Found this on the web last night:
Did you know that the toner that gets used whenever you photocopy something is made primarily of resin? And that the process of producing resin-based toner requires petroleum?
To put it simply, that equally simple photocopier sitting at the corner of your office actually contributes to carbon emissions–which leads to further global warming.
In fact, every year 200,000 tons of toner is produced, with 80 percent of it being resin. And even when toner-coated copy paper is recycled, the toner still harms the environment because during the recycling process, a de-inking phase separates the toner from the paper, with the toner usually disposed of via burning or burying in landfills.
Ricoh, one of the world’s leading providers of digital office gadgets and equipments, has developed a technology that instead uses plant-based biomass as a replacement for petroleum-based resin. In fact, the Tokyo-based company has already introduced the world’s first digital multi-function copier featuring biomass toner, the “for E toner”, which was launched just last month.
Biomass is a plant-based renewable energy source that is derived from decomposed or waste products, and can range from wood to alcohol fuels. One good example of an energy source derived from biomass is biofuel, which already accounts for almost two percent of the world’s annual petroleum consumption.
While the unique toner does not have 100 percent biomass content (it actually hovers only around 25 percent), it still does wonders to the ozone because it helps eliminate CO2 emissions that arise from burning paper coated with petroleum-based toner. Furthermore, it also reduces the use of the world’s dwindling oil reserves.
“Sustainability is crucial to society’s survival,” Ricoh’s website says in introducing this technology, “[and] Ricoh believes that a company must take responsibility for all the materials used in its products. Ricoh does this while focusing on two points: minimizing the amount of resources extracted from the natural world, and finding alternatives to resources at risk of depletion.”
Now, thinking of going green by heading to the store to buy this new kind of toner? Well, here’s the flipside. The Ricoh website is not particularly clear if the toner is commercially available outside of Japan.
Still, this is good news for us folks who are already concerned over the emerging effects of climate change–after all, who would have ever thought that that innocent-looking photocopied document could actually contribute to sizzling heat you experience even in an otherwise cool day? (Miles T)
Source: Ricoh