Toning up: the growth of the toner cartridge recycling industry can be attributed to a very effective grassroots approach to recycling.(Toner Recycling Report)

While the traditional recycling industry, in many ways, has moved away from its image as a way for Boy Scouts to raise money, the fairly rapid development of the toner cartridge recycling industry has happened precisely because entrepreneurs have made pitches to schools, non-profits and other organizations that cartridge recycling can be a way to make money and save on some costs.

The growth has been abetted by the explosive growth in the computer and the desktop printing industry.

While this growth has generated some niche markets for many remanufacturers, refillers and commodity recyclers, in some ways the industry is only now starting to come into its own, moving from a segment of the industry that had flown under radar to one that has developed an effective marketing campaign to offer a wide range of recycling methods.

FROM THE GROUND UP. Russ Thomas, with Rethink Ink, a refiller of copier and primer cartridges, notes that the company has very successfully approached schools to build up its business.

The company, which began in Kansas City, Mo., less than 10 years ago as an experiment with the Kansas City Star newspaper and one school, has now grown to serve mote than 4,000 schools throughout the United States.

Clover Technologies Group, Marseilles, Ill., also has seen its business explode. The company, which began less than 10 years ago, has seen sales jump from $2 million fewer than five years ago to $80 million last year.

The growth in Clover Technologies' business, as well as the creation and/or growth of a host of other companies catering to this niche market, follows the trajectory of the overall computer market.

With more homeowners having home computers and printers, ink jet cartridge demand is growing.

At the same time, the business world has also readily embraced computers.

While the electronics industry has seen some rapid growth in the use of computers and peripherals, the downside to this has been the growth in the amount of obsolete …