Thursday, May 31, 2012

UNPRINTER

Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK have developed a method for removing laser-printed text from paper. It could mean devices used for security, recycling or both.

The technique worked by using the laser beam to apply the right level of heat for a mere four billionths of a second. It isn’t a case of the words dropping off the page: the heat vaporized the toner, with the resulting gas being captured in a filter. Allwood says the technique worked on a range of toners and does not damage the paper or leave it unable to “receive” toner in the future.








1 comment:

IT-Green said...

I remember reading about this some months back and wondered why it hadn't been considered before. The reams of paper businesses use in their laser printers is considerable and in effect, there's not only the fact that the paper can be recycled with this technology, but that it does away with shredding and remanufacturing, let alone transport and bleaching of the shredded paper before it's re-milled (with new stock due to the lack of fibres once pulped). In effect, there's a plethora of positive side effects to this form of recycling that would be of serious benefit to this commodity.

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