In the black

COEUR d’ALENE – Bob Palm would like to keep that used printer cartridge out of the landfill, and make a few bucks, too.

The goals are twin pursuits of Palm’s business, Rapid Refill Ink. Five days a week, Palm stops at the company’s 30-plus drop boxes in North Idaho, where people drop off used cartridges from their printers, copiers and fax machines. Within 48 hours, they’re refilled with ink and ready for pickup.

“It’s pretty simple,” Palm said. “It’s not a hard business to run.”

Most of the drop-off boxes are in grocery stores. Rapid Refill Ink targets home computer users as well as business owners.

Each U.S. household contains 1.2 printers, according to national statistics. Every year, about 1.8 billion plastic printer cartridges end up in dumps, Palm said.

Most of those cartridges can be refilled with ink or toner up to 15 times, according to Palm. If the environmental benefits don’t hook customers, the cost savings usually do, he said. A recycled cartridge costs 35- to 70 percent less than buying new.

“It’s a substantial savings,” said Linda Mulvey, operations administrative assistant for Adelphia Communications in Coeur d’Alene.

Palm refills about 15 cartridges for Adelphia each month. The company cut its costs for laser printer cartridges in half by switching to recycled, Mulvey said.

Palm’s former neighbor in Eugene, Ore., started Rapid Refill Ink in late 2002. Palm and his wife, Jennifer, opened the Coeur d’Alene franchise in 2003. Their son, Matthew, also works in the family-run business.

“It took off right away,” Palm said. “We get two to three new customers each day, and we’re definitely not done.”

Palm figures that he’s tapped about 10 percent of the local market. He sold a second franchise to a Spokane businessman last year, and figures there’s room for several more. The Spokane Valley might be his next target.

Opening a Rapid Refill franchise costs between $63,000 and $190,000, plus a $17,500 franchise cost, according to corporate estimates. The franchise owners – 22 nationwide – also pay royalty and advertising fees.

The Spokane franchise has helped cut down on Palm’s driving time. During Rapid Refill’s first 18 months of operation, he serviced 70 drop boxes, including locations in Spokane, Pullman, Sandpoint and Kellogg. His 2000 Subaru wagon racked up 100,000 miles.

“It finally gave up the ghost,” Palm said. He eliminated the drives to Sandpoint and Kellogg by hiring commuting college students to collect and drop off the cartridges.

Last year, Rapid Refill Ink had sales of $215,000. This year, Palm expects to more than double sales, with projections in the $500,000 range.

Palm’s previous sales experience has helped the company grow. He spent 18 years in sales for the food service industry, and before that, he sold office equipment.

“I’m not afraid of cold calls,” Palm said. “When I worked for Royal Business Machines in Seattle in the 1980s, we’d take copiers to the big office buildings. We’d start at the top floor, and work our way down, stopping at every office.”

Albertsons was one of the first North Idaho outlets to sign up for Rapid Refill’s drop boxes. Dawghaus Computers, located in the Super 1 store in Rathdrum, has offered the drop boxes for almost two years.

It’s a good service for customers, said store manager Dave Gonzales. “Rapid Refill picks up the cartridges about 4 p.m. each day. Bob’s back the next day.”

Dawghaus Computers doesn’t stock cartridges, so it’s an easy way to provide that service, Gonzales said.

At Rapid Refill, Bob Palm focuses on sales and deliveries. Jennifer, a former operations manager for brokerage firms, handles internal operations. Matthew does the refills and is Rapid Refill’s unofficial “help desk.”

A machine called a centrifuge spins the old ink out of the cartridges. The cartridges are filled with different kinds of ink, depending on brand.

“It’s not that easy to refill them properly and make them work,” Palm said. “A lot of people tell us they tried this at home, and got ink everywhere.”

Rapid Refill guarantees the cartridges. Palm said the failure rate in a refilled cartridge is about 4 percent, compared to 3½ percent in a new cartridge.

The company plays up the recycling theme. This spring, Raid Refill Ink will install a carpet made out of recycled milk cartons, and a marble-looking countertop constructed from sunflower seeds.

Rapid Refill Ink has several competitors in Spokane, but Palm’s not overly worried about competition. Nationally, the sales of refilled cartridges are growing.

“There’s room for everybody, really,” Palm said.