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OFFICEMAX LAUNCHES INK INITIATIVE

OfficeMax, based in Itasca, Ill., has announced the launch of its company-wide Ink Initiative.

The OfficeMax Ink program involves installing Ink Filling Station kiosks in nearly 900 of its stores by the fall of 2006, enabling customers to refill their empty toner cartridges at what could be a 50 percent savings over purchasing a new cartridge. The kiosks are the first step in the company’s new Ink Initiative.

According to a press release from OfficeMax, its Ink Initiative provides its customers with a total ink solution from the purchase of new ink cartridges to the refilling of empty ones to the recycling of ink cartridges at the end of their useful lives.

The Ink Filling Stations will be installed in nearly 50 Chicago-area OfficeMax stores and will be rolled out to other stores across the country throughout 2006. OfficeMax will charge $12.99 to $22.99 to refill an ink cartridge. An OfficeMax employee will run a diagnostic test on each cartridge, remove residual ink with an atomizer and refill the cartridge in a vacuum chamber to ensure quality. Customers will also be supplied with a "print test" strip made by the refilled cartridge.

OfficeMax says that cartridges can be refilled four to 10 times before recycling, potentially reducing the volume of recycled material.

"Our new Ink Refill station program saves consumers money and is environmentally responsible," says Ryan Vero, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer for OfficeMax. "After the cartridges are refilled to the end of their useful life, OfficeMax will take them to recyclers who break down the materials without filling up another landfill."