so it is hard to know if it is a good business proposition or not for people seeking a franchise. Cartridge World claims however that refillers now have 18% of the printer cartridge market, and with that market being roughly $30 billion dollars a year that is quite a sizable chunk.

Cartridge World envisions market growth, but it appears that OEM manufacturers are making life more difficult for cartridge refillers in general, such as installing "reset" computer chips into the cartridges.

In the UK, Cartridge World has the largest percentage of the refilling industry.

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