ASHLEY Cooper does not just think green "but black, blue, red and yellow too", he said.

As the owner of Cartridge World shop at Clifton Green, York, he is explaining why he is pitching for the Think Green Business Of The Year title in The Press Business Awards 2006. He has also entered the Retailer Of The Year category.

Mr Cooper, who started his shop in 2002, now also has stores in York in Hull Road and Tadcaster Road.

And they all act on the same principle, offering refills, new ink and laser cartridges to the business and retail sectors. It is a direct counter to the throwaway society and he believes customers who refill save up to 60 per cent on the cost of a new cartridge. He even offers a full money-back guarantee if the product does not work as good as new.

But his recycling fervour applies as much internally as it does externally. All his packaging is recyclable. He said: "We use newspaper on worktops to protect from ink smudges and we recycle all our toner components as well as recycling our packaging. We believe more than 90 per cent of all goods in our shops are recyclable."

But his green-plus message also goes to industry, to whom he offers a service to pick up ink empties and redeliver them full.

The shop has sponsored and organised Save The Planet painting competitions in schools and involved them in its Plant A Tree, Not A Cartridge campaign.

He now plans to target university students as "they use an immense amount of ink".