ICRRA begins Chennai operations

N R Sethuraman

Chennai

October 8th, 2007

In order to make cartridge refilling and remanufacturing legal and make
people aware of the legally remanufactured cartridges, the Indian Cartridge
Remanufacturers and Recyclers Association, (ICRRA) started its operations from
Sep 29, 2007 in Chennai. Around 150 cartridge remanufacturers and recyclers were
present at the occasion.

ICRRA, which was started in Bangalore in June 2007 with the aim of promoting
printer cartridge remanufacturing industry in India, has moved to Chennai to
scale up its operations. Gopi Verma, President, ICRRA said, "Most printer
manufacturing vendors claim that our industry is illegal and a few have even
taken an oath to kill our refilling and remanufacturing industry to safe guard
the interest of their customers. But we want to prove to them that our business
is legal and we want to provide quality material to our customers."

Pegging the refilling industry at Rs 864 crore in India, Verma said that
around 40,000 small businesses sell and service end-users looking for
alternatives to expensive OEM printer cartridges. Worldwide, cartridge
remanufacturing is an established industry with major players like Xerox, IBM,
NCR, Staples, Wal-Mart, Cartridge World etc holding approximately 30 percent
stake in the market. They offer remanufactured cartridges for low costs under
their brand name an assurance of 100 percent OEM quality.

ICRRA would cater to customers with similar kinds of refilled cartridges that
are superior in quality and available at a low cost. Verma informed that the
association would urge refillers and re-manufacturers to provide superior
quality cartridges and gain the confidence of customers. Also, a number of
education programs would be conducted for the partners in the consumables and
refilling industry.

Sticking to the stand of creating awareness of this industry, Deepak, General
Secretary ICRRA said, "Our partners have to create awareness about the
industry among channel partners by providing superior quality cartridge
refilling and remanufacturing. The association would sit with printer and
cartridge manufacturers like HP and Samsung, and brief them about the organized
and unorganized refilling industry to stop the plying attacks on the refillers."

Verma also shared that the refilling industry could get ISO certificates if they
provide quality refilling, and it would be an initiative for hoisting a legal
battle with constant attackers on the industry.

Sanjeev Mahajan, an active member of ICRRA claimed that the future for color
printers and cartridges is bright and partners have to upgrade themselves and
maintain unity amongst each other to sustain in the market. "Most of the
consumables are procured from China, as they are available at low rates.
Instead, we can make our customer and partners understand that remanufacturing
the cartridges would be the best choice, in terms of cost and from an
environment point of view.

ICRRA undertakes activities that include promoting the globally competitive
remanufacturing industry, reassuring and providing printer users with high
quality products through its members, focusing on export promotion and
attracting foreign outsourcing in the Indian remanufacturing industry and create
an eco friendly environment through an unique project. The association also
believes in the adage-'Donate an empty cartridge' in an effort to reduce e-waste
and encourage recycling of printer cartridges.

"ICRRA intends to emerge as an effective, influential and dynamic
organization, representing remanufacturing and recycling of printer cartridges
and other service segments of the industry," said Verma.