The ultimate recycling printer is here, Seiko Epson Corporation of Japan has developed what it believes to be the world’s first compact office papermaking system capable of producing new paper from securely shredded waste paper without the use of water. The company plans to put the new “PaperLab” into commercial production in Japan in 2016, with sales in other regions to be decided at a later date. Businesses and government offices that install a PaperLab in a backyard area will be able to produce paper of various sizes, thicknesses, and types, from office paper and business card paper to paper that is colored and scented.

Interested parties can check out a developmental prototype of the printer at the upcoming Eco Products 2015  an environmental exhibition that will take place at the Tokyo Big Sight from December 10 to 12.

Features

The innovating printer produces new sheet of paper in about three minutes after having loaded it with waste paper and pressing the Start button. The system can produce about 14 A4 sheets per minute and 6,720 sheets in an eight-hour day.

Users can produce a variety of types of paper to meet their needs, from A4 and A3 office paper of various thicknesses to paper for business cards, color paper and even scented paper.

PaperLab makes paper without the use of water. Ordinarily it takes about a cup of water to make a single A4 sheet of paper, given that the liquid is needed to bind the shredded pulp into a printable sheet again, Epson took the dry option in consideration that for the machine to be eco friendly, water had the be excluded.

Solution, the company developed Dry Fiber Technology a process that does not require water, it consists of three separate technologies: fiberizing, binding, and forming.

Fiberizing

Using an original mechanism, waste paper is transformed into long, thin cottony, fibers. This process immediately and completely destroys confidential documents. Since the PaperLab does not use water, it does not require plumbing facilities. That, plus its compact size, makes it easy to install in the backyard of an office.

Binding

A variety of different binders can be added to the fiberized material to increase the binding strength or whiteness of the paper or to add color, fragrance, flame resistance, or other properties needed for a given application.

Forming

Users can produce sheets of A4 or A3 office paper and even paper for business cards thanks to forming technology that allows them to control the density, thickness, and size of paper