"E-blue" technology to achieve waste paper recycling

If the "elimination of ink" technology ("E-blue" technology) can be widely promoted, thousands of discarded papers will be reborn. Toshiba Corporation of Japan has developed a "carbonless" printer ink that can be "wiped off" by the heat emitted by the portable ink-discharging machine. This ink and ink-discharging machine has been marketed in Japan.

The "E-blue" technique is in principle a reverse reaction to a chemical bonding reaction that occurs during the thermal printing process. Thermal printing is the use of heat and pressure to print images and text on paper.

Humans once dreamed of realizing a “paperless office” one day, but now they are still unable to rely entirely on electronic files. “Although we have e-mail and a series of wireless mobile technologies, people still like to print things on paper,” said a Toshiba spokesman. In Japan, waste office paper accounts for 40% of office waste, 60% of which is recycled. This technology makes environmentalists happy because paper recycling is easier.

The "E-blue" technology is only valid for documents printed with special ink or ink cartridges. The writing of these documents are all blue. This special blue ink will become colorless after "eliminate ink." The ink-removal machine can produce a high temperature of 140 degrees Celsius when processing ink. At this temperature, the chemical bond of the dyed material in the ink breaks, causing the blue ink to become colorless. The ink-removal machine can process stacks of printing paper at one time, and can handle about 400 to 500 sheets of A4 size paper or 200 to 250 sheets of A3 paper within 3 hours. These treated papers can be used repeatedly until they become fragmented.

Toshiba uses "E-blue" technology, which saves 60% of office paper expenses. Each paper can be reused by employees about five or six times.

Toshiba said it will also develop a copier using "E-blue" technology.